Increase website traffic by reading these books and marketing them like their authors
Sometimes you go to restaurants that you want to immediately review online to tell everyone about how amazing it was. Other times you watch a movie that hit you so hard, that you need to recommend it to all of your friends.
Well lately, I’ve been reading a lot of books in the business development and social media realm that have been overwhelming me with quotes I want to clip and take-aways I want to write about. And not only have these books been amazing, but I only found out about them due to viral marketing and direct contact with the authors themselves.
It wasn’t too long ago that books were marketed by the publishers themselves. Now, authors like Gary Vaynerchuk, Tim Ferriss and Guy Kawasaki are running their own campaigns to get people to buy.
For example, I just got an email from Gary Vaynerchuk this morning about his new book, The Thank You Economy. He’s asking for reviews on Amazon amongst other things, but he’s also offering bonuses for things that only he (not the publisher) can offer. Things like free beta invites for upcoming platforms and codes for paid iPhone apps are offered for anyone who decides to gift 3 or more books and sends him the receipt. Before the book came out, he was on Twitter, offering gifts for people who pre-ordered.
With that said, the following books I’m about to mention will not only help you in your own businesses, but paying attention to the authors and how they market their books will help you in your own future quests to build buzz and increase website traffic.
Tell To Win by Peter Guber
If there is one book on this list that any professional needs to read, especially a blogger or copywriter, this is the book. I was actually out to breakfast with Drew from BenSpark.com and some other folks one morning, when he shared that he’d been sent an advance copy of this book. He wouldn’t spoil it for us, but insisted that he wasn’t able to put it down. It’s the truth. Once my pre-ordered book came in, I literally read it every chance I got, even replacing my beloved American Idol for a night. And I don’t give up an evening with Steven Tyler for just anything!
While Tell to Win focuses mostly on conversations that Guber has had, or has heard about, he’s able to give you the principles of storytelling that every human on earth is attracted to and convinced by.
So not only does this book show you have to have more engaging conversations, but the boost it will give you in your emotional copywriting and blog storytelling is priceless. And as we know, the better we can tell a story, the more people pay attention, write about us, link to us and love us. Every chapter has an invaluable take-away.
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary V. lives by example. He didn’t take a simple wine store and turn it into a 60 million dollar enterprise by crapping all over his customers. Vaynerchuk is able to say—more casual and candidly than anyone else—how to take what’s happening in social media and turn customers or potential customers into product evangelists.
Also, if you ever wanted to know what a good-looking, content packed and personal book landing page looked like, check out ThankYouEconomyBook.com.
Vaynerchuk is also the author of Crush It! which is another solid read that will get you super inspired to “be awesome” and is especially helpful for those managing social media accounts, so that they understand how extra effort goes a long way.
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Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki
If you’ve ever bought an Apple product, you know the feeling of walking into the store, swiping your credit card and walking out. It’s a unique feeling. Similar is the way that Sephora makes women want to spend $30 for lipstick and still feel good about it.
What is that all about?
Kawasaki explains in this book how these retailers, and others, are able to give their buyers a feeling of severe satisfaction, as if they’ve just joined the elite. This book goes into depths on how to create a personal brand for your company that literally delights the user when they buy one of your products, or have a conversation with you on Twitter, or call your 1-800 number.
The more dedicated fans you have out there, the more people are thrilled to mention your name. In industries where our customers are niche and passionate, this book does a great job at showing you how to leverage those relationships and make them even bigger, just by being a better, more approachable company. Enchantment would be excellent for anyone managing social media accounts and even product managers, amongst others.
The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
OK, so the book isn’t new, but Tim does some amazing hustling over on FourHourWorkweek.com to promote this book and his newest book The Four Hour Body, especially on the blog. If anyone understands how to get people on your website weeks and months ahead of a book release, and keep them on your website, Tim does.
When you read the book, you’ll learn exactly how Tim is able to be a master of book marketing while doing as little work as possible. Isn’t this something we’d all like to know?
Content Rules by Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman and David Meerman Scott
If there’s one book out there for content creators that’s going to inspire you in every little corner of your to-do list, then this is it. Content Rules focuses on creating awesome content, and not just on your blog, but also through video, podcasts, ebooks, webinars and everywhere else.
They touch a little on SEO (and use common-sense words to explain why it’s so important), copywriting and even go as deeply as to talk about the importance of an editorial schedule. Even more, they were smart enough to take everything they wrote about, and use it to promote the book. Check out ContentRulesBook.com to see more.
If I wrote a book, this would be it. Which is why I appreciate that these guys tried to take everything that us content producers need to know and cram it into 282 pages.
So definitely check out these books. All of these authors—in the words of Gary Vaynerchuk—crushed it, when it came to both writing their books and getting the word out about them. So not only can you learn from what’s inside the book, but also by looking at how all of them were marketed.
One other book that I’ve heard so much about that it would seem sacrilegious not to mention, is UnMarketing by Scott Stratten. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s bound to be on my bookshelf or Kindle soon and I always enjoy the tweets and blogs that come out of @UnMarketing and Un-Marketing.com.
It’s important not to ignore bloggers and authors who are outside of our niche. Many of today’s authors, especially in the business-to-business sector are doing amazing, inspiring things that we can all implement in our own business strategies. These books are just a fragment of the inspiration out there that you can draw from in the future.
