With a lot of marketers, intimidation has come a long way on the Internet. Years ago, they were intimidated by the technology, then by what to say and where to say it. Today, many marketers are being bullied by the cool kids that are acting as an anti-marketing/anti-publicity task force.
Many popular bloggers sigh and moan about being approached by publicists and marketers. Bash them as savages. And, the way many marketers behave, it’s deserved. The trouble is that this bashing can influence the honest folks from even starting. Why would anyone want to be looked at as a self-promoting ass, especially by the guys they look up to?
Don’t be intimidated. Even the most popular voices on the Internet started out with a single “Hello World” blog post or trial upload to YouTube. You are an expert in your area, and you shouldn’t feel bad about building an audience. You’re not one of those out-dated marketers blasting spam, or soliciting bloggers blindly.
If you don’t start, or if you quit, you’re letting down the audience you want to serve.
Engadget has a story up about the possibility of Barnes & Noble launching it’s own ebook reader. Here’s a snip:
Everyone else is doing it, so why not Barnes & Noble too? That’s the talk following last week’s CTIA at least, where mysterious “insiders” were reportedly abuzz about the possibility of a B&N e-book reader that, like the Kindle, would supposedly be tied to a cellular carrier for some Whispernet-like connectivity.
Original? Not really. But it is a good indicator for Amazon, writers, and the publishing industry.
People that like to read will spend money on a device like the Kindle. And, my little brain tells me people with an eBook reader read more than they did B.K. (before Kindle). Will producers work harder to supply this dedicated group of customers with low cost, high quality, and timely material?
Or, will the eBook format continue to be an after thought for the majority of publishers? Late or limited publication availability? Will they continue to hit readers with the same pricing structure based on a model that is not relevant to digital publishing? Is it possible to release eBooks 2 months before the print book comes out instead of 3 weeks after?
If done right, there’s a lot of money to be made, and all they have to do is think of the customer. Hopefully a lot was learned from when the music industry made this shift a few years ago.
It’s still early. But, “it gets late early out there.”
If you are doing the same things you were doing 5 years ago to advance your career or business, take 4 minutes and watch this video:
Competition and the speed of change is even shocking to those of us that work with technology. What are you doing to keep pace? Do you have the right skills? The right foundation? Maybe this is the year to build it.
