by Charles on February 22, 2010 |
As I’ve mentioned before, now is a good time to start a commercial publishing operation. Startup costs are low, marketing is free and of course — great content is always in demand.
The question that has everyone stumped, however, is how to make publishing profitable. Print as we now know it is a slippery slope. Slapped-up Adsense and banner ads aren’t cutting it, either. And those magic, get-rich blogging formulas — so tragically 2008.
Here are 3 models that work. Of course, success with any one of these rely heavily on editorial integrity and what David Meerman Scott calls [click to continue…]
by Charles on February 10, 2010 |
Wow! I just spent the past week immersed in the deep and murky waters of the publishing industry, and the sense is this: the publishing revolution is shaking up the market of the written word, and this is great news for independent publishers.
The once steady but now outdated operations of the business are giving way to new opportunities to innovate. The catch is to be quick, clever and downright daring. But this is no easy task given the complex and steady drama of the publishing industry.
With that said — as you ponder your future in publishing — take a moment to consider these insightful, off-the-cuff tips for starting your own publishing company: [click to continue…]
by Charles on January 29, 2010 |
What makes a blogger?
A penchant for the rant? A crowd hustler with sticky offers? A spirited journalist, an observer of life, a thought leader?
And what about the rest of us, scratching hard to make (not even a) living? Is it all for nothing or is there a future for us?
The answer is absolutely. The titanic publishing industry is mobilizing, and we need to upgrade our strategy.
The Myth of Make Money Online
For the obscure blogger aspiring to the privy rank of ‘problogger,’ chances for commercial success are [click to continue…]
by Charles on January 22, 2010 |
They sure bother me.
You what SWAG is, right? It’s Stuff We All Get. All the cheap branded junk from the job fairs and marketing conventions of the world: fluorescent pens, calendar magnets, carabiner keychains. Baseball caps with corporate logos you’d never wear but keep anyway.
A SWAG blog is a blog that churns out tons of content but provides little value over a long time. So maybe at first you’re sucked into its helpful advice or vernacular charm, but after awhile you realize you’re reading the same stuff, different day.
How to Spot a SWAG Blog
Most SWAG blogs are ones that insist they know how to make you the next internet marketing superstar.
They suck you in with their too-good-to-be-true headlines, then proceed to assimilate your creativity with all the great marketing advice you could ever need, and then some.
Before you know it, all that’s left is [click to continue…]
by Charles on January 21, 2010 |
In 2009, did you spend a little too much time on Facebook and Twitter? A little too much time talking about Facebook and Twitter? Did you proclaim yourself a social media expert?
It’s okay to admit it, because we’re all guilty.
2010 promises to be a different year—the Year of the Publisher. Now that the novelty of social media as marketing tools is wearing off (heck, even my tiny local supermarket uses Twitter), it’s time to really focus on the content we publish.
In other words, you need to put more energy than ever into producing ultra-high value content. [click to continue…]
