Online Games as eLearning Strategy

January 26, 2010 By 1 Comment

Anyone who has an account on Facebook knows about the games: FarmVille, Farm Town, Cafe World, MafiaWars, FishVille, YoVille, and so on. The opinions about the games are quite polarized, ranging from “I hate those stupid announcements. Ban the games.” to “I love those stupid announcements cause I get free prizes”. Of course, all interaction is virtual, all prizes are virtual. The only thing not virtual is the money some people spend to feed their ever-growing habit. Zynga capitalizes on a very basic fact. People really like to give and receive gifts. And just as someone buys a ticket at the fair to throw balls at rigged bowling pins in order to win a stuffed toy that falls apart in a few months, people buy food, land, animals, equipment, and guns that are all virtual.


I started playing games with my sisters so I could have contact with them on an almost daily basis. When they sends me gifts and notes I know they are ok for that day. A funny thing happened. Through gaming I discovered cousins that I hadn’t seen or spoken with for over 20 years. I discovered cousins that I didn’t know I had. And I really like that. Social Media at its best. Then I found old friends on the same games. It recreates the gaming atmosphere of my teens when we would sit for hours playing whist and bridge.  “It’s ok not to have a lot to say. Let’s play.”

Many management courses that I’ve participated in use the game model to get the point across. Whether it is trust, conflict management, accountability, there is a game to play. Granted, these were usually done offsite, all employees of a particular group or division, similar ranking within the company. I don’t know if offsite training happens as regularly as it used to. I suspect not. It is too costly. Training now takes place online.

eLearning and its counterpart, mLearning (mobile), open up training avenues that are cost effective, easy to manage, and easy to coordinate. The individual takes a course online, tests online, and has his/her scores stored online. Management gets instant, unbiased feedback, and instant progression scores. Great. Except the community aspect of training is gone. Synergy is gone.

My question to research this year is how can we take the goodness of gaming (look at Second Life as a prime candidate) and the goodness of offsite training, mash it all together and come out with effective eLearning and mLearning systems? Is there a way to create a learning environment that lives and learns as the employee “goes up in levels”? And is there a way to instill boundaries in those games so that gaming does not become the primary focus of the employee?

Filed Under: From Shoshana, online learning, online training, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

Future of Publishing

January 11, 2010 By 4 Comments

Mark Coker of Smashwords got me thinking about the future of publishing. Many people have written about the end of the year, end of the decade, predictions for the future, but Mark’s prediction kindled a flame of thought. I try to hold on to these moments because my work schedule has become so crazy I don’t always know if I’ve captured same thought. In the middle of a very tight schedule I had to think about what he said. You can read all five of his points on his blog. I’ll just repeat the last two:

“4. Most authors will be indie authors”
“5. Successful publishing companies will be those that put the most total profit in the author’s pocket. No, not the highest per-unit royalty percentage.”

It’s no new thought that the United States influences other cultures. Americans have been doing that since they settled in the foreign wilderness to take their chances with Native Americans and Nature rather than submit to an “un-G-dly” power. Rebellion is always fueled by the knowledge that an entire country was founded out of rebellion against its colonizing parent country. Horatio Alger wannabees, astronauts, freedom riders, strikers, protesters of all kinds take strength from knowing that the Independent spirit lives on, a whole nation of independents.

So when Mark predicts “most authors will be indie authors”, he’s got good solid footing for that statement. Traditional publishing depends on large teams of people from previewing, reading the manuscript through the production, distribution, and sales. Today that team is not needed. It is possible for an author to hire every single person on that chain, topnotch professional editors, readers, book designers, book cover designers, printers, distributors, and salespeople. The author can get these services for a fraction of the cost of a traditional publisher, there is no infrastructure overhead to account for. At this time authors already have to hire publicists to sell their books. What’s keeping them from hiring the whole team?

Imagine, I, Ms Author, write a book. I can’t get an advance from a publisher because no publisher has any money. So I support myself for the months it takes to write. Then I hire a great editor. Maybe even an editor from a well-known publisher. Why can I do that? Because the editor just found him/herself out of a job because the publishing company went under. Then I hire a designer for the interior and cover of the book. Granted, I’m footing the bill here myself. It means I need a nest egg of about $500. At this point I run out of money, so I use Print on Demand technology to print and distribute the book. I only pay the setup fees and shipping cost of that first book. Once the book is available I get out into the Social Media scene and I start to market my book.

A writer must be in the Business of writing today, just to survive. Tomorrow it will be so “rule of thumb” that I’ll do it because I get the greatest return on my investment by doing it myself, braving nature myself, pulling myself up by my own bootstraps.

And that’s what makes number 5 a reality. I learn that I can produce my own works, get them out there, and pocket the majority of the proceeds.

Filed Under: From Shoshana, Print On Demand, Social Media, social media marketing, Uncategorized, Understanding publishing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Doom and Gloom or New Beginning?

November 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Everyday I receive an article talking about the demise of this publisher or that book store chain. This morning The Independent out of the UK lamented the Borders UK non-agreement-that-would-save-the-day. The managers’ buyout does not seem to be happening, or they are too little too late – Borders UK is not taking online orders. It will be a few days before Borders UK is either “saved” or goes into receivership. Stories like this are all over the news: little stores folding due to Amazon/Target/Walmart price cuts, publishing houses closing or shedding imprints that don’t generate “big bucks”.

