SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

As I prepared to purchase my new Mac and Adobe CS3 Design Premium, I brought up the old search engine and scanned the blogs and news sites for technical issues. Most of the issues I found were related to upgrading existing Mac's to the new Leopard OS X 10.5 from an older version. The "blue screen of death" issue seemed to be the most prevalent and most written about. It has also resulted in a patch from Apple in only 3 short days.

The issue that caught my eye was one that might affect my ability to publish my magazine. It's not an Apple issue per se, but it does present a problem between the new OS and Adobe Acrobat, the software we use to publish the electronic version of our magazine for the printer.

I posted an article from Adobe the other day "Compatibility with Leopard." This lists some issues with Acrobat that won't be fixed until next year. I was so concerned about this that I called Adobe sales and then technical support. After explaining my concerns to three different people, the answer I received had me more concerned than ever. "We are not sure." The last technical support person I talked to offered the least assurance by explaining that he had received many calls from people who were unable to create a PDF at all.

In my searches, I found a blog by Stephen Partridge, the BDM for Acrobat in the UK. (Don't ask me what BDN stands for.)  The blog is titled "Spartacus of Acrobat," and the most recent post was about the subject that concerned me the most, "Adobe Acrobat and Apple Leopard." Stephen writes:

However, the following CS3 applications will require updates for full compatibility with Leopard: Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and our professional video applications, including Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 Professional, Encore CS3, and Soundbooth CS3.

We expect to publish free Leopard compatibility updates for the video applications in December 2007 and for Acrobat 8 Professional and Adobe Reader 8 in January 2008.

For more information, take a look at the FAQ we have produced, it can be found here.....

http://www.adobe.com/go/leopardfaq (the link I posted earlier)

Now when I read the FAQ at Adobe, I came away thinking that the issues with the software were related to motion video and sound. Then in the comments to that blog I read something that was cause for pause.

So let's be clear about this. Adobe has known about Leopard for a long time but professional users who need to create high res pdfs to print are going to have to wait three months for a compatibility upgrade - that doesn't sound very good.

Posted by: Alastair Nisbet | October 29, 2007 01:57 PM

To which Steve responded:

Hiya, well I understand the concern, but development cycles simply meant that Acrobat has had to wait a couple of months for the upgrade, I'm suffering too. Don't forget, if you're making your PDF's from our Creative applications then you can make PDF's now.

Posted by: Steve P | October 29, 2007 02:35 PM

After I read that, I started to get a little nervous. It's when I called my pre-press folks and left a voice mail and then I started calling the contact numbers at Adobe. Unfortunately, no one could assure me that I would be able to create the press quality PDF. So I did what any good blog reader would do, I commented on the blog and asked for clarification from Mr. Partridge himself.

I wrote:

"Hi Steve, I'm on the phone with Adobe now but no one seems to be able to answer the question.

I have been waiting to purchase a new MAC with Adobe CS3 design premium for two months in anticipation of Leopard. I publish a monthly magazine using InDesign as well as Photoshop and Illustrator. I am greatly concerned that the unresolved issues with Leopard will affect my ability to send the finished publication to my commercial printer.

I have asked the printer to check for other clients who are using Acrobat CS3 on a Leopard Mac... they are looking into it. I've been on hold with Adobe TS for some time and thought I would ask here.

Can you confirm that a brand new Mac Leopard with the latest version of CS3 will allow me to publish a press quality PDF?"

Posted by: David Francis | October 29, 2007 09:49 PM (UK Time)

I posted that right before I went home for the night for a nice quiet spaghetti dinner with my wonderful wife. As we waited for the sausage, onions and garlic to simmer we discussed the options.

What makes this issue so very urgent to us is the fact that I received a call from the person who has loaned me the Mac I have been using to publish the magazine. Mr. Andy Baker is also a publisher and had a "spare" Macintosh with Photoshop 7 and InDesign 2.2 installed. As a "spare," it wasn't the latest greatest machine or software, but it saved me some money as I started my new company.

