By Mark Robins, Senior Editor
We recently completed our 2012 editorial calendar. (Check out
MCN
here and MA here.) If we learned
anything from this, it was that planning six months in advance
forces you to resolve short-term details. It is the same for any
company.
We all know successful businesses rely heavily on sound planning
so they can meet their goals. Without a good plan, most companies
would wander aimlessly and be less likely to achieve success.
Our magazine is the same way. We look at a whole year's worth of
topics and potential subjects, argue the pros and cons of each,
rank the most important topics, throw some of those away and then
introduce new subjects. Does this process sound familiar to
you?
I think that without the aid of a crystal ball, planning is just
what most people think it is-the best attempt to predict the
future. Sure, weather forecasters are expected to be accurate 99
percent of the time, but most of us would say their success is
closer to 50 percent to 70 percent at best. Too many factors affect
the outcome. The same probably goes for your business.
We look at our editorial planning as the best way to present
industry news, and report the technical and business information
that you want to read. We look at important topics and ask
ourselves tough questions about them. Is this still important? Is
there anything new to look at? Is this issue affecting the way our
readers do business now and potentially in the next six to 24
months?
We use industry experience and knowledge to cover this industry
the best way we can. If you have any comments about how we are
doing this, good or bad, please e-mail me at mrobins@moderntrade.com.