11 Best Business Decisions of 2011

"I would say that continuing the push to get free apps into distribution was one of the best things I/we did. The decision to move ahead to do that was made last year, but keeping the pressure up, especially for iPads and Android, extended into this year, and we are very pleased with the results." BB

Vickie Stringer

CEO
Triple Crown Publications
Triple Crown Publications Inc. is an international leader in publishing urban fiction/"hip-hop lit" with novels distributed around the globe, including Japanese translations sold in Tokyo. It has sold more than 1 million books "and counting."

"My best strategy that I used for 2011 that allowed me to navigate through the ever-changing publishing industry was: One, utilizing my resources. I turned to non-compensated labor (in other words, free workers) by using more summer interns, seniors from a local church that assisted with marketing mailers, filing, database. In exchange I offered daily lunch, free books, credit for various accomplishments, and letters of recommendation and references. This was a great way to bring energy and passion back into my office that was about the love of publishing [and] reading, and not just [being] surrounded by employees or persons in desperate need of 'work.'"

Derk Haank

CEO
Springer Science + Business Media
Springer Science + Business Media is a leading, global scientific publisher/producer of books, journals, newsletters, CD-ROMs, online platforms, protocols, databases and conferences. It publishes some 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new book titles annually in the scientific, technical and medical, and business-to-business sectors. Its primary publishing fields are science, technology, medicine, business, transport and architecture. It encompasses approximately 55 publishing houses in nearly 20 countries, and employs more than 5,500 worldwide.

"The best business decision of 2011 was to complete our transformation from 'p' to 'e' publisher in the near future. Springer's base product will be digital, with customers able to order printed copies as an additional service."