A Proud Honor

So this week, Nxtbook was humbled to be honored with an Ethics in Business Award. It’s a true honor for a company that tries to do the right things at all times.

One of the things we received as winners was a gratis video production so others could learn about who we are and perhaps take some ideas from us and make them their own. The result is this masterpiece. Keep an eye out for your favorite Nxtbooker, as most of us were in-house for the big shoot!

 

Something to Think About

So Paste Magazine is back with a new "proprietary" digital only format that they’re trying out. It’s kind of cool and not awful, so you might to give it a look. The reading experience and music experience is pretty good.

From where I sit, I’ll be curious to see how they integrate advertisers into the format, because for everything they did right, I still don’t see anywhere that advertisers will co-exist alongside editorial as they do so well in print or in other digital editions. And if you can’t do that, well I’m not so sure what you’re going to do. The magazine uses thumbnails to direct you to content, but can you see readers choosing to click on thumbnail ads? I can’t.

 

Clothing Young Entrepeneurs

So last Friday we did another promotion with the fun guys (and girls!) at iwearyourshirt.com. This is the 2nd time we’ve worked with them, and while I’m not going to divulge where it fits in our strategic plan for world digital domination, I’ll tell you this: it’s fun!

There were several videos throughout the day, but because we’re all in the mood to talk apps, apps, apps, I’ll treat you to this one, featuring Nxtbook Media customer GRAND Magazine and their Nxtbook on the iPad!

 

What Matters Now

Here’s a great link about 7 performance metrics that matter most. It’s terrific, and it talks about engagement time, ROI, etc…. all those things your customers should be talking about when you’re letting them talk about page views. Don’t let them do that! It’s silly for two reasons:

1) It doesn’t play to the strengths of your digital magazine. Your digital magazine absolutely delivers on what matters the most, so that’s where you want to channel your energies!

2) It’s vitally important that you really help your advertisers understand that they are not publishers. Page views will not help them. Engaged leads do. Keep the conversation there!

Avoiding Snags in Your Process

This week, the Nxtbook Sales Force is in town from around the country, so we took them into the woods and tried to lose them. Ah, just kidding, but one day a good portion of our company did go into the woods for one of those wall-climbing-tree-swinging-build-trust-among-departments sort of things. Pretty cool, all in all.

Aside from bragging that some of us got to play in the woods for a few hours, the point in all of this is that most of us would tell you that Nxtbook is – by far – the most functional place we’ve ever worked, and yet, we’re just as committed to keeping it that way. Lots of times, management throws you into these games because you can’t get along. It says a lot about our ownership that they had us playing games even though, for the most part, we already do.

 

Not Like You Had Other Plans for Friday

Remember the iwearyourshirt.com guys? Well, they’re back. This Friday they’ll be featuring Nxtbook Media on their site and social media networks. Much like last time, they’ll be posting information about Nxtbook on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, the Web, and YouTube.

More specifically, you’ll be able to interact with Nxtbook and iwearyourshirt.com folk live through a live stream video chat Friday afternoon. So check it out, give feedback, give us a shout-out, or just enjoy as these content creators blast rapid-fire subject matter across the Web.

(If you’re asking why you should watch iwearyourshirt.com read this article: “Don’t be anti-social. 5 reasons to embrace social media.” Social content is expected, important, and great for SEO. Some solid reasons for publishers to embrace it too.)

IRCE 2011: Dynamically Fed Content and Digitally Optimized Catalogs

This post was written by Eric Gervase, a Sales Director at Nxtbook Media. Eric attended IRCE 2011 to talk to potential and current clients and apply our knowledge of the ecommerce market.

 

Internet Retailer is an event we’ve been attending for a number of years now.  We’re proud supporters as exhibitors and always love to see all the fun stuff that our potential customers and other exhibitors are doing.  For instance, check out this crazy display by End Point.  I have to guess that the display had something to do with their deployment of Google’s Liquid Galaxy.  But, frankly, I just found the booth wildly interesting.

As usual though, some of the most interesting conversation happened with our potential customers.  As a digital catalog provider, we were talking with everyone about creating a great digital catalog from their print pdfs.  We were also talking about the ability to create mobile and tablet versions of their catalogs for apps or web-kit versions on Android and Apple products.  But… time and again, there were two other recurring themes all week.

