april 30 2009success with interactive image programs 1 editors’ online workshop series success...

April 30 2009 Success with Interactive Image Programs 1

Editors’ Online Workshop Series

Success with Interactive Image ProgramsPresented April 30, 2009

Dan Sargent, OPM, Art

Tim Langlitz, Director, eBusiness Development

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Session Objectives1. Overview

2. Image-based content and programs

3. Generating email subscribers

4. Boost return visits

5. Build fast and professional slide shows - free

6. Combine advertising & editorial content

7. Next Steps

April 30 2009 Success with Interactive Image Programs

Image-based content

• Wallpapers– Desktop images

– Consumers download and enjoy

• Galleries– Display of multiple images

– Category of images for users to view

• Slideshows– “Movie” of sequential images

– Set to audio (music/narration

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Desktop Wallpapers

• Desktop Wallpapers

– Quick Definition: A large high-quality image that is provided in a variety of sizes (according to standard monitor resolutions), for users to download & install on their computer’s desktop.

– Repurpose print content (free)

– Great for Macs & PCs

– Feature is built into both OS’s

– What Sizes?

– 800x600

– 1024x768

– 1680x1050


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Desktop Wallpapers: Branding!

• Freebies are a branding opportunity!

• Take advantage of viral distribution

• Quality content gets “Dug” “Stumbled”, etc.

• Be sure to Digg/Stumble your own pages!

• Share pages and links through facebook/linkedin

• Rights Management

• We get permission from artists to dist. online

• They like this too – it promotes them (as well as us)


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Desktop Wallpapers + Niche = Traffic


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Desktop Wallpapers + Niche = Traffic


• Rapid Traffic Growth

• Consumer interest high

• Wallpaper gallery page is the 142nd most popular page out of 12,764 total pages on ArtistsNetwork.com, in the first month

• New and Repeat Traffic Production

• Users first visit the site on the wallpaper gallery page

• Direct access to the page is the 2nd most common entry point

• Suggests high return-visitor rate due to bookmarking

• Suggests high new visits due to viral promotion

• Newsletter Growth impact TBD

• Limited data on signup source

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Desktop Wallpapers: GalleriesLayout is key

• Valuable, FRESH, content keeps them coming back & linking

• Keep new content on top

• Break up into manageable “chunks”

• Link to sections (on-page)

• Use thumbnails + download links (keep page download time to a minimum)

• Captions help SEO

• As content grows, eventually implement multiple pages

All done in QP7 backend


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Desktop Wallpaper: Promotion


• Be direct in value and promotion

• Keep It Simple with easy URL• www.artistsnetwork.com/wallpaper

• Guide Readers• Address users’ likely FAQs immediately:

• How to download/install

• How to get MORE (more on that later)

• Address Mac & PC

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Free is Good

• The Perception of “Free”

– Know thy audience

– Wallpapers, PDFs/articles, etc.

• What’s the ROI?

– “Free” doesn’t mean “No ROI”

– For us: email subscribers are the ROI

• Growing the list = more DTC sales + more ad revenue

– Open to advertising possibilities too


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Build Your Lists with Wallpapers

Ask for the email early on.

“And get exclusive bonus desktop wallpapers by signing up for your free

email newsletter.”

Ask for the email early on.

“And get exclusive bonus desktop wallpapers by signing up for your free



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Repeat the “call to action” later.

Repeat the “call to action” later.



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• Publicize Your Free Wallpapers– On your site site– In your newsletters

• As a content item whenever new additions to either page (public or exclusive) are made

– Blog about them– Leverage social sites (Dig/Stumble your

own content)



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• Now what?– Subscribe to get more!

– Increases subscriber loyalty!• The average unsub rate for all but one of our newsletters is .1% or less which is very good –

the industry average is .41% – the lowest is ArtistsNetwork at .05% – the highest is Watercolor Artist with just .2%


The Plot Thickens… Why Subscribe?

