Businessman’s name: Graham Young
Job description: Chief Editor and Publisher
Business names: On Line Opinion, Internet Thinking
Location: Fortitude Valley, QLD
Find him online:
www.graham.nationalforum.com.au
twitter.com/GrahamY
You’ve worked in politics, property development and now online publishing and web development – can you give us three quick lessons you’ve learned; combining your experience and business management…
First lesson is that research is everything. Unless you understand your market and your product, then you will only make money by pure dumb luck.
Second lesson is contra lesson 1. You have to be prepared to extrapolate your research, put yourself in the customers’ shoes and then envision what they might want if they had your insights.
Third lesson is have enough capital, and never ask the bank for too little, always ask for much more than you think you will need because you will probably need that much and a bit more.
When you launched On Line Opinion in 1999, what was the driving force behind the creation of the site?
We saw an opportunity to increase the range and depth of intellectual debate in Australia. It wasn’t primarily a business as such, but a public good. That’s why it is in a not-for-profit entity.
There was a commercial angle as well. In that sense OLO was what the academics would call an “action research project”. We had plenty of theories as to where the Internet would go, but no knowledge, no expertise and no track record. OLO was only a small part of our overall vision, but we could achieve it for a relatively small investment. So we just “did it” “because we could” with the idea that we could build a path to profitability and success.
But as part of the “gift economy” our business model was quite different from a for-profit model, although sharing some similarities.
Having had a ‘web presence’ for over 10 years, what do you think are the biggest mistakes people make when setting up online businesses?
The biggest mistake people make is to spend too much time worrying about graphic design and not enough providing compelling well-written content that changes frequently. People would never dream of setting-up a store without marketing plans and staff, but that’s exactly what they do with websites. Websites are not “set and forget” – you have to actively court the fish and get them to jump onto the hook.
Second biggest mistake is not to have a mechanism where they can keep in touch with visitors and encourage them to return. The cost of acquiring fresh customers is much higher than retaining them.
Tell us about your website development business, Internet Thinking?
Internet Thinking is the publisher of On Line Opinion. That’s where we commercialise the insights we’ve gained into building, publishing and managing websites. We’re particularly committed to Web 2.0 and open source solutions. The Internet is fluid and social. It requires quick reflexes and an eye for trends. That’s one reason we also do online polling as an integrated element in web publishing.
Your political career with the Queensland Liberal Party has been littered with successes and failures, all of which you openly admit to. Is this something you’ve always been comfortable to talk about?
I like to think that I learn from my mistakes, and you can’t do that if you aren’t candid about them. Hide them from others and you will hide them from yourself. My potential career as a politician was stillborn because I ran in the Fitzgerald election in Queensland when the Liberal Party was all but wiped out. Risks don’t always come off because of circumstance.
But many of the lessons I learned from that election, and the one after, I applied in 1995 as Liberal Campaign Chairman when the Coalition won the state election against Wayne Goss who was then Australia’s most popular politician.
I’m also scared to death of someone catching me out lying or exaggerating, so it’s psychologically not worth my while not to be as open as I can be about failure as well as success.
Do you know any dashing business gents we should interview?
Work It Baby is a great way for ‘the men folk’ to score some well-deserved (and free!) business promotion at SNOBS. Just look at the great archive of interviews we’ve done so far. If you know a fine fella in business, do him a favour and submit his details now!
Or, ask Graham a question!
Like to know more about his style of business management, or the industry he works in? Just leave your questions in the comment box and we’ll make sure he’s notified…
