The Playaway Blog

More than just Audiobooks

Please forgive the randomness, but I've heard a few times from some of our customers that we think that we're such a great audio book company.  We're a what??

Believe it or not -- while we all LOVE audio books here, we don't really consider Findaway World to be an "audio book company" or Playaway to be an "audio book product."  Actually, to quote a portion of our mission statement, we believe Playaway provides "simple and immediate access to the content that people want or need." 

Platform?  Content??  Buzzwords, you say!  No...really...

Here are all of the types of products we've produced on Playaway in the past three years:

• Sports Hypnotherapy
• Deep Sleep Simulation
• Self-Guided city tours for Paris, London, Halifax, etc
• Sales Training
• Continuing Medical Education
• Religious Messages
• Language Learning
• Textbooks
• Test Preparation
• Classroom Lectures

I'm sure that I'm missing a few examples, but you get my point! Just thought you'd enjoy some food for thought.  Speaking of which, I'm still sort of hungry...

Letters and Emails and Phone calls -- Oh My!

First off -- just a friendly reminder that those of you who would like to get a pretty-much daily view into my life -- both personal and professional -- can always now visit www.twitter.com/belsito.  From sitting at my desk executing on Playaway strategy...to listening to music in a hammock...I've been "tweeting" on a pretty regular basis.  For those of you who have not...well...tweeted before, you should really consider starting.  It is as easy as text messaging from your phone and it's become one of my new favorite things to do.  But for those of you that are still lost in the outdated age of blogging...this post is for you!

Isn't it funny how sometimes the most important things we can do in business are considered to be mundane?  After all, if you told your friend over a beer after work that you spent all day sending emails and making phone calls...constantly...they probably would tip their cup up and offer up a "To better days!" kind of toast.  You'd both drink, start to talk about something else, and go on with your night.  But think about it.  Pure execution...the emails, the phone calls, the diligent follow-up.  Isn't THAT what ends up resulting in sales and more business?  Sure, sales is relationship-building, but how do you build relationships without pounding away on the phones?

I know that this is a random thought, but I think it's important to point out just how important spending a full day emailing and making phone calls can really be...especially if you are a business development person such as myself. 

Okay, enough of this random thought.  Back to emails.  and phone calls.  and...well, you get the point.

Twitter, BEA, ASTD, and Charles Barkley...not exactly in that order.

Okay, so I have a lot of info to share -- a LOT.

First off, I realize that I don't post blog entries as often as I (and maybe, you) would like.  Therefore, I'm going to give Twittering a shot.  Keep up with what I'm doing in real time at www.twitter.com/belsito. 

Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room on Day 6 of an 8-day trip to Southern California on behalf of Playaway.  I know, I know -- rough life for me, eh?  I'm not going to lie, I've been having a blast.  Of course, it's not necessarily because of the sunny 70-degree weather or the cool breezes.  I get my high from continuing to open up new channels for Playaway.  But before I get into that, I suppose I should start with the beginning of my trip...

We started off at the Book Expo America show in Los Angeles.  The first night I arrived, I decided to meet a couple of other Findawayers at the lobby bar.  Little did I know that my two colleagues happened to be sitting directly next to Charles Barkley.  Yes...THAT Charles Barkley.  For the next 2.5 hours, my drinks were paid for by an NBA Hall of Famer.  And I will add that Sir Charles was gracious enough to talk a little bit -- and even take pictures -- with anybody that approached him that night.  As far as the actual show, I thought we had a very nice presence.  We met a lot of authors, a lot of publishers, and it was apparent that we're still opening up many people's eyes who have never even heard of our format before.  That said, at the Day of Dialogue (an event geared toward librarians), "Founding Father" Blake spoke and asked the audience how many people circulated Playaway in their collection.  His estimation -- about 80-85%.  Not bad...eh?  This was all capped off by a Playaway party at the Library Bar where many...may I say "Audio Book A-Listers" were ever-so-present.

Now, I find myself in San Diego at the American Society for Training and Development show.  I have to admit, I really didn't know what to expect here.  I took a leap of faith in really pushing internally to get us to exhibit here.  I think back to our first library tradeshow presence, though -- and we had no idea what to expect there, either.  In fact, at the time, we had 30 titles, 5 publishers, and an entire 5 libraries as customers.  Now, Institutional markets are our core business.  Schools, Libraries, Military -- that's our bread and butter.  Could Training become the next "library market" for us??  That's the question I've been asking myself.  After today -- I'm more optimistic than ever that Training and Development could be the next big thing for us.  Day 1 of ASTD went better than I could have imagined.  Our booth was swamped the majority of the time -- and we were meeting with the creme de la creme in terms of T&D professionals.  If this were a primary race, it would be "too early to call" in terms of market potential...but I have a very good feeling about this one. 

