Marketing:

From a marketing perspective, my first impression of TundraBooks.com was that it is not very effective. They are not using web2.0 which means that they not reaching nearly as many people as they could be. With a web2.0 site Tundra could post links to author blogs and create more of a web presence with links to social networking tools. Their site also looks very technologically dated. The colours are bland and it has no form of multimedia – such as slide shows or videos. Overall it gives the impression that either Tundra Books cannot afford someone to take care of their website, or that they just don’t think that their site is worth the effort to maintain.

User-friendliness:
The site however, is not as user friendly as it could be. Although it is easy to navigate, it would be more helpful to users if they were given more categories with which to browse Tundra’s selection of books. If Tundra were to list their books by age group for example, parents would have a larger selection of books to browse through, potentially leading to an increase in sales. Otherwise, since the site is quite easy to navigate I think that I would give it a 7.5 out of 10 for user-friendly.

Company Message:
Tundra’s website says that it “is renowned for its innovations. From the time of its founding, Tundra has been dedicated to helping people tell their own stories, to introducing gallery artists to young children, to creating a balance between information and beauty in non-fiction books, and to keeping in print the books children love, so they can share them years later with their own children.” Although this mandate may describe their books, it is difficult to see how this message comes through on their website. Tundra’s website is by no means innovative and lacks much of the artistic vision and colour that so many of their books possess. Nevertheless, it is quite informative and although the website doesn’t visually sell the company’s message, I think that they make up for it in content.

Please visit it yourself and let me know what your opinion is! Do you think it’s an effective site?? www.tundrabooks.com

Last week I got my hands on my very own, legitimately acquired ARC! Hello, like how cool is that!??!?! I won it from my Magazine Editing instructor Chantel (Chantel Simmons, author of Stuck In Downward Dog and Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Elevate magazine). She brought in a bag of goodies and I got to pick it out! Sure there was make-up and socks and some other stuff I could have taken – I know Amy, I’m crazy. Who wouldn’t want Dior perfume? But I seriously felt like I was holding some kind of holy grail when I picked it out. I guess I was just excited because it made me feel like I’m actually entering the world of publishing. Anyways, I read it and it was fantastic and I read it in a day and a half so I’m going to give you the lowdown on it. The name of the book is Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison and it’s going to be released in July 2009. I had never read any of Beth Harbison’s books before (she’s the author of Shoe Addicts Anonymous and Secrets of a Shoe Addict) but I loved it and now I’m definitely excited to read her other books!

Hope in a Jar tells the story of Allie and Olivia, two best friends who have a falling out at the end of high school and loose touch. Twenty years later they are awkwardly reunited at their high school reunion and discover that perhaps they need each other now, more than ever. The novel flashes back and forth between their pasts and their presents, and muses that although life might suck sometimes, you can always find hope in a jar. (p.s. it’s chick lit if you hadn’t already guessed).

And now I feel like I’m spreading the “Buzz”. I was reading it on the subway the other day and couldn’t help trying to hold it in a manner so that the rest of the train could read the cover. I know, I’m pathetic (sigh). At least, I wasn’t turning to the people next to me telling them they should watch for it in stores Summer 2009!

Have you read Shoe Addict’s Annonymous?? What did you think??

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For many, living On the Danforth means living in an older home, homes whose water costs are often more costly than newer, larger houses due to older plumbing systems. So whether you’re a home owner, or are planning on buying an older home, here are a few things you can do to get to know just what your plumbing system looks like, and how to keep it purring like a kitten

Know what’s behind your walls

Copper Pipe. The majority homes more than ten years old will most likely have copper pipe throughout. Copper pipe is known for the amount of condensation it collects. This moisture creates a build up of lime that can over time corrode the pipe. If possible, try to determine what kind of piping is in a house before you buy it, if you are considering an older home.

Check your toilets. If you flush the toilet and the water doesn’t go down very quickly than chances are it isn’t properly vented. Venting refers to the amount of water flowing through the pipe compared to the amount of air space in the pipe. The more venting in a pipe, the easier it is for liquid to flow through it and the less chance there is of material in the pipe catching and causing a block. Ten years ago it wasn’t mandatory to vent toilets. After years of build up in the pipe, a lack of ventilation will create back-up and poor water flow. Flushing one of the toilets is a simple and easy way to determine the condition of the plumbing in a house.

Basement. See if it is possible to determine the type of pipe that was used in your basement flooring. In older homes, 9 times out of 10 plumbers have installed clay pipe in the ground. This kind of pipe is now obsolete. Because clay is a fragile material, it is easy for tree branches to break through it quickly. This pipe is expensive to replace as it often means digging up parts of your yard and/or cement flooring in order to gain access to the pipe. Another difficulty with plumbing in older homes is the expense of having to replace piping. Today, plumbers only install ABS pipe in residential plumbing (black plastic pipe). Because we once used many different kinds of pipe which are now obsolete, it is more expensive for home owners with older homes to have plumbing problems fixed. It costs extra for plumbers to adapt your old pipe to the new pipe. You need specialized fittings to attach them properly, which can also add up to a hefty bill. Nevertheless, ABS pipe is the best pipe to be putting in your home. ABS has its own built-in insulation. This means that your pipes will no longer build up condensation, or sweat, eliminating the amount of wear they endure.

