If there is someone who should be running a publishing startup for bloggers, its Zack Price.  Before he hit 20, Zack founded Price World Publishing to help connect authors to digital publishing.  Noticing the proliferation of blogs in recent years, Price knew there had to be a way to help thousands of bloggers monetize their content and broaden their reach.  Enter BlogIntoBook.com, Price’s latest venture helping bloggers turn their content into professionally published e-books distributed to all the major digital book marketplaces. 

Operating out of Chicago’s 1871, BlogIntoBooks.com offers a free service that allows bloggers to earn passive income from their posts and content for minimal time and effort.  Knowing just how difficult and time consuming self-publishing can be, Price strives to create a company that truly partners with bloggers and lets them grow their readership and earn royalties every time their e-book is bought and downloaded, all while ensuring bloggers retain all the rights to their content. 

Considering the growing popularity of Kindles, iPads, and various tablets, BlogIntoBooks.com is growing at just the right time, and big time bloggers are starting to take notice.  Thousand’s of sports fans got an insiders glimpse into Michigan’s impressive and exciting run to the Final Four last season thanks to Wolverine guard Josh Bartelstein.  Price, a UM alum, saw a great opportunity and teamed up with Bartelstein to help publish his blog into an e-book.  Check out my interview with Zack to learn more about his startup journey and BlogIntoBooks.com 

Q: How did you get so involved in the publishing / digital book space? How is this industry unique or different from others?

I started my first publishing company in 1999 while still in college.  Back then I was able to test ideas and get immediate feedback on marketplaces such as eBay.  Nowadays we have Google Adwords and Analytics and Amazon seller accounts to commercially test our ideas leanly and cleanly.

Q: A few years ago, you founded and eventually sold TheDiag.com, a craigslist for the Ann Arbor community.   What was your biggest takeway from that project and what made it successful?
Do what you are passionate about.  TheDiag.com was just a hobby for me, I was full-time running my publishing company (www.PriceWorldPublishing.com) but I saw this huge need for a good website to allow Michigan students to buy/sell Textbooks and football tickets with each other.  As a former student myself I felt this pain and designed a simple fix for it.  If I had gone into this as a job or with a business plan it would have never gotten off the ground.

Q: Have you developed any guiding business principles or tenets from the various companies you founded during your time as an entrepreneur?
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

Q: What is the revenue model behind Blog Into Books?
Blog Into Book is completely free for bloggers, which is a huge selling point.  We take on all the time and costs of publishing so the blogger can keep blogging, and the proceeds are generally split 50/50. 

Q: Is there one particular e-book retailer marketplace (iTunes store, google play, amazon kindle, etc) which works best for something like Blog Into Books?
So far Kindle and iTunes have been the most popular, however the Google Play store is coming on strong.  I see all three of those stores (and the devices that access them) as perfect platforms for reading blogs compared to your traditional computer screen or web browser.

Q: How do you go about getting bloggers to sign up for your service and turn their blog into books? What has been the response when they use it?
I have not yet marketed the service to bloggers aside from being interviewed by the press or showcasing at events.  There are hundreds of millions of bloggers out there, so getting them to sign up for a free service isn’t the hard part.  Finding bloggers with the largest followings is what’s important.  So far the response has been extremely positive, since Blog Into Book is essentially monetizing their blog and promoting their brand, completely free of charge.  It’s a win-win for both parties.

Q: Are all blogs meant to be read like a book? Does this service work well with some blogs in particular and not so well with others?
It works with all blogs, they don’t all have to read like a “book”.  I like to call some of our projects like a bag of popcorn … you can just reach in and tap on any chapter/blog post and enjoy a tasty morsel.

When it comes to custom clothing, men can be pretty clueless.  As a recent college graduate without much of an eye for fashion or style, I would certainly fall into this category.  Men typically want shirts and suits that fit well, yet often times we know practically nothing about custom clothing, or how we go about finding it. Unlike women who spend time scouring the internet for clothes (and who seem to genuinely enjoy doing it), young men are often deterred from shopping for expensive clothes they know little about.

Nevertheless, it’s a product and a look more and more men are clamoring for, as the market for custom fitting menswear continues to grow. Looking to reinvent the custom clothing experience for men, Monarc offers a seamless online retail experience allowing its customers to purchase quality and perfectly fitting clothing from the comfort of their home or office. 

