We really stepped up our game with this new edition.

Ars on today’s Kindle Fire update:

“As much as we don’t like when companies release half-baked products, we hate it even more when they won’t acknowledge and fix problems. Though this seems like more of a small effort that doesn’t quite deliver the goods, we’re glad Amazon acknowledges the Kindle Fire’s ungainliness and is working to smarten it up.”

It isn’t a home run, but it generated some credibility.

Robert Hernandez writes The Killer App is Credibility:

“With technology empowering everyone with the ability to create and to distribute… [W]hat will stand out from the sea of content will be the voices we turn to time and time again. Trusted sources of news and information will transcend their mastheads and company brands… and become their own brand.”

While Robert Hernandez’s context is journalism, this applies broadly in business.

Credibility is established over time so if you aren’t in the marketplace then you aren’t establishing any. It’s that simple. The best tool for establishing credibility is focusing all of your energy into getting your product shipped.

When Bob and I started Bertram & boo we focused on one thing: publishing an e-book. We didn’t prepare a business plan, do market research, or even choose a company name. We picked a title out of the air and just went for it.

Along the way we yielded to every constraint we encountered until we had an ebook we could look at on our devices. From there, it wasn’t too many steps to something we felt comfortable offering for $0.99. It isn’t going to win any awards, but it has risen to first place in it’s category and to date no copies have been returned.

Choosing a company name, getting incorporated, lawyering up a letter of intent, etc. was all easy after establishing so much credibility with each other. When Tim agreed to join the project he cited our credibility for having shipped a book (two by then) when he said, “Yes.”

He’s currently reworking our existing content, making dramatic improvements:

Choosing to rework our existing content gets Tim to “published” soonest. It also gives us an opportunity to build credibility with our existing customers by giving them a free update and it improves the appeal of product we have in the market.

We still haven’t set up our website.