Written on May 12, 2008 – 11:47 am
Martin Kloos, Business consultant
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Every month, The Next Web Blog picks three relevant books for you to read. The teasers are short, the pro’s why to read are relevant. This month we’re discussing Me the Media by Jaap Bloem, Menno van Doorn and Sander Duivestein, Google Apps Hacks by Philipp Lenssen and Microsoft 2.0 by Mary Jo Foley.
Me the Media - Past, Present and Future of the Third Media Revolution
Only once in a while a book is released in the Netherlands that has international potential. I think Me the Media, written by Jaap Bloem, Menno van Doorn and Sander Duivestein is such a book. Currently only available in Dutch but the book is being translated to English so put it on your watch list! Me the Media deals with the impact of web media on “hyper-individualization, ICTainment on top of ICTechnology, and of meaningful web conversations between organizations, customers and employees”.
The authors knows how to eat their own dogfood, since they launched a website, a weblog, a wiki and an exciting video channel on youtube about their book. Definitely worth a watch! Oh and if you are curious about the book itself? Feel free to read the outlines of the chapters online. for Dutch readers, entire chapters are available as PDF download.
Google Apps Hacks
It’s no surprise that Google seems to be seriously hammering Microsoft and it’s office suite by offering a less complex, less expensive and easier to use (my opinion :)) office platform. Even I use Google Docs and spreadsheets more and more with my colleagues although my employee provides me with a well-thought, ubiquitous Microsoft platform. Google Apps Hacks, written by Philipp Lenssen (famous guy behind Google Blogoscoped!), describes a whole bunch of clever hacks, workarounds, and other undocumented tips that help you get the most out of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Presentations, and other Google applications. After you read this book you will see how big the Google Universe really is.
Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era
Google Apps Hacks describes how you can benefit from the entire Google suite and makes you wonder how Microsoft will deal with these kinds of competition. At the same time we all know that Microsoft is working his ass off to stay relevant in the post-desktop, Internet era. Personally I’m extremely curious about how Microsoft will evolve the coming years since they have the appearances against them (Microsoft Bashing anyone?). So Microsoft 2.0, written by Mary Jo Foley (an American journalist, blogger for Zdnet and Microsoft analyst), is a great way to get a sneak peek into Microsoft’s future. For this book Foley interviewed many executives, partners, customers and competitors so she was able to write down a comprehensive picture of the company’s future. Foley offers insights into the people, products and strategies that will be key for the Microsoft in the next decade(s).
Written on May 4, 2008 – 1:29 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
It’s Sunday afternoon, why wouldn’t I cover another Twitter application? Especially since this one actually seems pretty useful. It’s called Bkkeepr and helps you to keep track of the books you read. Although statistics show that the number of people reading books is falling drastically, web professionals generally like to read a book or two. This blog even has a monthly Booklist 2.0 series by Martin Kloos.
Tracking the books you read has always been a popular activity. Amazon has some tools for it and Blippr partly revolves around updating your digital bookshelf. First of all, you probably like to show off a bit with your amazing list of classical masterpieces. Moreover, your book collection says something about you.
So it’s good news that somebody has created a simple way of tracking the books you’ve read. For now, it’s in some sort of stealth beta but after a while, it’s just a matter of sending the ISBN number to @bkkeepr. Also, you can post status updates about the page number you’ve reached and ‘bookmark’ your favorite parts in the book. So long for dog ears…
Bkkeepr is a project of booktwo.org. A blog by James Bridle that exists to “report, catalogue, investigate, stimulate and debate the future of literature”.
Oh and for the showing off part? Bkkeepr offers a widget too…
Written on April 22, 2008 – 5:00 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Robin Goldberg from
BlurbYesterday Boris and me visited a pre-Web 2.0 Expo meet-up, organized by Flickr and blurb. We were welcomed by Robin Goldberg, she is the SVP Marketing and Business Development of blurb. After a drink, she pitched the service, and we were pretty impressed - despite the hideous name of the service.
