October 19, 2009

New projects started in Appingo

We like to track metrics as we grow the Appingo business.  One of the most important metrics that we track is the number of projects started in Appingo.  Since we started offering the Appingo system to publishers earlier this year, we are very pleased to see the number of projects running in Appingo grow every week.  Here’s what we’ve seen:

# of projects

This is all good news.  It means that our clients are running more and more projects through the Appingo system and becoming more efficient.  It means that they are hitting (or BEATING) their deadlines — consistently and easily.

It means they aren’t using Excel anymore.

It means that their bosses are able to find out “How we doing?” without bothering anyone.

It means that freelancers are getting their files without having to fish through a complicated FTP site.

It means that production meetings are being used to plan for tomorrow instead of catching up on yesterday.

And hopefully it means that there are more happy people working in the publishing business than there was before.  Hopefully it means that the people who are used to wasting a lot of time working in a tangled process, are starting to realize that they have more free time than they used to.  Hopefully, they are using that free time in ways that make them happier…
Cheers!
Derek

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October 16, 2009

In the Middle of the Night

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?

IMG_0327

Maybe the cat was scratching, or the baby needed to be fed, or somthing went bump.

Does your mind start to race? Do you wonder if your remote teams did their work? Do you dread the commute and the stuffed full in-box. Big files attached… takes forever to download only to have to re-send to some one else. Oh, now your late for that meeting…

Here’s a note from my in box this morning.

Thanks. I laughed when I saw that you closed your tasks at 1:30 AM. I love seeing this happen on the Appingo system.
Hope we both get to bed soon.
Cheers

So, if knowing that your projects continue along while you are sleeping (or should be sleeping) is important, give us a call at Appingo. See how we can help.

-Steve

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October 15, 2009

For tangled hair: A good brush is a good start…

BadHairDay-main_FullWe’ve recently recognized a significant growth area for Appingo’s business.  It happened by accident, but it makes perfect sense.  I’m actually embarrassed that we didn’t think about it earlier.  Here’s how it happened:

When we decided to build the Appingo software system, we wanted to build a tool to UNTANGLE the process of making a book — specifically the processes of the production department.   So we spent a lot of time building the tool.  And it’s really great.

The Appingo software is a great DETANGLING tool.  Like a great brush.  And for some organizations, abruh brush is all they need.  But in the short time we’ve been licensing the software to publishing companies around the country, we have realized that more than a few of our customers need more than just the brush.  They have been working in a overly complicated, TANGLED system for so long that they have a hard time thinking about a better process…a more organized and efficient way.  They also don’t HAVE THE TIME to think about a better process because they are already overworked and drowning in their TANGLES.  We’ve actually had a potential customer tell us,

We know our process stinks and we know it can be better, it’s just not worth it to us to spend the time to fix it.

Hmmm…eventually they may have plenty of time to fix it.  When they shut down operations because their inefficiencies have resulted in their margins dissolving to the point where they can’t afford to be in business.

But I digress.  As we have brought our clients up to speed on how to use our software, we have realized that a good brush is a good start.  But you also need someone to use the brush.  And you also need good detangling technique.  The person using the brush should be a strong leader within the organization.  Someone who is going to excite his or her team to work toward a better process.  If not, it can be someone from the outside who drives the initiative.

Appingo’s new business opportunity lies in the area of the detangling technique.  The Appingo system was build from a scalable, process-based foundation.  In building and actually working with the system, the Appingo team has become very knowledgeable and experienced in designing scalable, efficient processes in a publishing environment.  So we have started to work with some of our clients in this capacity.  Not only licensing and training them on the Appingo software, but actually going into their organizations and improving their processes.  We are helping companies think like this:

flow

It’s what we call, the Appingo Way.  Companies who commit to thinking like this will scale and scale gracefully.  And they’ll have a good time doing it.  Appingo is now helping to make this a reality.

Teaching the Appingo Way has become a very valuable service for our our clients and it’s a great way for us to grow our business as well.  It’s a win-win.  And we will have good success stories on this front to share in the near future…

straigt hair

Having the brush is half the battle.  We’re now here to help you use the brush more effectively.  The goal is nice straight hair. We’ll get you there.

Derek

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October 8, 2009

Appingo Welcomes Velo Press to the family!

veloWe are very happy to welcome the publishers of one of the best biking books every produced — Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance — to the Appingo family this week.  Velo Press — a smaller, but highly efficient publisher of a series of endurance sport titles has started to implement the Appingo system into their organization — stretching all the way from the Acquisitions department straight through Ship To Printer :) .  It’s a progressive way of thinking for an organization who truly understands the value of good systems and that the process of making books could be much better!

The team at Velo is small, but strong.  And looking for growth.  And looking to be more strategic.  They are looking to Appingo to help them create the space they need to do both.  We’re happy to oblige…

Welcome aboard to the crew at Velo Press.  Happy to have you and excited to be a part of your growth!

