The use of Personalization ...

British Columbia-based ZinePal allows users to create their own zine quickly and easily by choosing their own URLs from which to draw stories. This is yet another service of a number that I've written about before where you can be both the editor and publisher.

I created my 5-page zine in under 5 minutes! It’s that easy. You enter the content of your choice, selecting from from blogs, Atom/RSS feeds, and any other websites, check off the stories you want included, and say “Create”!

If you want to get a little more involved in the editorial process, you can customize your stories individually with fonts, colours, and formatting. This is a little more time consuming, but that’s to be expected. You do have to register, but that’s a process that’s as fast as entering your name and email address.

Once you’ve previewed and are happy with how your zine looks, you select your delivery method: what days you want it, what time it should arrive, and how many new stories should be included. Or you can have just the one copy emailed to you right away (comes in PDF format). If you have a Kindle account, you can have it sent there so you can read it on the go. You can also choose to publish and share it with the general public.

You can enter in keywords for easy search, and give it your own title, complete with introduction, logo, and formatting. Including advertisements is also an option. Check mine out: “One of a Kind Publishing’s Zine,” a compilation of 5 of my latest blog posts. The logo is actually a link to my blog! As you can see, I didn’t play around too much with the formatting, but if you want to take the time, the options are virtually limitless.

There was a little glitch though…

Chatelaine, the Canadian women’s magazine is the latest to offer their readers the chance to customize their own cover. I found out about this initiative because I am a subscriber and recently received an email encouraging me to upload my photo and create a customized magazine cover for the Holiday issue to arrive in early November 2009.

Sponsored, and I presume developed in conjunction with Microsoft, the online process was pretty easy, although not without its glitches. For the first step in the process, you are asked to upload a photo. I obviously thought they needed a high resolution image, so I uploaded a 2MB photo file, which I presumed would be more than big enough to be able to be reproduced in magazine format size. Unfortunately, I got an error message because the file size was too large. Really!? So I shrunk it down to 1.5MB. It was still too big. Even though I kept minimizing the file size I still continued to get the same error message. What was most annoying was that there was no indication in the FAQs what the optimal file size should be, so I had to do it by trial and error. Still, I am a bit skeptical that a file size of less than 1MB will reproduce well on a glossy magazine cover. But, we’ll see.

I was frustrated before I could even to go the next step, which was adding the coverlines. Thankfully this step was quite easy, and I had no trouble doing so. Lastly, I was provided with a preview of my cover and by putting a social media spin on it, could click on a link to post it to my Facebook page and/or send it by email to friends and family.

Why is this a great initiative?

I’ve written a few times before about various personalized news sites, including The Daily Perfect, I-News, The Daily Me, My Magazine, and Personal News. Each one of these is a variation on a theme: choose the news sections and kinds of articles you want to read, and they will be compiled in an online or printed newspaper or magazine according to your specifications.

Now there is Printcasting — another variation on the personalized news theme. But what really sets Printcasting apart from the other personalized news sites is that you can actually be the writer and/or publisher! You can set up your own blog to be available on the site to other publishers who might be interested in your topic, or you can act as the publisher and find articles that others have written to incorporate into your own magazine, which will then be available online to the general public. You can also place advertisements for $10 per ad; 10% of the ad revenue is kept by Printcasting, 60% goes to the publisher, and 30% goes to the writers.

Based out of Colorado, Printcasting claims, “If you’re passionate about a local interest — which could be anything from a local sports team to a local hobby like fishing — and you have an Internet connection, you can now be a publisher.”

Here's how it works...

Who of us in business has not input our contact information into an online form before we could download a white paper or report? I know I’ve done it, and it’s a pretty standard process.

But I was delightfully surprised when I visited the Fujifilm Canada website because their online lead generation form states up front WHY they want your contact information and what they are going to do with it.

“The entire experience should take about 5 minutes of your time and we'll instantly deliver a personalized and customized PDF from your local Fujifilm representative. We believe in a personal one-to-one experience with our business partners. You'll see that having Fujifilm as a business partner means that we'll always be there when you need us - with local sales and technical support based in areas you live and work.”

