Shopkeepers aren't so unlike us online writers. We do experiments: manipulate our content, headlines, and images to see what draws in readers and keeps you coming back. So do retailers: Put the blue shirt up front, now the red; see what sells. The difference is that online experiments produce denser data. We know how many of you are reading this now, how far down the page you scroll, and how long you're engaged. If you like what you read and "like" or tweet it, we'll know; ditto if you "bounce" as soon as you visit the site. So we pick buzzier headlines, more engaging content, winning Fast Company "shoppers" by offering what you want. Physical stores do the same, featuring the newest gadget or the sexiest bra model; book covers relevant to news or movies; water sounds or peaceful music at the massage parlor; incense at the New Age health store; hip–hop or indie pop at the teen clothing store. Whatever's being sold, the seller and staff try baits to hook shoppers, to keep them engaged with products and convert them to loyal customers. The problem is, with little data measured, it's hard to say what works. If you treat your retail store like a website, though, you'll sell more stuff: that's the bet that tech startup Locarise is making. Their smartphone tracking service offers to merge the worlds of on– and offline shopping. But whether or not this will creep out customers remains to be seen: When physical stores track shoppers' behavior, as Nordstrom did lately, customers... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#retail store
#nsa spying
When the five startups chosen for this year's CONTENTshift program in Germany pitch their respective offers at Frankfurter Buchmesse, they'll have been given three months of accelerator attention and support. The post Five Startups from Germany, Latvia, and Romania Chosen for 2018 CONTENTshift... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#frankfurter buchmesse
The third iteration of Germany's publishing startup incubator ContentShift features mentoring and a €10,000 prize announced at Frankfurter Buchmesse. And the first outing for a new YA translation honor will flag the book to American librarians. The post Industry Notes: Nurturing Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#frankfurter buchmesse
Sphere has acquired the exclusive world English-language publishing licence for “The Great British Bake Off” through The Blair Partnership, acting on behalf of Love Productions. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#blair partnership
#love productions
Following the ugly case of David Dao, the Kentucky doctor who was dragged from an overbooked United Airlines flight, the U.S. airline industry vowed to fix the problem of oversold planes. Now some airlines seem to be backing up their promises with money. The parent company of British Airways and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tech startup
Tony Ross has topped The Bookseller’s year-end illustrator chart for a third year in a row, after his books earned more than £16m in 2017—£7.3m more than his closest competitor, Axel Scheffler. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#top draw
#tony ross
#closest competitor
#axel scheffler
Henry Holt seems to have underestimated demand for the tell-all title and many accounts ran out of copies over the weekend and are waiting for new shipments this week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#henry holt
#underestimated demand
'A four-month programming project ended up taking two years,' as Iguana Books publisher Greg Ioannou says. Once expected to be a new base of operation for Pubslush, his Toronto-based author services crowdfunding company PubLaunch is to open this month. The post Can Crowdfunding Author Services... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest seed fund seeks to spur startup growth in “flyover country,” but race can present a starker dividing line than geography. Twenty years before J.D. Vance published his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson wrote an elegy of... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hillbilly elegy
#flyover country
#twenty years
#best-selling memoir
In 2015, BuzzFeed tasked five employees with a single objective: Craft the perfect viral Facebook video. To ensure maximum share-ability, such a video had to be short — no more than 40 seconds long — and enjoyable either with or without sound as users scrolled their feeds. The team found its... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#biggest trend
#publishers hope
Two tracks of programming at London's FutureBook conference held distinct messages for attendees, players from audiobooks and edtech talking 'efficacy.' The post At FutureBook 2017: Looking for More Volume in Audiobooks, Proving Impact in EdTech appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The closure of Pronoun prompted some soul-searching about the entrepenurial culture in publishing, but there still are startups creating new ways to reach readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reach readers
A look inside the anonymizing software protecting sources across the magazine industry. The post As Journalists Seek Encryption, SecureDrop Proves a Challenge appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2017-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#challenge appeared
#magazine industry
There’s somewhat of an automatic assumption that animated features today will have a certain level of sophisticated production, whether it’s hyperrealistic backgrounds or mouth and facial movements that match a character’s speech and emotions perfectly. However, comic book artist and author Dash... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2017-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#niche followings
#wider audience
As Germany's ContentShift opens applications to startups for a second year, The Netherlands' Renew the Book concludes its second year with its award. The post Publishing Startup Notes: Germany’s ContentShift; The Netherlands’ Renew the Book appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book appeared
Consultant and blogger Thad McIlroy talks to PW about his recently released report on startups in the book business. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book business
In the crowded author services field, veteran self-published author Scott La Counte launches BuzzTrace to help authors track social media conversations. The post Publishing Startups: BuzzTrace Looks To Track Authors’ Social Networking appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing startups
#social networking
Neuland 2.0, a ‘Startup Village for Digital Natives,’ will return to the Leipzig Book Fair to showcase innovative new ideas for the book and media industry. The post Neuland 2.0: Startup Village at the Leipzig Book Fair appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#startup village
#digital natives
#media industry
Susan Ruszala joins the nascent marketing technology services company as v-p of sales, said CEO and founding partner Evan Schnittman. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Shelfie's executives in Canada talk about the startup scene in book publishing—and conclude it's not as hot as it used to be. What are the lessons learned? The post Publishing in 2017: Has the Startup Scene Cooled Off? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#post publishing
#lessons learned
OK, it's not exactly Dickens. But how about a great story delivered to you by text message? Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading books
#text messages
#text message