Go to Source

Sponsor

Learn C the Hard Way is also in progress, but only the first few exercises are up so far. I expect other versions will follow at learncodethehardway.com. Shaw updated the Python version earlier this year, so it sounds like he’s getting serious about bringing out more versions.

For more resources for learning Ruby, check out our list of Ruby books for beginners.

Discuss

Go to Source

Sponsor

Learn C the Hard Way is also in progress, but only the first few exercises are up so far. I expect other versions will follow at learncodethehardway.com. Shaw updated the Python version earlier this year, so it sounds like he’s getting serious about bringing out more versions.

For more resources for learning Ruby, check out our list of Ruby books for beginners.

Discuss

Go to Source

The social networking giant assures us it’s not getting into the e-book publishing business, but rather snatched up the startup so that it can allow “some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.”

Sponsor

Push Pop Press was founded by two Apple veterans, Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris, the former of which focused on interface design. And it shows. In a TED talk given earlier this year, Matas demoed the iPad version of Our Choice, which includes a slick, almost Flipboard-esque user interface, interactive infographics and animations.

In acquiring the company, Facebook gets its hands on design and engineering talent, as well as the technology underlying the Push Pop Press e-book service, which Facebook will presumably incorporate into its own tablet apps and other products moving forward.

Like this one, many of Facebook’s acquisitions have been made in order to acquire talent and technology. The company acquired Hot Potato in 2010 and quickly moved to incorporate the underlying technology into what would later become Facebook Places. The previous year’s acquisition of Friendfeed was made largely for its talent, leaving the product itself to languish and fade away.

The Push Pop team will cease publishing e-books, but Our Choice will continue to be sold and its profits will be donated to a climate change advocacy nonprofit.

Discuss

Go to Source

The social networking giant assures us it’s not getting into the e-book publishing business, but rather snatched up the startup so that it can allow “some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.”

Sponsor

Push Pop Press was founded by two Apple veterans, Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris, the former of which focused on interface design. And it shows. In a TED talk given earlier this year, Matas demoed the iPad version of Our Choice, which includes a slick, almost Flipboard-esque user interface, interactive infographics and animations.

In acquiring the company, Facebook gets its hands on design and engineering talent, as well as the technology underlying the Push Pop Press e-book service, which Facebook will presumably incorporate into its own tablet apps and other products moving forward.

Like this one, many of Facebook’s acquisitions have been made in order to acquire talent and technology. The company acquired Hot Potato in 2010 and quickly moved to incorporate the underlying technology into what would later become Facebook Places. The previous year’s acquisition of Friendfeed was made largely for its talent, leaving the product itself to languish and fade away.

The Push Pop team will cease publishing e-books, but Our Choice will continue to be sold and its profits will be donated to a climate change advocacy nonprofit.

Discuss

Go to Source

The social networking giant assures us it’s not getting into the e-book publishing business, but rather snatched up the startup so that it can allow “some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.”

Sponsor

Push Pop Press was founded by two Apple veterans, Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris, the former of which focused on interface design. And it shows. In a TED talk given earlier this year, Matas demoed the iPad version of Our Choice, which includes a slick, almost Flipboard-esque user interface, interactive infographics and animations.

In acquiring the company, Facebook gets its hands on design and engineering talent, as well as the technology underlying the Push Pop Press e-book service, which Facebook will presumably incorporate into its own tablet apps and other products moving forward.

Like this one, many of Facebook’s acquisitions have been made in order to acquire talent and technology. The company acquired Hot Potato in 2010 and quickly moved to incorporate the underlying technology into what would later become Facebook Places. The previous year’s acquisition of Friendfeed was made largely for its talent, leaving the product itself to languish and fade away.

The Push Pop team will cease publishing e-books, but Our Choice will continue to be sold and its profits will be donated to a climate change advocacy nonprofit.

Discuss

Go to Source

Originally posted at News – Digital Media

Go to Source

Sponsor

Here’s Osmani on the benefit of patterns:

• Patterns are proven solutions: They provide solid approaches to solving issues in software development using proven solutions that reflect the experience and insights the developers that helped define and improve them bring to the pattern.
• Patterns can be easily re-used: A pattern usually reflects an out of the box solution that can be adapted to suit your own needs. This feature makes them quite robust.
• Patterns can be expressive: When you look at a pattern there’s generally a set structure and ‘vocabulary’ to the solution presented that can help express rather large solutions quite elegantly.

If you need something more basic to start out, check out our guide to free e-books on JavaScript and Stanford’s online course materials.

Discuss

Go to Source

Creating the title is the hardest and most agonizing part of the writing process. Whether you are writing a novel, a news article, an advertisement, a blog, or an e-book.

How do you cram the whole content of the book or article into a few words? How do you keep viewers interested enough to look a second time?

Coming up with a good headline is a task many writers take for granted. But good writers know that the title is just important as the whole book itself.

Benefits of a Great, Catchy Headline

Think of yourself as a fisherman, your audience as the fish, and your headline as your ‘fish bait’. In order to get the fish’s attention, you must bait them with something juicy enough to reel them in towards your call for action.

Often the headline is more important than even article! Even in email newsletters – everything is in the subject line – if it’s not compelling – people will not notice and send it directly to their trash. Since the market is already over saturated with so many ads and messages, it’s important to STAND OUT. People nowadays have such short attention spans, and a headline that isn’t catchy will lead to your own demise.

Techniques to Create a Good Headline

1. Avoid Cliché Terms

People stopped responding to cliché terms such as ‘high quality’, ‘number one’, and ‘top of the line’ a long time ago. It takes more than that to convince viewers that what they’ll get is different from the rest.

2. Going straight to the point vs. creative headlines

A direct, brief headline works in some cases, as do creative headlines. It depends on the situation really–direct headlines make use of the product characteristics and features; while the indirect headline is used to grab attention.

A direct headline gets straight to the point, with no intention to use creative tools or flowery words. Some examples of direct titles are: ‘Top Free iPod Apps’ and ‘West Jet Seat Sale at 50%’. Customers who are in a hurry, who want to get a benefit rather than entertainment, will prefer direct headlines–titles that get it right to the point.

The indirect headline otherwise ‘sells indirectly’. They are more subtle, using curiosity to intrigue the reader into knowing more.

3. How To Headline

This is a popular form of headline–because it piques the interest of readers in a snap. It’s everywhere, online and offline. And it’s so easy to make a how to headline, and it’s almost impossible to write a bad title that begins with ‘how to’. ‘How to Impress in a First Date’, ‘How to Potty Train your Child in 7 Days’ or ‘How to be a Rockstar Freelancer’ all work great.

4. Intrigue your Readers with a Question

Pique your reader’s interest by asking them a question, a question that they can relate to, or a question they want answered. ‘Should you Trust your Child Alone with a Nanny?’, ‘Where’s the Best Place to Find Suppliers for my Business?’ and ‘Should you Invest in a Security Camera at Home?’

5. Command your Readers to Action

On the other hand, you can catch your readers’ attention through the command headline. You can create a strong, forceful title by using a command headline. This type of headline tells the readers to take action fast. Examples of the command headline include ‘Invest in your Children’s Future Now’ or ‘Be a Hero—Recycle!’

6. Provide Interesting and ‘New’ News in your Headline

A headline that provides news, and informs readers is called a ‘News Headline’. A compelling headline can relate to current events, a product announcement, the latest scoop etc. Examples include ‘iPad 3 Coming 2012′, ‘International Stock Market on Slow but Steady Recovery’, ‘Microsoft to Launch Secret Gadget to Rival Apple’s iPhone’.

7. Give them a Reason Why.

This article is often a list of reasons about why you should opt for the product or service your book is promoting. It’s a great headline because it’s interesting and precise. Examples are ’10 Reasons you Should Subscribe to Netflix’, ‘Reasons Why an Online Business is Better than the Brick and Mortar’ and ’5 Ways to Lose 5 Inches Off your Waist’.

