sitepoint books

I'm working on a website for a book called Charity on Trial and I wanted to keep up with the current trends in web design, so I bought a book on CSS. Actually it is about the third book on CSS I've bought, but it was the first useful one. The book was published by a unique company called Sitepoint. Their books are all heavily branded and also very useful.

Because it is a book on computer code, it lends itself very nicely to an interactive book/web experience. The book sends you to the company's website where you can download files that support the lessons in the book. In order to get the files you have to answer a question like "what's the last word in chapter 3." Then you supply your email address and they send you a link to where you can download the files. A few minutes later they send you an email thanking you for your order and offering $10 off my next order placed through the publisher's website.

By the time I read the email thanking me, I had made some real progress with the book and was quite satisfied. Next thing you know I am on their site ordering the follow up book and another relavant book because--not only did I get $10 off the order but, if I bought 2 books, I got free shipping too. Woohoo!

Anyway, I'm not telling you this because I have become a Sitepoint shill. I'm noting it because it is such an excellent publishing model. The Sitepoint experience also made me think about the recent debate on Buzz, Balls and Hype about blogging v. flogging. Though this is not a blog issue, the bottom line is that Sitepoint has developed a series of great products that work really well for an audience that they have found a way to get into something of a conversation with.

I was delighted to have something sold to me that I was interested in. This is the beauty of using the internet as a marketing tool. If you are providing great product and you come up with a clever way to speak directly with target consumers, your customers will be happy to hear your sales pitch.

The flogging thing is a problem when the message is second rate and it is being delivvered to lots of people who don't particularly care. That is when, as a reader and consumer, I get annoyed.

I'm not going to lie, I started this blog as a tool to help promote the publishing consulting business that I am trying to build. I don't cook up posts to sell specific services. I also hope that readers will find my publishing insight helpful. And I am only spending time promoting the blog to authors and industry people. Hopefully I am following the Sitepoint model of providing useful content to interested readers.

Comments

[Peter L. Winkler]

Whew. Plowing through two books on CSS? I salute your determination.

I've managed to patch together a rudimentary understanding of HTML, often by deducing how to achieve certain effects by staring at the source code of sites that look the way I want mine to look and reverse engineering how to do it.

[LeOgAhEr]

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