But Seriously…

Last week, one of our competitors sent an e-mail to a lot of you. (This is bound to happen when you’re not afraid to promote your customers’ content.) The e-mail said (in part):

 

 

So Long Nxtbook. I’m Getting Serious With (insert classy competitor name here)

Sometimes you just grow out of a relationship because you may not be getting everything you need. We understand.

The Benefits of (working with said competitor) are endless:

Double audience readership (Compared to what??? Half audience readership???)
Track advertising and reader behavior (How very 2003)
Integrate keywords for better Google search (Cute… we had this four years ago. :))
Enrich and keep sticky with multimedia content (Is it me, or does this just sound gross?)
Reduce costs of print and mailing by up to 95% (Insert baldness cure claims here)

First up, whoever is in charge of marketing for these guys should be fired. Or worse. Consider the strategy:

1. Even though the ocean of digital edition prospects is a million miles deep and a million miles wide, let’s poach them from a competitor’s website.
2. After we poach them, let’s make it obvious that we poached them in our e-mail. They’ll think we’re cool! (Judging by what we heard, most of them thought you were creepy.)
3. In the e-mail, let’s mention a bunch of features that they have and pepper it with unprovable statistics.

Are you kidding me? The only thing that was missing was a free order of steak knives if you act now.

When shared with a top ranking industry insider, he wrote, "No classiness in this type of advertising. On the other hand, you guys exemplify class… so it positions you well in an odd way." So there’s that.

All of that being said, aside from the intrusion to our customers, the only thing that stung was the idea that you and we aren’t serious about this industry.

We’ve written of the many publishers who carefully have mapped out a strategy to grow international readership through their digital magazines. We’ve promoted webinars for those publishers who’ve found six figure revenue streams. And we’ve helped others launch their first forays into the mobile space with Nxtbook Liberty. You’ve gotten serious results, and we’ve provided serious support.

Along the way, we’ve built an entire layer within our organization of Account Managers, whose only mission is to help you be more successful. We added Flash animators and video experts - specialists who exist for the sole purpose of pushing the technology as far as it will go. And along the way, we’ve added a small army of developers, whose job it is to push the boundaries of the product even further. In fact, as a full-service provider, our entire survival is based on delivering serious results.

At the end of the day, we share many traits with our customers. Our mutual dedication to pushing the digital edition envelope further is just one of them.

We Got Game

Here’s a post discussing our involvement with the Cardiff City Football Club (you know - that kind of football), which caused us to think about how much sports work we’ve done at Nxtbook. We’ve done digital editions of American football, marathons, golf and even hunting & trapping. 

It turns out if you can kick it, carry it, run it, hit it or shoot it, we’ve done it!

Six Nxtbooks You’ve Got to Read…

Here are six very cool Nxtbooks, all produced within the past 30 days (some within the past 3). Some are listed because they’re some of the most-read titles of the past month. Others are listed because the content is unique or intriguing. Each is worth a look.

The Official Event Guide to SuperBowl XLIII - One of our most-read titles of 2008 is back for 2009!
Your Guide to Verizon Wireless, Winter Edition - Commence wishing now.
The 2009 Catalog from the Stuttering Foundation - NEW to the Nxtbook family, this catalog has great integration with their e-commerce site
Gold Medal Whole Wheat Baking - Custom publications from General Mills consistently crack the Nxtbook Top 10 in readership
Boat U.S. - January, 2009 - Who says it takes time to build readership? Since launching last year, Boat U.S. digital readership has been near the head of the fleet every month - Check out the animated water on the cover!
Connections Magazine - This one’s close to our heart - a magazine produced by Nxtbook Media’s in-house custom publishing team. Notice the font styles and sizes, perfectly chosen for on-screen reading

From the Twitter-ati…

Here’s an example of 1 Tweet pulling in readers to Nxtbook content. This particular one is quite timely, though, as it’s for a Shaklee catalog. The Shaklee network is comprised of thousands of independent distributors around the world, many of whom wanted to send their product catalog out via e-mail. The challenge, however, was how to ensure click-throughs from the Nxtbook to the Shaklee e-commerce site resulted in the proper distributor getting credit for the sale.