1.    “Can you create a digital catalog from a feed delivered from our current website?”- There were certainly a fair share of attendees that had catalogs and were interested in a standard conversion into our Nxtbook technology.  But, for clients who don’t have a print catalog, the idea of a feed driven digital catalog came up over and over again.  About 5 years ago, we created a concept product we were calling Nxtbook “On The Fly”.  It was a dynamic catalog that we were pulling search results from Amazon’s store and displaying in a page turning format.  There were a ton of people interested in the idea, but it never really got off the ground.  Perhaps it’s time to dust that one off…

2.    “I don’t have a print catalog, can you design a digital catalog for me?”-  Again, it’s pretty clear what we do for retailers who already have a print catalog.  But, in the instance of a retailer who doesn’t already have one, how can we help?  The answer is, we can design a digital catalog for you from your raw product photos, descriptions and pricing.  In that process, we will take special care to design for the screen by using font sizes, page sizes and image sizes that makes sense for a computer, tablet or mobile device.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at IRCE 2011.  The other exhibitors were great.  The attendees brought us lively conversation and some new ideas (as well as dusted off some old ones).  And, let’s not forget, the weather and food in San Diego was fantastic.  All in all, it was a great trip.  We can’t wait for next year.

Eddies and Ozzies are Back Again

If you’re proud of the design or editorial quality of your digital magazine, you should enter the 2011 Eddies and Ozzies Awards. Each year, the Eddies and Ozzies laud the most outstanding digital magazines in industries including b-to-b, b-to-c, association and custom media. Last year, two dozen Nxtbook Media clients took home awards. The competition is steep, but it is clear our clients have what it takes to succeed.

The categories this year include best digital edition, best full issue, best online community, best design as well as several others. If you’re proud of your digital edition and want to enter for an award, submit your entry online or via mail.

Quick Thought from the Pennsylvania Railroad

In a whitepaper by Publishing Executive, they provide some tips on how to adapt to a cross-platform world. The last line, however, was what truly stuck out to me:

“Remember the example of the Pennsylvania Railroad: the nation’s first billion-dollar corporation made the fatal mistake of believing it was in the train business, rather than the transportation business. Make sure you are successful in thinking outside the boxcar.”

It is left for publishers to decide: are they in the publishing business, or are they in the content business? It is time to think beyond just the print, the PDF or even the exact replica.

Need an example? Check out Cygnus Publishing’s Feed & Grain digital edition. Everything from the animated cover to click-to-play video invites the reader to dig deeper and stay in the content longer. The optimized layout makes reading the material an effortless process for the user. See for yourself and judge if you’d rather be in the content business, delivering relevant content in an engaging manner, or if your needs are best served in replicas.

You’ve Got to Circle Readers with Content

Face it: your audience is crawling all over the Web.  That’s one of the reasons why so many publishers have made the move to getting their materials online. Creating digital editions is a crucial step to developing an online presence. But chances are, if your readers like your publication, they’ll appreciate more chances to interact with your brand and your content on other platforms. We have a couple of plans to help you circle your fans with content they can interact with.

1. Animated buttons and toolbar buttons – sharing to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has always been as intuitive to our platforms as it is to your readers. We’ve just taken it a step further: from intuitive to obvious.
2. YouTube – Adding video to your content calendar provides engaging content for your digital edition AND increases your online influence. This publisher set up their own YouTube channel for their publication, Beauty LaunchPad.
3. Facebook Page – As of right now, 45,893,447 people “Like” Facebook, and Facebook stats report over 500 million active users. Somewhere in there, your readers are bouncing from page to page, clicking "Like" as they go. Some publishers take advantage of this: NailPro magazine’s page provides a meeting ground for readers and editors and those interested in the industry, and they have incurred 8,677 "Likes" so far.
4. Twitter Thoughts – Having readers follow your brand on twitter is an easy way to consistently interact with them on a large and small scale. Take Connections which uses the medium to post links to articles as well as respond to readers’ tweets.

Building an online presence can take time and resources, but the efforts enable current readers to have a deeper engagement with your brand and new readers have a chance to find your publication on platforms they already frequent. To that end, Nxtbook Media Creative Services Team can help you plan and implement a social media strategy to increase your online influence. Simply click here and tell us what you need or contact your Account Manager to get started.

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