Whether you want to sell 80,000 books or not, Alinka Rutkowska’s How I Sold 80,000 Books (Self Publishing through Amazon and Other Retailers) is a fascinating book with valuable marketing tips even for small businesses, coaches, entrepreneurs and other  email marketers. How she grew her email list from zero to thousands is especially relevant to those of us who want to avoid being accused of spam.

The Four P’s of Marketing

Alinka helpfully used the Four P’s of Marketing, Product, Place, Price and Promotion, as her framework for this book.

Product

In the section on Product, she advises making sure you deliver a product applies to any business, any product. While her specifics might not fit you exactly, like her discussion of a book cover, it definitely applies to packaging for any product. Admittedly, there will always be an exception to the rule, but it is amazing how many people buy products based on their cover or appearance.

Place

The “P” of Place fits all of us. There is an old expression that the top three things to consider in real estate are “location, location, location.” The point is relevant in Internet marketing too. It translates though to the advice that you need to go where your ideal prospects hangout on the Internet. If you want to leverage your activities, then you go to the people who already have the market you want to reach and help them. Build a relationship, make a connection with them. Then they will be receptive to helping you in return.

Price

For most marketers, the concern is always the “P” of price. I know that mentors like Gina Gaudio-Graves and Jack Humphrey of Directions University and The Leveragists won’t get tied down to giving you a specific answer on price. The reason is that it all comes down to perceived value and ability to pay. Mentors like Tom Anton and Alex Mandossian can charge 7-figures for their coaching. But they are the rare ones whose perceived expertise is worth it to those for whom one effective tip could be worth tens of thousands because they are already successful. For the vast majority, though, Alinka’s tips on pricing, especially books, is valuable advice.

Promotion

Under the “P” for Promotion, she has excellent suggestions. I was fond of her tip to use Facebook Audience Insights to identify who your ideal prospect is by identifying competing titles and authors. Naturally, the important point is to use your competitors whether authors or not. You’ll be astonished at the volume of information you can get from Facebook Audience Insights, which is a service they offer advertisers.

So, no matter your niche or field, you can benefit from expanding your reading to include Alinka Rutkowska’s How I Sold 80,000 Books.  

HOW I SOLD 80,000 BOOKS: Book Marketing for Authors (Self Publishing through Amazon and Other Retailers)

Just remember, unless you are an author seeking to sell more books, you may have to adapt some of her tips to you own market.

Writing to empower relationships,

John R. Aberle, Scriberle

www.Scriberle.com, www.AberleEnterprises.com 

P. S. Take advantage of the excellent ideas Alinka Rutkowska shared around the Four P’s of Marketing to grown your own business, whether a offline brick & mortar small business or an online entrepreneurial Internet marketing business. HOW I SOLD 80,000 BOOKS: Book Marketing for Authors (Self Publishing through Amazon and Other Retailers)