Part 1 : Making the leap to Web Strategist

Paul, after two decades working in print and broadcast media, when did you make the leap to the Web, and why?
In my heart, I made the leap in the early 90s, before Mosaic and Mozilla, when the Web was young. I loved the idea. We're all in touch, all 6.5 billion of us, or at least we can be. It is now truly a global village; we are now one on the Web. Idealistic? Sure, but why not? This is infinitely more significant than atomic power and a cure for cancer. It's the nascent stages of the evolution of a global consciousness, so don't try to keep me out of it...

I really started in earnest in October 1999, and I'm still inventing Sullivan Media. More and more, I believe what the Web needs is better content and presentation, and that's our strength. We will focus even more on content in year two.

What print/broadcast skills helped you most in your new venture?
I use 'em all. Being a newspaper editor taught me about the hierarchy of information - you know: the most important stuff first and at the top - being a magazine editor taught me about the relationship between content and presentation; being a TV news producer taught me about the screen as a canvas, and being a radio host and columnist taught me deep things about communicating with other people; being a publishing veep taught me about the business of communication, and being a web enthusiast taught me how to apply those skills to a company's web site!

Can you tell us a little about Sullivan Media's first "big" web project?
It was the Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tour web site. They're still our client, I love these guys. They have a fantastic business, running a tourist train from Vancouver through the Rockies to Banff and Jasper. They came to us after I did a seminar in which I talked a lot like I do in this interview - I had to put my money where my mouth was.

At the time, their site was okay, but it didn't drive home the wonderfulness of the trip. Their slogan was: "The most spectacular rail trip in the world." I thought about it - and then decided that should be the focus of the site. And then I tried to build everything, all the functions and features, to drive home that promise.

The point is that your site needs to have a clear purpose, it has to communicate that purpose, it has to fulfill its promise and the user has to believe that the promise has been fulfilled. And the purpose has to be worth all the time, money and pain that go into it.

Continued...