8. Use humor.

Use humor, but be careful. Make sure that you use your jokes within the right context, and without offending anyone. And don’t be corny. When you are in doubt, just don’t try to be funny.

Image from Photobucket

Whether or not some headlines are meant to be funny, do your research and try your best not to offend anyone.

9. Finally, and most importantly: give your readers what they want to hear.

First know who your readers are. If you are writing an exercise book, your readers are probably body conscious people who want to get fit. Work on the emotions of your readers. Feed them what they want to hear.

Of course, body conscious people want to get instant results. Tim Ferriss’ headline ‘The 4 Hour Body’ and ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’ definitely hit the spot. From the title itself, it says that you only work 4 hours a week, it promises you multiple benefits: rapid fat loss, amazing sex, and becoming superman. Emotion is a strong human occurrence and make it work on your side!

Same goes for the other Ferriss book, The 4-Hour Workweek, that promises escaping the boring 9-5 grind and joining the new rich. To the bored corporate drones who want to escape the corporate world and live financially independent, they will certainly pick up this book from the headline alone.

Great Examples of Headlines and Slogans for Inspiration

The slogan by Red Cross is frank and gripping. It makes you sad and feel a little guilty. Then it compels you to action, encouraging you think and to care for the world.

Using a number can be very effective for a headline. Just like the hit 90′s teen flick ’10 Things I Hate About You’, a title like this intrigues readers because it seems to indicate urgency. Plus readers know it’s concise and not too long. Titles like ’10 Things your waiter doesn’t tell you’, ’8 Ways to Get a Promotion’ and ’3 Steps to Getting over your Ex’ work like a charm.

Use of humor, coupled with great typography and a fitting pop art design makes up a winning book cover.

Minimalist, clean and straight to the point. This slogan is so memorable, that you don’t need the check mark logo to know that it’s Nike.

Another great and minimalist slogan from Nike. Everything just works.

This headline compels you to action (to get the book) and gives you a good reason why you should do so (to get what you want).

The story of Facebook is wryly entitled ‘The Accidental Billionaires’. The headline is funny enough, giving the idea that the founders became billionaires without intending to, and all they wanted to do in the first place was to ‘meet some girls’. The book cover is enough to get you intrigued and buy it off the shelf instantly.

Play with words–such as Steven Pressfield’s ‘The War of Art’. The headline was obviously based on Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’, but this time mixed up to create a fitting title on battling with artist’s block and other inner creative battles.

Helpful Links and Resources

‘The Headline Analyzer‘

The Headline Analyzer tool is created to analyze how effective a headline is. It provides you a percentage on how strong it is, based on their calculation on the emotional marketing value of the headline. This means calculating words based on their ‘impact’, whether it’s catchy, emotional, powerful, etc. To make sure that your headline is also appropriate, you have to select a category for your intended headline.

Headline Formulas

There are some headlines that work better than others. If you are having writer’s block and need a little help or two, you can use headline formula tools.

Go to Source

A new Pew research survey of U.S. adults conducted in May, 2011 shows that ownership of electronic readers such as the Amazon Kindle or The Barnes & Noble Nook is now at 12 percent. The ownership of e-readers doubled from six months prior when it was 6 percent.

The adoption of e-readers continues to outpace tablets such as the iPad and Motorola Xoom. Only 8 percent of respondents said they won a tablet, compared to 5 percent six months earlier. So tablet ownership seems to be growing at a slower pace.

However, the line between an e-reader and tablet is beginning to blur. The Color Nook runs on a version of Android (albeit not as fully functional as the latest tablets). And of course, every tablet now has e-book apps from Kindle, Apple, and others.

Three percent of U.S. adults own both a tablet and an e-reader. (You early adopters will buy anything).

Both tablets and e-readers still trail well behind ownership of other digita devices such as MP3 players (44 percent), DVRs (52 percent), laptops (56 percent), desktops (57 percent), and cell phones (83 percent). This is also the first time in this survey that laptop and desktop ownership reached parity.

Go to Source

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Go to Source

When you first get started in Internet marketing, building your list can be confusing. How do you build a subscriber list? Is there a step by step process? Are there rules? How in the world do you get people to sign up?

By now I’m sure you’ve heard the term” the money is in the list”. The truth of the matter is that the money is in the list. As an Internet marketer, your income is dependent upon your list. You must have a targeted responsive permission-based subscriber list. This is the single most important ingredient in your business. It’s absolutely crucial to have people to market to.

It is true that the money is in the list. And to take that a step farther, the money is in the targeted list. The quality of your subscribers is more important than the quantity. You will want to grow a list of people who are interested in who you are, what you do and your products and services. It’s better to have a smaller list of people who are interested in your niche, than a huge list of people who could care less. You’re list must be receptive and interested in order for you to convert them from prospects into buyers.

So how do you get started building a list? First you must give your prospects a reason to join your list. You will need to offer a beneficial giveaway to bribe them into giving you their name and e-mail address. This freebie can be anything from a special report, an audio, a video, a teleseminar, webinar, an e-book or a free trial offer.

In order to determine the type of giveaway your prospects would be interested in you have to ask yourself these questions.

* What do they want? * What sort of problem do they have that you can solve? * What sort of information are they desperate to get their hands on?

Your free offer should be of high quality content – something that you should be able to sell. That way they will say “Wow if this was free, I wonder what they’re paid products will be like?”

Next you will have to create an opt in page. This page should be kept short and to the point. It should talk about a perceived pain that the prospect has and a promise of a solution to that pain. There should be an opt in box before the fold of the page. You must also give a very clear call to action. For example ” Fill in your first name and primary e-mail address in the box below to receive your free report.”

Your opt in page should be on a stand-alone web page or WordPress blog with a keyword rich domain name. This way there will be no interferences or other things to pull their attention away from subscribing. The keyword rich domain name will help you get organic traffic.

Next you must create an autoresponder series. There should be seven or more follow-up messages. A multi-part ecourse is perfect for this. In order to get your new subscribers attention the first autoresponder follow-up message should always over deliver!

The most important aspect of your subscriber list is building a relationship with them. They are your bread and butter. They pay your mortgage, make your car payment and pay for your vacations. You must treasure them and treat them well. You must always be thinking about what you can do for them – how can you be of benefit. In return you will build a targeted responsive community of people who want to be in your space, who are receptive to your marketing suggestions and much more likely to buy from you.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Building A Responsive Subscriber List

Go to Source

When you first get started in Internet marketing, building your list can be confusing. How do you build a subscriber list? Is there a step by step process? Are there rules? How in the world do you get people to sign up?

By now I’m sure you’ve heard the term” the money is in the list”. The truth of the matter is that the money is in the list. As an Internet marketer, your income is dependent upon your list. You must have a targeted responsive permission-based subscriber list. This is the single most important ingredient in your business. It’s absolutely crucial to have people to market to.

It is true that the money is in the list. And to take that a step farther, the money is in the targeted list. The quality of your subscribers is more important than the quantity. You will want to grow a list of people who are interested in who you are, what you do and your products and services. It’s better to have a smaller list of people who are interested in your niche, than a huge list of people who could care less. You’re list must be receptive and interested in order for you to convert them from prospects into buyers.

So how do you get started building a list? First you must give your prospects a reason to join your list. You will need to offer a beneficial giveaway to bribe them into giving you their name and e-mail address. This freebie can be anything from a special report, an audio, a video, a teleseminar, webinar, an e-book or a free trial offer.

In order to determine the type of giveaway your prospects would be interested in you have to ask yourself these questions.

* What do they want? * What sort of problem do they have that you can solve? * What sort of information are they desperate to get their hands on?

