So You Want To Be An Industry Analyst

Some say the industry analyst business is fading away. I disagree. It is changing, not dying. While there are analyst firms that may be struggling, the business itself is still very strong, just different. It is that difference I want to discuss with you here.

I have been an industry analyst or a tech analyst for the last 25 years. I got into the business when it was young and growing during the 1980s and 1990s. So much has changed since then in the industry. And because of that things have to change among the analyst world. Some understand that and continue to succeed. Some do not.

There seem to be as many different business models as there are analysts. We all specialize in a part of the business. We all do things differently. Some talk with the media and write columns, others write reports, give speeches and write books. We all focus on different parts of the industry and we all charge differently.

So it is up to the client company to find the analyst or firm they want to do business with. Since different analysts provide different services, it is likely that companies will do business with several analysts or firms.

So you have to make sure that what you offer is desired and needed by client companies today. Success ten years ago does not translate to success today unless you offer what they need today, and the way they want it.

If you can do that your business can continue to grow. I have talked with analysts who are still doing strong business and those who are discouraged. There are both in the marketplace. Learn from those who are successful.

Learning how to properly update your offerings and reposition yourself in the marketplace and stay hot is key to your success. And it is not just a one time re-do. You have to continually evaluate the changing marketplace and stay on top of the Wave. Otherwise you will be left behind.

The industry has changed. In the 1980s and 1990s there were so many companies and they all needed the industry analyst community. Compared with today they were smaller and they needed us to both talk about them to the world, and to provide competitive intelligence in reports and research.

At that time the industry also had sectors. Each company competed in one sector or another.

Then after the Telecom Act of 1996 the industry started to change. That means the industry analyst sector needed to change to stay current. This is the rub. Some did, but most did not.

Companies that worked in one sector started expanding. An example is local phone companies, which were just in the local phone sector in the 1990s. Then they started selling long distance, Internet, wireless and television as well.

The many smaller competitors started merging. Today there are fewer, but larger competitors in the same local phone company space.

In the 1990s there were seven baby bells, three major long distance companies, countless smaller wireless companies, Internet service providers and cable television companies.

Today there are only three baby bells, AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. There are no more long distance companies. There are fewer, very large cable television companies, wireless companies, ISPs and so on.

In addition the marketplace has developed a short attention span. Clients no longer have the time to read all the longer reports like they did ten years ago.

So even if your analyst practice still has every competitor as a client, you have lost far more than 50 percent of your business through mergers.

Doesnt that mean things are bad? Not if you are smart and can reinvent yourself. Today they still need the information, but they want it in summary form. You can provide the full report of course, but the summary page is generally what is needed.

The media has also changed. Media today is just as important, but looks completely different. Some newspapers have closed while others have downsized. The staff is smaller and the specialists are no longer there.

Today the web is growing in importance and is growing as vital today as print was in the 1990s. New services lead this news sector and traditional newspapers and magazines are growing their web presence as well.

I write a weekly column and it is read from coast to coast, and in fact worldwide by people interested in what I write about. It shows up high on Google searches.

If you take a closer look you realize it is an incredible transformation that is occurring in the industry. But this is change, not death.

This opportunity did not exist in the 1990s. But today if you know how the industry is changing, and how to plug in, you can play the game to win.

Bottom line everything about this industry is transforming itself, sector after sector. Parts are on the downside of the Wave while other parts are on the growing side.

Continuing down the same path as ten years ago is a dead end. Look at the changing industry and where you can best fit in and lead.

The growing part of the Wave is all these new segments. All these new companies who need competitive intelligence. Who need you to pay attention to them and talk about them and write about them.

There are so many smaller and newer companies with innovative technologies that are transforming the industry. They need to both understand what is happening in the industry and they need to get their name out there.

Your audience will be customers, investors, workers, competitors and suppliers. That has not changed. Just the way you reach them has been updated. Have you updated the way you reach out to them?

So if the industry analyst community will take the blinders off and focus on how the industry is changing, you can find new opportunities right in front of you. You will have to change what you do. You will have to jump from one Wave to the next. But is that not the price every success story has to pay?

Stay tuned in, and change with the industry and you will find opportunities will come knocking on your door. When you lead, you find you do not really have to work hard to find new clients. As always, they tend to find you.