Junta42 is excited to announceCustom Media Day 2010in New York on Wednesday, July 28th. This is our third annual event and we are again partnering with our good friends at American Business Media and the Custom Content Council.Custom Media Day is a one-day event specifically designed for custom publishers, content agencies, journalists and other content providers that are looking to grow their businesses.
Highlights of the event include:
Exclusive custom media researchfrom Junta42, MarketingProfs, ABM and the Business Marketing Association on the state of B2B custom media.
Special guestJeannine Rossignol from Xeroxwill go under the hood regarding Xerox’s content strategy.
Jim Hopkinson fromWiredmagazinewill discuss opportunities for custom publishers and the changing nature of content.
Dan Blank, an expert in editorial strategy for publishers, will discuss how custom publishers can create real social media tactics that your clients are asking about.
Ian Alexander, content master at Eat Media, will detail the growing industry of online content strategy, and how custom publishers can profit from this.
A panel including experts fromAdobeandNxtbook Mediatalking about content on new media devices like the iPad and smartphones, and where the opportunities really are for custom publishers today.
We’ve made plenty of time for questions and networking as well.
Custom Media Day will be held at the Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, NYC from 8am to 4pm. Junta42, CCC and ABM members can attend for $95. Regular admission is $125.
When we at Nxtbook Media heard that our client AAA Living won the 2010 Apex Award of Excellence in the Electronic and Web Publications category, we were ecstatic! Of course, one look at one of their leading-edge issues with custom publication, and you might argue they should win even more.
AAA Living uses nxtbooks to reach readers across the nation with region-specific information and ads. (See their website.) They produce 7 regional nxtbooks bi-monthly, all with interactive slideshows, clickable pop-ups, videos, audio clips, in-page scroll bars, and innovative rich media. (See an example here.)
To get a back-stage look at the award-winning digital edition production, we spoke with Nxtbook Media Designer Brittany Wimer (pictured below) about what sets AAA Living nxtbooks apart:
"I feel like they take advantage of what we offer. Some people just want the information or a picture on the page. But they really use animation, audio, video, and different kinds of interaction and really use it to make a good guide. They know you can show a picture of a place, but a slideshow ties a reader in. Or you can talk about a jazz band, but here you can actually listen to it."
When asked why she likes being the Nxtbook Media Designer for AAA Living nxtbooks, Brittany immediately pointed out:
"It’s not just me. You’re working with the whole team. Derik [Flash Designer] does just as much, if not more, than I do with it because of all the animations. Working with Pace [Communications] and AAA, we’re all a team. Account Managers, Proofers, we all tie in. I like the interaction with different people."
Brittany also talked about the process of creating nxtbooks for AAA Living. She said that it all came down to good communication. The production department and flash designer Derik got to know AAA Living’s goals and details so well, when potential questions arise, "I know how they want it handled. You get to know their wants and needs," said Brittany. She went on to say:
"I like working with AAA. They’re very easy-going, and we get what each other are thinking. The way their product looks, the way their team effort is, they definitely deserve an award. They’re more open to suggestion and exploring possibilities."
So it is with the backing of the entire Nxtbook Media team that we say, "Congratulations AAA Living!"
Yesterday our developers found out the latest toy we were hoping to play with won’t be coming. This from Plastic Logic, creators of the Que:
"Thank you for your commitment to the QUE ProReader and to Plastic Logic.
We’ve been working hard to bring the world’s first product based on plastic electronics technology to market — and have decided that delaying the device a bit longer will result in a better product for you. With that in mind, we need to let you know that since your unit will not ship on June 24 as planned, our automated ordering system has automatically cancelled [sic] your order.
We do hope, however, that you will stay on our list of customers interested in knowing about our progress and details of our upcoming product shipment. If you’d like to remain on our list, please click here .
We continue to be excited about the potential that our thin, light and shatter-proof ProReader will offer to business users everywhere, and hope we can count you among the first to experience this groundbreaking device."
It’s not enough to get readers to simply read your content. Get them talking about it. Better yet, get them talking IN it!