After various stints in start-ups and consulting (and a brief getaway to Fiji), Mookie Lee noticed a serious lack of solutions for men with an interest in purchasing high quality custom apparel but without proper knowledge of custom menswear. Since launching in Chicago in late 2012, Mookie and the rest of the talented Monarc team have been steadily building a company focused on outfitting men in Chicago with custom fitting suits, blazers, and button-downs while providing high-end service without the high-end price tag. Check out a video of a Monarc photoshoot here. 

Having just started a job after school, I recently went through the process of searching for shirts and suits that fit well and looked good, but I hated every minute of it.  Bouncing aimlessly from store to store and wondering if the price tag on many shirts was some sort of sick joke, I became fed up with the process before it really even began. Basically, I was the ideal customer for Monarc.  Wanting to chat more with Mookie and the other co-founders, I arranged a custom fitting with one of Monarc’s style advisors at their office right outside downtown Chicago.  

While one of their friendly style advisors measured me for a brand new Monarc button down, I asked Mookie about how Monarc is able to provide cost savings to its younger and budget-conscience customers.   “Unlike other companies, we are partners with our manufacturer so we are able to cut costs from the beginning, passing on savings to our customer,” Lee explained. Additionally, the lack of a physical store allows Monarc to save substantially on inventory costs.

Beyond the cost savings, Lee insists the value of Monarc comes from the top-notch service its customers get through the lifecycle of a purchase with Monarc. “For the guys that hate shopping, we provide the high-end services that people normally pay thousands of dollars for.  Our knowledgeable style advisors come out to your home or office and provide recommendations, walk you through the custom process and hand deliver your clothes to your door in under four weeks.”

From its sleek and helpful website to its helpful and informative blog, Monarc spares no expense when it comes to marketing the style and convenience of the company.  Ray J. Park, Monarc’s do-it-all Digital Community Manager recognized the value of online brand engagement the minute he joined the company.   “As a new startup promoting affordable yet premium product AND service, it is important for the public to get a feel for your brand, style, and voice,” says Park.  “Our message from social media to our style advisors needs to be consistent and appealing.  Overall, our goal is to help men learn and experience the benefits of custom [clothing].”

Within a few weeks, my brand new custom Monarc shirt arrived at my doorstep.  Among a closet full of work shirts that are too baggy or loose, a custom fit shirt stands out because I know it was made to fit me.  At first, it was hard not to be skeptical of such a new company promising quality and convenience while still being affordable and accessible, yet Monarc delivers on their promise and then some.  Trading expensive and frustrating trips to the mall with custom fittings and affordable quality is something I could certainly get used to.

Highly recommend attending Chicago's upcoming Startup Weekend to anyone who has not been to one.  Its a tremendous event bringing in so many different and talented people with various backgrounds.  Check out the amazing success story of WeDeliver, the most recent winner of SWChicago.  Only a few spots left so sign up now.  http://chicago.startupweekend.org/

Being part of your own business’s target market can certainly have its advantages.  Just like thousands of other young, busy city dwellers, Mike LaVitola worked long hours and had neither the time nor the desire to spend an hour at the store shopping for groceries.  Tired of coming home to an empty fridge, Mike and his fellow co-founders built Foxtrot, a convenience store inside your smartphone that allows users to have food and drinks delivered to their door in minutes all from their iPhone.

LaVitola had his aha moment during a ski trip last year with his co-founder Brian Jaffee.  The two grumbled about how smartphones enable you to get things like movie tickets or taxis within seconds, but there wasn’t a product out there allowing you to order the food and drinks you consumed every day and have them delivered quickly and easily. 

Over the next few months, the two set out to build such a product and enlisted Taylor Bloom as a third co-founder to head up the technology side of Foxtrot.  The three founders haven’t looked back, and now hundreds of Chicagoans are getting everything from Goose Island craft beers to John Wayne Organic Beef Jerky delivered right to their doorstep thanks to Foxtrot’s sleek and simple iPhone app. 

Recognizing that a user-friendly menu offering was a vital part of Foxtrot’s appeal, LaVitola and his fellow co-founders have worked hard to craft a unique selection of items that are easily delivered and appealing to customers.  “The key is giving people enough of the core stuff that they want, but also offering enough interesting reasons to come back,” LaVitola says about Foxtrot’s curated menu. 

