In response to a tough job market, Stuart Rudolph founded SMARTer Job Hunting to help job seekers find fulfilling opportunities while understanding the motives behind their choices. His journey led him to co-authoring the ebook SMARTerER Job Hunting. Using Kotobee’s various features, he created an engaging ebook with practical exercises and interactive elements.
The Challenge
Tell us about yourself and the nature of your work
I’m the Founder of SMARTer Job Hunting, and one of the main authors of the ebook SMARTer Job Hunting. My main goal for creating this company is to offer job seekers of all ages a space to find jobs they love, as well as understand the motives behind their choices.
Using my knowledge and experience, I have added specific smart job-seeking guidelines to the ebook we created. By following these guidelines, readers will be able to pursue opportunities that meet their personal, professional, and financial needs and eventually land a job they will treasure.
What challenges did you face prior to using Kotobee?
When we thought about creating this ebook, we were trying to offer something different. We wanted to create a comprehensive job-hunting experience that would empower users to take control of their learning journey and apply what they've learned, rather than just passively absorb content. For instance, we wanted them to document their progress in a workbook section inside the ebook. This is why creating a PDF was not an option for us, as it couldn't accommodate this functionality.
We also wanted to integrate it with other tools and apps that we were already using. For example, we wanted to create a direct link from the goals section on the website to a specific chapter in the ebook. We also wanted to sync the readers’ progress in the ebook with their achieved goals on the website. Finally, we wanted the book to be instantly updated for the users as soon as we added any new content or modified any existing chapters. So at this point, we knew that we needed an interactive digital book, and not just a printed one where most of these features would be difficult or impossible to implement.
The Solution
What potential solutions did you explore which didn't work out?
We explored many solutions for creating interactive ebooks before choosing Kotobee. We wanted to find a platform that would provide us with the best quality services and value for our money. We were also looking for a partner who would understand our vision, and that’s what we found in Kotobee.
How did you hear about Kotobee?
We did some Google searches at first, then asked around for recommendations on the best companies that provide ebook services. Finally, we read a lot of reviews about Kotobee and other similar services and started evaluating our options before making a final decision.
What drove you to choose Kotobee?
We wanted a company to create and design the entire ebook for us, so we assessed various aspects, including the capabilities of the platform and the team, the quality of the services, and the availability and expertise of customer support. After analyzing the data we gathered, we chose Kotobee because they met all of our criteria. We were impressed by their samples and work in general, and how their platform can be used to create an interactive learning experience–rather than just a static ebook. Moreover, pricing was an important factor, and Kotobee's ebook services offered highly competitive rates.
“We wanted to find a platform that would provide us with the best quality services and value for our money. We were also looking for a partner who would understand our vision, and that’s what we found in Kotobee.”
The Results
Is there a specific aspect of your ebook that you are particularly proud of?
We love how our ebook turned out, from the design and the formatting to the interactive features it includes. We are particularly pleased that our readers can download certain useful tools directly from within the ebook, without having to go to an external website.
What metrics do you use to measure the success of your project? Has Kotobee affected those metrics in any way?
We particularly focus on users’ engagement with our ebook and our website, and we have noticed it’s continuously increasing in both. We’ve also received a lot of excellent feedback about the interactive features inside the ebook. Moreover, the synchronization between the ebook and our website makes people feel more connected and engaged. Kotobee played a key role in enhancing all of these metrics, making the overall job-seeking experience more immersive for our users.
The Future
What are your plans for the future?
We plan to continue providing valuable and engaging resources to our audience by expanding our website and creating more interactive ebooks that complement the first one we published.