Andy is experiencing growth and success in his business, "Bluegrass Advertising." He publishes 3 phone books for the local area and is in the process of expanding his staff. For this reason, he called and asked if I had purchased my own Mac yet. I explained to him that I had not because I was waiting for Leopard to release but had one configured in my shopping cart and could get him his computer back by Monday.

It was only after that call that I discovered the possible issue with Leopard and Adobe Acrobat.

My wife and I discussed possible solutions. We considered calling Apple to see if I could get a new Mac with the older OS on it, but thought that would be like asking General Motors to stop production and build us last year's model on the assembly line. We considered looking for a used Mac for sale, but the money would be wasted once this issue was resolved. I even considered publishing my magazine and then taking it to Andy's to create the PDF. Possible I guess, but not practical and I am not one to make my problems someone else's.

As we ate our dinner, I found some comfort in knowing that I could package the InDesign document and send that package to the press. I figured that for the money I'm spending for printing, I can require my vendor to accept the InDesign package instead of the standard PDF for 6 months. This solution offered enough comfort to get some sleep knowing that I could get my friend his computer back on time, order my new one and still get my magazine published.

Note, the press quality PDF for my 52 page full color magazine weighs in at 130 meg. I package each month's issue for archiving and it is almost 700 meg. The thought of uploading 700 mb to the FTP server made me uneasy because of the time and possible corruption of files. I figure I can give it a go and if it fails, send a DVD next day air to my press people.

Then this morning I checked Mr. Partridges' blog. He wrote:

Yes, I can confirm that a brand new Mac Leopard with CS3 will allow you to publish press quality PDF. Leopard (or any OS) is irrelevant to the CS3 apps that can create PDF natively. We create the PDF through the PDF Library rather than the print stream.

Posted by: Steve P | October 30, 2007 07:32 AM

Well now... isn't THAT interesting.

So, in the end, I worried for nothing. (?) I guess only time will tell. I will order my new Mac today. I will install Adobe CS3 and I will create a new InDesign document. Then, I will create the PDF. If Stephen is right, there will be no issues... if not; we at least I have a plan B. Yes, I will post an update this weekend.

Labels: Adobe, Macintosh

This was posted by SoKy : 7:53 AM  0 comments links to this post

Carrie and I decided to try a new restaurant a few weeks ago, Country Mill had been mentioned to us by a few people and we heard they had a good breakfast buffet. It was good. A decent selection and lots of fresh fruit. This is not a restaurant review! We discovered something on this particular excursion that I would like to comment on.

We ran across something we didn’t expect. A new flyer advertisement called “Helpful Hints.” This large flyer was at Country Mill and sported a few brief articles and several advertisements. Apparently, companies have the opportunity to purchase small ads for $25 per week.

The flyer claims to have 13,000 readers, though the question of readers vs copies printed remains. They claim the ads “always be easily seen” because the ads are printed on the outside edges of the flyer. They seem proud to offer exclusivity in that competing businesses will be blocked from advertising. Sounds strangely familiar. LOL

Then to top it off, someone shared another flyer ad sheet with me the other day that looks very similar to the Helpful Hints sheet though the quality was sorely lacking and the cost was double that of the Hints. I had heard about this one a couple of months ago and my opinion remains, the scheme offers very little to the advertiser, less to the reader and the only beneficiary I can see is the person collecting the weekly checks.

Since we sell advertising through SOKY Happenings magazine, I have become even more aware of advertising methods than when I was purchasing it. What guides our publication is a sincere effort to offer small businesses an effective method of advertising that has staying power and provides a positive image of the business advertising. These two flyers offer very little to the reader other than 10 or 20 ads and the advertiser pay from $100 - $200 per month for a small black and white business card ad. What’s the point? I’m not sure how effective this method would be in the long run.

Please understand; I do not have anything against the Helpful Hints flyer. I don’t even know the people involved. I am just expressing my opinion about the advertising method. By reading their homepage, I can see they have experience in another market and I am convinced they are capable of producing the flyer on a regular basis. I do wish them well and hope they are successful. I’m sorry to say that I cannot offer the same assurance for or about “the other flyer” because of my knowledge of the person behind the effort.