Why has Fujifilm taken this approach? Well, they are obviously promoting both their web-to-PDF interface as well as their print personalization technology.

After I filled out a few relevant questions, I received back an instant personalized PDF email that was generated on the fly. This is how the personalization was deployed…

Remember in the movie Forrest Gump when the eponymously named lead character played by Tom Hanks was integrated into real historical news footage so that he shook hands with President John F. Kennedy? There’s no need to get a Hollywood special effects artist to do the same for you because now you can bring that same type of technology into your home.

US based YooStar lets you insert yourself into a number of popular Hollywood film scenes making YOU the star. In other words, you take the actor or actress out of a scene, and act the scene yourself. Here’s how it works:

You first have to purchase the YooStar system which will be available in the US only starting in August 2009, but you can reserve your system online. For $169.95 you get a hi-res web-cam, a remote control, a portable green screen, and easy-to-use software.

At launch, Yoostar will have content from five major Hollywood studios including Paramount Pictures Corporation, Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc., Lions Gate Films, Inc., as well as the National Basketball Association and Sesame Workshop’s “Sesame Street” franchise. Here’s a small sampling of what’s available:

• Some Like it Hot – “What are you doing tonight?” featuring Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe
• Sunset Boulevard – “I’m ready for my close-up” starring Gloria Swanson
• Witness – “Something wrong with buttons?” starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis

Over time, you’ll be able to download more content directly from their website.

Here’s the next step in the process:

Last month that I wrote about being able to create a personalized news clip for Mother’s Day that reports on your mom being Mother of the Year. Not to be left out, I found a website where you can personalize a music video for your Dad for Father’s Day.

In conjunction with the launch of their next single, "Things My Father Said," from their second album "Folklore & Superstition," Southern rockers Black Stone Cherry have launched a uniquely touching way for fans around the world to celebrate their own fathers. For the song’s video, the band called on fans to submit photos of their dads. They have now expanded the concept and allow you to submit up to 4 photos and your own message to create a video personalized for your special dad.

This is a beautifully executed example of personalization of a video in a way that is very appropriate to the song and its lyrics. As the band sings, people are shown holding photos of their fathers and interspersed between these images are the 4 photos that you can upload through the website. The end result is a wonderful video that incorporates your own photos in addition to a personalized message to your dad superimposed on the video. The integration is superb! As with all viral video applications such as this that features user generated content, you are able to send an email to your dad.

The email that your dad will receive is cleverly crafted…

Imagine if someone could tell you what you like to read just by knowing your name. That’s what the website the Daily Perfect does. Type your name into the search box, click on the yellow “Go” button, and the site’s innovative personalization technology, is able to predict a user's interests through an automated semantic analysis of publicly available information on the web and minimal or no input from the user. In other words, they troll the web looking for your digital footprint and aggregate information based on results found in the public domain.

Being intrigued, I decided to give it a try. There were 31 “topics” that the site thought I would like which included: marketing, web 2.0, Canada, publishing, personalization, eCommerce, open innovation and others which made sense to me. I further confirmed my interests in these topics by clicking on the “thumbs up” icon. Since I write about mass customization and personalization, I thought those topics would be front and center in my recommendations, but they weren’t, so I had to add them myself.

Now, there were also a fair number of topics suggested that made me wonder why they were chosen such as: “Category: Benelux countries”, and “East Coast of the United States”. I gave those suggestions a “thumbs down” and was puzzled why they were recommended. I kept on refining my interests in this way, and it seemed that there were an endless number of random words that were just siphoned off of my 160+ blog entries, my LinkedIn profile, and my Tweets. I was getting frustrated, and my news topics didn’t match my interests, so I decided to move on.

Next I decided to see what “people” they thought I would like. And again, seems I was only offered name of my twitter followers, and those who I follow. Yawn. Tell me something I don’t know.

I decided to give DailyPerfect one last chance…

As the weather is getting warmer and the summer is almost here, it’s every woman’s goal to look her best in the less revealing clothes of the season, myself included. That’s why I was intrigued when I received an email from Fitness Magazine, which encouraged me to create my very own personalized workout video.

