IDG: Going Online and Getting More Profitable

Here’s a great example of a print publisher starting to make good money from becoming an online business. Colin’s Corner: The transformation of IDG:

For over four decades we’ve had print blood running through the veins of the corporate body. But over the last few years we’ve seen dramatic change. Today the absolute dollar growth of our online revenues now exceeds the decline in our print revenues. This occurred in the US in 2006 and in Europe during the last quarter.

With this change in the revenue mix and the higher margins from our online businesses – the company is more profitably today than it has been previously.

But it’s not all plain sailing:

The brutal reality that we’re facing today is the costly process of dismantling and replacing legacy operations and cultures and business models with ones with new and yet to be fully proven business models. However, we face greater risks if we don’t transform our organization and take some chances.

My guess: there are two types of publishing company right now; those who say they are grappling with these issues, and those who are grappling with them, but juts won’t admit it yet.

[via Technovia]