by JimRaffel on June 7, 2011
Several years ago, I used Blurb and their BookSmart software to produce a book of family memories containing pictures and words for our father on the occasion of his 84th birthday. “Blurb – New Media Meets Old Media” discusses the process of creating that book three years ago. “Blurb Books and Why I Still Love Print” shares the unveiling of the book to my dad on his birthday. That was then, this is now and Blurb’s BookSmart software has come a long way.
BookSmart software today
Blurb and the book creation process impressed me three years ago; so when I found out they now have an affiliate program I signed up immediately. One of the perks of that signup was a coupon code to produce a free book. I decided to create a book of the pictures we collected at the Color Conversations Live ’11 event we held earlier this year in Las Vegas.
I started by signing up for a new Blurb account. Since I now use a Mac (I was running on a PC three years ago), I downloaded and installed the Mac version of BookSmart. Next, I started BookSmart up and selected the size and type of book I wanted to create. This process, along with the selection of a template, seems to have been streamlined over the last three years. I was impressed that in about two hours I had created a 20-page book of pictures and captions.
BookSmart even warned me when pictures I selected needed to be resized to be properly reproduced in print. Overall, the book creation process was extremely smooth and trouble free. Three years ago BookSmart crashed on me several times; with no data loss thanks to their ingenious auto-save technology. This time around, I didn’t experience a single crash.
Waiting for the book
I’ve submitted the order for my book and now it’s just a matter of waiting for it to arrive. Of course, once it does I’ll let you know how the final product turns out; but I have no concerns based upon my past experience with Blurb.
An offer for you
As a new Blurb affiliate I can offer you the “NEWBLURB” coupon code that will save you 20 percent on your first book when you sign up for a new Blurb account. With that coupon code, you can create a small softcover picture book for around $16. It’s not too steep an investment to put some ink on paper and I love ink on paper! If you do try Blurb out, please come back and share your impression in the comments.
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by JimRaffel on May 3, 2011
Several times in the last week I’ve observed signs, napkins and place mats that all say “Follow me[us] on Twitter[Facebook].” While I think this is great, I find it both amusing and alarming that more than half these messages do not contain the handle or URL to follow/connect with. The image above shows that whoever is advising Horny Goat Brewing did so the right way.
Who is advising these other businesses?
As far as social media goes, I’m simply an experienced practitioner who has learned the ins and outs mostly in the school of hard knocks. I’ve made more than a few mistakes along the way but none I paid a “professional” to make for me. What’s the point of putting a Facebook or Twitter icon on your coaster if you don’t include information on the account to follow? Better yet, include a QR Code with a link to a mobile friendly website that allows the client to connect to you without having to type in the account names and URLs.
Who you hire matters
There are plenty of folks passing themselves off as experts in the interactive, digital and social media space. The trick is to separate the professionals from the out-of-work freelancer more interested in finding another full-time gig than being a social media consultant. The problem is they will pass themselves off as a social media consultant to pay the rent this month. The bigger problem is you will end up with thousands of coasters that have fancy Facebook and Twitter icons, but no account names and URLs.
Ask for references and a portfolio
Before I hired Shelby Sapusek of Panoramic Interactive, I learned as much about her and her business approach as I could. I watched her behavior and interaction on Twitter. I attended events she helped plan. I looked at print and digital work she created. Then, after all that, I gave her a small pilot project. She rocked that project and met the deadlines.
The big traditional ad agency or PR firm you have used in the past may not know a thing about digital and social media. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Evaluating new young firms may take a little more time but I think it’s worth it. For example, Shelby grew up in the digital age. All things interactive, digital and social media are truly second nature to her. Of course, in her case, you get to add the decade and a half as a professional journalist. She gets communication.
And it’s all communication. So, find and hire someone who will inform folks how to follow you, the right way.
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