Reader System Prs What is the fastest way to convert a book into a PDF file?
I recently purchased a Sony Portable Reader System (PRS-505 RED). I have TONS of books I would like to scan to PDF and to OCR. Would it be quicker to scan these books one page at a time? Or would it be better to use a camera and take snapshots of each page (if so, what camera would you recommend)? In short: What's the quickest way to change a book into a PDF file?
Most decent flatbed scanners give you the option to combine all the scanned pages into one PDF (after you scan a page, it will prompt you either to finish the document or scan another page). Of course, you wouldn't want to be in a situation in which you have scanned 324 pages and then your computer crashes or you have a power outage as you're scanning page 325.
This sounds like a lot of work. Do you know they sell eBooks online?
If you do decide to do this, any camera with 5.0 megapixels or more would work. Just make sure you have good lighting.
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If you were to ask most potential, and perhaps even current, PR clients about the strategies that are involved in public relations, most would give an answer that in one way or another involves media relations. While that's certainly the cornerstone of the business, it's not the only valuable tactic by any means.
Newsletters may not be as commonly used as other PR tactics, but they can be an affordable, effective business-driving inclusion in almost any campaign. While their purpose, like any other element in a PR campaign, is to increase a company's visibility and/or sales, the great thing about them is they market a business almost in a “stealth” fashion, since they also serve up valuable information on products and services that relate to the industries in which the company that publishes the newsletter operates.
While the decision to launch a newsletter may seem like the hard part, in reality, once a company moves to start a newsletter, it has a whole host of other things to determine. For starters, you have to determine whether it will be electronically distributed, printed and mailed or both. While electronic distribution is certainly cheaper, one downside is that the readership is generally limited to existing subscribers. Contrast that to a printed newsletter, where a company can engage in a number of tactics to encourage existing recipients to pass them along, such as sending extra copies to current/potential customers and clients or incorporating them into new business kits, etc.
Next you'll want to think about its design; the biggest factor here is to make sure there's uniformity with all your other existing marketing materials. Care should be taken to ensure that the use of colors, graphics and other important elements agrees with any other existing material. If it's going to be printed, consideration should be given to paper size and orientation. Most businesses opt for conventional 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper, but firms occasionally go with a “broadsheet” feel that will support larger photos and graphics. As far as photos go, while digital cameras in theory can make everyone a photographer, if you're publishing anything other than a “grip and grin” photo, consideration should be given to hiring a professional photographer who can come in and stage a variety of shots so there is a selection of photos to choose from. The best thing about Web publishing is it allows you to incorporate color photos and graphics much cheaper than before. Even though it will be more expensive, once you've made the decision to also offer a printed version, it's best to stick with color there too, even though there will be a price premium.
The best kinds of stories to include are those that deliver information to clients and prospects. They can range from information on new legislation and/or rule changes affecting a particular industry to effect tactics on helping customers streamline their business. The best type of content are stories that are written specifically for your customer base. They don't have to be long; in fact, given the increasing amount of content delivered electronically, short is best since people have become accustomed to shorter stories that fit in electronic formats. If you don't have time to create original content, you can turn to any one of several syndicates that make content available for a fee. However, your readers will be able to tell it's “canned” and may not treat it as seriously as information written specifically for them.
The best way to determine the format in which to send it to subscribers is to send e-mails to contacts in your customer/prospect database announcing the newsletter and giving them options to subscribe to either format at the bottom of the e-mail. Giving a choice is critical, since some corporate e-mail systems will either strip attachments from e-mails or automatically move them to the “spam bin.”
For those who opt to print (the most reliable format) local printers can arrange to have your newsletter printed and mailed to a subscriber base, providing you have a subscriber database in a popular database file format. Be sure to allow for up to 2 weeks to have the newsletter printed and mailed; that schedule allows for any unexpected printing issues and/or mailing delays. For those who will mail an issue in December, you might want to increase that buffer to three weeks.
While the hard work is over once the initial issue goes out to customers, a newsletter should be viewed as a marketing-campaign element with a continual evolutionary cycle. The most successful newsletters solicit and even include feedback and/or contributions from readers, including your customers. It's a natural human trait to enjoy seeing your name mentioned in any respected publication; given that, including customers serves as another way to engender loyalty among existing clients.
Going forward, the most important element to making a newsletter successful is to ensure you stick to a reliable publication schedule. Doing so helps ensure readership will stay level and, most likely, increase over the long term.
About the Author
Cyrus is president of Astoria Communications, a New York City-based PR consultancy serving clients in financial/professional services, technology and real estate. His clients include law firms, legal organizations, technology companies and several non-profit organizations. Before opening his PR consultancy in 2004, Afzali worked at several New York agencies as an editor and as a writer at several media outlets, ranging from small, daily newspapers to CNN Financial News.
You may also find articles by Cyrus at the TalentZoo.com website under Very Public Relations.
