An Unusual Marketing Gift

It’s the season for gift giving. Over the weekend, I stumbled on an unusual gift for every writer and editor (and marketing person) interested in how products are sold.  You will learn why mass marketing isn’t working any more? I’ve blogged about PyroMarketing a bit in the past at these spots: Introduction to Pyromarketing, Powerful Marketing Insight,  and A Marketing Plan for Every Book. If you read these other posts, you will see the innovation that I believe is evident in this book—and that I’ve read every word of it.

Here’s the unusual element, you can download the entire book read by the author, Greg Stielstra, without cost/ free. You simply go to the book website: www.pyromarketing.com. In the upper-right hand corner, you “join” the site—which is free. You provide your name and email address, then select a username and password (plus there are some other optional fields).  Then you get the welcome message (automatically) and login at the website. You can access a page of downloads for every chapter of the printed book. You can listen to it in streaming fashion or download it to listen on your iPod or MP3 player. As the website proclaims, the audio version of the book is a $30 value which is free when you register.

In my years of seeing marketing campaigns, this one is unique. I’ve never seen an author (or a publisher) give away the audio version of a printed book. Yes, I’ve seen excerpts or an audio sample, but in this case, Greg Stielstra is providing the entire text of the printed book. He says that he’s practicing the principles of Pyromarketing and believes that the book sales will be OK—even with releasing the text in audio.  In many ways, I understand because I love a printed book to hold, highlight and review—but the audio is another great way to learn the principles in this book.

Publishers are always talking about a writer’s platform or what the writer can do to help market the book. With the principles of Pyromarketing, you can tackle that question in a solid and fresh way. Every writer can create a vision for reaching the people who are most likely to buy, then create an experience for them with your product, then help them tell others about your book. You can see how Greg is implementing these principles on his website. While I admit not understanding his reasons or results to give away the audio version, I recognize Greg is a marketing expert. He has recently become the Vice President of Marketing for Christian Books at Thomas Nelson Publishers in Nashville (which is the ninth largest publishing house in the world). You don’t gain a position of that stature without a lot of successful experience in publishing.

Here’s what I recommend about this marketing gift. 1) download the audio version for yourself and listen to every chapter. You will gain a great deal from the experience. 2) pass the gift along to others—your editor, your publicist, your marketing director and spread the fire from Pyromarketing. Maybe you want to burn of the downloaded files on a CD which you send to your editor as a small gift.

From my perspective, the principles of Pyromarketing should appear in every book proposal or marketing plan. It will help you reach your audience. Pass the word to various online groups and other places. You can instantly access this unusual gift.