Naturally I was curious so I decided to test drive the site that claims you can built your perfect video workout in 3 easy steps:

1. Choose what body parts you want to target: abs, thighs, butt, shoulders, arms, chest, legs, back.
2. Specify how much time you have to work out, whether it is 15, 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes.
3. Select the type of work-out equipment you have at home: chair, bench, yoga mat, step, exercise ball, 2 lb. ankle weights, 3 to 5 lb. dumbbells, 5 to 8 lb. dumbbells, 10 to 12 lb. dumbbells.

Lastly, click on the “Make My Video” button, wait a few seconds and you get a personalized video with exercises created with the options you’ve selected. Best of all is that you can tweak your video easily by modifying any of your previous selections. The exercises are professionally produced and are not only demonstrated well visually, but have a useful narration added too. You have the option of saving it and viewing it later, in addition to sharing it with friends. I just wish there was an option to download the video to your computer or iPod.

There are also 4 other videos that you can customize: 4-Week All-Over Workout, 20-Minute Miracle Workout, Lose the Baby Weight, and The Celebrity Workout.

But, that’s not all of the customization that is offered on the site:

Is there anyone who hasn’t dreamed of either photographing for National Geographic or having one of their photos featured in the pages of the renowned photo-centric magazine? Well, now you can — and on the cover, no less! National Geographic, following in the custom-cover footsteps of such magazines as Wired, Time, and Graphic Arts, is allowing users to upload their favourite photo onto the cover of a special Your Shot collector’s edition, featuring “101 of the best readers’ photographs submitted to National Geographic magazine over the past three years.” For $19.99 US (plus shipping), you can see your own photo on the cover of one of the most celebrated magazines out there.

So…maybe your photograph won’t be viewed by the millions who subscribe to National Geographic, but it will be a very special keepsake for you and your family — not to mention a great Father’s Day gift, as the initiative came out just in time! Start by going to Your Shot and click “Create Your Own.” Upload your photo, and crop or expand as necessary. Preview your cover, and either proceed to checkout or go back and edit your photo (or upload a different one). The process is quick and easy. Check out my “winning” cover photo — a close-up of a daisy in the grass. The only thing that’s a little annoying is that your photograph has to be landscape, it can’t be vertical.

You actually have two options:

Remember back when I wrote about the custom newspapers The Daily Me and the Swiss Post’s initiative Personal News? And remember how I also mentioned that MediaNews Group would be offering Los Angeles Daily News subscribers the chance to create their own customized newspaper, I-News (short for Individuated News) - or what I call the mass customization of content.

Well, according to Newspapers & Technology, MediaNews Group started a trial run in April with guests at the Marriott Hotel in Denver, and, according to Poynter Online, they will very soon be starting wider distribution in Denver, Los Angeles, and Detroit.

For the trial at the Marriott, guests are asked upon arrival where they are from and if they want to receive a summary of local Denver news. Those who say yes will get a combination of Denver news and news from their hometown delivered to their room by 6am every day for the duration of their stay. (Those who say no will not receive a paper.)

This is what really sets I-News apart from the digital Daily Me and the printed Personal News…

Rick Smolan, creator of the best-selling “Day in the Life” photography series, has come up with a truly innovative idea: The Obama Time Capsule — a customizable history book! You can be a part of the printed history of President Barack Obama’s campaign, election, and his first 100 days in office. Sold exclusively at Amazon.com, the 200-page hardcover coffee-table book will set you back a mere $35US — a pretty great price, especially considering the quality of the book, which includes photos from 140 professional photographers as well as essays from Colin Powell, Joe Klein, and Arianna Huffington, to name a few.

To customize your own Obama Time Capsule, you have to first place an order at Amazon. Within 3 hours of ordering, you will receive an email from Amazon with instructions as to how to continue with the personalization process, which must be completed within 10 days of ordering, or else you’ll be shipped the standard copy. The process takes all of 5 minutes. To personalize the book, first enter your name and upload a photo. Your name will appear on the front cover, on the title page, on the official inauguration invitation, and (with your photo) alongside celebrity supporters such as George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and Bruce Springsteen. In addition to your name and photo appearing on various pages, you can write the dedication and insert an image of your child’s Obama-related artwork (if it applies) and give them printed credit. Oh, and Obama’s victory email is also addressed to you!