Derek

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September 23, 2009

Production Best Practice tip #9

It’s not all that new.

My first boss ever, Lenny Higgins of Higgins Ice Cream, always said ‘Take and Fill a #10 tin with hot soapy water and clean the…”

Lenny had it almost right. The task is very clear, “Clean the…”  all the rest are ‘To-Do’s’ which are part of the task. There was no question about who or when, or how much money, Lenny was always looking at YOU, and the time frame was always NOW! and the rate was ridiculously low.

Envision yourself answering the simple question, “What do you want me to do?” Answer it simply and clearly with an acive verb first;  Write, Edit, Design, Deliver, Proofread, Draw, Clean. These are the task names.

All the rest, specific instruction, files, money, assignees, due dates, are all details that are appended to the task.

When we start thinking simply about tasks, we can start to build them into a workflow that is predictable, replicable, and transferable.

Higgins Ice Cream is long gone, but some of us still remember the lessons.

-Steve

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September 22, 2009

Disk Space in the Cloud

When we started creating Appingo, we knew that a SaaS environment was the right thing.

We were right.

We picked open-source tools and found libraries that delivered functionality that would have taken a long time and a lot of effort to create.

Our system changed and grew. We added functionality as our users asked for it. We questioned them and discovered places where folder and e-mail based systems had left them in twisted postures, hobbled by the only tool available.

We picked a unix environment. We picked a hosting company specializing in development environments. We grew, we added customers, we added users, we added functionality.

Happily, our system supported all kinds of projects. We continue to grow and develop based on the needs and requests of our users.

Good for us. Good for them.

Today, we have out grown our disk space, and our customers are talking about housing ALL of their projects; current and archived; hundreds of gigabytes… Terebytes even.

Good for us. Good for them.

Disk space in the cloud is very available, and inexpensive. It’s RAID -5 backed up every day, on one hour hardware failure replacement. Outstanding!

Today, Appingo has disk space in ‘The Cloud’. Lots of space, and it’s expandable with ease. It’s available from very small increments to very large.

-Steve

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September 16, 2009

We took our own advice…and fired the landlord this week

A few weeks ago, we sent out an AppingoJim news story entitled Publisher Fires Landlord (and also wrote a blog post).  It was a fun, tongue-in-cheek article that was based on an Appingo client that wanted to dump their expensive office space and bring the company fully virtual.  They were excited that Appingo that was going to allow them to do that effectively.  We thought it was a great idea and encouraged it.

Two weeks later, we were sitting around in our own office, after working virtually the day before, and one of us (can’t remember who) posed the question — Why are we here?

Huh?

“Why are we here?  Why are we in this office?”

No one could come up with a better answer than — “Because this is the where the phones are.”

IMG_0304

And that just wasn’t a good enough answer.  We took a good hard look at the space we were in and realized that:

  • We all work off laptops which we took home each night
  • We can get internet access anywhere…from home, from Starbucks, from the library, etc
  • We all have email
  • We all have iPhones
  • We run team projects through Appingo, which is web-based (more on this later)
  • The Appingo software is securely hosted at a professional, virtual hosting center (Rackspace), so we don’t need to house our own servers
  • We only really need to meet face-to-face as a team once, maybe twice, per week
  • We commute a combined 30-35 hours a week and waste at least 70 gallons of gas in doing so (and most of us live real close tot he office!)  (yes, Thomas Friedman’s HOT, FLAT AND CROWDED had an effect on this piece)
  • We spend more than 10% of our sales on rent and utilities

After just a few minutes, we couldn’t really understand why we were hanging on to the idea that we had to have an office.  No one had a good answer.

IMG_0305

So we fired the landlord this week.  We fired the phone company and the internet service provider.  We fired the electric company and the cleaning service.  And we went virtual.  We held our first breakfast meeting with the team at Panera this past Monday and you know what…it was great.  And productive.  And the pastries were delicious.

So, we’re officially a virtual company.  We’re part of a brand new world — one that web-based applications like Appingo are enabling.  It’s completely liberating.

We excited for this next phase in Appingo’s life!

Derek

ps — Here is a look at a workflow we use for our corporate support team to manage all of our new client training.  When a new customer signs up to use Appingo, we launch this schedule to help us manage their training and support effectively.  It keeps us all together and I get to see, at any time, the status of all our active new customer launches.

new customer process

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September 8, 2009

Seth Godin’s book recommendations

head-clickme2Sometimes, we just like to promote the publishing industry.  This is one of those times.  Seth Godin offered a list of recommended books (mostly business titles) on his blog today.  We just wanted to pass them along.  Here is his list…go buy some books this week!

For Seth’s pics, click here.

Derek

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September 4, 2009

AppingoJim: Publisher Fires Landlord. Staff Rejoices.

