How to Make Your Book an Amazon
Best-Seller (with Ethical Marketing)
by Dr. Joe Vitale
www.mrfire.com
Terri Levine's book, "Work Yourself Happy," became an
official amazon.com best-seller on Friday, February 22. She
sold 600 books in less than 12 hours.
How? By simply following the strategy radio talk show host
Mike Litman created to make HIS book, "Conversations with
Millionaires," a #1 best-seller at amazon on January 18th.
In short, Terri created a compelling reason to go buy her
book. Like Mike, she gathered or created (retail value) $700
worth of e-information. These were e-books, e-transcripts,
and other freebies of hers that could be delivered by
e-mail. In other words, whenever someone would buy her book
at amazon, she had a no-cost but highly valueable gift for
them: E-information. Mike Litman did the same thing by
offering numerous e-transcripts of past radio shows by him.
Buy his book and you got access to the transcripts.
Then Terri issued a letter to her email list saying if you
buy just one copy of her book at amazon on 2-22-02, she
would give you the e-materials for free. Litman had done the
same thing, of course. It's what marketing legend Jay
Abraham calls "an ethical bribe." I sent the same type of
letter to everyone on my email list, too, on behalf of Mike
Litman in January, and Terri Levine in February.
Obviously, this simple strategy worked once again.
The marketing lessons here? There are several --
- Find what works and duplicate it.
- Overwhelm your customers with so many gifts
they simply
can't refuse your main offer.
- Ask your friends---your email list, if you have one--
to
help you achieve your goal.
That's the basic strategy, developed by Litman, to help make
your book sell on amazon.
But let's look at an issue this strategy brought up.
After Terri's book reached #3 at amazon, a handful of people
wrote to her and said they objected to our approach to
making her book an amazon best-seller. They felt it was
"stuffing the ballot box."
I found that fascinating. While I can see where they are
coming from---I was once in that mindset myself---I have
since come to a few more beneficial conclusions:
For one thing, Terri didn't buy copies of her own book, as
many authors have done to promote their books. For example,
Wayne Dyer began his career as a best-selling author by
buying the entire first printing of his book from his
publisher. It is not uncommon for CEO's to buy copies of
their books and distribute them to employees, then saying
their book is a "best-seller."
Terri didn't do that. Instead, she and I sweetened the deal
so people would *want* to buy her book, which is just good
business. Adding incentives is a proven marketing technique
to increase sales, no matter what you are selling. It's
called "the psychology of the second interest." People will
often buy your featured product in order to get the "free"
product offered as a bonus.
For another thing, every product needs marketing. Even word
of mouth marketing won't kick in unless *some* form of
marketing starts the fire. And if the book or product isn't
any good, no amount of marketing will help it. The classic
example is the Ford Edsel. Despite mega bucks behind that
now infamous car, the public laughed it off. When it comes
to books, more than 1,000 are published every single week
and most of them die within six weeks without any public
exposure. Clever marketing could keep those books alive---at
least long enough for the public to pass judgment on them.
(Just today I received an email from Mike Litman, saying his
book is again on the amazon best-seller list---only this
time he didn't have to help put it there. Word-of-mouth
marketing is now doing it for him.)
Finally, whenever you step in the direction of your dreams,
you will find people jealous of your success. Most people
won't be honest enough to admit that they want the same
success as you. At least one of the people who complained to
Terri about "stuffing the ballot box" admitted that when HIS
book came out, he would practice "anything goes" marketing
to sell it.
Why? Because he believes in his book. He believes he has a
message of value to people.
Well, Terri believes in her book, too.
Mike Litman believes in his.
And I believe in my books.
When you have something that will benefit the world, don't
hold back in finding ways to tell them. And don't worry
about the occasional complaint about your success. For every
two people who complain, there will be 2,000 who admire you
but say nothing. Don't let the nay-sayers destroy your
dreams, or deprive the world of your offerings.
Finally, and maybe more importantly, complaining about
marketing may be a sneaky way to self-sabotage your desire
for success. Marketing is part of the process of doing
business. "Ethical marketing" is in the eye of the beholder.
As long as you aren't doing anything illegal or immoral, you
are probably practicing good business. Complaining about
those who succeed will hamper your own success. Don't
complain; emulate. Don't be jealous; be inspired.
Ironically, just as I was writing this very article, an
email came in to me from New York Times' best-selling author
Robert Allen. He said if I go to amazon.com on Tuesday and
buy a copy of Brian Tracy's new book, "Focal Point," he
would give me several hundred dollars in free e-information!
Sound familiar?
The thing is, I'm not going to buy the book. Why not?
Because I don't want it. Nor do I want the freebies being
offered. They simply don't appeal to me.
So let this be a lesson to you: You can't sell just anything
to just anyone. Make a great offer to the right list and you
might sell your book, product, or service. If you manage to
do so, celebrate. And if a few negative people write you,
showing signs of jealousy or concern over "ethical
marketing," let them clack and clutter. You're going for
your dreams. The rest is commentary.
Copyright © 2005 by Joe Vitale. All rights reserved.
You may forward this in its entirety to anyone you wish.
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Wimberley TX 78676
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