InkOutLoud, LLC. Read with your ears.

I love JetBlue. They normally provide cheap flights, bigger seats, DirectTV and a courteous staff. After watching a Today Show interview with David Neeleman, JetBlue CEO, add him on my list of favorites as well. He spoke candidly, honestly, and you could feel the genuine concern in his voice. You typically get that out of the founder and CEO.

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If Oprah is struggling on the newsstands, you know magazines are having some issues. According to this blog post by John Pasmore at Fast Company, "O" (the magazine) lost nearly 10% of its newsstand sales through July-December 2006. I don’t think this has anything to do with Tom Cruise jumping on her couch.

Mr. Pasmore also says that advertisers pay for the inefficiencies of magazines. This is where InkOutLoud really makes magazines and other publications an attractive offer.

This is a great article by Colin Crawford, IDG VP of New Business Development. I'm not sure if he was specifically thinking about InkOutLoud (I'm going with a big “NO” here), but the InkOutLoud concept certainly fits. One paragraph that stuck out was:

“In the US, our online revenue now accounts for over 35% of our total US publishing revenues. Next year, for many brands online revenues will be greater than print revenues, if fact they already are at some of our key brands and by 2009 – approximately 50% of IDG’s US revenues will come from online.”

He goes on to say that they need to take a risk on some unproven business models. Well, Colin, please take a chance on us. We would love to talk.

By now many of you are probably wondering where the InkOutLoud concept came from. Well, you can thank Jon Brown for that. Jon drives back and forth from Sarasota to Orlando (for you non Floridians that is about 2.5 hours) and was sick of getting his ear’s abused with the crap that is on the airwaves. Yes, I said it—traditional radio is crap. Notice how I said traditional radio. I do love me some SIRIUS. Anyway, I digress…

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Though InkOutLoud is not an audio book, the industry cannot be ignored and we are hoping that its success spills over to us. In 2005, sales totaled $871 million. Though that number is good, the best number comes from this NPR article. Downloads have increased 50% over the last year. The iTunes distribution factor is certainly helping this number and it can only get better as people get more comfortable with the platform as it grows more robust.

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With new ventures, I often think it is easier to define what something is not versus what something is. In the world of technology and the mighty Web 2.0, this is especially true. The InkOutLoud concept is simple—your magazines, to your ears, read by professional voice-over talent. However, in this world, it could be confusing.

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