A good friend of mine who publishes a local telephone directory put it best. He says that it doesn’t matter how much the ad costs, what matters is that you profit from the money invested. A $20 ad on a one color sheet of paper may seem cheap, but if it only returns $10, it is not effective. On the other hand, if you spend $600 for 30 seconds on TV and realize a $650 return, that is money better spent. (Again, an over simplification but a good example... consider not only the cost for the advertising, but also the cost of your goods and services before measuring success.)

This is a shortened version of my original post. Since this blog focuses on helping local small business, I thought I would share my thoughts on this method of advertising. In context however, I am a publisher in the same market who also sells advertising. In that light, one might conclude that my opinion is skewed. Perhaps it is. At least I was polite. ;)

~ David Francis

This was posted by SoKy : 6:31 AM  0 comments links to this post

My posts on Soky.biz have been much less frequent due to a new business venture. I enjoy this blog and sharing my perspective; perhaps it will increase as my personal and business life find more balance. For now however, I am entrenched in the creation of a new publishing company and until I have met some personal and professional goals, my complete attention remains on the task at hand.

Thank you for reading... and thank you for your "patience." (grin)

This was posted by SoKy : 8:00 AM

Patience could very well be the secret ingredient that is overlooked in small business. Patience is hard for the entrepreneur because it slows things down and frustrates the entrepreneurial dream through the agonizing sands of time. It takes more patience to build a successful business than most people are willing to invest.

Patience is something that most business scholars would advise. Though these same scholars may call it "planning" or "preparedness," the point is the same; it takes a little time to build a small business.

As I prepare to send the sixth issue of my monthly publication to press, I can look back at each of the months and see my own lack of patience. I wanted many things to happen sooner than later. What helped me overcome the frustration were the immediate needs and a "get the job done" attitude.

It takes time to pan for gold! It takes time to build a house. It takes time to get into shape; carve a sculpture, paint a work of art, hammer a nail and to build a business. It takes great patience to make a decision knowing that time must pass before knowing if that decision was a good one... or not.

Eight month's into this publishing business, I can finally measure some of the decisions I've made. I can see the mistakes and the effects of those mistakes. I can see the victories and what influenced those accomplishments. I can see areas that need attention, things that need to be done, and I can also see many intangible things such as who I can count on, who I can trust and who will return the loyalty I offer.

Another lesson of patience is waiting for my potential customers. I remember thinking when I started the magazine that many of my preferred sponsors would take a wait and see approach. They would watch the magazine and see if we could keep up the pace or if we would continue to improve it. They were watching to see if I would have the persistence and patience to make this business work. They were watching, and now they're buying!

This was a great month for my "little magazine." We received many calls from potential sponsors who liked what they see on the pages and want to be included. We received many comments, e-mails and letters thanking us for the monthly guide and encouraging us to continue. We even received many (more) inquiries from people who wanted to contribute, write stories and offer ideas because they like what they see in our little magazine.

From a startup perspective, I can see the need to be prepared to be patient. To allow time to pass, you typically need money. I have done everything I can to build this business with as little out of pocket capital as possible, yet each grain of sand in the hour class makes a sound like a coin in the piggybank. Even though I was able to keep the start up costs down, the expenses of business and personal life continued. Preparation is an important key to patience. Without preparation of both mind and resources, being patient is impossible.

Fortunately, I made enough good decisions that have stood the tests of time. Fortunately, I was prepared enough to allow the results of the good decisions to be realized. Fortunately, my persistence and patience has been rewarded and my business is doing well.

Scary thought though; had my idea been "not so good" and my decisions less successful, I could very well be writing that I gave it my all and it didn't work out. I am happy that my idea was accepted by the community and my patience has proven my decisions sound, yet the reality of life remains and my patience could have revealed a much less victorious chapter. I guess that applies to most previous chapters, though I'm happy the trend has been broken.

What's next? More decisions, more patience and more progress in the direction I've chosen. I am learning to be more patient. Even the decision process has been slowed and made more deliberate. Perhaps it is my age or many years of experience. Whatever the reason, I have learned to be more patient and know that patience pays when it comes to small business.

Labels: planning, small business, Soky Happenings

This was posted by SoKy : 7:47 AM  0 comments links to this post