I'll catch up with you all on Twitter more often -- but keep checking back here for updates...

We've Come a Long Way, Baby...

Okay, a part of me has a problem with "borrowing" a phrase used in promoting tobacco products.  But what the heck -- that phrase pretty much sums up how I feel about Playaway when comparing our first presence at the biennial Public Library Association conference to our more recent exhibition, which took place just a couple of weeks ago in pleasant Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Our first showing was primarily a two-person team showing off our 50 or so titles (at the time, of course) at our tiny, bare-bones 10' x 10' booth.  Boy, how times have changed...

The Playaway Booth at the 2008 PLA show was absolutely rocking.  Our two hundred square feet were completely filled with friendly, eager librarians craving more information on the 1,200+ titles we now have in our collection (not including the 600+ additional titles that Recorded Books offers)...from start of show to finish.  Those librarians had good reason to arm themselves with our info.  After all, 6500 libraries and schools can't be wrong!  That's the approximate number of schools and libraries now circulating Playaway titles.  Not bad progress in the past two years, eh?

I know I'm a bit biased, but it sure seemed like the energy we had going on this year was pretty special.  I wonder what PLA 2010 will be like...

Want a free iPhone?? Just go to college...

  No, this isn't one of those offers to give you a free iPhone if you complete 1 copper offer, 3 bronze offers, 10 silver offers, 25 gold offers, 100 platinum offers...and then sign up 10 friends who do the same.  I may have found the easiest way to get a free iPhone.  Really.  All you have to do is enroll at Abilene Christian University.  It was announced a couple of weeks ago that the Wildcats of ACU will be doling out iPhones to all incoming freshman so that they can-- according to ACU's CIO Kevin Roberts-- "receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances."  That, and get the latest scoop on Britney'n'Friends at TMZ, watch some cute baby sing "Hey Jude" on YouTube, and listen to whatever those crazy college kids listen to these days.  (Click here to see what this crazy kid is listening to!)

The immediate reaction to news like this is usually one of two responses:
1.  That's genius!!  Capatalizing on technology and converged media to better our students minds is a great idea!  This speaks to them on their level!
2.  That's ridiculous!!  Those college kids only use iPods for listening to that damned Rock'N'Roll -- it's the devil's music!  We can't trust them with $500 pieces of equipment -- especially when they'll never use it for good!

I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle. 

Hey, I'm all for identifying applicable technologies and trying something different with them within the educational landscape.  Heck, it was almost a year ago that Pearson started using Playaway as a curriculum tool for K-12 classrooms.  And I think it is true that students need unique, relevant ways to learn course material -- different from the ways that their parents and grandparents were taught.  But...free iPhones for all incoming college freshman?  Is it really providing these students with an academic advantage over...say...not giving them a free iPhone?  I suppose we'll only find out after they review the project.  However, I do find it interesting that Duke University -- one of the first colleges to start handing out iPods for "learning purposes" -- decided, after their $500,000 experiment, to no longer distribute them to each student for free.

I guess, in the end, I'm just not sold that a free iPhone would revolutionize my college educational experience.  It wasn't THAT long ago that I was a Falcon and Spartan-- and while I do think it would've been cool to listen to lectures while at the gym, I'm not sure that warrants a $500/student investment. 

I don't doubt, however, that it might have been worth the publicity and is certainly one heck of a recruiting tool.  Who wants to bet that applications at  Abilene Christian University are up a billion percent next year?

Excuses, excuses...

I could give you a million excuses for why I haven't posted in such a long time:
*  Business has been going so well and I've been so consumed that I barely feel I have enough time to write on a regular basis.
*  My responsibilities have shifted -- and been added to -- to the point that my attention needs to be completely focused otherwise some balls might get dropped.
*  Weekends have been unusually busy for a cold, blistery February.

While all of the above is true -- excuses are so lame, so please disregard the first 100 words you read in this post. 

How about I give you an update on what I've been up to in the past couple of months?  I think you may be interested...