Your free offer should be of high quality content – something that you should be able to sell. That way they will say “Wow if this was free, I wonder what they’re paid products will be like?”

Next you will have to create an opt in page. This page should be kept short and to the point. It should talk about a perceived pain that the prospect has and a promise of a solution to that pain. There should be an opt in box before the fold of the page. You must also give a very clear call to action. For example ” Fill in your first name and primary e-mail address in the box below to receive your free report.”

Your opt in page should be on a stand-alone web page or WordPress blog with a keyword rich domain name. This way there will be no interferences or other things to pull their attention away from subscribing. The keyword rich domain name will help you get organic traffic.

Next you must create an autoresponder series. There should be seven or more follow-up messages. A multi-part ecourse is perfect for this. In order to get your new subscribers attention the first autoresponder follow-up message should always over deliver!

The most important aspect of your subscriber list is building a relationship with them. They are your bread and butter. They pay your mortgage, make your car payment and pay for your vacations. You must treasure them and treat them well. You must always be thinking about what you can do for them – how can you be of benefit. In return you will build a targeted responsive community of people who want to be in your space, who are receptive to your marketing suggestions and much more likely to buy from you.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Building A Responsive Subscriber List

Go to Source

In addition to the book, they’ve also released ‘The Lost Files’ a DRM-free PDF book.

Initially, the Smashing Book 2 was supposed to contain more chapters, but because most of our contributors delivered (much) more content than the book’s size could accommodate, we couldn’t include them all. So, we release four chapters as a free bonus eBook, called “The Lost Files”. This e-book is available as a PDF, ePub and Mobipocket. It is not protected by DRM.

Go to Source

Fans of Apple’s iBooks app now have more content to choose from, thanks to the infusion of Random House titles to the iOS digital storefront.

Random House announced Monday that as of March 1, 2011, it would adopt an agency model for e-book sales. Random House was the last of the six major book publishing houses still using the older wholesale model for e-book sales.

The shift away from the wholesale e-book model started last year when Apple unveiled the iPad. Five of the major publishers switched models, with Random House the lone holdout. Now that Random House has embraced the agency model — which provides retailers with 30% of the sale and gives publishers the remaining 70% — many of its titles are available in iBooks.

Apple is promoting the new additions under a new banner that says “Bestselling Books Just Added” in the iOS application.

At the iPad’s launch in 2010, Apple made a point to highlight its publishing partners associated with iBooks. Perhaps we’ll hear more about this new partnership at today’s iPad 2 event — maybe in association with the next version of iBooks.

Does the addition of Random House titles make iBooks a more attractive reading platform? Let us know.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

More About: e-books, iBooks, ipad, publishing, random house

For more Media coverage:

• Follow Mashable Media on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Media channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Fans of Apple’s iBooks app now have more content to choose from, thanks to the infusion of Random House titles to the iOS digital storefront.

Random House announced Monday that as of March 1, 2011, it would adopt an agency model for e-book sales. Random House was the last of the six major book publishing houses still using the older wholesale model for e-book sales.

The shift away from the wholesale e-book model started last year when Apple unveiled the iPad. Five of the major publishers switched models, with Random House the lone holdout. Now that Random House has embraced the agency model — which provides retailers with 30% of the sale and gives publishers the remaining 70% — many of its titles are available in iBooks.

Apple is promoting the new additions under a new banner that says “Bestselling Books Just Added” in the iOS application.

At the iPad’s launch in 2010, Apple made a point to highlight its publishing partners associated with iBooks. Perhaps we’ll hear more about this new partnership at today’s iPad 2 event — maybe in association with the next version of iBooks.

Does the addition of Random House titles make iBooks a more attractive reading platform? Let us know.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

More About: e-books, iBooks, ipad, publishing, random house

For more Media coverage:

• Follow Mashable Media on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Media channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

A freelance operation is no different from any other. Sitting down to plan out a marketing strategy, operation times, scheduled work, and other tasks is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be sharing some tips about how to shift your freelance business into a well-oiled machine!

Remember as well that all businesses in the digital realm will run off a similar structure. Whether this is freelance writing, web design, programming, animation, or anything else from a similar spectrum. All freelancers should consider some of the same points regarding invoicing and work structure.

Building up your Network

It’s no illusion the most successful businesses out there today run off efficiency. The more efficient you are with producing services or goods for a network of clients, the better your reputation will be and spread to others.

Networking to some is a pain and almost comes across as unnecessary. However, in this scenario networking does not mean going into the world to find high-class clientele. With freelancing it’s much more common to meet potential business partners through relations of other means.

Connecting with webmasters, blog writers, e-book authors, Internet marketers, and nearly every other digital professional under the sun can only improve your own business. Well why is this? It’s actually a very simple idea of spreading out your resources.

As a freelancer you are only able to accomplish so much by yourself. Having a network of professionals to contact and bounce ideas off will ensure your projects have that much more fluidity and freedom to grow. It’s also an important segment in meeting new clients who wish to hire you as a contractor.

Build the Company Image

Branding is essential when it comes to business growth and development. All of the most popular brands on the market today have well-recognized symbols. McDonald’s, Verizon, Toyota, and Microsoft are just a few which come to mind.

Now it’s not to assume your small operation will grow towards the size of a software giant like Microsoft. But it is important to recognize that branding even, for a small business, will give off a professional feel to your consumer base.

This may seem like a strange understanding of the market, and it is to an extent. You may find it easier to brand yourself other than a company image.

I have talked with graphics designers and illustrators who find creating cartoons or imagery of themselves is branding enough for their freelance ops. Not only does it offer some personal feeling into the website, but it’s a great way to showcase their creative talents and prove to potential clients what they’re made of!

Create a Systematic Invoicing Procedure

Money will always be at the heart of your corporation, more like the fuel inciting the internal fire. Creation is an ongoing process and as artists we find it difficult to stop and invest time towards handling economics (well some of us).

If you have the extra money it may be worthwhile to work with a professional accountant. They can handle much of your taxes and invoicing information from all projects you’d be working on. This would leave your schedule wide open to focus on communications, IM chats, e-mails, and project work.

If you haven’t got the money and would rather handle your own finances there are plenty of solutions. It’s not as difficult as the suits on Wall St. would make you believe, and with the great accomplishments in Internet technology we have seen tons of new applications flooding the world wide web. Check out our list of invoicing tools if you’re in need of some inspiration.

Understand Distractions

We all would rather be doing something else other than working. This is our human nature, and to go against would be relieving the creation process. When entering into the world of business it’s important to recognize when you are ignoring tasks which should be done.

If possible try setting a short-term schedule where your projects would be completed well before due date. This gives the illusion that you have more time than you need, yet if you approach your schedule as the end-all be-all project timeline you can ensure all work will settled far before the actual completion date.

Try setting limits on your time as well. If you recognize there is a TV show you’d like to watch at 8PM, start work early in the afternoon and continue before you would like to rest. In this way you’ll get a small amount of project work completed and feel much more accomplished come end of the day.

The Art of Blogging

Blogging has become a great way to express new ideas and share opinions on the web. As a business it is crucial to offer this for your visitors as it gives them insight into what you do and who you are.

Writing is practice itself for the art of transcribing and sharing information. Blogging is the same idea, however shared digitally in any format of your choosing. Some businesses may run their blog as a small personal affect for their client base, while others may offer an extravagant magazine-styled theme.

Whatever the reason I would always recommend new freelancers to get into blogging. Even updating once or twice per week will give your interested readers something to check out. Freebies such as PSD mockups and icons will draw in a crowd from Google as well, propping up your brand into a glimpse of popularity.

These are all new-age tips related to freelance business structure in the 21st century. We have seen examples of businesses like these all throughout the web which have flourished in our golden age. Function and Envato are two which immediately come to mind.

