Create a publishing empire from your home
02/03/2010 send to a friend
Do you have content you would like to share with an interested audience of existing and potential customers? It’s never been so easy to package your content in a stylish way, and distribute it in a cost-effective way. Enter the age of home publishing.
Technology, the great leveller
It used to be that if you wanted to publish a book, magazine, newspaper or show series, you could only do so if you had access to large (and expensive) capital equipment and a workforce of hundreds. Not any more. Web-based applications are freeing up the imagination and putting home business owners in control of how content is distributed. Here are some to get you started.
- Books - always wanted to write the authoritative guide for your industry/sector? Want to show off your portfolio of photographs or handmade goods in a coffee table style book? Now you can with self-publishing sites Blurb and Lulu.com
- Newspapers - move over, Rupert Murdoch, the home business owners are coming to media town! Become a newspaper publisher with Newspaper Club – the service is currently in beta but you can sign up and see what this tool could do for your business.
- Magazines - digital magazines are becoming increasingly sophisticated with embedded links to buy products alongside video clips and interactive forums. Take a look at Yudu and Zmags. According to digital publishing service, nxtbook media, advertising in digital magazines is more trusted than online ad banners so for your sponsors and advertisers offering a presence in a digital magazine and on your site offers a good rate of return for them.
- Audio - speak to your audience by producing a podcast and inviting in guests who can be interviewed using Skype. Click here to read a round-up of features on how to produce a podcast.
- Video - publish content of you making your product/service or customers saying nice things about your product/service, by using a Flip camera that can be bought for around £90 and comes with only one button so is hyper-easy to use!
- Online – share content and your expertise in the form of an online slide show using Slideshare
This list does not even cover publishing content for people to consume whilst on the move ie mobile applications and publishing for devices such as the iPad and Kindle – that will be covered in a future piece!
In the meantime, make the most of earning revenue from charging individual subscriptions or secure a sponsor who would like to be associated with your content and the viral way through which you’ll distribute it. Before you know it you’ll be publishing online, in print, and in audio/video, to an audience of interested readers/watchers/listeners. What a business to run from the comfort of your own home! - Emma Jones
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Comments
Author: James Ainsworth
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: An outstanding pool of resources here that on the whole are easy to use and above all, useful. The web means that anyone and everyone is a publisher (It is a whole other debate as to who are the editors and how we filter content etc).
Slideshare is brilliant - i think some people treat it with caution because there is an element of having to let go of your content. It can be embedded into blogs and web pages anywhere but you cant control the context in which it will appear but I think the online community as a whole are a responsible, resourceful bunch that wish to share the good stuff.
Website: www.marketingdonut.co.uk
Author: San Sharma
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: Totally agree that Slideshare is a brilliant. (We ought to put some of our presentations up there, eh Emma?)
And this is a great round-up of resources, by the way!
Website: http://www.sansharma.com
Author: Kathy Lawrence
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: Just what I love in a blog. Lots of really useful information that I can use in my work as a business writer.
Website: www.wrightwell.co.uk
Author: David Howell
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: Yep, great round up of self-publishing services that just shows you how you can publish just about any material you like.
Apologies for the shameless plug, but you can learn more about self-publishing in my new magazine Publish Now! Available in your local WH Smith, or direct from my website.
The ipad in my view is a game changer. Magazines must embrace all the distribution channels open to them. That way their readers can consume their content on any platform they like from web to print.
Self-publishing is about to go through a renaissance thanks to the iPad. Watch for an iTunes for publishing that is sure to happen. If so, micro publishers will have a mechanism to reach their readers with ease.
Can't wait!
Dave.
Website: http://www.nexus-publishing.co.uk/wordpress
Author: Gary Sall
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: Great post.I produced an audio file or podcast myself for my website.A personal message from the home businessperson does help in the marketing of the business.
Keep up the good work Emma.
Website: www.positivechangesolutions.co.uk
Author: andrew burdett design
Date: 02/03/2010
Comment: Or you could always get the professionals in - we could probably print it for less and have a more professional layout.
Website: www.andrewburdettdesign.com
Author: Mark Nagurski
Date: 03/03/2010
Comment: Some great resources and ideas in there.
I think video in particular has enormous potential and, as one of the commenters above mentioned, iPad will certainly shake things up a little as we begin to see text, images, audio, video and interactive elements all collide in a single format.
As a related idea, I'm starting to see lots of companies moving into publishing educational resources (online training). Think short video tutorials on your favourite subject, delivered on a subscription basis - could be a great little home based business.
Website: www.iddictive.com