Martha Proclaims “New Chapter” for MSLO

It’s easy to see a shift is underway at MSLO. After declining ad revenues throughout the publishing industry, as advertiser dollars migrate online, MSLO shed the production portions of its publication divisions, while continuing to contribute content development for the popular books and magazines. This is part of the company’s strategy to cut costs at MSLO while expanding its profitable merchandising division, which has been responsible for almost all the company’s profits for several years now.

In this Bloomberg article, Martha is optimistic about her company’s future and her ability to leverage her personal brand to be ambassador of “good things” to homemakers all over the world. Martha has worked hard to earn the public’s trust–so there’s little doubt she’ll succeed.

She also provides very good advice on gift giving for executives, including this one: “What they want is a beautiful piece of jewelry, a handbag — something you’ve thought through. That’s something you don’t mess up.”

Lastly, doesn’t Martha look buoyant and fabulous in the photo? Happy New Year, Martha!

You can read the entire Bloomberg article here.

This is excerpted from the article, as is the photo shown above:

Now I’m more devoted to making things really, really good than making things monetarily successful. If you make them good, the success comes. My company is a case in point. This company has to grow now. It has to. It has every single quality of a really good company and now all I have to do is help make that happen.

Martha Falls Ill from Holiday Turkeys!

 

I read recently that Martha had to cancel a public appearance because she had the flu. I found this odd, as Martha confesses that she never gets sick. “I don’t have time to be sick,” was her true-to-form response. Now, word comes that Martha did not have the flu at all–she was actually sick from salmonella, a form of food poisoning! Martha surmises that she came down with the illness after handling many raw turkeys in segments taped around the Thanksgiving holiday. FOMs: If anyone is tough enough to beat salmonella, it’s Martha, right? Glad you’re feeling better, Martha!

From Huffington Post (as is the above photo):

Martha Stewart was confined to her bed for several days last month because of salmonella infection, the New York Post‘s Page Six reported. “I never get sick, but I came down with salmonella. I think I caught it because I was handling so many turkeys around Thanksgiving,” Stewart told Page Six. “I was on the ‘Today’ show, I did a number of other [Thanksgiving] appearances. It really hit me hard and I was in bed for days. It was terrible.”

Martha Launches New Online Video Series, “Countdown to Christmas”

One of the ways MSLO has reduced expenditures as the company returns to profitability has been to reduce its presence on network television. (As you might guess, producing a daily talk show and taping before a live audience are both quite expensive.) Instead, MSLO promised more web-based programming, along the lines of the Sarah Carey-hosted Everyday Food videos that you can sign-up to receive each weekday in your mailbox. Now, the company has released the first web videos hosted by Martha herself, titled “Countdown to Christmas”. The exciting news about these new videos is that they were shot at Martha’s home in Bedford, NY. NINE recipe videos and SEVEN craft videos have been added to the revamped video hub at the Martha Stewart website. Go visit and enjoy! FOMs: It is like spending the holidays on Martha’s farm! How exciting!

From the Advertising Age website:

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is making an effort to go beyond posting clips culled and repurposed from its hundreds of hours of TV content. The new holiday videos are the first pure, short-form online videos to star Ms. Stewart herself. They include prominent product placement from brands such as Starbucks, Estee Lauder and Truvia. Ms. Stewart incorporates Starbucks, for example, into a craft project where she makes a felt-package for gift cards. “I think they are very pretty,” she says, holding up a Starbucks gift card.

Martha Stops by The Today Show to Judge Centerpiece Contest

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Martha stopped by The Today Show to judge their Thanksgiving centerpiece contest. FOMs: Watch the video and let me know your thoughts about Martha’s decision.

From The Today Show’s website (as is the above photo):

After beating out hundreds of other submissions, three viewer finalists compete to have their homemade Thanksgiving centerpiece named TODAY’s best by the queen of crafts herself, Martha Stewart.