If you’re interested in further topics of freelancing I’d recommend browsing the archives here. There are plenty of pros and cons to consider before even launching your website branding. Before approaching clients I’d also recommend our tips on landing your first freelance job as a starting point into the industry.

Go to Source

BundleHunt 3 comes with a number of new premium applications included such as CodeCollector Pro, Relationship 2, 6 outstanding WordPress themes by Press75 and ThemeTrust and SmashingMagazine’s newest e-book. In all, there are 20 applications and products included in the bundle, all for an amazing price: $49.

Click the image for a more details on the bundle.

Bonuses

BundleHunt 3 is an amazing deal, but there are also some bonuses that make it even sweeter.

Bonus #1: Win an iPad
This bundle not only saves you big money but also could win you an iPad (6GB/WiFi)
loaded with 5 best selling e-books for web designers & developers.

Bonus #2: Tweet to Win
Three users who tweet about the bundle will win the 3 Bonus Items each day during
the bundle. No Purchase necessary. The 3 bonus items are:

1. Business Icon Set (Worth $25)
2. 10 DepositPhotos Credit (Worth $500)
3. WPBids Theme (Worth $59)

Remember: BundleHunt3 is only available through Feb 21th. So grab it while you can.

Go to Source

Originally posted at News – Apple

Go to Source

As part of his mission to develop an alternative to the traditional book publishing model, acclaimed author and marketer Seth Godin has announced the first title to appear under his new Amazon imprint, called The Domino Project. The book is titled Poke the Box and will be made available for purchase in print, audio and as a Kindle e-book on March 1.

Amazon announced the imprint in November as part of its new “Powered by Amazon” publishing program, which allows selected (i.e., bestselling) authors to leverage Amazon’s production, distribution and marketing resources to distribute their content, thereby cutting traditional publishers out of the process.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to break ground and help define what publishing can become,” says Godin. “A book that isn’t read doesn’t do anyone any good, and too often, the book publishing industry gets in the way of books reaching people who can benefit from them. Amazon knows what to do to help these books get read.”

In other words, Godin will leverage Amazon’s Kindle Store and extensive media reach — along with his own considerable following — to market books published under his new imprint. But whether Godin is really redefining ‘what publishing can become’ is debatable. Godin and Amazon aren’t doing anything new — rather, Amazon is simply expanding its role as a retailer to perform most of the duties of a publisher as well.

In an interview with Mediabistro in August 2010, Godin said that he was frustrated by the slow, roundabout publishing process he had experienced in the past. “I like the people, but I can’t abide the long wait, the filters, the big push at launch, the nudging to get people to go to a store they don’t usually visit to buy something they don’t usually buy, to get them to pay for an idea in a form that’s hard to spread,” he said. “I can reach 10 or 50 times as many people electronically,” he explained.

Although he emphasized electronic distribution as the way of the future, Godin and Amazon are also heavily investing in a physical product: A “limited deluxe edition” will offer a printed version of the book along with a letterpress jacket and poster, as well as a “specially designed signature plate.” Five and 52-packs of the printed book will also be available “at a discounted price” to “share with friends and colleagues.”

The book itself, according to Amazon, is all about initiative, calling readers to become self-starters in their careers, organizations and personal lives. “It demands that you stop waiting for a road map and start drawing one instead,” Amazon said in a statement.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

More About: amazon, e-books, publishing, seth godin

For more Business & Marketing coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business & Marketing on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business & Marketing channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

The New York Times announced Wednesday that it plans to publish its first e-book, titled Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy, about last year’s WikiLeaks releases.

The e-book will describe how and why the Times came to publish the documents, and include “expanded profiles” of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Bradley Manning, the Army private who was charged in July 2010 for allegedly supplying Assange with the classified information. (Manning is currently being held in “maximum custody” at the Marine Corps Brig in Quantico, Virginia.) It will reprint many of the cables and war logs alongside “detailed analyses” of those documents, as well as explore the impact WikiLeaks has had on American diplomacy and government secrecy, the Times said in a statement.

The e-book will be made available through major e-booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Google eBookstore and Apple’s iBookstore, on January 31 — just 11 days before the physical copy of The Guardian‘s book on WikiLeaks hits shelves.

An excerpt from the introductory essay by New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, which describes how the Times first got involved with WikiLeaks and the deterioration of its relationship with Assange, is available as an online preview.

Shortly after the announcement, WikiLeaks tweeted, “NYTimes does another self-serving smear.Facts wrong, top to bottom. Dark day for US journalism,” with a link to the preview.

More About: amazon, e-book, media, new york times, wikileaks

For more Media coverage:

• Follow Mashable Media on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Media channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Go to Source

The technology world will gather in Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), one of the largest trade shows in the world. Countless new gadgets will be revealed, and new products will be demoed in front of more than 140,000 attendees and press.

At last year’s CES, connected and 3-D TVs, Android devices, tablets and e-book readers were some of the show’s big highlights. Since then, a lot has changed: The iPad was a major success, Android’s growth skyrocketed, and motion control gaming is red hot.

So what will everybody be buzzing about at CES 2011? We’ve done our research and compiled a list of five trends we think you should watch for at this year’s show. From the continuing surge of Android to the reveal of Windows 8, we think this year’s show will be an eventful one.

Here’s what you can expect from the show that first introduced us to the camcorder, VCR, DVD and HDTV.

1. The Tablet Revolution

Tablets were big last year, but companies were mostly showing off underdeveloped prototypes.

Thanks to the iPad’s success, the tablet market has been validated, and countless companies will attempt to make a splash in this market and become true competitors to Apple’s wildly popular device.

The top tablet to watch for this year is Motorola’s Android tablet, which will be the first device to run the Android 3.0 OS, called “Honeycomb.” It’s not the only Android tablet that will make its debut this week either. We expect a 10.1-inch tablet from Toshiba and an 8-inch device from Vizio.

While Android will dominate the tablet market this year, we do expect to see some Windows-based tablets. Finally, while we don’t expect it to be present at CES, watch out for discussion surrounding the PalmPad, HP and Palm’s unannounced webOS tablet device.

2. Video Games Invade CES

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will all have a presence at this year’s show. Nintendo, which normally skips CES, will be doing private demos of the Nintendo 3DS. We’re very excited to play with the device later this week.

Sony and Microsoft on the other hand will be showcasing their motion controllers, the PlayStation Move and the Xbox Kinect. Both devices are selling like hotcakes and we expect to see previews of future games that will utilize their respective motion controls.

As usual, there will be a lot of game accessory manufacturers at the show, launching new peripherals for our favorite gaming devices.

3. Connected Cars, Connected TVs, Connected Everything

“Connected” will be a big buzzword at this year’s CES. It starts with the cars: Ford, Toyota, BMW and others will have a big presence at this year’s show as they showcase their Internet technologies. FORD Sync, OnStar and other connected solutions will be on full display.

Connected TVs will also be big once again. They’ve had a year to mature, and thanks to Google TV, Apple TV, Roku and other connected TV solutions, the market for Internet-enabled TVs has never been bigger. While we don’t expect many Google TV devices at this year’s CES, we do expect almost all the major TV manufacturers to showcase different types of connected TVs and app stores.

Finally, you’ll see even more devices displaying “connected” technology. We saw a connected washing machine here or there last year, but we expect many more connected products to be showcased at CES. Your appliances and your bedroom are the Internet’s next big frontier.

4. 4G Phones and Networks Debut

LTE (Long Term Evolution), the best-known type of 4G network, will be a big selling point at this year’s CES. Verizon will be holding a press conference just to unveil details about its 4G network, but we expect a lot of 4G devices to be unveiled as well, following the success of the HTC Evo 4G.

