Monday, September 15, 2008

The Reddest of Flags--veinglory


I heard about a new site called Yudu. It was described to me as a marketplace for ebooks and emagazines.

"YUDU ( http://www.yudu.com) also seeks to become a leading global marketplace selling ebooks, documents and other media: one that brings together creators and their audiences, to share, buy and sell their content globally."

As it happens I am in the market for some new e-magazines--and I mean paying for subscriptions to new niche magazines. I went to the site and if they have anything for sale, I can't figure out how to find and buy it.

My point is not so much that I want tips one how to hunt down where they have hidden their users' products, it is that I found 20-30 ins for how to sell through them, and in the process could not even figure out how to buy from them--when that was my primary purpose. That proportion is, to say the least, the wrong way around.

Publishing needs more consumers than it does creators. The path to purchase needs to be intuitive, inclusive and easy. If, even in beta mode, the marketplace website is oriented towards creator more than consumers, they are starting out on the wrong foot and hopping all the way.

"Who is YUDU for?
There are a host of benefits for all different types of users but anyone can use YUDU!
For more info, click on the link below that best describes you:
Small and Medium Size Businesses
Sole traders & consultants
Marketing Professionals
Graphic Designers, Flash Designers & Artworkers
Authors & Writers
Musicians & Bands
Amateur & Professional Photographers
Artists & Illustrators
Bloggers
Charities & Not-for-profits
Publishers"


Why, I ask with some bemusement, are readers not on this list?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

My name's Tom - and I'm a member of the team behind YUDU, many thanks for taking a look! We're definitely aware of the publisher orientated content at the moment (and indeed already working on rebalancing that scale).

Due to the site only opening a few days ago, there isn't a great deal for sale yet - which will no doubt change, but there is an amazing amount of free content already available.

The updates to the site will cover helping people through browsing and searching (probably including video tutorials, if you don't mind watching them!), but in the meantime, i'd suggest getting started on the Explore page with the filters on the left of the page to find items you may like.

For the most relaxed of approaches - just type a word into search, it'll find titles, descriptions and tags. (Advanced search will also let you search inside all of the items at once).

Many thanks for viewing!

Tom