The San Francisco-based company celebrates the good ol’ books by allowing anyone customizable photo-orientated books. It launched in October 2007 and differ from competitors like Lulu with the ultra-slick look of the books. Goldberg: “Whenever I tell people about our product, they react positive. Yet when I show them the books they get really enthusiastic”. I can see why, since the books I saw yesterday reminded me of the photo books I’d seen earlier at bookstore Borders. They’re also equally expensive with prices ranging from 12,95 to 159,95 dollar. By downloading their software program, making a book becomes pretty easy.
A Blurb book
Cool features are importing your Flickr pics and blog posts. You can either print a book to caress your beloved Flickr pics or sell your work for profit in the online bookstore of Blurb.
Blurb has just opened a European office - with a printer - in Amsterdam. So the service becomes more accessible for us Europeans.
I like this service as it gives you an opportunity to turn your online content into a touchable project. Some photographers are working daily on a beautiful collection of photos on Flickr, yet what will be left of that in 30 years? When creating a book, these photographers can show their work to their grandparents as well as their (future) children and at the same time own a gorgeous product.
I’m thinking of creating a book yearly, to capture the highlights and remember them in a rather fashionable way.
Written on April 16, 2008 – 8:00 am
Martin Kloos, Business consultant
Every month, The Next Web Blog picks three relevant books for you to read. The teasers are short, the pro’s why to read are relevant. This month we’re discussing Mobile Advertising by Chetan Sharma, Wikipatterns by Stewart Mader, and Programming Amazon Web Services by James Murty.
Mobile Advertising: Supercharge Your Brand in the Exploding Wireless Market
If we only had to identify one trend people on the Next Web 2008 were talking about the most it was probably about the oppertunities of the mobile (social networking) market. So if you want to take full advantage of this rising market, “Mobile Advertising: Supercharge Your Brand in the Exploding Wireless Market” written by Chetan Sharma is the book for you to read. What’s interesting is that this book not only describes the history of the mobile market and the enormous opportunity the mobile market offers, it also provides a blueprint for you to exploit this opportunity. Want to take a sneak peek into the first parts of the book? You can find the preface and first chapter of the book on the website MobileAdvertisingBook.com.
“If you believe the future is wireless, then this book is a guide to that future. Simple, fact-filled, and astute.” -Om Malik, GigaOM
Wikipatterns
As a business consultant, I’m always looking for ways to improve my skills on making use of the new tools and concepts the so-called Enterprise 2.0 wave has to offer us. And I guess I found in Wikipatterns, written by Stewart Mader, a handy guide to help people make the most out of Wiki software, or collaboration tools in general. What particularly appealed to me was the practical approach of the book. It offers many useful tips on implementing wikis, from a simple pilot to large scale adoption. It also describes many interesting case studies of wiki adoption in various enterprises. Written near the end of 2007, but still relevant today. Not for techies, but for the end users who are planning (or working on) wiki adoption within their organization.
Programming Amazon Web Services: S3, EC2, SQS, FPS, and SimpleDB
I’m not a programmer, but one thing I realized during The Next Web Conference is that íf you are planning to built a global start-up, you should built it on cloud-computing technology. Or do you really really want to waste your venture capitalist’s money?* It looks like Amazon has just the right platform for you to do so (or perhaps you are planing on building on Google App Engine). Programming Amazon Web Services written by James Murty seems to be just about right to get you started with building your small to medium-sized platform on Amazon’s AWS. Nothing more, nothing less but invaluable if you want to realize a scalable platform that pleases our VC’s.
* anyone counted how much this phrase was used during the conference :-)
Written on March 21, 2008 – 2:43 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
I’d like to start this post with a quote from the classic ‘How to be Creative‘ article by Gapingvoid’s Hugh MacLeod. In this piece, he writes about his friend Chantal in Paris who is an aspiring writer. One problem though, she doesn’t manage to break through in the high-brow literature scene of Paris. When she tells Hugh about this, he replies:
“Your book has thirteen chapters, voila! That’s thirteen blog posts. One chapter per blog post. Put it online, and you’ll have a book offer within six months. Trust me.”
