Some may say now is the worst possible time for businesses to tackle new initiatives, particularly ones that do not immediately reap monetary benefits or generate recognition and accolades from industry peers. With the economy still struggling, and business hard to come by for every media company, it is difficult for many to foresee any value to taking on new projects that do not immediately drive visible results.
As CMO of Epic Advertising, a global online performance marketing company, I tasked myself and Epic's stellar marketing staff with seeing past this challenge in early 2009, to develop our own custom media content that would do more than simply act as an additional advertising venue for Epic. My goal was to inform and educate the online marketing and advertising communities with relevant and compelling information they would find useful. So, I created a custom business and innovation magazine called Winning the Web to provide these communities with insight about best practices and innovative thinking for successful online—and offline—business ventures. 
The goal of any company that decides to create its own custom media content (magazine, industry blog, videos, etc.) should be to help others first. A custom media content program for your company will benefit your business in the long run (At Epic, we have already developed relationships with many of the country's most innovative brands by featuring them in Winning the Web.), but it is imperative that you seek to enrich your industry and its various communities with neutral expertise and insight that gives industry colleagues true value, rather than using the content as another advertising venue for your company.
There are numerous internal benefits to creating in-house media content that will only become apparent if you are diligent with how you create and publish your content. A well-planned content production program will build a searchable database of your company's expertise about various industry-specific topics.
Properly tagged URLs and keyword-rich content will enhance your SEO, putting your business in front of many more influential thought-leaders, advocates and executives than ever before.
You can also use your in-house content to increase executive visibility and enhance the reputation of your clients by highlighting their work and examining their best practices. This builds goodwill within your industry and strengthens relationships with competitors and clients in a non-invasive manner.
There is a myth that really good content costs a lot of time and money to create. Not true! We run our magazine with only two in-house marketing employees writing and creating content, along with a publishing partner that supports content and production. The "boot-strap mentality"—i.e. getting your feet wet in content creation and making something happen immediately—is what I have found to be the best way to get an initiative like this started. Get things moving before anyone has a chance to tell you "no," or that it is a foolish idea.
Once you achieve positive momentum, then you can bring in other resources and expand upon the content and/or delivery mechanism. But if you over-analyze every aspect of the process, your efforts will be dead in the water before you even begin.
Above all else, do not be afraid to take risks. For example, Epic is a Web advertising company, yet we created a print magazine that does not have any outside advertising. It has proven a great success, with big corporate names like JetBlue, the San Francisco Giants and Zappos featured in our magazine. Don't try to be all things to all people; instead, focus on great content that adds value to your colleagues and the industry at large.