One such device we’re keen on trying is the HTC Thunderbolt, which will have the distinction of being the first LTE phone on the Verizon network. It’s a 4.3-inch monster of a phone, but we still don’t know all the specs. That will change this week.

Other devices to watch for: The HTC Evo Shift 4G, the LG Optimus 2X and even Motorola’s Android Honeycomb tablet, which will also feature 4G connectivity.

5. Android & CES vs. Apple & iOS

Have you spotted an underlying theme for this year’s show? People will say CES 2011 is all about tablets, but while they will be prevalent, the real star of this year’s show will be Google Android.

Android tablets. Android phones. Android appliances. There will be so many devices running on Android at this year’s CES that you’re going to need an actual android to help keep track of it all.

Hundreds of companies have latched themselves onto Android, some so much so that their fate will be tied to the operating system’s market performance. It’s the only credible counterweight to Apple and iOS. The $300+ billion company will be casting a shadow on this year’s show thanks to the imminent release of the Verizon iPhone and the iPad 2. It wouldn’t surprise us if Apple announced one of its famous press events this week just to take the steam out of this year’s show.

Apple is the reason why everyone’s going gaga over Android and why everyone is so invested in the Google ecosystem. Without Android, Apple could steamroll over CES. It’s a testament to just how powerful Apple has become.

What are your predictions for this year’s CES, what gadgets and technology are you hoping to see? Let us know in the comments below.

More Tech Resources from Mashable:

– 8 Sci-Fi Technologies That Are No Longer Just Fiction
– 11 Astounding Sci-Fi Predictions That Came True
– 4 Predictions for Connected Devices in 2011
– Constantly Changing Technologies: What’s a Software Developer To Do?
– Tough Tech: 10 Rugged Gadgets That Will Go the Distance

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, filonmar

More About: 3-D, 3D, 3D TV, android, apple, CES, ces2011, HP, iOS, iPad 2, iphone, LG, microsoft, PalmPad, playstation move, sony, Windows 8, Xbox Kinect

For more Tech coverage:

• Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Tech channel
• Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Philip Ruppel is president of McGraw-Hill Professional, a leading global publisher of print and electronic content and services for the business, scientific, technical, and medical communities.

Without a doubt, the e-book is practically the biggest thing that’s hit the publishing industry since the invention of movable type. Publishers and e-book resellers are reporting astronomical growth.

At McGraw-Hill, we have been an active player in e-book technology dating back to devices like the RocketBook (one of the first e-book readers) that was launched more than 10 years ago. And today, e-books and e-book distribution is central to our publishing and growth strategy.

From the front lines of the e-book revolution, here are five trends I’m watching.

1. Enhanced E-Books Are Coming and Will Only Get Better

Consumers have already shown that they love e-books for their convenience and accessibility, but ultimately most e-books today are the same as print, just in digital form. The e-book of the not-too-distant future will be much more than text. Interactivity has arrived and will change the nature of the e-book.

Imagine video that shows how to fix a leaky faucet or solve complex math problems in statistics; audio that pronounces foreign language words as you read them, and assessment that lets you check what you remember and comprehend what you just read. These interactive features and more are being developed now and will be on the market in a matter of weeks, not months.

Publishers are already conjuring up designs for the enhanced e-book of the future. Imagine still: If you miss five questions on your geometry test, will your book adapt and change to help you learn the questions and concepts you missed? Will your new novel provide a platform for live exchange with reading groups where you can discuss the book with the author? Today’s enhanced e-books that feature talking heads or out-takes from movies are yesterday’s ideas. Consumers will expect a much greater experience.

2. The Device War Is Nearly Over

Devices are proliferating to the point of confusion. Does a consumer buy a Nook, Kindle, Sony e-reader, an iLex or any one of 20 other dedicated e-readers? Or do they buy an iPad, Galaxy Tab, or other Android tablet? Or do they buy an e-reader at all? Have you ever noticed on a crowded train or bus how many people are reading their phone? And for a growing number of readers, the mobile phone is fine for reading just about anything. But as far as devices go, consumer confusion is likely to drive quick consolidation around a few winners in the market — no one wants to own the next “Betamax for books.”

Because most developers are developing e-reader software that will work on multiple other devices (Kindle also works on the iPad, iPhone, and computers, for example), consumers will care less about the device and more about the user experience of the e-reader software, portability of titles from one device to another, and access to a full catalog of titles.

3. The $9.99 E-Book Won’t Last Forever

Amazon popularized the $9.99 price point for best-seller trade titles, driving the widespread consumer adoption of the Kindle and consumption of e-books. This has caused confusion among many consumers who simply think every e-book should be $9.99 or less. But the majority of titles offered on Amazon are priced above $9.99, especially those with unique interactive features. For professional and technical publishers like McGraw-Hill, our e-books cannot stand the low, mass market pricing some consumers think should be applied to every e-book. Our costs are invested in extensive product and editorial development of sophisticated and technical content; the cost of paper, printing, and binding are a fraction of the real expense. And for some very specific and technical subject areas, our markets are much smaller. We simply couldn’t afford to publish the work if it must be priced at the everyday low, low price of $9.99.

The real opportunity for publishers will be to develop e-books that offer the kind of interactive features mentioned above. Our customers will demand interactive books that provide a much better, more informed and enriching experience. For them, the experience (not the cost) is often the primary driver.

4. The Contextual Upsell Will be a Business Model to Watch

E-books allow publishers to interact with their customers in new ways. Imagine customers who are trying to learn statistics and get stuck on a particular formula. They ask friends but no one can explain it well. They’re stuck.

They click a help button, which points them to the publisher site where they can download relevant tutorials about specific formulas for $2.99. They choose the one they need and get a new learning tool, which helps them progress in their class. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of students who share similar learning gaps who will purchase through the book (“in-book app purchase”) and it becomes an interesting new marketing opportunity.

5. Publishers Will Be More Important Than Ever

Despite the hype around self-publishing via the web, publishing houses will play an even greater role in an e-book world. Commodity content is everywhere (and largely free), so high-quality vetted, edited content — which takes a staff of experts — will be worth a premium.

At McGraw-Hill, the average technical and reference book engages teams of editors, copy editors, proofreaders and designers to produce a single book. In the digital world, the role of publishers will be larger as new technologies provide for an even greater user and learning experience. Furthermore, with the skyrocketing amount of content being served on the web, customers will seek and pay expert content providers that aggregate and contextualize information for them efficiently and provide highly accurate and specific search options. Publishers with expertise and resources in these and emerging areas will be the ones that write the new rules of e-book publishing.

More E-Book Resources from Mashable:

– 5 Ways to Sell Your Expertise Online
– 5 Classic Children’s Tales Reinvented for the iPad
– 5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps
– HOW TO: Get Started With Your New Amazon Kindle
– 10 Excellent Accessories for Your Amazon Kindle

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, efesan

More About: business, e-books, ipad, Kindle, List, Lists, publishing, trends

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Additional new features include the ability to buy and download Kindle books and periodicals within the Kindle for Android app, share reading progress via social networks, and zoom closer to images and other graphics. Kindle for Android is the first major e-book app to offer periodicals on the Android platform.

“We want to give customers the freedom and flexibility to buy their newspapers and magazines once, and read them everywhere across the devices and platforms they chose–just like they do with Kindle books today," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Amazon Kindle.

"Kindle for Android is our fastest-growing application, and we’re excited to launch over 100 newspapers and magazines for our Android customers."

Other updates to the Kindle for Android app include the addition of an in-app store optimized for the Android interface, which allows users to find, buy, and download over 750,000 Kindle books without leaving the app, as well as social network integration, which allows users to share their progress in a book using Google’s built-in Share functionality.

Go to Source

Two months ago I was struggling to index one of my new video sites; the more quality links I put to my site, the more I went down in the Google rankings. It was the first time I experienced the hammer of Google.

