Shortly after Lessiter Media acquired Farm Equipment from Cygnus Business Media in 2004, Editor/Publisher Mike Lessiter spent a day in Fort Atkinson, Wis., getting the “lay of the land” from Cygnus editors and sales staff. Upon his return to the office, he wrote up the adjacent memo to his dad, Frank Lessiter, laying the groundwork for the editorial approach he intended to take and how to grow the distressed publication in influence and stability from the 36-page format they’d just acquired. That memo also went in his briefcase for his first trip where much of the first issue was put together based on one 4-day trip to Ohio.

These principles were crucial in getting staff up to speed (almost entirely new to the concept of retail sales and service) and focusing on the right things while ensuring they were delivering on the content dealers most needed. This strategic memo charted the path the magazine would take for the next 20 years and continues to be a guide for our editors. 

When Dave Kanicki joined the staff in 2005, Mike shared the memo and, like in their prior days working together in Chicago, found an agreed-upon alignment and focus, and were immediately off and running.

Likewise, shortly after I came aboard as managing editor in 2012 I saw the memo on page 1 of our strategic planning meeting binders. It reminds the entire staff what our mission is and how we are going about it. 

By and large, the points laid out in this memo are still followed today, and we regularly look back on this memo to check ourselves. It is shared with new editors to help them understand what we do and how we can best serve our audience. You’ll see these principles in the pages of this issue — articles with dealer bylines, articles that are relevant to your business and are authoritative. These are also the same principles we use in planning our digital content and our events (both live and virtual).