I have tested SlideShare, for it being a new Web 2.0 tool to share presentations. Here are my first feedback, as a publisher (vs. me as a simple user/reader, which is quite different) :
- uploading a file is an easy one, no problem at all. Of course, better have a broadband connection...
- the current version of Slideshare is limited to .ppt and .pps file formats : that is an issue for us Macintosh users, because we must export from Keynote to Powerpoint. Okay, it's a one-click operation with Keynote, but still, it's one click more than MS Powerpoint users ;-)
- the fonts set is limited to the standard Microsoft Windows' one. To display any other font properly on Slideshare, you have to convert the .ppt to .jpg or .pdf, and then back to .ppt for upload.
Now, on the content side : I have posted three different presentations, on three different subjects, aimed at three different target " users ". Here are their actual figures, as of today :
- Powerline Technology & Fiber To The Home : a new technology introduction, basic, for end-users. Posted 5 days ago, 49 views.
- wahoom.com : a new company introduction, business : decoration & interior design, for end-users. Posted 22 hours ago, 101 views.
- U.I. User Interface : presentation of my own consulting business, for prospects & clients. Posted 22 hours ago, 11 views.
As you can see, the most popular is the one about wahoom.com : I guess its " web 2.0 " type of name do raise the curiosity of most of Slideshare' visitors (although the dotcom suffix is a Bubble thing ;-) !
The "PLT & FTTH " presentation gets an average of 10 views a day since publication. To my understanding, this is a quite good number, provided that it's aimed at evangelizing a new technology : I reach ten new people each day somewhere on the Planet. That's ten more potential users each day.
The less interesting for Slideshare' users seems to be my U.I. intro. My explanation is that none of my potential clients know of Slideshare so far ;-)
The tags probably play a great role in the " success " of a presentation. For instance, the one on Powerline is tagged "FTTH", which is quite a hot topic at the moment. As I will republish the two latest (because of this fonts issue), I will add new tags to them, in order to compare the hit ratio later on.
In summary, I am pretty convinced that Slideshare can be used as a powerful viral marketing tool. One just have to figure out how to efficiently convey the message through an online slide show.