I am a website builder not a SEO expert. All my knowledge about SEO comes from eBooks’ and tips from experts. Several of them always told me that “No Follow Links” didn’t had any effect in the Google algorithm. Almost all my SEO efforts were always concentrated in getting Do Follow Links.

To my bad luck, I was so wrong!

First let’s define what is a non follow link. In a very basic and simple way, is an HTML attribute that tells the search engines that one particular link shouldn’t influence the website rankings of help with his indexing.

During my ranking battle with Google, I read a very exciting E Book from Josip Barbaric. He was the light in my path. His approach on No Follow Link was very different. To him No follow Links were essential for a good Google ranking. The logic is very easy to understand.

The Google algorithm takes links as a vote of trust from the users. If the quality of the links is good, Google increase his trust in your site. But you must be very careful in how you get those links. If you practice the conventional SEO strategies your goal is getting links, links and more links, but Google don’t only evaluate the number of links. They also evaluate how you get those links.

When a website doesn’t uses SEO techniques but has a good Google ranking, the quality of the content is the key. Visitors find this content relevant to their search and from time to time they link or trust in the website making a recommendation or review via social bookmarking, social media, web 2.0, etc. Almost all this social sites uses non follow links and the visitors establish the links in a natural and organic way.

Blog owners could use the site content because is good and webmasters establish links to the site because of its quality. This visitors and users don’t see if they are establishing a non follow or a do follow link. They only recommend the site using their preferred method. If you think with this kind of logic then you can understand the Google algorithm.

You must establish a good number of do follow links to your site, but you have to consider to establish non follow links too and this link placement must be organic. Never establish 100 links (do follow or non follow) in one week and then nothing for the other week. Google is going to punish you.

In my experience, the best way to establish non follow links is using social media and bookmarking sites. I personally recommend social marker since you can establish a nice number of links in minutes. Almost all the sites that are listed in social marker (approximately 60%) have the non follow attribute. After my video money making site got several non follow links the Google rankings were better. I conclude that you most consider the placement of non follow links in your SEO strategy as an essential part of your success.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

What is a Non Follow Link?

Go to Source

As anyone who has seen this video of a 2-year-old using an iPad knows, Apple’s famed touchscreen device has proven an intuitive, interactive learning tool for children.

Yet creating apps for children — whether that’s musical games, learning exercises for children with autism or full-featured e-books — is no easy feat. Fixing children’s attention on an app requires a high degree of ingenuity, interactivity and, most importantly, variety.

Josh Koppel, chief creative officer of Scrollmotion (the company that developed Esquire’s and O, The Oprah Magazine’s iPad apps, among others), says that the key to making a great children’s app is “to make play possible throughout the app in unexpected places” while remaining respectful of the original material.

This criteria is especially valid for classic children’s books, many of which have been given new life in iPad form. I brought an iPad on a recent trip to Greece and perused a number of them with children in the 4- to 6-year-old range. Those that proved most engaging — both to me and to the children I perused them with — were, exactly as Koppel says, those that allowed for interactive “play.” It was also important that the types of play varied throughout the app; neither I nor the children I tested the apps with were interested in repeating the exact same action page after page.

After an exhaustive search, I’ve compiled a list of what I believe are the five best classic children’s books for the iPad available. Have another to add to the list? Please share it in the comments section below.

1. Alice for the iPad

Alice for the iPad arrived in the App Store [iTunes link] just days after Apple’s popular device became available for purchase and remains one of the best e-book apps for the iPad to date.

The app offers both abridged and full-length versions of Lewis Carroll’s fantastical tale, interwoven with colorful, animated and often interactive color reproductions of Sir John Tenniel’s original woodcut illustrations, with a few additional overlays. Playing cards and pepper shakers fly; pocketwatches swing from giant letters; cupcakes and brightly colored pills fall as the iPad is rotated on its horizontal and vertical axises; Alice’s neck and legs stretch at the swipe of a finger.

Although Alice for the iPad was head and shoulders above every other e-book and iOS book app on the market before it came out, it could be improved in several ways. The book would be more engaging if every page were illustrated and interactive — a double-page layout would have made this possible — and if the interactive options were a little less repetitive. And while the illustrations are beautiful, many of the overlays — such as smoke, pepper shakers, and cupcakes — are poorly rendered and incongruous with Tenniel’s highly stylized illustrations. Sound effects and an audio recording of the text would also be welcome additions.

In addition to the $9 version, a free, lite version is also available in the App Store [iTunes link].

2. PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Of all the children’s books available for the iPad, PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit [iTunes link] is simply the best. No other e-book offers the same richness and variety of interaction, while preserving all of the charm of the original tale.

Like Alice for the iPad, Peter Rabbit combines many elements of the classic print editions — including full-color watercolor and ink illustrations, and traditional popout tabs — with functionality uniquely suited to the iPad’s touchscreen and software. The entire tale is set to the soft piano keys of Claire de Lune and read by a pretty female English voice. Words are helpfully highlighted as they are read aloud, and young readers can click again on each word to have it re-pronounced.

Click on the little Flopsy and Mopsy and they giggle; click on falling leaves or blackberries to enlarge and scatter them about the page; lift up pots and the animals hiding underneath them will emit little squeaks. Paper doll joints and tethered kettles can be swung about on their hinges and the iPad can be tilted to change the direction of gravity for falling leaves. Each page offers a new opportunity for engagement, making readers eager not only to discover what’s going to happen next in the narrative, but what fun bit of interactivity awaits them as well.

The app is currently available for $4.99 in the App Store, except in Europe.

3. Jack and the Beanstalk Children’s Interactive Storybook

Jack and the Beanstalk Children’s Interactive Storybook for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch [iTunes link] is more game-like and features more modern illustrations than the latter two book apps.

While the previous two books will appeal to adults and children alike, Jack and the Beanstalk will appeal more to children in the 2- to 4-year-old range.

The story is read in a warm English voice and words are highlighted as they are read. The text floats in a box at the top — it’s not great-looking, but it’s functional (and can be hidden) — over colorful illustrations. Humans will speak, cows will moo and chickens will squawk, etc. if you tap them.

Play is embedded throughout the app, including a mix-and-match card game and coloring page. Clicking certain objects will call forth dancing chicks (I’ve yet to realize how these relate to the narrative in any way) and various games. Drag mice into their proper places and they begin strumming on instruments. Tap a cricket and it jumps.

Jack is available for $3.99 in the App Store.

4. The Frog Prince

Although Siena Entertainment’s The Frog Prince [iTunes link] for the iPhone and iPad is formatted upside down, it doesn’t detract from the vivid loveliness of Anca Delia Budeanu’s vector illustrations.

A condensed and lightened version of the Brothers Grimm classic is set to harp music and read by a young woman’s voice (there are separate voices for the princess, frog prince and human prince). Words are highlighted as they are read, and sound effects (such as bouncing balls) are embedded throughout.

Like Jack and the Beanstalk, the text floats on an unsightly, partly transparent bar that can be hidden. Unlike the others, there is no interactivity or animation whatsoever; the interest lies entirely in the text and the illustrations — which, as I said before, are lovely.

For $0.99 however, the e-book is worth the download. Those who like The Frog Prince should also check out Rumpelstiltskin, which features the same illustrator.

5. Aesop’s Wheel

There are three really novel things about Aesop’s Wheel, which features a smattering of abridged narratives from the original set of Fables.

The first is the table of contents, which is constructed not as a list but as a wheel users can spin to land on a story — a savvy solution for a collection of stories that don’t need to be placed in any sort of order. The second is an option that allows users to record their own voices — great for practicing children or parents who are frequently away from home. The third is the number of languages the app is available in (English, Chinese, Japanese and German).

The app also contains a series of “Spot the Difference” games, which challenge users to find out what elements are differing or missing in two juxtaposed illustrations.