With yet another Nxtbook Media exclusive feature – the Discussion Tab – readers can connect with your digital content as well as with others in your readership community. (See an example here.)
It works like this: readers click the Discussion Tab, choose an article, and then post a comment about it. Their comments are live adn will appear in the Discussion Tab of that article on everyone’s screen.
Not only do publishers now get immediate feedback on their articles’ content, but readers can form a close-knit community as they discuss their reactions to what they’ve read. Readers are not just consuming your content anymore; they’re interacting with it, and – now – with each other, too.
Additionally, readers are required to submit their names and e-mail addresses, which provide a subtler benefit for publishers (aside from longer engagement times and increased feedback.)
Nxtbook customer GRAND magazine – a publication for grandparents – has people talking about their articles such as this one on page six. Their "Post A Comment" tab for this article is rich with readers discussing the topics and offering their own points of view. One reader, Esther, even comments on an ad for a vacation site which the she liked and apparently recommends.
To try the tab, talk to your Account Manager. Get your readers talking about, and in, your content today.
We’ve just made it that much easier to get your content spread across social media. (For free!)
Before today, your readers could show interest in an article by clicking our "Share" button to post it on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious and Twitter. This, of course, requires three simple clicks: One for the Share button, one to choose the social media site/RSS feed, and one to actually post it (with or without a personal message) to the site.
NOW we’ve taken it a step further by making it a step shorter. A "Like" button has been added to the Nxtbook toolbar. (See an example here.) Once a reader Likes an article, it immediately shows up in his or her facebook profile. The facebook profile page shows your reader Likes your nxtbook, and it provides a clickable link leading directly back to your reader’s favorite article.
As an added bonus, every reader who Likes an article can see others who Like it too. I personally like (and Liked) this page, which you can see if you click the Like button or visit my facebook page.
We figured you’d like one more way to get your digital edition on the number one most-visited site on the Web at NO EXTRA COST. Contact your account manager to set it up today.
Digital publishing company YUDU Media has released a whitepaper about iPad apps. In this whitepaper (and I use the term whitepaper quite loosely), they say that Nxtbook is only pursuing the web app strategy with the iPad. The only possible explanation for this error is the possibility that the fact checker for the whitepaper ran off with the copy editor, because both are atrocious.
Incidentally, I would link to the page of the whitepaper where YUDU says this, except it doesn’t have a page-specific permalink – one of the most basic of digital edition features which Nxtbook has offered for four years.
One of the lessons I’ve learned – admittedly the hard way – is that saying your competitors don’t have a feature in technology only succeeds in making you look foolish, as it’s never been easier for technology companies to add features. (The challenge is to teach customers how to properly implement those features, but we’ll save that for another post.)
All of that being said, philosophically we are bullish on web apps for the following reasons (none of which are referenced in the whitepaper):
a. No need for readers to learn a new behavior. Send the same e-mail with the same link and readers get your content.
b. Integrated analytics. Track exactly what readers are doing, a current drawback for native apps.
But while we believe web apps will ultimately prevail in the war for attention, native apps have their place. That’s why at the FOLIO show a few weeks ago we announced the Nxt-Stand native app featuring all of our content and coming to an iPad near you in the coming weeks, as well as branded magazine apps for those publishers who want them.
The simple reality is that the basic laws of economics continue to dictate that branded apps will not be a good investment for most publishers. Don’t believe us? Read the best post we’ve seen yet on the subject. Due to what we feel are definite limitation to the native app market, Nxtbook is committed to getting publishers on them for far less money than what others have spent. Otherwise, your investment wouldn’t be prudent.
So everyone who talks about the iPad and the tablet category says we’re at the very very beginning of something new. While that’s a good reason to be interested in it, a more pragmatic question is, "How big is this going to get?"
The folks at Forrester have dusted off their crystal balls to declare that tablet computers will increase in share of new units until 2014 when they will make up about 23% of the new sales in the US. This is about four times where we’re expected to be by year-end of this year.
