News And Updates
Inspired by the LinkedIn question by Dash, I finally got this post done.
I want to share some of my own thoughts on the future of publishing. Being a little of a geek always using the latest tech toys (visit one of my other blogs; Mobile and Internet), I think I have some idea of what’s coming in future. Also It’s important to understand that even if the change is coming, it does effect so many people that it will be some what slow…
First of, I think it’s very import not to bundle everything into one. The Magazines and Newspapers are very different. Newspapers focus on News and Magazines mainly to very different and variety of topics.
I think that the main factor that is and has been important for Newspapers is moving to other channels and that is the News. If you want your news fresh (like many do) then newspaper (in paper format) is not your source anymore.
Therefore I think that Newspapers are in different category than Magazines in this matter, since Magazine content is not so “time sensitive”
Will both die? Yes and no, I imagine some dying and others surviving, majority will change format away from paper, but obviously not all at least not for a long time.
The main factor for me (nearly) never to read news on paper, has been my iPhone and the reason I still read magazines, is because I like to read longer articles on paper. I also like the ad’s & overall visuals better on Magazines.
When iPhones, ereaders and similar achieve right specifications to give the feel and experience of the magazine (with professional layout etc.), the traditional paper format will start to really go away.
As I’m an avid RSS reader about 500 posts/day via google reader from various blogs etc. I can say that the visual experience is quite boring compared to magazines. Even if there is really good looking blogs, they are still the same looking from day to day & week to week…
What I like about online based content, is that it’s fresh and it’s easy to get various versions from same news, fast and with different viewpoints, not just one…
So depending on the content I use the following:
- News (RSS from main media sources & blogs)
- Topic related & short content (RSS & Blogs)
- Longer articles and when I have more time, I still enjoy Magazines, particularly while I’m eating by myself..
- While on the move Podcasts & RSS
What do you think and how do you consume your reading content?
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It’s now been almost 4 months when I first posted about YUDU. Yesterday I got an email from them, inviting me to their new private Beta.
Dear YUDU Freedom User,
We’ve been listening to your feedback ever since we launched YUDU Freedom and now we’re ready to bring you even more amazing online publishing benefits. Log in for a sneak preview to our new site using the details below, to find your publications and try out all the new features on offer!
You wanted to be able to upload your Word and PowerPoint documents; You wanted a place to display, promote and share your publications; You wanted privacy options for your creations; And you wanted a place to sell them.GREAT NEWS!….You’ve got it…we’ve done it all!! We’ve gone and developed a whole new website for you – even bigger and better than before!!
As a valued YUDU Freedom user, we’re giving you an extra special sneak preview and login to the BETA site, before we let the rest of world see it!
What’s so special about our new site? It’s no longer just about free publishing… it’s an ePublishing application, Marketplace and eLibrary that gives you the freedom to express, the power to create and the tools to sell your publications - so if you liked YUDUFreedom.com, you’ll love YUDU.com!
So that pretty much says it all. Today I was testing their new beta service and I must say I’m impressed. Their solution looks professional with clean design.
This will be one of the very needed solutions for print publishers to extend their publications life and readership. Publishers can also set up their publication to be private or public, and free of paid version.
For many smaller publishers this will be a great way to market and store their publications online. This will also extend the visibility of their advertisers.
On top of new document formats like PowerPoint, Word.doc, etc., with this new beta you can also publish your websites, audio files and photos too. So that’s pretty much everything else but video.
YUDU is currently in private beta, but not to worry, it will only be for few days. The public beta will be opened next Monday, 8th of September.
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If you are not using Cooliris (formerly PicLens) yet, you REALLY should. Cooliris is a powerful plug-in for your web browser. If you are browsing images for any reason anytime, this simply is the best way to flow trough hundreds of images in no time.
Doing Google image search with Cooliris is probably 10 times faster. You really need to try it to understand it. I have written about cooliris (PicLens) before on my other blog, so you may want to read that as well.
I just installed Cooliris plug-in to this blog, even if I don’t (yet) have that many images. If you have your own website or blog and it’s run on wordpress you should install this plug-in, specially if you are photographer or graphics designer with lots of images.
For other than Wordpress there are other solutions to enable Cooliris as well. Read more at their website or do some googling with cooliris + (your CMS) or PicLens + (your CMS).
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite As you can see on the main page on right, I have been asking from our Magazine Publishing Group members for their opinion for the forum type that I’m planning to setup.
The votes have been very close, I have also asked this question from another audience at LinkedIn Answers (not in vote results). Even that the votes are really close, there seems to be a slight lean towards a more social network type of forum or community.
