Working in magazine publishing can be a lot like operating a collision repair facility where deadlines are concerned. In your shop, it's vital to complete repairs on time to keep costs down and to satisfy insurers and vehicle owners. For those of us in the magazine biz, failing to meet deadlines means our readers (aka, our customers) won't get information that may immediately impact their businesses. And, our advertisers won't get their communication messages out into the marketplace in a timely manner.
Because deadlines are so important, it can be difficult to focus on long-term goals. We are always reacting to the here and now, and, therefore, don't have time to address vital downstream planning. Putting in the time necessary to move a business forward may seem like wasted energy at the moment. Nevertheless, you have to remind yourself that discussions and actions aimed at reaching long-term goals are crucial to growth. The more you focus on the big picture, the greater your chances of succeeding. If you ever plan to take your business forward, it's imperative to keep an eye toward the future.
Although readers tell us they learn a lot from ABRN each month, we have known for a while that we can provide more. A few months ago, we began planning for changes to our print publication to stay focused on the long-term mission of the magazine — "to provide collision repair professionals with the awareness needed to be efficient, competitive and profitable."
In this issue we've taken steps to make the magazine more useful. As you turn the pages you'll notice three defined sections — our News Network, Collision Ops and Technology. Each of these sections opens with more information and internal tables of contents that should allow you to easily navigate through the publication. Going forward, our News Network will tie in closely with our online properties. Our audience is broader now than ever before, primarily because of our electronic media, www.ABRN.com and our e-newsletter, E-Pillar, which is published every Tuesday and Friday. A monthly print publication is just not enough these days to cover the market to the fullest extent. You're going to see more online exclusives in the ABRN News Network and you're going to see more online programs feeding into our print news section.
The Collision Ops area will consist of all stories meant to improve your shop management skills and day-to-day operations. We will continue to regularly run Shop Profiles, Shop Operations and Principles of Estimating, but now we'll have more space for quick stories, such as this month's piece on securing your information systems.
Finally, in the Technology area, we're going to provide more insight into developments at the OEM-level and among today's parts and materials suppliers, so you're not caught off guard by new materials or repair procedures. And, we're going to continue offering technical features that you and your techs will learn from and enjoy.
We hope that by focusing on our future we are helping you do the same in your collision repair facility.
Michael Willins
