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 ]
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A new wave of publishers is bucking the digital trend with stylishly printed magazines that are as much a joy to hold as beholdSee a gallery of some of the best-looking new magazinesThe magazine is dead, long live the magazine. It's not so much a resurrection of the magazine in the digital age... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and startup entrepreneurs came together on two separate panels at Digital Book World to discuss forging relationships. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Obama Ndesandjo's book will reportedly detail abuse, beatings from the father he and the president shared. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Armed with a new name, five employees and $5.3 million in financing, Wilmington-based e-Book subscription service Entitle is open for business this week. Founder Bryan Batten, who left a career in pharma sales to jump off the startup ledge, calls the service “a hybrid of Netflix and a book... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On short notice, a dozen of the UK's top startups hosted the first Digital Publishing Xmas Fair, celebrating London's burgeoning entrepreneurial community. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media conglomerate E.W. Scripps is expanding into the digital video game with the acquisition of Newsy, a five-year-old video news startup that produces content for Web and mobile platforms. The deal, in which Scripps is paying $35 million for the startup, is expected to close on Jan. 1. In a... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Credit card security firm Jumio has looked into how we're all using our smartphones and tablets to shop.Jumio, a young firm backed by Facebook billionaire Eduardo Saverin, has just published research on how consumers are using their mobile devices to pay for things. Among the data are two key... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post with his spare pocket change earlier this year, I took a look at the growth of the digital publishing industry here in the Seattle area. Booktrope, a digital publishing startup based here in Seattle, was one of the companies I chatted with... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week's web buzz takes in the troubled relationship between traditional publishers and startups, the death of Small Demons, writer dads, and more. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Intel on Friday said it bought Kno, a startup that helps educational publishers make their books interactive. No price was announced for the Santa Clara company led by CEO Osman Rashid. It had raised more than $73 million dollars, including a $37.3 million round in 2011 led by Intel... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2013-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Most startups will never see anything close to the amount of money Twitter plans on raising during its IPO this week (a reported $1.6 billion) and in fact, three out of four tech businesses fail. Entrepreneurs in training looking to create a successful company, then, might want to know what... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Swedish startup Atingo, a collaboration between Publit and Axiell, offers a platform for real-time negotiation of ebook lending rights between libraries and publishers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More usually equals better—unless you're talking about the Internet. In the social sphere, the dearth of user-generated content (Twitter claims to host more than 340 million tweets per day) can be a hazard for those looking to tweet and post items that help bring buzz to their brand. This is... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rupert Murdoch bowed to investor pressure to split his six-decade-old publishing business from the rest of News Corp. (NWSA)’s media empire. Now it’s time for the newspaper unit to prove it can make it on its own. The publishing ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's high time the publishing industry takes its fate into its own hands and establishes organizations to foster and fund startups, argues Kristen McLean. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The US has evidence that will show Apple participated in a conspiracy to raise the prices of ebooks, the judge overseeing the government's civil antitrust case against the company says. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2013-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut novelist Taiye Selasi, whose tale of a fractured family Ghana Must Go was published by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reference publisher Ilex Press has created what it describes as a "proving ground" for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new survey of startups, publishers and venture capitalists reveals what needs to change for the three groups to collaborate and continue to innovate the book industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the modern world of book publishing, should we all be preparing for a second career as an entrepreneur? Plenty of our colleagues are choosing that career path. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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