All the best practices were there, we just weren’t calling it social media.  Yet.

In 1996, Liz was hired to reverse the revenue publishing distribution company that was losing 10% of their revenue a year, for three years running.  The product mix was off balance. Liz responded by conceiving a fast-track “buy, partner, build” strategy to sustain financial growth.

At the time, the UK publishing market was all but ignored by American Educational publishers, but Liz enlisted the help of a international publishing friend and contact who provided introductions to UK publishers. The relationships that formed yielded partnerships forged through respect and mutually beneficial goals. 

Through respect, trust, and open idea sharing Liz gained a unique position as the only American Educational publisher  purchasing  complete files rather than sharing print runs.  She was soon doing similar business with publishers in Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

The buy and partner strategy offered several advantages. Product timelines were faster. Development costs was shared. Under Liz’s direction, the American product team could focus on meeting market needs at the highest levels, rather than working toward gathering the words and art to make the initial product. With each product release, the product team became more market savvy and less invested in their individual ideas.

Liz made careful choices in product releases that drove organic growth, as high as to 40% a year, by consistently offering something new for every customer group, and a new customer group offer for every key product with each major product release. In three years, the $9Million failing company had grown 700%.  It sold that year for $35Million.

Liz built a brand, a company, and significant ROI.