First -- my overall responsibilities at Findaway have been shaken (not stirred) up a bit so that in addition to my Business Development role of trying to establish Playaway in various channels (Religion, Health Care, Education, and Corporate Training all come top-of-mind) -- I am also getting more entrenched in the Strategic side of our business.  This includes evaluating (and improving) internal processes, maintaining a lookout on the competitive landscape, and generally being a strategic voice in the organization.  I must say that even though this new development has caused me to essentially be performing two different, distinct roles in the company which has consumed a LOT of my time-- it's pretty darn exciting. 

One of the projects that I was handed a couple of months ago was to audit and restructure our Title Launch Process.  Outsiders looking in may not realize it, but we launch anywhere from 50 - 200 titles every single month.  In effect, that means that we at Findaway are following through with 50 - 200 product launches every 30 days.  Up until now, that process has been "OK."  However, I was asked to jump in and see if we can take that process and make it scalable -- so we can be launching 200 - 500 titles (or heck, even more!) every single month.  I know that is music to your ears, librarians!  Anyway, I think our team has done one heck of a job getting this process up to speed.  My next step?...finding somebody to hand this off to!  Know any good people?  We sure do have a lot of fun here...

Okay, so I guess it wasn't too hard to make that post.  Let's see if I can make this a regular thing again...

Giving and Receiving...

Are you interested in trying out Playaway-- but you're not interested in paying the full publisher's retail price?  Boy, have you come to the right place.  Many people want to enjoy all of the benefits that Playaway has to offer but struggle with paying full price.  It's quite understandable.  I hate paying full-price, too...for anything.  That's why I'm such a big fan of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or any other fun-yet-scary sounding description for a named shopping day.  Anyway, here are some suggestions for getting 100% of the Playaway experience for a fraction of the price (or heck, even FREE!) this holiday season:

1.  Get any Playaway you'd like for 30% off of the publisher's list price! 

How, you ask?  It's simple.  Getting discounts like this are all about who you know.  In this case, you know me and you should take advantage of it.  Just go to www.playawaydigital.com, pick out any of the hundreds of titles that are currently available, and enter the following promo code:  FFMIKE.  Upon checking out, it will give you 30% off of the price!  Use it as many times as you'd like -- it's good for all titles.  If you order ASAP, it's possible for you to receive your titles in time for Christmas! 

2.  Get any Playaway you'd like for 50% off the publisher's list price!

Want to save even MORE?  Do you already have a Playaway title that you are finished listening to?  Take advantage of our RePlay Rewards program by filling out a RePlay form and send your previously purchased title back to us (along with the completed form).  In return, we'll give you a promo code for 50% off ANY title!  This program has "green" written all over it...in more ways than one. 

3.  Get any Playaway you'd like...for FREE!

That's right...I said free.  Because Playaway is now circulating at THOUSANDS of public libraries (along with school libraries, military libraries, academic libraries...you name it) throughout the country, it is getting easier and easier for you to check out Playaway just as you would any other book.  In fact, many libraries will throw in a set of earbuds for free as well (while some charge $1 or $2 if you don't have your own pair to listen with).  If you are interested in finding out what libraries near you are circulating Playaway, let me know and I'll help you find out.  If your local library DOESN'T happen to circulate Playaway -- tell them you want your Playaway!

Speaking of the military....

With those few extra bucks you've saved, consider making a holiday donation to the troops!  Findaway is donating $10,000 worth of Playaways to U.S. military units deployed overseas to show our appreciation through Project Thank You.  For every $10 we receive, we kick in another unit. 

In the end, you can save some money...and make a soldier's day.  Now, THAT's the holiday spirit!

Etch-a-Sketch + Amazon = The Future of Reading??

First off, this posting is WAAAAY overdue...and there's nobody to blame but myself!  I will (proudly) announce that I recently married on October 20th and have admittedly been a bit preoccupied lately.  Nevertheless, my apologies for leaving this stagnant for so long!  Now, onto my thoughts...

I recently read a very interesting article in Newsweek entitled, The Future of Reading.  While the headline of the article seems like it speaks in general terms philosophizing on the age-old delight of picking up a book and turning pages, it really focuses a lot on the highly-touted, newly-launched Kindle, born of the vision of Jeff Bezos at Amazon.  If you're unfamiliar with the Kindle, it's definitely worth checking out.  As defined by its creators, it is a "wireless, portable reading device with access to more than 90,000 books, blogs, newspapers, and magazines."  No, it's not a mini-laptop that's only function is to read books.  In fact, the screen itself is what sets it apart from any other e-reader (aside from it's primary competitor, the Sony E-Reader).  Like Sony's product, which was launched last year, the Kindle touts e-ink technology -- which makes the screen look more like the page of a book than a computer screen.  In fact, some comparisons point out that the screen of a kindle looks strikingly similar to that of an etch-a-sketch...(I was never good at those things).  It has other features that seemingly sets it apart from e-Readers-- like wireless access to a huge vault of books that you can download instantly (for a cost, of course) without even needing to be connected to a computer.  You can have this all for about four hundred bucks.  And unfortunately, no-- there are no Kindle Nano's yet for half the price.

