How can my company succeed in the instructional materials business when so many adoption states are cutting back on spending?

In this new blog series from AEP, “What’s Keeping You Up At Night?, experts offer their advice on the most pressing issues facing the educational publishing industry. AEP members may sign up for a free half-hour consultation with the experts for 30 days after their entry is posted.

The following question was posed to our current featured expert, Mark Grayson of Six Red Marbles.

Q. How can my company succeed in the instructional materials business when so many adoption states are cutting back on spending?

A. California opts for open-source texts! Texas scales back science spending by 50%! To survive these days, you’ll have to throw out decades of conventional wisdom about adoptions. Consider these points:

Look where the money IS, not where it used to be.

There are new opportunities on the tech side, the instructional supplies side, and in other booming markets, from after-school to charters to home-school. Are your offerings integrated with an accountability system so schools can make a case for federal Race to the Top funds? Are there other grants that you can help your customers tap?

The price better be right (for the customer, not for you).

When adoption funding was guaranteed, it was foolhardy to be the low bid. But the rules have changed: trading some margin for a lot of volume is a winning idea. (See if the next point helps you with pricing.)

Think about smarter delivery instead of “thud factor.”

Back in the day, the poundage of the free-with-order package was a key factor in swaying an adoption. Now, it signals a lack of imagination. Optimize your products for internet delivery. (You’ll save a bundle on shipping alone.) Be selective about the package make-up, and split the savings with your customer. They’ll reward you for it.

Consider sharing rather than going it alone.

In tight times, customers streamline. Provide a single-source solution through creative partnering (textbook publisher + kit maker + software developer, etc.). You’ll each expand business and get a leg up on the un-partnered competition. Or consider partnering directly with larger customers when crafting a new program.

Choose your battles so you don’t dilute your strength.

Where are your best opportunities? Conventional wisdom said “the biggest states,” and that’s where all your competitors will still be lined up. But where are they not looking?

Submitted by Mark Grayson of Six Red Marbles.

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Mark Grayson is Editorial Director of Science and Religion at Six Red Marbles, an award-winning provider of fun ideas and serious solutions for the K-12 and college markets. During his 18-year tenure at Holt, Rinehart and Winston (now Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt), Mark managed product development and assisted with sales and marketing efforts for a more than a half-dozen science and health adoptions in Texas, California, and other states. He blogs regularly about the inner workings of the Texas State Board of Education at blog.sixredmarbles.com.

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