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For many years, Amazon customers have been able to create profiles that are attached to the reviews they leave on Amazon.com. They are simple, containing a name (or anonymous handle), and other optional elements such as descriptions, locations, profile photos, and all of the items (electronics, books, tools, gadgets, etc.) the person has reviewed. UntilRead more

If you use Amazon Advertising (formerly Amazon Marketing Services, or AMS) advertisements to sell media (such as books or video games) or other products (electronics, toys, clothing, office goods, etc.) you are no doubt familiar with the Amazon Advertising dashboard. It presents many metrics, but one of the most interesting is ACoS, or Average CostRead more

Today’s media myth: Quantitative data is all you need to develop the next media hit   I see a lot of people making this assumption. All you need are stats and business KPIs to make great media. This is so wrong. Even the most hard-nosed traffic guru or “growth hacker” knows that the best wayRead more

This is a continuation of my blog series called Media Myths, based on my book Lean Media and some of the questions I get from people interested in the framework. You can see read the other posts here. Myth #2: Lean Media is the same as Lean Startup I hear this one a lot, particularlyRead more

Today, I am starting a new blog series called Media Myths based on my book Lean Media and some of the questions I get from people interested in the framework. The first myth: The sure-fire way to have a successful media launch is working in secret and then launching with a gigantic hype-filled release That’sRead more

Dean Wesley Smith is a prolific fiction author. He’s also a prolific blogger, and spends a lot of time sharing his observations about the craft of writing. Some of his advice is helpful, but in one of his recent posts (a chapter from one his nonfiction books) he takes aim at the practice of using betaRead more

If you create online media content content aimed at niche audiences, there’s a good chance that the content management system (CMS) powering it is WordPress. Further, if you want to add social sharing buttons to share content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networks, it’s highly like you are using the Simple Share ButtonsRead more

If you follow news about tech startups, you have undoubtedly heard the term “pivot.” It’s a hot idea in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs, and is closely associated with the Lean Startup movement. In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries defines a pivot as a “fundamental change to [a startup’s] business strategy” borne out ofRead more

Today, Lean Media received an endorsement from John Maeda. John is Head of Computational Design & Inclusion at Automattic (the creators of WordPress) and also has a lengthy career as a scholar, author, and thinker about design-related issues at MIT, RISD, and KPCB. If you haven’t read it, I urge you to check out John’sRead more

Thanks to all of the people who shared feedback on the first round of 9 cover designs for the Lean Media book project. I really enjoyed reading through your comments, which helped me see the proposed designs in a new light. Like any design-oriented Lean Media project, the feedback is not intended to be a popularityRead more