Two years ago, the Book Industry Study Group, with all of its 138 members, had to make some money. So Brian O'Leary, BISG executive director, decided to do webinars—more specifically sponsored webinars. 33 of them. In one year. All sponsored.

"You have to understand the needs of your audience and what they want from you, and then design an experience that takes them along that continuum," website design expert Layla Masri, president of Bean Creative, said last year in a presentation. "Useability is about reducing friction. It doesn't mean you have to have the shortest text, it's just that you always have to take your viewers' needs into mind."