Content Powers "Vertical Communities"

Oh look. Look, look, look.

Match the search engine optimization with great investment news content. Add solid business partners and time-tested news feeds. Then add consistent, insightful commentary on company information. All the time.

The blogosphere is merging with Wall Street powerhouses and media leaders who see and act on the explosive potential of information in real time. The potential of online news matched with people's interests is a frontier now being settled.

And while some of the traditional businesses scramble to stay afloat in rapidly changing environment, online businesses are being nurtured and fed to fuel growth.

Some get it. Others move slowly and miss opportunity. See the power of a platform?

For a listing of frontline investors and channels of content distribution, look at the people partnering with a company called "Stocktwits." (To really explore, readers will need to have a Twitter account first.)

An excerpt:

"We are also working on deals with distribution partners who are eager to bring the Stocktwits commentary into their feeds. One such partner is Bloomberg. We are working with them to create a filtered feed of high-value Stocktwits commentary, that can be incorporated into their already large and growing pipe of alternative content such as online news, blogs other non-traditional sources. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Bloomberg is getting it, and Stocktwits can be part of their answer. Why? Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real Time.

"Those who are insightful, sharp and decisive command large readership. And this is the way it should be. We've only just seen the tip of the iceberg of what the Stocktwits community can and will become. But the power of the platform is clear."

Recorded Books Makes Stories for Ears

Audio pioneer Henry Trentman of Maryland founded Recorded Books (RBI) in 1979. Trentman was a salesman, on the road for hours, with no content to feed his mind. According to The Washington Post, he sought out an actor "willing to read a book, which he would tape. Frank Muller responded, and recorded The Sea Wolf by Jack London, Trentman's first production." At a time when eight-track tape technology was fading, and cassette players were not in every vehicle, Trentman's idea of listening to books proved him to be a visionary.

Recorded Books now celebrates more than 25 years in business and is owned by Haights Cross Communication. The "heard word" market is a more crowded field. Yet not all audio books are equal in quality.

In a world hungry for quality content, the audio publishing industry continues to enjoy solid double-digit growth (up 12% in 2007) and now tops $1 billion in sales, according to the Audio Publishers Association. Which also reports that digital downloads represent "17% of total sales, up from 6% in 2004, and two-thirds (64%) of all listeners own an MP3 player. We continue to be an affluent community that reads voraciously . . . and unabridged is the overwhelming favorite at 78% of sales, up from 71% in 2006."

Time will tell with new delivery formats for audio books and content - the cell phone market and other devices may well prove to be new market opportunities.

Producer John Nebel and the lively staff (inside the state-of-the-art location high above busy Broadway in New York) diligently shepherd work from printed materials through the recording process, checking pronunciations of dialect, foreign terms, oddball phrases, and editing out such items as the rustle of paper or stomach rumbles.

George Guidall helps create the magic at Recorded Books studio.