Who’s behind this initiative?

Remember how back in March I wrote about the European customized newspaper initiative, Personal News? Well, now there’s the digital Daily ME. With over 500 news sources, the Daily Me allows you to customize your content and receive a newspaper that is tailored to your interests (and schedule).

How does it work? Well, like Time Magazine’s personalized Mine Magazine initiative I wrote about in March, after you sign up (for free), you can choose what you want to have included in your paper. But unlike Mine Magazine, the choices are plentiful: National News, World News, Money, Entertainment, Sports, Lifestyle, Science & Health, Technology, Travel, Industries, Law, Guilty Pleasures, and Opinions. On top of all these sections, you can refine your choices by selecting from a variety of sub-categories within each category (including just the “Top News”), or you can choose to have all the news in any category delivered to you — your paper, your choice! After you’ve reviewed your choices, you’re ready to set your desired delivery days, time, and mode (email, PDF, or sent to your printer).

And you’re not just limited to your category choices, either. You can also read the editorialized Top News, or you can read the “socialized” news — the “Daily WE.” Their website says: “At DailyMe.com, users have access to three views of the news – editorialized, personalized, and socialized. The personalized DailyMe section allows users to select their news preferences from topics, sources, or keywords. Top News presents the most important stories as selected by the DailyMe editorial team. DailyWe is driven by our community, including our unique Meme–It feature that allows users to rate stories by emotion.”

I think the service is great, but there are limitations…

You can customize your playlist, your wardrobe, and your car.

"Want a magazine made especially for you? It’s easy: pick 5 magazines and we’ll do the rest. Within two weeks you’ll get the first of 5 issues of Mine. Each issue will include stories tailored specifically to your interests, whether providing timely financial advice, helping to find the perfect golf club, or inspiring your next vacation. Get Mine delivered to your email inbox. And best of all, it’s free!”

This is the introduction to the new venture of Time Warner Inc. and American Express Publishing Corp.: a customized 36-page magazine comprising articles from a variety of different magazines targeted to your interests. The subscriber selects five of eight magazine options to be included in Mine: Travel & Leisure, Golf, InStyle, Money, Real Simple, Sports Illustrated, Time, and Food & Wine. All of the articles in Mine will have previously appeared in Time Inc. or American Express Publishing Corp. Publications. The first 31,000 subscribers will receive their five free issues in print over the course of ten weeks, and the next 200,000 will receive theirs via email. However, Mine is only available to residents of the United States.

Who else is behind this initiative?

We live in an increasingly customizable world. With the ability to customize your food, clothes, shoes, fabric, and toys…what could be next?

Well, some Europeans have the answer: customizable newspapers. The Swiss Post, together with German startup company Syntops, has come up with a way to offer select areas of Zurich the ability to customize the content of their daily newspapers. For this pilot project, Personal News, allows registrants to create a newspaper tailored to their interests by selecting up to seven sections from a variety of participating newspapers - essentially bringing mass customization to content.

After you’ve selected your desired sections (you can make changes up until 7pm the evening before delivery), the participating newspapers send PDFs to the Swiss Post, who then send it on to Syntops. Syntops puts together your custom paper, prints it, and drops it off at the Swiss Post, ready for home delivery by 11am, at which time you are greeted personally on the front page. You can also view the digital version online.

While customizing your newspaper through selecting different sections of different papers is an interesting and appealing idea, Mary Lou Fulton an executive at the newspaper the Bakersfield Californian and an advisory board member of Knight Digital Media Center describes even greater possibilities and lengths newspaper customization could potentially be taken to. For example, being able to exclude sections that are irrelevant to you, or which don’t hold much interest, or being able to include such sections only on the weekends. Fulton observes, “Whenever newspapers change anything, like taking away a comic strip or the TV listings to save money on newsprint, a certain segment of readers howl and even cancel their subscriptions. With this type of personalization, we’d never have to field a complaint like this again.” She also brings up the idea of personalized advertising which is something that is already being done online.

Speaking of which…