And that’s just how it is. Examples enough. Like Tom Reynolds, the London ambulance driver who got a book deal based on his blog writings. So why is it that these DIY book sites keep popping up?
I just found another on eHub. Matthew Murphy writes about Wordclay, a DIY self-publishing service. Users can setup a free account, let a step-by-step wizard do the magic and the New York Times bestseller list is already glooming at the horizon.
Ok, maybe I’m a bit too cynical here, a lot of people will probably get a kick out of their slightly customized book cover in an online store. Yet to me, the service seems pretty old-fashioned. Web 1.0, anybody?
Rather to follow Hugh’s advice. Create a blog, join communities like Paragraphr (ignore the horrifying design) and start working on your online reputation. That’s how things work now, be patient - after all you’ve already spent months on your book -, gain credibility and get ready for some Internet fame.
Don’t be fooled by WordClay. Success doesn’t come easy, especially with books.
Useful links for aspiring writers
This blog: How to boost your book sales the Paulo Coelho way
Publishing 2.0: the book publishing category
Bookmarketing: Research Competing Title Sales And How To Market Books Online
Caro Clarke: Are you a writer?
Written on March 9, 2008 – 1:18 pm
Martin Kloos, Business consultant
Every month, The Next Web Blog picks three relevant books for you to read. The teasers are short, the pro’s why to read are relevant. This month we’re discussing The Age of Engage by Denise Shiffman, Pirate’s Dilemma by Mat Mason and Web 2.0 patterns by Duane Nickull et al.
The Age of Engage: Reinventing Marketing for Today’s Connected, Collaborative, and Hyperinteractive Culture
Just of the presses The Age of Engage, written by Denise Shiffman deals with the premise that web 2.0 is reshaping marketing into a field where companies should truly engage their audiences in order to become successful. Shiffman radically alters the way we think of marketing by introducing her 6 V’s of marketing 2.0 as a replacement to the traditional 4 (or 5) P’s of marketing: Venture, Value, Voice, Verifiable, Vicinity and Vehicle. It seems that the book is launched at the right time, since the broader topic on engagement gets a lot of media attention lately with tools like Nuconomy and Microsoft’s efforts on engagement mapping. The book got great press coverage by Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt and Don Tapscott, famous for his Wikinomics book, who both dub it as a must-read for marketeers. With the book, there is also a new weblog, which writes about companies that get the engagement thingy.
One personal side note: Engagement is more and more presented as thé next thing in marketing and analytics. But is engagement all their is or is their more? I personally would say there is more when looking at theories of Communities of Practice for instance. Communities of Practice have similarities, but also go deeper, than online communities. I guess I’ll write a post about this topic in the near future…
The Pirate’s Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism
Mat Mason, with a successful career as pirate radio and club DJ as well as tv show writer and producer, looks like a refreshing new appearance in the world of business slash entrepreneurial writing. His new book the Pirate’s Dilemma deals with the impact of open source on the distribution and control of information and is serious about piracy and copyright. The main point of the book is that piracy cán be productive in that it can create new valuable and viable mash-ups. The book got great press coverage by marketing guru Seth Godin. For some quick insight there is an interesting slideshare presentation on the website of the book. That’s a great example of eating your own dogfood!
Funny trivia: one of Amazon’s user generated reviews dubbed the book meaningful as the reviewer found out that his son was a pirate since he openly questioned college credentialism and stated that there was nothing he couldn’t learn on his own…
Web 2.0 Patterns: What entrepreneurs and information architects need to know
I’m a big fan of Dion Hinchcliffe’s writing on social media and web 2.0 so when he co-authors a book on Web 2.0 design patterns it must be good. In this book, author’s Duane Nickull, Dion Hinchcliffe, and James Governor describe core patterns of Web 2.0 together with an abstract model and reference architecture. It’s a great overview on web 2.0 and captures O’Reilly’s thoughts on the topic. But having read much of the posts of Hinchcliffe on this topic, I’m not sure whether this book offers any new insights altogether.
