Digital Publishing: New Opportunity for Online Entrepreneurs or Latest Fad? New Study Reveals Surprising Facts
Report reveals best practices, tools and trends for digital publishing
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) August 16, 2012
A surprising 86% of online marketers plan to publish a digital book in the next six months, according to findings from the newly released 2012 Digital Publishing Industry Report: How Online Entrepreneurs Are Using Digital Publishing to Grow Their Businesses.
"Digital publishing represents an unprecedented opportunity for online entrepreneurs to both promote and grow their businesses,' says report co-author Dr. Ellen Britt and co-founder of The Future of Ink. ".”Plus, the really eye-opening thing is even though online entrepreneurs place a high value on digital publishing, the majority have little or no experience with actually publishing in digital format."
That's not stopping online business owners from jumping on the digital publishing bandwagon; with consultants, coaches, speakers, trainers, sales people and even artists expressing intense interest in this new form of publishing. 2011 saw an explosion of ebook sales, which rose an astounding 117% for publishers who report data to the Association of American Publishers. In the U.S. alone, 70 million avid readers buy 10 or more books, paper or electronic, each year.
Denise Wakeman, co-founder of The Future of Ink, puts it this way, "Seems everywhere I turn online these days, the hot topic is digital publishing: ebooks, ibooks, Kindle books, video magazines, podcasts, you name it. Whether you call it content marketing or self-publishing, digital or multi-media publishing…this is rapidly becoming the important element for every business to consider including in their marketing strategy."
Even for seasoned marketing professionals, digital publishing is a fresh, new opportunity, And it's not only for young entrepreneurs who are just starting out. Among the 1000 plus online marketers surveyed, 56% indicated they did not yet have a digital book published, with most participants (83%) between 40 to 69 years of age. "This should be extremely encouraging to all online entrepreneurs," says Britt, "as it's definitely early in the game, with an essentially level playing field and a tremendous opportunity to leverage digital publishing in any niche."
The big questions online entrepreneurs most want answered about using digital publishing in their businesses are also addressed in the extensive report. Information on how to get started and is there really money to be made were among the top questions asked.
The leading benefits enjoyed by online marketers included:
#1 – Generating business exposure (39%)
#2 – Getting an increase in subscribers and opt-ins (23%)
#3 – Generating qualified leads (15%)
The report also examines the publishing platforms used by online marketers. "It's not surprising that Amazon wins as the platform of choice," says Britt, "and but it's a bit surprising to see just how far they outpaced the other players."
Filled with color charts and industry information, the report provides valuable, easy to digest insights for online entrepreneurs.
Download a free copy of the report at:
http://thefutureofink.com/digital-publishing-industry-report-2012
this was a very helpful post. big keys point hitt.
Very interesting, though not that surprising to me. The majority of my clients are online entrepreneurs planning to publish digital books, and most of them are first-time authors looking for guidance, so there’s definitely a need. Looking forward to checking out the report.
Amy, until we did the survey, we were really just guessing at how many entrepreneurs have or have not published digital books. The interesting thing is the top 10 questions, people want answers to. I thinks that will be helpful for those who provide services in this industry. Thanks for stopping by!