I know this sounds like an expensive business card idea, but it works. Think of how easy it is to throw away a business card, but people never want to throw away a book. For some reason, we think books are valuable, to be treasured.
The best networker at any meeting is not the one who gives out the most business cards, but the one who collects the most. This lesson is gradually being learned by consultants and business people.
So how does it work to have a book as a business card? In our view, you don’t want to give your card, or your book, to everyone. You need to size up each person who asks for your card at a conference or show and see if you can acquire theirs instead. If you begin an email conversation and they really are a prospect, the book is an easy way to document your competence and expertise, as well as a convenient item for them to pass on to others whom they may know. In that way, they become your advocate within their company, sharing your thoughts and ideas with others. The fact that books are so difficult to throw away works for you.
This past weekend was the “Marketing With A Book” seminar in La Jolla with Henry DeVries and friends. It was intimate (20 people) and great fun, as well as a very good experience for those who are learning how to market themselves and their books. We were somewhat surprised that there were seminar attendees who had not seen their book as a potential business card. If giving the book to someone can result in a $25,000 consulting gig, what is the problem with spending $10 on the book? As Henry and Liz Goodgold (one of the speakers) and others have said: the book should be just one piece of your overall marketing and branding strategy, not an end in itself. Making videos (DVDs) and CDs of chapters or ideas in the book is the logical next step. People have relationships with people. Use your book to promote YOU.
As one of my clients said when offering me a job, “When it came down to choosing between you and your competitors, we went with you. Afterall, you wrote the book on the subject!”
Feel free to visit either of our websites: www.stiehlworks.com and www.newclientmarketing.com for more information on us and where we will be appearing. By the way, Mr. DeVries has a new book being released in January Closing America’s Job Gap. Watch for his book tour appearances.
