Follow Me on Your Kindle
Love Words + Pictures = Web, but don’t want to sit in front of your computer monitor anymore? Well, now you can get your W+P=W beamed magically to your Kindle!
Yes, that’s right ebook fans. You can now carry me in your backpack, your purse or even curl up with me in bed. Read about ereading on your favorite ereader!
But that’s not all, you’ll get geeky blog posts about emarketing, interactive content, and maybe even comic books. So what are you waiting for?
Go check out the Words+Pictures=Web Marketing Tech
eReaders – This Year’s “Big Gift”
Every year, there’s a mad rush for the “hot gift” of the year. Usually, that list is focused on popular products for kids, like the Zhu Zhu Pets
Of course, adults get gifts too, and this year may be the year of the ebook reader.
According to PCWorld, Kindle, Nook and Other E-Readers to Take Off in 2010. In my research, I see people considering an ebook reader for a loved one. My unscientific, totally observational evidence? Everyone wants to borrow my Kindle.
eBooks are an inevitable reality. Print publishing has become increasingly expensive, driving up prices and down profits of traditional books. In 2009, I self-published an ebook this year, which netted me fewer than 10 sales in a year. This type of performance wouldn’t make any sense for a traditional publisher, but for me it was fine. There was no overhead associated with printing, so every sale was pure profit.
Large and small publishers are already tapping ebook channels to generate sales of their back catalog titles. This will explode in 2010 as more people start to explore ebooks.
For most people, a laptop or desktop will be a perfectly acceptable ebook reader. Even iPhones can read ebook formats. But for hardcore readers, a Kindle or Nook will become as indispensable as their BN Membership Card.
Like any new technology, ebook readers are going to be fairly pricey (starting at $199), so if people buy one, it’s going to be that “big gift” for someone very special.
Will Amazon Add Prescriptions?
As I begin to assemble my 2010 tech predictions (a silly, but fun tradition among bloggers and other media types), I find myself stopping frequently to shop. Well, not shop exactly, more like check Amazon to see if a product exists. Y’see Amazon has grown so all-encompassing that it’s become something of a reality check for products.
You can order almost any product from Amazon. Since Amazon runs something of an eBay-like reseller area, they can sell things that they don’t even stock in their warehouse. I actually sell a few things on Amazon, including back issues of comics and my books.
Amazon has a secure ecommerce network, lots of customers, and a strong trusted brand name. With a greater push for digital healthcare, many more people will be shopping for their prescriptions online.
Since so many traditional pharmacies have diverse retail stores (or anchor to retail locations), consumers are already comfortable with picking up prescriptions while they shop for other products. WalMart, CVS, and other stores have strong retail and online locations that sell prescriptions.
If you have an acute condition that requires an immediate prescription, shopping online may not be the best option. But for chronic conditions that require a regularly updated prescription, reordering from an online pharmacy makes sense.
So how long before you can buy your prescriptions on Amazon? Probably not long.
Google Search Stories – 53 Seconds to Message
As a marketer, I am always trying to provide the best possible message in the shortest possible time. People are busy, so you need to give them the information they need to decide if they want to learn more about your product. Give them the right message in the right place at the right time, and you’ve got their attention.
Loosely translated: You get to tell your story.
Check out the video below from Google Search Stories. In 53 seconds, Google and YouTube reinforce the motivational power of storytelling.
And just for fun, check out the Batman Search Story.
Forrester: eReaders to Take Off in 2010
Forrester Research just released a report that suggests eReaders — like the Kindle, Sony eReader, and the Nook — will take off in 2010.
According to Forrester, “we expect sales in 2010 to double, bringing cumulative sales of eReaders to 10 million by year-end 2010.” Wow, that’s a lot of eReaders, many of which will undoubtedly be sold in this coming holiday cycle. (“Merry Christmas, grandma, here’s 1,500 books. Don’t forget to charge the battery.”)
Most people have a hard time imagining the potential of an eReader. That is, until they hold one in their hands or take a long flight. My guess is that these first eReaders, including my space-age Kindle 2, will seem rather quaint in a few years.
Right now, the eReader is just another single-use device. But pretty soon, we’ll see them double as digital planners, video players, and web devices. With more eReaders, there will be more reading options.
Yup, this is the start of something great.
Flexible Future – Readius eReader
Right now, we’re in the early stages of ebook technology. The playing field is rather flat, as consumers haven’t truly made a decision about who will be the leader in the field. Mainly because the grass in the field still hasn’t matured enough for a real game.
A new ereader by Readius shows a lot of promise because — get this — it rolls up. Yeah, like a little newspaper. How cool is that?
Okay, in concept, it’s really cool. In practice, the first Readius is chunky and uninspiring. It’s sort of like early “portable” computers that weighed 20+ pounds. My first portable was like lugging around a cinder block
But this is new technology. And if you’re willing to squint a little and tilt your head to the side, the darn thing looks a little like the future of ereading. Because after all, isn’t an ebook supposed to be about breaking out of rigid standards and into a more flexible future?
AlreadyGhosts.com – Already Too Late?
Are you watching FlashForward? If you like edgy dramas with deeply interwoven story lines, you may want to check it out. A lot of people are comparing it to Lost, Heroes, and X-Files, which had the same addictive quality in their first few seasons.
One key ongoing plot element are these two websites: The Mosaic and AlreadyGhosts.com. So, immediately after watching the most recent episode (on demand, not broadcast), I went to see what kind of stuff was featured on those websites.
Annnnd? Nothing. Nope, just a redirect back to the ABC.com website for FlashForward. Wow, talk about a missed opportunity for some ongoing marketing with excited fans. With television shows struggling for ratings and ad dollars, missing any opportunity can be, well, deadly.
If you drill down through ABC’s FlashForward site, you can get a few tidbits about AlreadyGhosts, but not nearly enough for a show that will thrive or die based on the web. ABC needs to giddyup and put some resources out there, especially for people who are geeky enough to follow a link that they saw on the show. This is the kind of grass-roots viral marketing that brand managers dream about. It’s the best kind of free advertising.
ABC hasn’t put up a site for AlreadyGhosts.com. Can this be ABC’s flash forward for FlashForward? Let’s hope it’s not too late to change the future.
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