While the more traditional forum would be more established as a software platform with various plug-in options etc. and therefore that could be good choice for now, I think that the social network type of platform will have greater appeal, particularly in future. Also it will most likely have an increasing momentum behind if from the developers and users in general.
In my email that I have sent to Magazine Publishing Group members few days back, I explained the options for the platforms, that were:
1. Social Network type of solution (like MySpace, facebook or LinkedIn type solution)
This will include forum, discussions, enhanced profile, blogs, subgroups etc. So it’s more comprehensive solution. But does it need to have these additional features?
For this I would use elgg software http://www.elgg.org/about.php
OR
2. More traditional type of discussion forum like http://www.phpbb.com/community/
This is widely used more traditional type of solution, that is “just a forum” So this does not have so much flexibility for other type of social networking among peers, but it’s good for basic forum.
For this I would use phpBB:
http://www.phpbb.com/about/?sid=bfffb7cdaf541f2fff42401781148c06
As you can see from the elgg website, the version 1.0 is set to be released on the 18th of this month and since that’s only few days from now, I have decided to wait for that release and not install any of the preversions.
Another thing is that I’m not exactly sure if my server host supports all the requirements for running elgg, so I will need to check that as well. If all goes well wit that, I also still want to do some testing first, so that will take few extra days until the site will be open.
I wanted to share this status update, so you all know I’m working actively on getting this setup.
If you have not voted yet, please do so on the front page. Also if you have any comments please let me know.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite I have been looking for good online discussion forum that is centered around magazine publishing. I have been Googling, sending questions to LinkedIn answers and generally just been asking around. I have yet to find the kind of forum what I’m looking for.
Next, I reached out to our Magazine Publishing Group members in LinkedIn, asking if they would use this type of forum if that would be available and to me the response was pretty clear. From those that replied, all were indicating that they would. While I understand that the response numbers were not high, I think it still gives a good indication of interest toward this forum (knowing that this group is still very new but growing fast).
These two issues combined have convinced me to set up an Magazine Publishing Forum that is open to all professionals worldwide, related to Magazine Publishing. So yesterday I was spending my time looking and learning about what forum software to use and today I have spend many hours setting up the forum.
As soon as I have the forum set up and ready for members, I will post it here and send message to all of our Magazine Publishing Group Members.
It should not take too long anymore.
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I have created a Magazine Publishing Group in linkedIn. It’s a free LinkedIn group to network with peers.
This group is for all Magazine Publishing Professionals Worldwide. For publishers, editors, photographers, journalist, printers, designers, advertisers, distributors etc.
This Group is becoming quite popular one and I hope we can attract as many magazine publishing professionals as possible to join us, from different parts of the world. So if you are not yet part of our Group here is a direct link to join:
http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/125214/7CAEB6030B21
If you have friend that would be interested to join as well, feel free to share this link with them too. Also, if you have any suggestions or ideas for developing our group, please let me know.
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If you are looking to implement advertising on your website or blog, here are some guidelines on how to do it. Also, if you are wondering how to get sponsors for what you are doing, offering advertising positions on your website for your sponsors should be one option.
Building your ad positions with the help of ad networks
Begin by joining Google AdSense, an affiliate program (or programs), and/or one or more ad networks where you can register and start displaying their ads in your site. Some ad networks have limitations or eligibility requirements that you must meet, like the number of visitors per week or Google page rank, but services like Google AdSense and most of the affiliate programs don’t.
The next step is to design your ad positions on your website or blog layout on all the pages where you want to allow advertising, or directly on your website or blog template. Using these ad networks, you can get all your ad positions filled out and begin receiving advertising revenue.
Once you have chosen and created your ad positions, you are already well on your way to showing potential advertisers the type of advertising options you can offer, like where the ad positions are on your site and what ad sizes (various banner dimensions) are available.
Depending on which ad networks you use and what tools they provide, you will get lots of statistical information about how the ads are performing in different ad positions on your website. Given the ad network and settings that you have selected, you will also start to understand what kind of advertisements from which advertisers are starting to show up on your website or blog, and where.
Determining your advertising rates (i.e., prices for advertising)
Establishing your advertising rates will probably feel challenging. When determining your ad rates, you have many options for getting information, but the most important tip is to get it started somewhere. The easiest way is to start is to calculate the ad revenue you are receiving via the ad networks. The ad revenue from direct ad sales should be somewhat higher.
