As a publisher considering your options in going digital, you have the choice of expanding your capabilities in-house or pairing up with an outside designer to help make the transition. At CatStone, we naturally believe that a partnership can be a good fit for many potential clients. Even if you have a complete, in-house design department, here are some reasons you might like to have help with your digital publication:
1. Staffing and time constraints - having an interactive, media-filled digital version of your publication can mean spending extra time pulling together those extra elements. Your staff is already under a deadline and likely working their hardest to meet your basic needs for editorial content and layout design. A partner who focuses on the digital aspects can help brainstorm how to take editorial and advertising further, aid in finding or creating the media and even work with your contacts and advertisers to help the digital version reach it's full potential. With a partner, you do not need to be apprehensive about increasing your workload as most of the extra work can be done by them.
2. Expertise in digital media and Flash applications - even with a top-notch design team you may not have the experience with digital media production or Flash production to create everything that you want at the quality you need. A partner who specializes in the rich media and it's applications will be much faster and have a broader base of knowledge about your options.
3. Marketing experience - digital publications can begin their marketing with your own readership base but chances are part of why you are going digital is to capitalize on a larger geographical base or larger pool of readers. Marketing beyond your reader base with a purely digital version requires knowledge about creating digital "drop boxes" and pushing via social networking. These are skills a partner can bring to the table so your digital version gets the readership return you are looking for.
4. Familiarity with and focused attention on the digital format - a partner who specializes in creating digital reading materials is going to stay abreast of trends and options in the industry and be ready to share those insights with you. Stay ahead of a fast changing game by having someone to watch your back.
We'd love to hear other suggestions where a partnership model has worked well for a publisher. Please add your comments, even if it wasn't partnering on digital but perhaps some other options, such as self-publishing. Working together is almost always a win when each participant can focus on what they do best.