Regardless of the price -- I'm not sure how I really feel about this.  I'm all for taking reading to the 21st century.  I can definitely see how many, many people will buy these, too.  I'm just not sure if this is something I will ever buy.  It could be useful for college kids to keep their entire log of textbooks on one portable Kindle.  And if I was somebody that read a different book every week and I felt the need to carry them ALL with me at the same time...I could see how it would be useful.  But I'm not a college kid, nor do I read THAT often (I wish!)...or even feel the need to carry an entire library with me.  Maybe I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I rarely read more than one book at a time.  When I'm finished, I almost always offer it to a friend to borrow.  That's one of the features I love about Playaway.  I listen, I enjoy, I share. 

Regardless, the article from Newsweek is an interesting one and it will be even more interesting to see how the debate of "The Future of Reading" plays out in dollar votes over the next couple years.  As for me, I'm not ready to embrace Kindle just yet.  I'll be going back to listening to "Book of Fate" on Playaway and wonder if the Freemasons are really involved in political conspiracies.  Say, did you know that the town of Sandusky, Ohio was laid out in the exact form of a major Masonic symbol??

Innovation and...my church??

Okay, so this post may not be similar to other posts of mine.  After all, I'm talking about church here.  How does this relate to Playaway and new technologies?  Well, one of the biggest churches in the country, Willow Creek Community Church -- based in South Barrington, IL -- has a magazine that they distribute to members.  "Okay," you say..."My church has a bulletin.  What's so unique about Willow Creek?"  As Derek Zoolander would say-- Let me answer your question with another question.  Does your church bulletin have a title that reads "The Apologetics of Innovation"?  In fact, the print magazine actually shows an Apple i-Phone on the cover.  Do you still think this sounds like your church?

The point of all of this is that innovation and new technologies are not just for those in Business School, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street.  Innovation is now becoming a standard term in Mom'n'Pop businesses, small towns, and yes-- even churches.  For those that are interested in reading Willow Creek's slant on innovation and the church -- and how they relate and intersect -- feel free to visit this link. 

What has always excited me about our product, Playaway -- is that it is geared towards the layman and not the techno-geek.  After all, the thing that makes disruptive technologies relevant is that it changes the landscape for everybody -- from the VC guru in San Jose...all the way to the pastor in South Barrington. 

As a b-school educated Business Development Manager working at a fun tech startup, I never thought I would pick up tips on Innovation and Management from a church in Illinois.  Then again, there's a first for everything...

Learning by Listening...

I had a horrible dream last night that I was back in college (that's not necessarily the horrible part) and it was the end of the semester when I realized...I had completely forgotten to attend a particular class throughout the year.  I was anticipating receiving my report card and looking at all A's and B's -- but saw one giant F for a class that I didn't even realize I was enrolled in.  When I woke up from this dream, I thanked my lucky stars that it was only a dream -- and then thought back to my days as an undergraduate at Bowling Green State University and an MBA student at Case Western Reserve University...

You see, my freshman year, I subscribed to the more "traditional" route of studying -- read the book, highlight sections, re-read those sections, repeat steps one through three...you get what I'm saying.  Honestly, that first year for me at BGSU was not much better than average when it came to academic performance.  In my sophomore year, I decided to shake things up by practicing some different studying techniques.  One of the techniques I tried was recording the classroom sessions on a digital recorder.  Some professors made it easy and even made their classes available on audio for digital download.  That is a lot more prevelant today than it was when I first enrolled in 1999.  Nevertheless, my grades started to get better and better after trying some of these "non traditional" techniques -- and I nearly graduated Cum Laude when it was all said and done. 

I am sure that there were other factors involved aside from incorporating an auditory learning component to my techniques that helped encourage some improvement beginning with my sophomore year -- but thinking back, it is interesting how listening actually helped me academically.  We've got some very cool things going on at Playaway in terms of educational programs on audio through partnerships with Pearson Education, Follett Education Services, and others -- so keep your eyes peeled.  I only hope these programs we roll out help others like my handy digital recorder helped me.

Okay, back to finding a way...