AppingoJim, staff

AppingoJim, staff

Publisher Fires Landlord.  Staff Rejoices.
By AppingoJim, staff

BOSTON, MA — A trade publisher fired her landlord today.

In a move to save jobs and re-invigorate a 47-year old division of a larger trade publisher, the division leader made the bold decision to fire her landlord, save some jobs, and set her staff up to work from home.

“Even in a good economic climate, I think this decision makes a lot of sense,” the executive explained. “Since we started using Appingo, our staff has been working remotely quite a bit. And we’ve been even MORE effective and efficient doing so. The decision wasn’t really that difficult—we’ll save over 11% of our expenses by doing this.”

Admittedly, the publisher was nervous to announce the decision to her staff of 27. “I thought they’d be really upset. I thought they liked coming into the office. Boy was I wrong!”

Upon hearing the news, instead of protesting, the staff cheered the decision and broke out into a genuine round of applause.

“Upset? Are you kidding me?” offered one giddy compositor while wiping cupcake frosting from his cheek. “I waste over 2 hours a day commuting here. I’ll save $70 a week in gas. This is great news.”

The party continued throughout the rest of the day with the staff cleaning out their filing cabinets and planning a group IKEA trip for new home office furniture.

Meanwhile, the leading executive continued her work. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had doing layoffs,” she said.  “Today I fired the landlord, the electric company, our fancy phone vendor, and the Poland Springs guy! Although, we like the Poland Springs guy… oh well, he’ll survive.”

Near the end of the day, the entire staff took part in tearing down all the adjoining cubicle walls.

“Now I know how the East Germans must have felt,” one production manager rejoiced. “This is great!”

Appingo is making people happy every day.  It makes Production Managers hapy because it eliminates 90% of their administrative headaches.  It makes Executives happy because their teams can handle 2-4 times more projects and it offers priceless, real-time reporting data.

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September 3, 2009

Flatworld Knowledge: Big idea for educational publishing

I’ve been meaning to do a quick shout-out to Flatworld Knowledge for a couple of weeks.  We met and had a great conversation with with Jeff Shelstad (one of the founders) at the end of August.  If you don’t knowFWK-logo Flatworld, you should.  They are a recent, VC-backed start-up looking to make a significant, sustainable (and in my humble opinion, LONG OVERDUE) change to the world of educational (college-level) textbook market.  The concept is this:

Flatworld produces real, professional textbooks for the college market…across all subjects.  Science, math, art history, etc.  The difference is that students don’t buy Flatworld’s books at their college bookstore.  Or from a rental service, garage sale or Craigslist.  As a matter of fact, they don’t buy Flatworld books at all.  They’re free.

That’s right.  Flatworld text books are all distributed online.  And they’re free.  Anyone can go to Flatworld’s website and start using the online version of the texts.  If you want printed copies, you can buy them from Flatworld and have them shipped to you.

The real win for the users of Flatworld books is that they are completely customizable.  Both by the student and by the professor.  An economics professor can take a Flatworld economics book and edit a chapter based on his course structure.  He/she can add a brand new chapter.  Take three out.  Add links to other web content which helps illustrate the main points of the lesson.  It’s completely customizable by that professor for use with his/her class.  This means that the original Flatworld book (the first version) becomes a platform for each professor.  An OPEN platform.  Each professor can create his/her own version based on each Flatworld book.  And the same goes for the students.  They can edit their books.  Add notes, links, comments, etc.  And their books will live forever online.

Flatworld books solve some major problems.  First and foremost, college textbooks are WAY TOO EXPENSIVE (not to mention really heavy!).  And they’re static.  As soon as they ship to the printer, the content is dead.  It doesn’t change (well until the next edition is created the following year).  And every professor uses the content differently and not all of it applies to every class.  Flatworld books solve all of these problems.

The college textbook publishing business has been an impressive engine for a long time.  It’s not easy to produce, sell and distribute good college textbooks.  It’s actually quite hard.  Arguably a bit too hard.  As a business and industry, educational publishing has gone without innovation for a long time.  It’s gotten a bit stale.  It’s lost a bit of touch with its customers and an evolution (revolution?) is long overdue.  Flatworld (and other…you can read about it in a recent Fast Company article) and leading the charge…

As for the future of Flatworld — we’ll see where it goes.  It’s yet to be seen whether or not their business model will actually work.  They’ll have some hard decisions to make at some point.  For example, they will have to decide whether or not they want to continue to be a publisher or if they want to be a platform?  Do they want to be Pearson or do they want to be the App Store?  Do they want to distribute only Flatworld books or do they want to distribute Flatworld versions of Pearson books?  Time will tell where this develops, but we’re very excited to watch it grow and evolve.  It’s great to see a company pushing the college textbook industry into the future…

Good luck to Jeff and his team at Flatworld.  We’re fans…

Derek

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