The story pages themselves are not that interesting; it’s just plain text alongside boxed illustrations by Milo Winter, devoid of any interactivity whatsoever.

The app is available for $4.99 in the App Store.

Honorable Mentions

Although we restricted our list to five books for the roundup, we were delighted by many other classic e-book apps in the App Store. Among our favorites are Rumplestiltskin [iTunes link] 3D interactive pop-up book, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat, Peter Pan [iTunes link], Robin Hood [iTunes link], Spot Goes to School [iTunes link], and books from the Berenstain Bears [iTunes link] series.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Marcus Kwan

More About: Alice in Wonderland, books, Children, children’s book, e-books, iOS, ipad, Kids, List, Lists, loud crow interactive, peter rabbit

For more Apple coverage:

• Follow Mashable Apple on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Apple channel
• Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Originally posted at Relevant Results

Go to Source

Visit Link: http://addyosmani.com/blog/essentialjsdesignpatterns/

Go to Source

In the last few years social media has become a huge part of the internet marketing industry. There are, however many people who are beginning to wonder just how much benefit their social media contacts are worth when it comes to their legitimate online businesses. Nobody gets excited when they realize that they may have more than 1,000 Twitter followers, especially as most of them do not convert into solid leads.

The biggest problem as far as social media is concerned at this point is that the majority of internet marketers have been so concerned with building up a massive following that they failed to spend the necessary time in getting the proper systems set up so that they could make a fair assessment of just how valuable these Twitter followers actually were.

In fact it is more than probable that the majority of your Twitter followers have no idea at all about who you really are. The have in all likelihood followed you in the off chance that you will return the favor and follow them back.

Some reports have suggested that a social media contact is worth in the region of $3.50 but if you want to build a relationship using social media you must employ more than one method if you really want it to be effective.

To make a comparison of just how effective social media contacts are we need to take a look at some of the other internet marketing methods that are also popular.

One marketing method that has been around for a long time and started even before the internet is list building. The difference now is that this method is done via email rather than collecting business cards and it is definitely more effective and valuable.

The reason that it works better is simply because when a person subscribes to your email list they are literally trading their contact details for information or for some other free resource such as some software or an e-book. What this achieves is a more personal relationship and this is the main reason why those subscribers to your list are worth so much more than someone who follows you either on Facebook or Twitter.

Somewhere between your email list and your social media contacts there is blogging! For somebody to subscribe to your blog all they need to do is make two little ticks to an RSS feed and this is so much simpler than signing up to your email list but is takes a bit longer than maybe following you on Twitter. So it should not be surprising that an RSS subscriber would be more beneficial than any Twitter followers, but not quite as beneficial as a subscriber to your email list.

There is another reason why someone who follows your blog is more valuable than a social media contact and that is because every time they visit your blog you have an opportunity to make money. With any of the social media sites, unless they click on a link and buy a product you will not make any money.

This does not mean that you should drop social media completely but it does mean that to really monetize your social media contacts it is essential that you can convince them to take that extra step and sign up either for your RSS feed or preferably subscribe to your email list as this will give you a far better chance of building a lasting relationship with them.

So while social media contacts can still benefit your legitimate online businesses it is probably not wise to make them the main part of your marketing efforts. Having a strong media presence will help you to gain credibility within the internet marketing community which can be utilized in number of ways and can be leveraged and monetized without being directly tied to your Facebook and Twitter contacts.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How Much Do Your Online Businesses Benefit from Social Media Contacts?

Go to Source

Read more

Learn more about Appitalism.com in Dataopedia.com

Find out how much Appitalism.com is worth with Stimator.com

Have a business question? Ask Startups.com

Go to Source

Originally posted at News – Digital Media

Go to Source

According to a recent study from Nielsen, a whopping 32% of iPad owners have never downloaded an app on the device — which begs the question, what exactly do they do with the thing?

The study surveyed more than 5,000 owners of connected devices (a category that includes netbooks, e-readers, connected game consoles, etc.), 452 of whom own an iPad.

Don’t despair yet, developers — the good news is that the overwhelming majority of those who have downloaded apps have also been willing to pay for at least one of them. Of the 63% of iPad owners who have paid for an app, 62% of them have paid for a game and 54% have paid for an e-book, followed by music (50%), shopping (45%) and news (45%) apps. A full 41% have paid for a magazine, which is quite impressive, given the relatively few number of titles that are available for the iPad, such as Wired and Esquire.

iPad users are also spending more time with these kinds of apps — particularly those that display more “traditional” forms of content, such as news, books and movies — than users of other devices. For instance, roughly 8 in 10 iPad owners spend less than 15 minutes reading news on a weekday in a single session, whereas most (57%) iPad owners spend between 16 minutes and two plus hours reading news on the iPad.

The survey also found that iPad owners tend to skew younger (63% are under 35) and male (65%). By and large, iPad owners are more receptive to in-app advertising, seemingly because they like the interactivity many of these ads offer.

You can see further highlights from the study here.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Veronica Belmont

More About: ipad, ipad apps, Mobile 2.0

For more Tech coverage:

• Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Tech channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

While print book sales continue to decline, e-book sales are up 192.9% this year to date, according to figures gathered from 14 publishers by the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

E-books now make up 9% of all trade sales in the U.S.; last year, they made up a mere 3.3%.

E-book sales have reined in $263 million thus far in 2010, and $39 million in August alone — a 172.4% increase over last year’s sales numbers.

Meanwhile, sales of paperback and hardcover books continue to decline across the board. Hardcover sales of children’s and young adult fiction came in at $77.8 million, an 8% decline from the previous month and a 14.6% decline from August of last year. Paperback sales in the category were down 15.1% for the month, a 7.6% decrease year-over-year.

At $83.8 million, adult hardcover book sales actually increased by 5.2% compared to the same period last year, although the category experienced a heavy 24.4% drop from the previous month’s sales. Paperback sales performed similarly, increasing by 4.1% year-over-year at $124.9 million, a 18.3% decline from the previous month.

Print sales are still strong in the education category, however: Hardcover and paperback books posted increases of 10.2% and 15.7% respectively, up roughly 5% compared to August of last year.

The e-book category is becoming increasingly important in the publishing industry, motivating retailers to expand e-reading apps to as many devices as possible, and causing large, public disputes between publishers, retailers and literary agencies over e-book rights, among other developments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, quinn.anya

More About: e-books, publishing

For more Tech coverage:

• Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Tech channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Amazon issued a call today for “compelling ideas expressed at their natural length” for its e-book store.

Specifically, per Amazon’s guidelines, that means non-fiction works in the 10,000-30,000-word (30 to 90-page) range that deliver a well-researched and thoughtfully executed argument related to business, politics, science, history, current events or other topics in the field of intellectual discourse.

Qualifying works will be labeled as “Kindle Singles” and sold in a corresponding section in the Kindle Store for “much less than a typical book.”

“Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format,” said VP of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti in a statement. “With Kindle Singles, we’re reaching out to publishers and accomplished writers and we’re excited to see what they create.”

The Kindle Singles category seems like the perfect place to offer individual copies of works that typically wind up in anthologies — historical and contemporary essays on political theory and philosophy, for instance — that are simply too short to be bound individually, but too important not to be in circulation. The section could easily take aim at the education market by allowing students to forgo the purchase of course readers and unwieldy anthologies — often peppered with works that never become part of the course material — and provide additional visibility for “accomplished” self-published writers of non-fiction.

It’s not entirely clear whether Amazon expects publishers or self-published authors to supply most of the content for the new section, nor the exact price range submissions will fall between; we’ve reached out to Amazon for comment on both, and will update this post with any further information.