How’d we do it? Tune in to Shaklee’s John Cortez’s webinar presentation on Thursday to find out!

Oooh, La, La!

During the months of November & December, Nxtbook catalog clients steal some of the glory from our magazine customers. Check out this beautiful perfume catalog from Marionnaud, produced by our French reseller.

Note the gorgeous animation, automatic opening gate-folds and French tool bar.

Case Study: Psion Teklogix — Keeping abreast of ever-changing products

Psion Teklogix is a 40-year-old company and a leading global provider of mobile computing solutions designed to improve business efficiency and productivity for major enterprises around the world. The company’s solutions are built around a range of high-quality, innovative mobile computers designed for harsh and demanding environments. The company manufactures a multitude of products including, but not limited to PDAs, vehicle mount computers, mobile printers and wireless infrastructures.

Toni Condi is the director of marketing at Americas Psion Teklogix Corporation and has more than a decade of experience. Condi has directed marketing campaigns for more than 20 million prospects and has had record success.

 The Challenge

America’s Psion Teklogix Corporation produces a catalog of services and products rolled into one book. The company has many spec sheets and makes it difficult for customers to beep abreast of the ever-changing products it carries. The Nxbook option gave the company a way to update the sections as necessary.

The company decided to convert the printed guide to Nxtbook because it allows the company to print fewer guides and this, in turn, saved money on hard printing.

This was critical because the products are constantly changing and the company didn’t want to have to constantly reprint the guides for reference.

Since the company is global, print distribution is a challenge due to printing nuances and problems with the postal service.

America’s Psion Teklogix Corporation considered other options including prior to using Nxtbook.

First, the company looked into alternative digital formats but found it wasn’t user friendly.

Next, the company considered short run digital printing but found it wasn’t cost effective and the quality wasn’t good.

The company also considered Microsites but learned the sites wouldn’t go into enough details and found the process cost prohibitive.

Then, the company looked into creating individual product sheets but ultimately decided the digital solutions would a better option.

America’s Psion Teklogix Corporation’s internal design team put the copy together in about 12 weeks. The internal deisn team made the product exactly what they wanted it to be. Then the company uploaded the guide to Nxtbook.

Nxtbook returned the product in about a week.

America’s Psion Teklogix Corporation deployed the solutions guide by the Web site and Web distribution through several rental e-mail campaigns. The company also implemented a general distribution through Google. The company also put together e-signatures that have the flipping pages from Nxtbook and draws the eye through any e-mail. The company crated dedicated e-mail blasts that it sends out with the e-newsletter and the company also does field sales and partner distribution.

• Company tracked statistics through Nxtbook and Google Analytics and learned which client clicks on what particular part of the publication. The company found the statistics are robust and concise.
• America’s Psion Teklogix Corporation looks at the pages to get a quick summary.
• Condi said viewers have a tendency to look through more pages on the Nxtbook than on the Web site.

• Nxtbook created customized opening pages with our logo so it appears as if they’re staying with the company for the entire time.
• In the future the company hopes to continue to expand the digital solutions guide and perhaps include video embedded on the book to describe products.
• Company found the product has been critical to lead generations.
• Company learned Nxtbook is an easy way to get the products distributed.
• Condi said the company can hit way more marketing channels online, and
• Product cost effective and it’s also a resource for the sales team.

• After researching at least four other options, Psion Teklogix Corporation found Nxtbook to be the most cost effective option to reprint guides. These guides, in turn, have been critical for lead generations because the guides provide an easy way for the information to be distributed worldwide since the company can hit many more marketing channels online.
• The decision to go digital caused potential buyers look through more pages on the Nxtbook than on the Web site while providing a way to update the ever-changing content.  

