We just shipped off the new “Audio Download Center” for McGraw-Hill. It came out pretty nice and allows for students to buy audio downloads in DRM-free, MP3 format at a bargain price. The CD version of the products are around $30 – $50 each, and these MP3’s are going for around $5-$6. Pretty nice.
We also used the “Wimpy Button” to share some sample tracks. Worked like a charm… Check it out here.
A few months ago we put together a Wordpress site for John Wiley & Sons with a custom template modeled after their main site. Instead of a one and done job, they were able to reuse the design for multiple sites!
This does a few things —- carries a consistent brand across different products, keeps costs REALLY low, and cuts development time in half (back to the low cost again). We love it and we’re glad to be a part of this new initiative.
We just moved this over to the live server yesterday and we like the way it came out! This was designed by Melissa Gorman over at The Company Standard, and we coded it up. In the coming weeks we’ll build in a shopping cart and possibly a CMS, but we had to get it live fast. The Stamford Review is now popping up at your local Barnes & Noble!
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.
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.
An editor at John Wiley & Sons recently “retweeted” about a book his company published was available in audio form and soon available on the Kindle. I think it’s great to find out from the source what’s coming, why it’s cool, and how it was made. However (there’s always a ‘however’), there’s a fundamental problem.
Why is the Kindle version available weeks after the print book? Technically, it could be available months before the print book. I asked. I didn’t receive an answer.
We recommend taking care of the core business before spending time on Twitter glossing over shortcomings. Everyone points to the fact that Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, is on Twitter. If Zappos wouldn’t offer such killer customer service as a pillar of the business, would it matter? If the CEO of Mike’s Shoes (a shoe store like 99% of all shoe stores) started Twittering, would it raise eyebrows. No. The fictitious Mike’s shoe business is boring, unremarkable, and ordinary.
Twittering doesn’t make your business great. Make your products and services amazing, and tell us all it about it later.
We’re happy to launch a new blog today for John Wiley & Sons! The idea of this site is to provide stories from today’s headlines and show how they apply to the lessons and concepts in the bestselling text, CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS.
What a fantastic way to build a relationship with the professors that are using the text in class – helping them prepare!
If we could smash a bottle of champange on the homepage, we would!
