SharedBook: On Demand

The Marketer's Apprentice

Just a quick note today - once again, I’m the last to know about something very cool.

Fake Steve Jobs has apparently been going strong for a long time, but this week the very popular blog has exploded in terms of awareness, because its author has been outed!  Turns out the previously anonymous blogger is a Senior Editor for Forbes.  With a wicked sense of humor.

We spend a lot of time here at SharedBook reading blogs as we continue to develop our Blog2Print business.  Fake Steve Jobs is well worth a read … if anyone besides me hasn’t yet …

Haters 1, Apple 0

Regular readers, and you know who you are, may recall my post in June in which I questioned the wisdom of Apple’s marvelously successful six-month publicity campaign in support of the iPhone.  Yes, it built enormous amounts of awareness, but it also provided a huge window for competitors and pundits to challenge the device and its appeal even before it had been seen.

How did this work out?

When AT & T announced that 146,000 iPhones were activated in the first days of availability, Apple stock took a hit.  Imagine!  I can tell you that if our company had sold 146,000 units of a $600 item in a few days, there would be a celebration for the ages.

But the expectations pegged sales projections around 500,000.  Hence, one of the most auspicious consumer electronics introductions of the decade gets labeled "disappointing."  And even Apple’s announcement yesterday that they had actually sold 270,000 during the period didn’t restore the luster.

You should know that I’m still betting on the iPhone to be huge.  But I stick to my premise – that Apple loyalists, fanatics that they are, would have bought the same number of units in the same amount of time with merely a few weeks notice, and the company would have been spared the Monday-morning quarterbacking.  Of course, I could be wrong …

The Latest SharedBook Reports

If you're interested in seeing what others have said about SharedBook recently, here's the latest.  Ron Hogan of GalleyCat published his report this morning as a result of meeting with Caroline during O'Reilly's Tools of Change for Publishing conference. Blog2Print made its TV debut last week when CyberBob included the widget at the end of his segment on San Antonio Living. One note, the first few products generated a lot of giggles, but things turned more serious when they reached Blog2Print at the end. Finally, Les Bain included Blog2Print on his Blogging Information blog recently. Thank you to all!

Social Networking Evolves

I just read the news in The New York Times that Mediabistro.com has been acquired by Jupitermedia and came across this letter from the company's founder, Laurel Touby, which was posted earlier today. Mediabistro.com has been around for about 10 years or so and is dedicated to providing resources for anyone who creates or works with content (their words) -- think journalists, PR professionals, creatives, book publishers and more.  Apparently, what began as a simple cocktail party to bring together a few media folks has turned into a $23 million acquisition for Jupitermedia. So what does this have to do with SharedBook? Well, in addition to the fact that we're in the business of reverse publishing online content in printed book format, the way the founder presents the evolution of Mediabistro.com illustrates how some of the simplest (seemingly anyway) decisions can benefit a business along the way.

iPhone Hype contd.

In follow up to Rick's post last week ... the hype continues!  I don't think it would be possible to get through this week without mentioning the iPhone in some way. Everyone seems to be talking about it! There's a good overview on CNN today, and Dan Blank's The Lifecycle of iPhone Ownership offers a more humorous take.

The Super Bowl of Technology

I blame it on ESPN.

Everything these days, and I mean everything, is handicapped, dissected, previewed and reviewed as if it is a really big sporting event.  Pre-game and post-game analysis.  Color commentary, and expert opinions.  It’s tough out there.

Which brings me to Apple, the iPhone, and smart marketing.  Was it a good idea to announce the product so far in advance of availability?  Give the world an opportunity to prejudge, and it will.  And the pundits are having a field day with the iPhone right now, predicting all the reasons it won’t succeed.  Here, and here, and here just for starters.

On the other hand, let’s concede that this all adds up to huge additional publicity.  But is there anyone among the potential early adopters that doesn’t know EXACTLY at what moment the iPhone will be available, and what it will do? One could argue that, for the segment that will be buying this the day of release, this is all “preaching to the converted.”  But for those on the fence, this negativity has to be affecting their purchase intent, doesn’t it?

I still bet on Steve Jobs, every time.  But he may have sold just as many phones by announcing it on the day of release as he will with all the hype – and without the window of opportunity he provided his detractors.

Stay tuned for the post-game!

The Marketer's Apprentice

One quick note, and then it’s back to the grind:  The sale of Photobucket is certainly interesting, in that it’s yet one more example of Big Money playing in the space. 

Not exactly our space.  But it sure is the space next door.  Hmm...

In the News

Judging by the Google Alerts I received over the holiday weekend, it doesn't seem like news slowed down much! We haven't posted a list of links here yet and today seems like a good day to start. Here are a few stories that I think may be of interest:

Antony Bruno, Reuters, Concerts seek Second Life with 3-pronged approach -- in person, streamed over the Internet and in Second Life simultaneously!

David Kirkpatrick, Fortune Magazine, Exclusive: Facebook’s New Face

Fred Wilson, A VC Blogs, Point Counterpoint (pros and cons of Facebook’s strategy per Josh Kopelman and Scott Heiferman)

Michael Cairns, PersonaNonData, HP’s E-Reader Concept Book

Joe Lichtenberg, iMedia Connection, Use Web 2.0 Tools to Drive Loyalty

The New Improved Technorati

I'm filling in for Mor today, who is off on vacation and hopefully having a wonderful time!

So... there I was plowing through the usual “news” sources yesterday morning when I noticed that Technorati had introduced an upgrade. I immediately went to the site to check it out -- the last time I used Technorati, I received repeated error messages for some very routine searches.

As soon as I hit the home page, I noticed the obvious difference, but imagine my surprise when I searched on SharedBook and within seconds (wow, what a major improvement) the usual blog listings popped up, as well as pictures, wait… PICTURES? From our recent karaoke excursion and a bowling party nonetheless. Harmless pictures, I should say, but much to my surprise, there stood/sat Andrew, Ben, Gokce, Jim, Bridget, Rick, Thea and just about everyone else in our New York office it seemed. It wasn’t long before I realized that the photos were stored in flickr photostreams (both of which were marked public -- the bowling party photographer has since marked his as private, and I suspect the karaoke pictures will disappear soon).

With some 14 billion pages of content available online today and growing (one of our favorite statistics from a Forbes article), I'm impressed with Technorati’s new search capabilities, and in awe of what can be pulled together so quickly for all to see. And to think, this is just the beginning...

SharedBook CEO on ScobleShow

We participated in our first live Internet interview during last month's Web 2.0 Expo. Talk about pressure! Caroline sat down with Robert Scoble to discuss our Reverse Publishing Platform for the ScobleShow. The footage was streamed live over Ustream.tv and is now posted on PodTech.

Take a look if you're interested -- Robert asked a lot of great questions and it will give you an overview of how we work with companies like CarePages.com (testing now, launching soon), Legacy.com and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, to leverage their online assets in viral flipbook or professionally-printed book formats. We appreciate Robert's help in spreading the word, and for easing the pressure of speaking live to an unknown audience!