Everyone's in the Media Business

It's been an exciting week. From recording audio for a local brilliant furniture entrepreneur, to partnering with a singer marketing her own teaching CD, to emailing Dan Pink, the author of the world-changing book A Whole New Mind, to talking with a local creative firm about the changing industry, to this blog post from American Express, entitled "You're in the Media Business Now."

What does it mean that everyone is in the media business? John Battelle writes:

Today, I’ll assert, no matter what business you think you’re in – be it making widgets or providing a service, you’re now in the media business, plain and simple. Those that recognize this shift will succeed, those that ignore it will atrophy and eventually become irrelevant.

What everyone is talking about is the web, not just the web, but the evolution of the web and how it's changing communication. The furniture entrepreneur was talking about the enormous shifts in activity even since 2005. Battelle even goes far enough to say this:

The web provides a mediated experience between your business and your customer. If your offering on the web is satisfying your customer’s needs (even those your customers don’t know they had), it’s time to consider a major investment in the web media business. The Web already is - or will soon become - your most important customer satisfaction and service (and perhaps even sales) channel. You may be in the “making widgets business” now, but no matter what you do next, you’re going to be in the media business. All aboard!

Well said. All aboard.