Here's an amazing article that's a must read..
On December 16th, 2006, Farzana Doctor had a lot to celebrate. For starters, the day marked her thirty-fifth birthday, and twelve of her friends were hosting a bunch to mark the occasion. But the day was also the start of an exciting personal and professional adventure; earlier that week, Inanna Publications offered Farzana a contract to publish her first book - Stealing Nasreen.
As everyone sat around the dinning table, Farzana knew that she faced a challenge. About 20 000 books are published in Canada each year, and over 170 000 in the US. Her non-fiction debut needed to sit front and centre on the busy bookstore shelf, or else risk being lost in crowd and from consumers. On top of this, her established, but small publisher lacked the recourses to launch a fully-fledged marketing campaign.
Farzana needed to spread the word about Stealing Nasreen without a budget. She began by asking each brunching friend to be her "agent." In this role, they would carry her book, cover facing out, everywhere and anywhere they went. Whether on the bus, at their office, or buying groceries, they would showcase her book to all onlookers. Her friends agreed (after all, it was her birthday).
Speaking to Farzana, I realized that a book is no different than any other small business product or service. There is a product, and there are limited marketing funds. In this situation, word-of-mouth marketing is the winning choice for each small business marketing plan. However, you can't just sit back and wait for word-of-mouth to happen. You need to develop and execute a formal program to achieve results.
On December 16th, 2006, Farzana Doctor had a lot to celebrate. For starters, the day marked her thirty-fifth birthday, and twelve of her friends were hosting a bunch to mark the occasion. But the day was also the start of an exciting personal and professional adventure; earlier that week, Inanna Publications offered Farzana a contract to publish her first book - Stealing Nasreen.
As everyone sat around the dinning table, Farzana knew that she faced a challenge. About 20 000 books are published in Canada each year, and over 170 000 in the US. Her non-fiction debut needed to sit front and centre on the busy bookstore shelf, or else risk being lost in crowd and from consumers. On top of this, her established, but small publisher lacked the recourses to launch a fully-fledged marketing campaign.
Farzana needed to spread the word about Stealing Nasreen without a budget. She began by asking each brunching friend to be her "agent." In this role, they would carry her book, cover facing out, everywhere and anywhere they went. Whether on the bus, at their office, or buying groceries, they would showcase her book to all onlookers. Her friends agreed (after all, it was her birthday).
Speaking to Farzana, I realized that a book is no different than any other small business product or service. There is a product, and there are limited marketing funds. In this situation, word-of-mouth marketing is the winning choice for each small business marketing plan. However, you can't just sit back and wait for word-of-mouth to happen. You need to develop and execute a formal program to achieve results.
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