Note: This study was excerpted from a 2008 Webinar. Click here to view the Webinar.

How Do You Say “Drool” in French?

Check out the gorgeous new Nissan GT-R in either the Canadian version or French version of the Nxtbook. For a wide variety of Nxtbook language samples, click here.

Case Study: West — Reducing printing costs increased sales

West, a Thomson Reuters business is a leader in both print and online products for legal professionals. The company helps large law firm librarians obtain a large number of electronic catalogs. These catalogs give libraries an efficient way to share legal and regulatory material.

Cincy Stearns is the Senior Account Executive in the Marketing Services Department at West. She works with response marketing like direct marketing, e-mails to link the sales team with potential clients.

 

West recognized librarians needed a tool to aid in purchasing process of their legal catalogs.  The tool needed to be an efficient, easy-to-update process because the catalogs have a relatively short shelf life due to ever-changing laws.

The company decided to create a resource tool so clients could access the catalogs on the Internet.

The company knew going digital would accomplish three goals: It would save on printing costs, give librarians a unique way to share information to potential clients and aid in the sales process.

 

Though a partnership with Nxtbook Media, the company was able to create online catalogs for librarians and potential clients. The partnership enabled the company to reduce printing costs while creating a more efficient way for clients to view the products within the online catalogs.

Catalogs were prepared the same way as a regular printing process. Instead of sending the .PDFs to the printer, it was uploaded to Nxtbook Media. Within seven to 14 days, an e-mail was sent back to West, A Thomas Reuters so the company could ensure the accuracy of the links. Even with large catalogs with nearly 1,000 listings, Nxtbook Media was able to accomplish the task within two weeks.

Then West tested the links to ensure the accuracy of the links. Once the links were tested, the company was able to e-mail their links to external clients to reveal their catalog.

West not only e-mailed clients but also made the catalog accessible via a custom URL on their Web site and posted it on the company’s Intranet.

 

Results

• The sales team found it was a great tool because they could e-mail the link to potential clients as opposed to bogging down clients’ e-mail with bulk .PDFs.
• National librarian meetings became more efficient because librarians had access to the catalog anywhere and did not need to carry a catalog with them to check for new reference material.
• Sales increased because potential clients were able to page through the catalog, navigate the contents and could purchase products for libraries or individual use.
• The links helped potential clients find information for their services and in turn, they were more apt to purchase products.
• West saved on printing and postage costs.

 

• Check URLs from the start so broken links wouldn’t be distributed to clients.
• Pre-check processes ensure link quality.
• It is best to provide additional support when there are a lot of products within a catalog.
• Educate clients that they’ll need to allow pop-ups on their computer to view the catalog if they’re using a firewall.

 

• The decision to publish an online catalog accomplished six goals.
• It saved on printing costs.
• The decision gave librarians a unique way to share information to potential clients
• It aided in the sales process.
• Additionally, the online catalog caused meetings to become more efficient.
• The decision also eliminated the need to bog down clients’ e-mail with bulk .PDFs and brought in more clients because the catalog was simple to use.
• Even with larger catalog requests, Nxtbook Media ensured a rapid turn around which means the catalog could be distributed to potential clients quickly.

 

Editor’s Note: This study was excerpted from a 2008 Webinar featuring digital catalogs success stories. Click here to view the Webinar.  

WEBINAR - 11.33% Conversion Rate for Digital Catalog Customer

We had the great opportunity to sponsor an outstanding webinar today about Digital Catalogs, which featured three very successful publishers. For those of you who missed it, feel free to view the archive here. 

One speaker offered the following data:

* Sales figures of five times the cost of the digital catalog
* More than three minutes of engagement time (better than their website)
* A conversion rate of 11.33%, compared to 3-6% on their website.

How Many Videos Can That There Nxtbook Hold?

What’s going on with the fall TV lineup? Look no further than this catalog, which includes more than 20 video trailers.

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