“…get exclusive bonus desktop wallpapers by signing up for your free


“…get exclusive bonus desktop wallpapers by signing up for your free


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• Exclusivity Adds to Perceived Value– We can’t “password” directories, so keep bonus wallpaper page less accessible

• Never link to it, except in newsletters

• Keep it fresh – We add new wallpapers to both the free & exclusive wallpapers list every few weeks

(once or twice per month)

• Make “exclusive” page valuable– We currently have 39 images on the exclusive page vs 15 on the free page


Establishing Value: Wallpaper Subscription

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PART 2

Build fast & professional slideshows using free software…

& drive sales


Slideshows + Movies

• Quality content from repurposed/user-generated images

• No special skills required, just 2 free programs– Youtube

– Picasa

• Possibilities abound– Product demos

– Embed them in your ecommerce store’s Product Description pages!

– As an advertising product

March 19, 2009 Optimizing Multimedia Content 18

Product Demonstrations

• We all know that PDF downloads are popular with our consumers…

• Why not create a slideshow/movie detailing a technique or tutorial?– Achieve true viral distribution via

YouTube

– More than 100 million visitors p/month

– Gain better exposure on YouTube via “optimized” descriptions & titles!

– ADD AUDIO

• Supplements site or store content to sell the product


Sales Tool

• Embed them in your ecommerce store’s Product Description pages!

– As eMarketer says in Retailers Take Note: Video Sells!:

• “…early indications point to product videos becoming a powerful sales tool. “Among the benefits of videos touted by Web retailers are a lower number of abandoned shopping carts, reduced return rates and higher sales,” says Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Video Usage in E-Commerce: The Best Is Yet to Come.”

– Similar to Popular Woodworking’s success with video guides for product use

• Can also be used directly in Editorial content where appropriate


Advertising Potential

• Offer “Pre-roll” to advertisers– Our industry partners are likewise becoming

excited about online video’s potential– They read the same research we do, and are

learning the “Video Sells” online

• Opportunities for advertisers– Create sponsored product demos– Include pre- & post-roll sponsored ads with

coupons– Partners get added bonus of YouTube exposure &

can reuse videos on other sites as well– Higher margin product – no hosting or bandwidth

fees (i.e. Permission TV and others)

• Consider “video overlay” for persistent sponsor presence

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How It’s Done – a 5-Step Process:

1. Create a user account (free) on picasa.google.com & download Picasa 3 (for PC) or Picasa Beta (for Mac) – this program lets you create slideshows, write/include captions, etc. and upload your slideshow directly to sites like YouTube, where you can share them with the world, and post them on your own web site.

a) Here's a great short Tour of what Picasa 3 for PC can do: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rskC6c_5L1M

b) And here’s a Tour of Picasa Beta for Mac:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDKFjc3_wrk


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2. Be sure to have a YouTube user account as well (free at http://www.YouTube.com ). Your publication may already have an account – if so, create a new playlist for your slideshows – if not, this would be the perfect time to create a YouTube Channel for your magazine/community/etc.

– To see a sample F+W YouTube Channel, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/artistsnetwork


3. Use Picasa's ability to create slideshows from your own images, and upload the slideshows as YouTube movies to your own Channel automatically




4. If you wish, you can use the Google APIs to create a custom player

– This is easy to do – just sign into your YouTube account & go here: http://www.youtube.com/custom_player ) OR create a custom AJAX video player bar & embedable video showcase (it's easy to do via Google’s Setup Wizard here: http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/videobar/index.html )

– Particularly useful for group postings, or advertisers, or “shows” and online galleries



5. Create the page(s) where you want to display your slideshow (along with any text)

– Embed your slideshow movie in your site by pasting the HTML into the desired area in QP7…

– DONE

– You’ve just created an online slideshow from scratch & posted it on your own webpage with $0 cost & 0 development time from eMedia!


High Quality Content = Win, Win, WIN• We’ve made a name for ourselves in our

respective niches by producing high quality content

• We’re rapidly applying this expertise to the online space

• High quality content that’s easy to share is “linkbait”

• Linkbait that is also good for ecommerce & advertising & email list growth leads to:

– Our success

– Which leads to our advertiser’s success

– All while making our online communities happy as well…

Next Steps Checklist

Inventory existing image assets for slideshow/gallery program

Seek image submissions from users for a new product

Partner with your Online Product Manager to identify potential sponsors/product sales opportunities

Get started with YouTube and Picasa to create test slideshows

Post your first slideshow on F+W Connect and be the first to market!


Questions?

april 30 2009success with interactive image programs 1 editors’ online workshop series success...

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