Lessons From Passenger 17A: A Kindle Convert
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Pete Kennedy

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Flying is bad enough these days—sitting in the middle seat makes it even worse. But, hey, I was on my way home, the flight was short and I had something decent to read. Could be worse. I had barely settled in when the guy in 17A started bending my ear. “Have you seen one of these before?” he asked. He held a Kindle, and, yes, I had seen one of those before. My response made no difference; 17A wanted to show me his new toy, and he immediately began putting the Kindle through the paces. I’m not complaining. He turned out to be a pretty nice guy, and it’s hard to find fault with someone so enthusiastic.

You know what else? Somewhere along the way, 17A taught me a few lessons—and reminded me of a few others, too. By the time we walked off that plane, I felt darn good about my future—not because of the Kindle that was in 17A’s hand, but because of what was on the Kindle in his hand. My livelihood is writing and editing, and 17A drove home the point that there will always be a place for good content, no matter how it’s delivered.

So what, specifically, are three of these lessons?

1. Good content gets people excited.

My newly found friend told me he rarely read books before his Kindle. He explained why: the cost, finding the time to get to a bookstore, some sort of aversion to the public library. Yet now he could barely contain his excitement at the prospects. “Do you realize how many good books are out there?” he asked me.

2. Bad content, delivered via a slick new approach, is still bad content.

This lesson was delivered during 17A’s unsolicited “downloading from a magazine” tutorial. First, he went online and demanded I select a magazine. “Go ahead, pick any one,” he ordered. He then downloaded a story and showed it off proudly.

The article addressed the pros and cons of municipal bond investments. I quickly learned that 17A was not interested in the topic. “If I had the magazine, I’d let you compare this version with the print,” he said. “But there is no chance I’d be carrying around a magazine with that story in it.” (I could only hope the guy in 17C wasn’t a bond saleseman.)

Then 17A showed me another Kindle feature. “Here’s how you delete,” he said.

3. New delivery methods alone can help you gain an audience.

This certainly proved to be the case with 17A. He never would have read his newly found authors had he not been intrigued by his Kindle. Some people like gadgets. Find a way to put your content on the newest, latest, coolest device, and you’ll reach those people.  For more lessons from passenger 17A, see min's b2b.

Pete Kennedy is editorial director of High Velocity Communications, which provides custom content that focuses on connecting clients with their customers. High Velocity is a member of the Custom Content Council (formerly the Custom Publishing Council).

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