It’s difficult to translate this into what % of your traffic will come from such devices, because even if sales of tablets are 23%, this doesn’t account for installed base. So while Forrester’s math says that 6% of unit sales will come from tablets by year-end, our best guess is that no more than 1% of all Nxtbooks will be read on tablets by year-end.
And while many computers will be retired and replaced by tablets in the next couple of years, many more will simply be replaced by other PC’s, meaning it’s impossible that tablet traffic will be greater than 23%, unless people develop a propensity to view significantly more web pages on them.
In our presentation at FOLIO last week, we crunched some numbers and suggested that the total share of Nxtbooks read on mobile and tablet devices would be about 11% in four years. Our best guess is that the Forrester Research further supports this view. All of which goes to say you need to care about this market for sure, but invest accordingly.
Nxtbook Media clients Wayne Gale of Stoke Seeds and John Cortez of Shaklee gave great presentations in the Webinar "Flipping over Digital Catalogs." Their points were so great, in fact, that some of them need to be reiterated one more time:
1. Pretty soon out of the gate, Wayne noted that nxtbook digital editions can inspire other web upgrades. As President, Wayne noticed that having a digital catalog driving customers to products on their website meant they needed to revamp the site. Now, when customers click on product links in the digital catalog, the specific product site pops up with quick purchasing options.
2. John pointed out in his presentation that nxtbooks are "flexible," and spent some time talking about the bells and whistles his digital editions use. His company uses nxtbooks for live links, buttons that email questions directly to distributers, and buttons that can enable a live chat between a customer and a distributer. He also liked that each nxtbook can be customized dynamically per distributer with personalized tracking systems. Then, the distributers use social media to make the catalogs go viral.
3. My favorite quote comes from Wayne; when he spoke about the services Nxtbook offers, he noted, "it’s not that they deliver this product to you and say ‘Well, good luck…’ We have found 100% reliability, have never had a complaint that customers were unable to access the nxtbook." We know we’re in the business of serving our clients with support, customer service, and a great product, but it’s still great hearing it from one of our clients. (See the 80 Reasons Nxtbook is Better)
Digital editions provide a solution of how to get your product catalog into your customers – and your customers’ friends – homes. Hear more about John and Wayne’s process in going digital in the Webinar archive (click here).
If you’re a publisher, it’s no secret that one of the greatest money making opportunities is in custom media. Unfortunately, these opportunities are often feast or famine and each project requires something entirely different than the last. So while the opportunity is very real, so is the risk.
But imagine if you had your own white-label custom media department that you could call on at a moment’s notice? An organization with a strong history of customer service and project management skills, guided by perhaps the greatest mind in the content marketing industry? And imagine this group was available to handle as much (or as little) of the heavy lifting as you like?
But the coolest part is you don’t have to imagine it. This blog post is the first official announcement of Talefoundry, a white-label custom media services company designed to handle the needs of small to medium sized publishers. Owned jointly by the people who bring you Nxtbook Media as well as Joe Pulizzi of Junta42, Talefoundry is looking forward to helping publishers with… well with just about everything in the world of custom media.
Check out the video, visit the website and let us know how Talefoundry can help put you into the custom publishing industry or help you to do it better. In the coming weeks, the Foundry will be ramping up services, and we’re looking for our first group of beta customers. Shouldn’t that include you?
Michael Turro has written a very provocative post about long-form content’s place in our digital future. This was a further development of a reference he made to Dave Caolo’s article on unitasking. The curious part is that some writers are now suggesting the walled nature of some Apple apps as an intentional design concept rather than being the oversight they likely are.
It wasn’t too long ago that digital magazine interfaces were looked at the same way. Even though long form reading is often a solitary activity, we’ve long felt the pressure from Turro and others to make the content more open – more open to social media, more open to RSS feeds, more upon to the very things that some are now suggesting are potential distractions.
In the end, I suspect Caolo’s right when he says all of this is temporary. For better or worse, the web is connected, those who’ve encouraged us to promote its connections are correct, and publishers and users are wise to ask us to keep those connected apparent. The challenge for a digital publisher like ourselves is to allow those connections to exist, but to not push them to the point of distraction.
Brittany Wimer, Nxtbook Media Designer