Update (5:45 p.m. ET): An Amazon rep says, “We expect to work directly with publishers and also for writers themselves to publish Kindle Singles. Any rights holder can use the already popular Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) to self-publish work in the Kindle Store, and this include Kindle Singles.” As for pricing, the company told us, “You’ll have to stay tuned.”

More About: amazon, e-books, Kindle, media, publishing

For more Tech coverage:

• Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Tech channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Go to Source

Following recent price cuts on Amazon’s Kindle 2 and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, a new manufacturer is set to stir up even more competition in the e-reader pricing wars with the debut of a $99 color device this fall.

The device, which weighs in at .42 lbs and features a 5-inch, 800×480-pixel, color LCD display, 2GB of storage, 64MB of RAM, 2G of Flash Memory and up to four hours of battery life, is just one in a line of devices Copia, a subsidiary of DMC Worldwide, plans to introduce.

Other devices include a 7-inch color e-reader for $129.99, two 6-inch black-and-white e-readers that closely resemble the Kindle 2 for $149.99 without Wi-Fi and $159.99 with Wi-Fi, and a $299.99 10.1-inch Wi-Fi-enabled color tablet.

“We want to make e-reading more accessible to a mass audience,” said Tony Antolino, senior VP of DMC Worldwide and Copia. “Not everyone can afford all of the higher end devices.”

A New Social Reading and Shopping Experience

Hardware, however, is just part of the story. What may really pose a challenge to established competitors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and perhaps even Apple is the new social e-reading platform, also called Copia, which is set to emerge from beta this month.

Copia is an e-bookstore and social media network rolled into one, combining the functionality of the Kindle Store (although it plans to debut with 200,000 fewer titles than the Kindle Store’s 650,000), Facebook’s Open Graph and online reading community Goodreads, and fashioning a superior e-reading, discussion and e-book purchasing experience as a result.

When you create an account on Copia, you can immediately begin following and inviting people from your existing social networks, like Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads, and connecting with users with similar tastes as you add and categorize books you’ve read or want to read in your virtual library. You can also join discussion groups that align with your favorite subjects and genres, and when you notice a commenter or discussion leader who is particularly intelligent or interesting, follow them to see what books they’ve read and are reading (privacy settings permitting).

Imagine, for instance, following your favorite author on Copia to see the books have most influenced his or her writing, or following a business leader to see what books he or she is actively reading to stay ahead of the curve. From a business perspective, this is great; as every marketer knows, recommendations from trusted sources most heavily influence purchasing decisions. Copia makes it easy to get these kinds of recommendations because you don’t even have to ask for them.

The shopping experience is also seriously improved by Copia’s social functionality. When you visit a book’s page, you can preview a book’s basic info alongside a “community value” score and rating breakdown. This is much better than the five-star rating systems of Amazon, Apple and the like; after all, wouldn’t you rather know what the people you trust and admire think of a book, rather than a stranger whose backgrounds and tastes are unknown to you? You can also opt to scan the reviews of everyone who has left one, or just those in your network.

This is also much better than simply integrating Facebook’s Open Graph, which would allow you to see the reviews and recommendations of your Facebook friends (and which Amazon rolled out this week), because it gives you more control over who you receive recommendations from. Personally, I’d rather get advice on novels to read from fellow members of the Victorians group at Goodreads, and read business book reviews from people I follow on Twitter, than get recommendations from my somewhat large and eclectic Facebook network.

Best of all, Copia is device-agnostic, meaning that the platform will be accessible not only on one of its hardware devices, but also as a downloadable PC client for both Windows and Mac, and as an iPad app at launch. Apps for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 are slated for later in the year.

Can Copia Really Take on Amazon?

The question is whether Copia can compete with the established players in the space, several of whom have already captured large shares of the e-book market, established partnerships with major authors and literary agencies, and launched devices that have become household names.

If anyone can do it, I believe Copia can. It’s not just another big brand arriving late to the market; rather, it’s creating a new reading, discussion and shopping experience that’s radically different than what’s being offered by current e-book retailers. While I don’t think its line of e-ink readers stand a chance against the cheaper, better Kindle 3, the social platform could be a major success. Readers who like to share and discuss what they are reading will discover an integrated experience that will lead them to purchase books from Copia’s store over one of its competitors — if Copia can offer enough incentives to get them to explore the platform in the first place.

What do you think of Copia’s forthcoming line of devices and social reading platform? Can a small manufacturer compete against the likes of Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble?

More About: amazon, apple, barnes & noble, borders, copia, dmc worldwide, e-books, e-reader, e-readers, Kindle, kindle 3, Mobile 2.0, nook, sony

For more Tech coverage:

• Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Tech channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the company has sold 143 Kindle books, Amazon says. In addition, over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, the company has sold 180 Kindle books.

This is across Amazon.com’s entire U.S. book business and even includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. It does not include free Kindle books.

"The Association of American Publishers’ latest data reports that e-book sales grew 163 percent in the month of May and 207 percent year-to-date through May," Amazon says. "Kindle book sales in May and year-to-date through May exceeded those growth rates."

Five different authors have sold over 500,000 Kindle books. These include Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts. James Patterson has sold 1.14 million e-books to date, 867,881 of which were Kindle books.

During this quarter, Amazon launched Kindle for Android, which should further fuel the service as Android itself continues to grow rapidly in market share. Kindle does face increasing competition, however. Barnes & Noble’s Nook, which just launched an Android version today recently got into something of a price war with Amazon’s Kindle.

According to Amazon, the U.S. Kindle Store has over 630,000 books, including new releases and 106 of 110 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 510,000 of them are $9.99 or less.

Go to Source

Earlier today, Amazon announced that Kindle books are now outselling hardcovers. Are we witnessing the dawn of the e-book?

That is the subject of today’s Web Faceoff, our weekly series where we pit two web apps against each other in a competition for supremacy. For this week’s episode though, we decided to compare two mediums for information: the printed word vs. the electronic book.

Books have been the cornerstone of our society for centuries, especially after the invention of the printing press — perhaps the most important invention in human history. Digital technology has begun to radically change the role of books in our society though. The e-book has exploded in popularity, especially since the launch of the Amazon Kindle. The e-book’s portability (it takes up no space, can be read on multiple devices) has helped it gain momentum. The ability to interact with e-books digitally (e.g. digital notes, bookmarks, zoom) has even made hardcovers and paperbacks obsolete for some.

That’s why we want you, the Mashable readers, to weigh in on an important question: Which do you prefer: e-books or print books? Cast your vote in the poll below. Be sure to leave your rationale/arguments in our comments section!

Which do you prefer: ebooks or print books?online survey

More About: amazon, eBook, Kindle, Real book, web faceoff

For more Battles coverage:

• Follow Mashable Battles on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Battles channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source

E-books have hit a significant milestone. In each of the last three months, Amazon reports that sales of books for Kindle have outpaced the sale of hardcover books, and that growth is only accelerating.

In a statement, Amazon says that, “over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 180 Kindle books.”

That’s impressive, especially considering it was only back in December that Amazon was celebrating Kindle books outselling the real thing on Christmas Day. Six months later, the shift has apparently become the norm.

While part of that shift has to do with reading trends in general — Amazon notes that e-book sales grew 163 percent in the month of May and 207 percent year-to-date through May — Kindle book sales (and other devices like Barnes & Noble’s Nook) has been aided in recent months by price cuts getting e-readers into the hands of more consumers. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says that “the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189.”

Those price reductions, of course, have been triggered in large part by new competition in the form of iPad. As much as anything else, Amazon is once again reminding us that Kindle is far from dead in the wake of Apple’s tablet, although with Kindle now offering apps for Windows, Mac, and most mobile operating systems, it’s long-term success may ultimately be much more dependent on its e-book store across platforms as opposed to physical device sales.

More About: amazon, e-books, Kindle, trending

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Go to Source