Using the statistical information that you receive from the ad network(s) you are using, you can identify the best-performing ad positions and target those when you first start to create your own ad rate card for attracting direct advertising on your website or blog
To determine the right prices for advertising, you can do the following. Begin by looking at the ad networks statistics to identify the average revenue per position. Multiply that by a number ranging from two to five. Then offer a 20% discount on that price to attract advertisers.
You should also search the web to see what the average advertising rates are on other websites or blogs in your subject area. Understand that just like there are multiple ad types, ad sizes and ad positions, there are also many kinds of ad price models and advertising revenue models, like CPI (cost per impression), CPM and CPT (cost per mille and cost per thousand), CPC (cost per click), and PPC (pay per click). Other advertising rates are based on duration, like per week, per month, etc.
The right advertising rate depends very much on your audience and readers. The more targeted your website or blog is on a particular topic, the more valuable it is to advertisers. So the right advertising price depends on the volume of your visitors and the profile of your readers. The better you can match advertisers and readers, the better the advertising relationship will be for you, your readers and for the advertiser.
Creating your very own ad rate card
After you have determined your ad positions, advertising pricing models and advertising rates, you can easily create your own ad rate card. If you are looking for sample ad rate cards, you can find them in our rate card directory, which has ad rate cards created by other people. In our directory, rate cards are done based on our ad rate card template. You can use this template to create your own rate card. All you have to do is fill out a few web forms.
Advertise your advertising
After you have created your ad rate card, you should advertise your advertising opportunities on your website with a “view ad rate card†or “advertising details†link. To promote your advertising opportunities, you can add it to our rate cards directory for free. Advertisers use our directory to search for sites where they can advertise.
Now you have opened the door for potential direct advertising on your site and created a professional way for advertisers to find your site, study the advertising opportunities you are offering and contact you easily.
Offering direct advertising opportunities on your site is not really a big or burdensome step if you already have some ad network ads on your site. Naturally you replace network ads with direct ads only if/when you get them. This way, all your ad positions are generating maximum advertising revenue all the time.
There are good, free tools for managing your ad positions and ads from multiple sources. A tool like openX, can automatically switch your ads depending on the given criteria. For example, you can have adword ads running in one position and then you can add direct ads into the circulation with a higher ad revenue value. After the CPM or duration has ended for that particular ad, the tool switches back to lower-revenue ad.
Selling and promoting your ad positions
The next step beyond opening the door for potential advertisers to contact you is to promote and sell your ad space (or have someone else do it for you), but that’s only if you choose to go this far. Giving advertisers an option to buy direct does not mean that you have to start selling, too.
If you would like to sell, then you need to see which ads are performing well on your site, based on the ad networks’ ad statistics. Contact those advertisers or their competitors directly to offer them your best positions with a fixed term. This allows the advertiser to “own” your best position and shut out the competition
If you are not so keen to sell, you can try to make a tempting offer, which lowers the barrier to contact you and get ads created. You could try to offer free advertising for one week, 10 CPM, or something similar to get things started. This will increase your contacts with advertisers and start building relationships with them. You can target only those that you will accept on your site, meaning those that you believe have potential value for your visitors and readers.
Why can you expect more revenue from direct advertising than from ad networks?
- There is no middle man to take a cut.
- You are building the advertiser/publisher relationship, so when you work directly with the advertiser you can help to modify the ad to “hit” better with your readers, since you know your audience and to what it responds to.
- The greater the effort you make, the more revenue you will receive.
Direct ad sales are not intended to replace your other advertising revenue models (i.e., ad networks / affiliates) unless you can fill all your ad positions all the time with direct ad sales. Use both direct ad sales and other advertising revenue models, and always using the highest revenue source for each ad position.
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A few weeks ago, I was reading a news article about YUDU. It sounded interesting, so I took a closer look.
YUDU is a free web service where you can upload your PDF file and have it converted into a digital magazine/publication, so that you can read it directly within your browser without downloading the actual PDF file. You may have seen similar readers used in the virtual versions of some of your favorite magazines.
It’s not just cool, it’s also free!
I have seen similar tools and services before, but this one is online and it’s free to use and publish! You simply upload your PDF file and then wait to get an email with the URL that will point directly to your new, virtual publication.
It creates a virtually identical copy of the publication where you can browse through pages with cool page-turn effects, zoom in to take a closer look, etc. It also converts texts like www.domain.com into clickable links, even if the original PDF did not have embedded URLs.
It will also help to save the forests, because it means using less paper.
Try this one and let me know what you think about YUDU.
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