Convenient delivery of food and drinks is certainly not uncharted waters for startups, as numerous companies have tried and failed to service this need in the past.  Mike and his fellow co-founders firmly believe they have built Foxtrot in a way that will enable it to succeed where others have failed.  “The technology at the time just wasn’t ready,” LaVitola insists, “but we feel that the proper technology has finally caught up to the demand.”  Additionally, the Foxtrot team recognizes that while order minimums and delivery fees can be irritating, they are critical to supporting the business model.

Going forward, LaVitola envisions Foxtrot becoming a more socially ingrained experience for its users.  Watching the Bears game on Sunday with some friends and want some beer and chips?  With a few clicks and swipes right from your couch, Foxtrot will have your gameday necessities delivered to you in less than an hour and allow you to split the cost amongst your friends.   Download the Foxtrot app here and start figuring out what your going to do with all the time this service is going to save you.  

Q: What has it been like to balance running Foxtrot while also being in business school?
It is tough, but the benefits of being at a great school like Booth [University of Chicago] definitely outweigh the cons of not being there.  So much of grad school is all about meeting companies, finding what you want to do, and recruiting.  So for me, all the time I would’ve spent going to dinners and coffee chats and all that kind of stuff I’ve put into Foxtrot.

Once you show your school that you are serious about this and that there is a viable business here, there’s a ton of resources at your disposal.  We went through the New Venture Challenge at Booth in the spring, and they have connected us with a ton of VCs and mentors helping us out with our business plan.  It’s a very nice bubble of entrepreneurship that they provide.  If it wasn’t for that great support system, there is no chance that we would be where we are.

Q: Were there any assumptions that you made about Foxtrot that you had to re-evaluate?
Absolutely. Our initial business plan was to control the whole experience; we wanted to warehouse our own goods, have our own delivery drivers and when we gave that initial presentation and everyone in the room was like ‘absolutely not’.  After that, we talked to some people and realized if this is something we want to get up and running, we should find the right partners and just focus on the technology and marketing.  Having a laser focus on how to test your business model with the least amount of capital was very important and helpful.

Q: How did you meet your co-founders?
So there are two other co-founders beside myself. Brian Jaffee is a friend that I met in business school and we started kicking this idea around in the fall and winter and then got serious about it in the spring.  Taylor Bloom, is our developer and a very good friend I met down in Austin, TX who just graduated with his Masters in Computer Science in May.  He saw the vision, has been on board, and has been very instrumental.

Q: So Taylor has technology covered, how do you delegate the rest of the business activates between yourself and Brian?
He and I shared similar responsibilities in the beginning, anything that needed to get done one of use would just claim it Over the 6-8 months we’ve been working together, we found that he’s better at some things and I’m better at some things. 

I’ve taken on more of a marketing and partnership creation role.  Meanwhile, he has taken on more of an operational and finance role.  I have a bunch of ideas I want to get out there and go 100 MPH, but he helps us to slow down and think things through all the implications of a decision.  All in all, it’s been a great partnership between the three of us.

Q: Did you know this was a route you always wanted to take in terms of your career?
I think in a perfect world I always wanted to start my own company and be an entrepreneur, but at the same time I realized that you can’t just wake up one day and say I’m going to be an entrepreneur, you have to have an idea.  I’ve always been on the lookout for an idea I was passionate about.  I think a lot of entrepreneurs start companies that they’re kind of passionate about and end up fizzling because you’re going to spend every waking moment trying to get this thing to work, and if its something you don’t care about it wont work.   Coming to business school, I was looking out for opportunities, but ultimately thought I would end up in private equity.  I’ve worked in that field before and it is a great way to see all the different aspects of a business.   Brian was the same way, and it just so happened that when this idea came about we were both excited about and it kept building some positive momentum.

Q: Have there been any interesting patterns of trends of customer purchases?
When we first started we thought our alcohol sales would be the vast majority of what we were doing.  While they are a big part of our orders, we have an awesome ice cream selection we get from Jenis and Graeters and people love that.  People love the local products were selling, especially Glazed and Infused donuts on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  It’s been a big selling point to find local partners with awesome products and giving them an avenue to display what they have and introduce customers to new and interesting products.

It will be interesting to see the growth and progress of some of these startups coming coming out of Austin, TX.  Some of them are taking on growing trends such as 3D printing and wearable technology that many have predicted will become massive markets in the next few years.  Vote for your favorite in the poll below.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/tech/innovation/austin-startups/