Saving Money

1. Install new toilets. A lot of older homes come complete with the 12 litre toilet. These toilets are monsters that flush 12 litres of perfectly good water down the drain just because you forgot to let your yellow mellow. The good news is that you can now purchase water-saving 6 litre toilets. Not only will these save you HUGE money when your water bill comes, but they are also much more environmentally friendly.

2. Switch to a tankless water heater. No more giant tank in your basement! It simply hangs on the wall, taking up much less space in your home! Tankless water heaters are capable of providing an instant, endless supply of hot water. These systems function on an on-demand basis, so they don’t require a holding tank to store pre-warmed water. Their life span is also twice as long as regular water heaters. Since they don’t have to store a reserve of water, the possibility of rust build up is significantly lowered. Tankless water heaters also come electrical, meaning that not only are you saving money on your water bill, but you’re also saving on your gas bill as well. Unfortunately, tankless water heaters are new in Canada which means that they are more expensive to install than your traditional kind. Yet because they save so much money on your bills, a tankless heater will pay for itself within a year. With an uncertain economy, the more money you can save the better. Visit tanklesswaterheaters.ca to check out everything there is to know about tankless water heaters

3. Switch old pipe to plastic ABS. ABS keeps hot water hot longer, meaning that your tank doesn’t have to work as hard.

http://www.clutchmagonline.com

Cutch online magazine has links to RSS feed and SMS updates at the very top of their main screen. All of their articles have facebook, del.icio.us, digg and buzz sharing icons at the bottom of the article. Readers are also invited to comment on any all articles. Clutch also has their own MySpace and Twitter pages which they post links to their articles in order to create more traffic on their site. Finally, they also stream interviews and videos.

These tools are valuable for a reader-user because they are placed in convenient locations. They are easy to find and the user doesn’t have to go looking for them. By being on so many different social networking tools it’s also easy for people to find them and to share their articles and videos with others. The diversity of the networks also expands their reader base, making their brand more recognizable to more people. This is great for advertisers as more traffic means that more eyes will see their ads, which means more money for the magazine. And by being able to charge a larger amount for ad space, the magazine makes more money allowing the publishers and editors to increase the amount of content in the magazine.

Lou Lou Magazine

http://www.louloumagazine.com

Lou Lou has a RSS feed link at the very top of their homepage as well. In addition to that they have an information page that explains what RSS is and how you go about using it. This information encourages the use of RSS and in turn, would increase the readership of Lou Lou online and would also increase the amount of daily visits per user. By increasing their online readership Lou Lou can get more bang for their buck when it comes to advertising.

Lou Lou offers you the option of subscribing with Google, Yahoo, blog lines or the choice of another device already saved on your computer. However, Lou Lou does not offer you links to sharing networks. They also do not have a Facebook, Twitter or MySpace page. Although Lou Lou does have a RSS feed, they are not doing all they could be to increase their web presence. Because the online magazine is a counterpart to the print version, an increase in advertising sales on the website would mean a larger budget for the publisher to work with.

Geez Magazine

http://www.geezmagazine.org

Geez also is a web2.0 site. However, the link for the RSS feed is at the very bottom of the page in very small print. I don’t think that I would have noticed it if I hadn’t been looking for it. Apart from that, Geez has a blog but no other links to sharing pages. They do not stream any videos on the site although they do encourage a lot of discussion on their articles.

Because Geez’s website doesn’t have very many links they are not reaching as many online readers/users as they could. For a small magazine however, they do offer a lot of online discussion which would keep current subscribers or online visitors coming back. All of this discussion would be great for marketers as they hear the opinions of their readers and they can find out what kind of content their readers want and find out how they can change the magazine (print and online) to appeal to a larger audience. The blog is useful to the editors as they can post content online that they find interesting but perhaps couldn’t fit into the magazine. It is also another way to hear the voice of the readers/users and tailor the information to meet their needs.

While cleaning the other day, I found a note that my dad sent me years and years ago, when I was floundering in life: I’d finished university but waffling, unsure what to do, knowing I wanted to be an author but thinking it was an unachievable dream, and wanting to work at a magazine but believing my instructors at university who told us that it was impossible to get a job on staff. Instead of telling me to get a secure job doing something–anything–that paid the bills, he sent me this inspirational article.

When Obstacles Get You Down

Is rejection part of your business life? Do setbacks and apparent failures destroy your self confidence? Do obstacles get you down when you’re trying to get something done?

* After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, a 1933 memo from the MGM testing director said “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

* An expert said of famous football coach Vince Lombardi: He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation.”

* Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was advised by her family to find work as a servant or seamstress.

* Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer.

* The teacher of famous opera singer Enrico Caruso said Caruso had no voice at all and could not sing.

* Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper for lacking ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

* Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s 10,000-word story about a soaring seagull before Macmillan finally published it in 1970. By 1975, Jonathan Livingston Seagull had sold more than seven million copies in the US alone.