Written on February 13, 2008 – 7:00 am
Martin Kloos, Business consultant
Every month, The Next Web Blog picks three relevant books for you to read. The teasers are short, the pro’s why to read are relevant. This month Jump Point from Tom Hayes, Landing page optimization from Tim Ash and a semi-classic: Smart start-ups from David Silver.
Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business
According to Jump Point, published in January 2008 and written by Tom Hayes, our next economy will arrive at an inflection point just 1000 days from now. Welcome to pandemic economics! Jump Point illustrates how this happens and how you could benefit from it. In his book, Hayes identifies five major discontinuities associated with the widespread adoption of the Internet by the entire world’s workforce. Those discontinuities include a fierce battle for consumer attention, competitive ji-hads, the rise of a global “mash” culture and the pre-eminence of trust as a business currency. This book is a must read if you want to stay on top of the game in the coming years. It’s the tipping point for geeks, says Guy Kawasaki.
Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions
This title might sound a little geeky, but according to the authors of this book, optimizing your landing pages can make you millions. Landing Page Optimization, published in January 2008 and written by Tim Ash, describes how you can make a lot more money from your online marketing investments without spending too much more on driving traffic to your landing pages. This book includes case studies of page landing optimization, practical strategies that show you how to identify mission critical parts of your website, and a thorough analysis of Google Web Analyzer to get you started. You can find some additional and relevant resources on the website associated with this book.
Smart Start-Ups: How Entrepreneurs and Corporations Can Profit by Starting Online Communities
Always wanted to know how to tap in the potentially unlimited value of online communities? Smart Start-ups, published in May 2007 and written by David Silver, promises to be thé guide for Entrepreneurs and Corporations to profit by starting online communities. Why to read? The book puts it’s finger on one of the biggest business developments for the coming years and shows YOU how to tap into this powerful trend using visionary business plans to build social networks that will make millions! Okay, okay got that last part from the inside flap of the book… Small trivia: on its website, a scoring system is hosted with which you can determine the probability for success of your new venture community initiative.
Written on January 25, 2008 – 12:06 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Are you a writer and looking for more readers? Follow the example of the author of the ultimate birthday-gift book The Alchemist: Paul Coelho. He’s using filesharing networks as a way to promote his books.
Coelho thinks that giving people the possibility to swap his books for free, actually has a positive effect on sales. In a keynote speech (see below) at the Digital, Life, Design conference in Munich he gave some strikingly good examples. When he uploaded the Russian translation of “The Alchemist”, sales in Russia went from around a 1.000 books per year to 100.000 and then to a million and more. The author said:
In 2001, I sold 10,000 hard copies. And everyone was puzzled. We came from zero, from 1000, to 10,000. And then the next year we were over 100,000. […]
I thought that this is fantastic. You give to the reader the possibility of reading your books and choosing whether to buy it or not. […]
So, I went to BitTorrent and I got all my pirate editions… And I created a site called The Pirate Coelho.
He thinks that this tactic will pay-off in other countries as well. I guess he’s right. Just imagine that you download his book and start reading it. After two chapters you’re captured by the book and obsessed to know how it ends. Trust me, Coelho is the kind of writer who can make you do that. Do you really want to print the whole book? No, you surf to Amazon.
Not sure if it works the same for business books since they’re generally not so captivating as thrillers.
Coelho however is preaching his new sales evangelism on the Pirate Coelho blog, where he also offers links to illegal copies of his books: “Believe it or not, the sales of the book increased a lot thanks to the Pirate Coelho site…”. See the rest of his interesting speech:
It’s no surprise that Google seems to be seriously hammering Microsoft and it’s office suite by offering a less complex, less expensive and easier to use (my opinion :)) office platform. Even I use Google Docs and spreadsheets more and more with my colleagues although my employee provides me with a well-thought, ubiquitous Microsoft platform. Google Apps Hacks, written by Philipp Lenssen (famous guy behind Google Blogoscoped!), describes a whole bunch of clever hacks, workarounds, and other undocumented tips that help you get the most out of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Presentations, and other Google applications. After you read this book you will see how big the Google Universe really is.
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The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show of, the future of the Web. (
