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I’m not a marketer. I don’t know anything about it, and I don’t want to know anything about it. I don’t care. It’s not what I do. I’m a musician. I have a book out.
Having said that, I know stuff. It was inevitable. When the book became an App, I had to do everything I could to make it work, make it happen. Spread it.
I recently told Debbie Stier about how much I learned in the one-month period last year when I was able to see presentations by Andrew Savikas, Chris Brogan and Seth Godin, in addition to meeting each of them at least briefly afterwards. She asked me what I learned, and I know I only skimmed the surface. I’m going to focus on Seth here, as his work has a special significance to me at this moment (and with no rights to call him by his first name, btw.)
Seth Godin appeared at Digital Publishing Group Meetup this past September (the group is now known as the Publishing Point). During his talk, he made a lot of points on the way things are done in publishing, what mistakes were made by the music industry, and how publishing could avoid them.
My Context
I came in as a self published author who made his book into an iPhone App, made the App free, then pay, then free again. It has been downloaded quite a lot, and charted very well. I wasn’t sure of what to do next, but I knew in my gut that it was a better thing for many people to have the App than for a few people to buy it.
To get the most from this posting, you really have to watch the video.
Start the first video, and bring it to the 6:10 mark. You will hear my question begin the Q&A.
The whole second video is excellent, but the important part for me is the first 0:48 seconds.
This made me feel like I was on the right track..
Assimilation and Riffing
Seth frequently cites the Grateful Dead and their fans in the context of what a Tribe can be. I am surprised that he never tied this all together. The amount of free content that circulated among Deadheads is pretty famous all by itself.. Shared tapes, tapes of tapes, 4th, 5th and 6th generation… I feel that it was a significant part of the culture. I like to say Free Content Is The Glue Of Tribes.
The Things You Love, The Borrow Phase
It seems to me that part of the kick-start to any passion in terms of music or film or literature was the classic Loaner Copy. Loaners, mix tapes, DVD’s, books, records and so on. A free copy of something was an integral part of the discovery. Think of your favorite artists, the things you borrowed, and the things you loaned out in return.
The Four People In The Room, Only Some Of Whom Bought The Product
It’s all about enthusiasm; passion. The way I see it, you don’t need a Buyer to inspire the next Buyer.
Let’s say you walk up to me and three others at a party, and you say that you are thinking of buying some Black Sabbath. We all rave about them. My body language changes as I start riffing on “Fairies Wear Boots.” You are convinced.
Dude, seriously. I’ve never bought anything by Black Sabbath. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to. That doesn’t speak less of them. That’s just the way it is. They are a radio band to me. And I do love their stuff; I crank volume for them. If you watched me listening to them, you would never know the difference. And I can speak facts and figures about them.
Two people in a room who own the same product is a conversation. Four people in a room who have that product, by whatever means, is a buzz. Huge difference. The four people may be buyers and they may not be, but the bottom line is that there needs to be passion all over the place, and you need to do what you can to make sure that there will be.
All Facets
Here’s what I see: Seth Godin is encouraging publishers to become Trust Agents in this area. But, in addition, could they become the one-stop borrow and shop, both chief loaner and marketplace? In the iTunes context, there is already a way for people to rent movies that will then disappear. Can we get books to do this trick as well?
The same principles apply to authors, pushing their products on their own. My own solution is simple, but specific to me: as an App, my book is free, and it always will be. If you want more of it, there will be content that can be purchased. Both versions will be improved upon in other ways.
Making your stuff free is not like opening up the Monetize faucet, from which cash will flow. Anyone can make their stuff free. As stated in the video, it has to be good to get a share of attention. So, it comes back to quality of content once again.
Next
I continue to learn from Seth Godin. After consuming prodigious amounts of related free content, I bought Linchpin, his latest book. For me, it is something of an irony that, in the first two related interviews I listened to with him, both interviewers brought up Anne Lamott and Bird By Bird.
AC #186: Seth Godin Interview on Linchpin | Accidental Creative
43 Folders - Interview with “Linchpin” author, Seth Godin | 43 Folders
For more on Seth and what publishers and authors can and should do in the iTunes/App world, this interview is the best I’ve heard.
The Reading Edge Podcast » Blog Archive » TRE 11 Seth Godin
Seth Godin is chipping away at things that have nothing to do with marketing for me. I would describe Linchpin as a Cog Intervention course. His comments on the Lizard Brain are covered well by him and others elsewhere, but I will say that they are having a serious helpful impact on me personally.
So, that’s some of what I’ve been learning. It does seem that on the way to getting what you want, you get what you need.
As for marketing, I know nothing about it. I don’t care :)
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