French Creek Press is a new, fledgling company. In a marketplace full of publishers that know the ropes, have been around for decades, have scoped out the marketplace, how could French Creek Press stand a chance? I’ll answer that with another question. How, in times when stores and publishers are closing, can Harlequin open an new digital only division, Carina Press, headed up by Angela James? The answer is, at least, twofold. An all digital press means publishing is only electronic. There is no need to pour money into thousands of books because no book is produced. All the preprint costs are minimal compared to the print and distribution cost. Yes, there is still distribution, but there is no heavy transport cost. This is the ultimate “on demand” product. The book is produced once in a particular format. Then it is sold multiple times, on demand, with no inventory charge

French Creek Press goes one step farther. Instead of investing tens of thousands of dollars in traditional marketing, the decision to use Social Media as the primary tool was made. Viral Marketing combined with on demand printing means French Creek Press can take a risk on new authors. The cost to French Creek Press is much less than the cost to publish a book through one of the old stalwarts. While we are not exclusively producing digital books (we do print books) we cut costs to the point where we can publish authors, sustain the cost of publishing through its lifecycle, market the books, and stay in business.

I was taken to task for following Harlequin’s move. Since the books are a bit, a little bit, risque, and my lifestyle is the antithesis of risque, what am I doing looking at Harlequin? I can’t afford not to. And neither can any other publisher. Harlequin is taking some very drastic steps to stay open and competitive. By adding Angela James to their team they have increased their survival rate multi-fold. Check out what Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has to say about Carina and you’ll see why this is a brilliant move.

I have roots in the computer industry where revolution takes place on a regular basis. Change with the newest, latest, greatest technology that just made all the equipment I bought six months ago obsolete, or die. By keeping to the principle of on demand production and viral social marketing French Creek Press has the opportunity to grab a piece of the action while producing high quality products. In the meantime, I’m keeping my eyes on the big guys that are adapting to the new reality. And I’m keeping my eye on the women publishers that make a difference in the industry.

Filed Under: From Shoshana, Print On Demand, SMM, Social Media, social media marketing, women publishers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Information Brokers

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Chris Brogan in his three hour talk at the Tools of Change 2009 Conference made several thought provoking statements. Aside from being a very funny guy Chris pointed out the obvious. It is so obvious that it escaped my attention. And if he had to remind everyone in the room of the same fact, it must have slipped under their radar as well.

Chris very pointedly states, “This is the business value of this stuff, the blogging and the social media stuff. There’s a business value to understanding and building the relationships around the product. There’s a real business value in having people understand and have access and build affinity to people…[There is a] new currency in the world, currency of attention, currency of trust. And you need to worry about how you are going to get in front of people to actually care about your thing.”

This introduction to Social Media touched on many subjects which I won’t go into here such as understanding books as eco systems and book clubs as the new tribal system. What really caught my ear was when Chris began speaking about distribution and the Mafia. Books are a distribution problem. eBooks add to the problem even though they command a small piece of the market. Normal channels have a book traditionally marketed, carried by the brick and mortar places along with Online stores. The book is printed and distributed to outlets, bought by the customer, and then shipped. eBooks jump the queue. They are often sold directly from the publisher or even the author.

Just as the Mafia took over distribution systems to deliver basic services to the villages in the face of government corruption, albeit with their own interpretation of the law, the Mafia continued forays into society in other distribution channels. Their choice to distribute alcohol, drugs, slaves, and cigarettes may not be the distribution problem of a publisher, but today’s publisher needs to understand the basic common element. Publishers are not in the book business. Publishers are in the information distribution business. And anytime the distribution is bogged down by bureaucracy, “mafia-style” elements step in to ease the problem.

Social Media works like the Mafia – it sets up new paths, new mechanism to deliver information to the people who want it. And it’s not as complicated as drug traffic-ing. Information brokers need to do things in a “ridiculously different way”. Chris suggests mass customization based on shopping preferences and other information gathered about a customer. Product placement or settings in books can be used to draw people in, and it can be used to enlist outside forces in the marketing campaign. Social Media presents opportunities to work with potential routes that are not traditional marketing.

I choose to reorient my position in a “grassroots” movement instead of the Mafia. Social Media is not as coordinated or structured as the Mafia. It is, however, the perfect expression of the average person grouping together with other average people to effect change.

French Creek Press is starting a social media campaign September. I’ll be writing about this effort and any tips that I can pass along as a result. In the meantime, check out Chris Brogan. Who knows, maybe he’ll do a standup comedy routine to augment his salary.

Filed Under: Social Media, social media marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Using Social Media as a Marketing Strategy

August 17, 2009 By 5 Comments

There are many publishers out there. And there are many using the print on demand model. At French Creek Press we made the decision to use a combination of print on demand and social media marketing to make the publishing exercise affordable. Whether a book is vetted and published under French Creek Press or is self-published using our services and tools, print on demand eases the pocket and using free Social Media outlets for marketing gets to the readership faster than traditional marketing.

          Yes, traditional ad campaigns still have a place. After all, not everyone is on the web (are you kidding? – I actually know them!). Getting an author and a book name in front of a librarian is still very important. Getting that book onto the up-and-coming book review list is crucial. However, people do like to shmooze. And Social Media is nothing if not the expression of a grassroots movement – of any kind. Social Media personifies what make the Western spirit so strong – the gut-level knowledge that I as an individual make a difference. My one vote counts. In Social Media, that one vote spreads so fast through other one-voters that a movement is born in hours. What used to take months to develop is now almost instant. And in our instant culture, our social media culture, we zoom to the tipping point, and reach critical mass faster than traditional marketing could ever foresee.

            In our sister division, Pixel/Point Press, we run a series of classes teaching people how to use social media outlets as marketing tools. These tools are free. The only expense is the time the individual invests in the tools. In the spirit of “rising waters raise all ships” we teach our students the hows and whys of Social Media Marketing. They benefit because they can create and implement their own marketing strategy, We benefit because these same students may want to outsource their Social Media Marketing campaign.

              For more information about our classes click Pixel/Point Press classes.

              Filed Under: Social Media, social media marketing Tagged With: , ,