The most often asked question that comes my way from staff members is, what's going on with our business?  There are certainly indications that the economy as a whole seems to be coming out of recession--we've all watched as Wall Street indicators have turned upward and the banks seem to be doing better.  So, what about ALM?

Taken as a whole, our business has been relatively flat.  Some areas have done well--our newspaper group, for example.  Others have seen the declines in the early part of the year slow down but have not yet flattened out--our legal and real estate magazine businesses being two good examples.  Public notice revenues remain extremely strong while law firm and classified advertising suffer continuing retrenchment.  Those of our businesses which rely on print subscription revenues see on-going challenges, as renewal rates come down from their high points.  But our online revenue streams are growing as more advertisers utilize the web to reach their audiences.

So, again, taken as a whole our business is relatively flat and my expectation is that it will remain so for at least the first part of 2010.  I believe that, even though the US recession seems to be winding down which should be good for our advertising-based businesses.  That's because the structural change in the media business--in particular the move from print to digital--will not end as the economy recovers.  If anything, it will continue to accelerate and will negatively impact print display, law firm and classified advertising, print subscription renewals, our book and newsletter businesses, and any other part of our business where our audience or customers are rapidly moving to digital.

My longer-term view, however, is much more positive.  That's because virtually every part of our business is now in the midst of a major transformation to new business models supported by new technologies.  Here are four examples:

1.  Our newspapers are now undergoing fundamental changes in the ways in which we go to market.  We're learning how to marry our traditional local legal news coverage to more in-depth court and substantive legal information to be delivered digitally to paying subscribers. These research services may never replace Lexis or Westlaw, but many attorneys tell us that we can create a viable service, at a price point they can afford, without the level of in-depth information provided by the market leaders.  We'll launch in NY in the next few months--but then keep your eye on California.  

2.  We're beginning to rollout new websites which take advantage of new technologies which will meet both user and advertiser requirements.  More video.  Much more intelligent search tools, tag clouds and other means of finding relevant information.  Greater use of two-way communication tools with our users, for commenting, social tagging, reviewing, etc.  Widgets in the planning stages for smartphones.  And more sophisticated web analytics tools for tracking our users and helping us to monetize their visits.

3.  Our colleagues at Law Journal Press are beginning the process of digitizing our treatises so that we can enter the e-Book business, selling books via download to digital devices like the Kindle.  That digitized content will also be available to our new research sites, allowing us to make money with portions of our book content rather than having to sell the entire book.

4.  As I posted on this blog a few weeks ago, our Event business is now moving rapidly into the digital space.  We're seeing month-by-month increases in the number of webinars we are offering on law.com, GlobeSt.com and our other sites.  Our CLE Center is about to be revamped to improve the user experience as they pursue required continuing education credits.  And we have just hosted our first Virtual LegalTech tradeshow, which was a great success and points the way for future virtual events.

So the answer to the question "what's going on with our business" is that we are at a time of transition.  From an economy in recession to one that seems to be recovering.  From an "old media" world to a dramatically restructured "new media" world.  From business models across all of our businesses which have been extremely successful to new business models which require a lot of work to implement but in which we have great confidence. 

Personally, I think it's an exciting world and a time for us as individuals to try new things, look for new solutions, exploit new technologies, and create new opportunities.  I hope you think so as well.