So finally books are getting some love on the internet, Youtube style. There are several sites, like Scribd and Issuu that allow you to publish anything by uploading a pdf file. It displays like a page-flippable book or magazine and allows readers to share and embed. We like Issuu because it
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by Bud Parr on September 01, 2009 | permanent link
So finally books are getting some love on the internet, Youtube style. There are several sites, like Scribd and Issuu that allow you to publish anything by uploading a pdf file. It displays like a page-flippable book or magazine and allows readers to share and embed. We like Issuu because it has a great presentation, even if the audience there is smaller than at Scribd (as a friend put it, Scribd is like Youtube, Issuu is like Vimeo – one is nicer, the former gives you more eyeballs). So here’s an example of an embed that we created, along with Coffee House Press, for Laird Hunt’s new novel Ray of the Star.
The word google has been used as a verb for a decade now and since it became an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006 it has been part of our daily lexicon. Anyone who lives their life online has googled (the company insists on the lowercase and that one when referring to the company
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by Bud Parr on November 24, 2008 | permanent link
The word google has been used as a verb for a decade now and since it became an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006 it has been part of our daily lexicon. Anyone who lives their life online has googled (the company insists on the lowercase and that one when referring to the company that we use the uppercase) themselves and for good reason: it’s part of the conversation.
Don’t imagine that it’s just the ultimate in narcissism, if you’re online – that is, you blog or take part in blog conversations – you want to know if someone is talking to you directly, that is, if someone is mentioning you or linking to you. Your referral stats are helpful, but they only work on a link to your site and specifically if someone clicks on the link.∗
A lot of people ask me how they can improve traffic to their site; well this is the most important thing you can do (besides hiring a great publicist). If you’re going to blog you are walking into a very busy café and you’ll never be a part of the conversation if you’re a wallflower. Pay attention to what others are blogging about in your field or subject of interest, comment on their sites and know if they mention you.
Here’s how. There’s only one catch: Google expects you to have a gmail address (if you don’t want to use gmail, that’s fine, think of this as a log-in instead of an email for daily use). They make it pretty easy to get a gmail address (a frankly, I think they’re great and use one for my personal email) and not too hard to set up forwarding to your regular address. Then just go to http://google.com/alerts. Put in your search term, such as “Bud Parr” or “Sonnet Media.” You can leave the “Type” box at comprehensive (this searches news, blogs, etc.). I’d recommend setting the “How Often” option to “As it Happens”.
That’s it, you’ll start getting emails whenever someone mentions you on the whole World Wide Web. If you need help with any of this, just “drop a line”: http://sonnetmedia.net/contact
∗I tell all my clients that if you link to someone, click on the link. You’ll know that you made the link right and you’ll essentially be letting the other person know that you’ve linked to them because you can probably count on them to be checking their referral stats.
Please note that while I continue to work on some elements of the site, posting here will be light. Thanks
The Free I’m talking about is of course the new business environment driven primarily by Web-based companies. Company logos, once an important signal for consumers have less impact
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by Bud Parr on March 17, 2008 | permanent link
Please note that while I continue to work on some elements of the site, posting here will be light. Thanks
The Free I’m talking about is of course the new business environment driven primarily by Web-based companies. Company logos, once an important signal for consumers have less impact now that new business flood our semi-consciousness and trust, on the Web at least, is driven by other factors. Here are some points from a recent panel discussion on the matter from the Functioning Form blog:
“Web-based products have enormous flexibility and often grow/change as they mature. Take for example, the e-commerce site Zappos. They originally began by selling shoes online but have since begun to sell clothing and fragrances as well. When the CEO of Zappos talks about his company he is justifiably adamant that the Zappos brand represents “great customer service.” Yet, the Zappos logo prominently features a shoe. Sounds like it’s time for a new logo?”
The writer of this post also suggests that names have become more important than logos. Google is on the tip of my tongue, but their colorful logo, just type, doesn’t come to mind. This is probably good news, except for logo-designers, because as new businesses keep popping up it’s increasingly difficult to be original, and if original at all, it’s got to be increasingly difficult for a company to police a trademarked logo. If you’re a content provider, or rely on distributing information via email or RSS feeds for your marketing, logos have less value because they are diminished or get in the way.
