Ryan Deiss talked about "Millions in Backend Revenue & Growing my 8-Figure Business with a Book (and what to do when you print 10.000 copies of the wrong book)".
Why did Ryan decide to write the book, Invisible Selling Machine, when he had a booming business? Because "a book is timeless". [I loved this answer.] And people understand books. They've been around for so long. Though they also understand digital, it's different. And because "the first reason to write a book should always be because you have something to say that's going to be meaningful to the market". And he did. About email marketing.
The marketing of the book didn't go well, because several things went wrong on his side and with the publisher. As the title of the webinar hints, they were left with 10.000 copies of the book, ugly on the outside and inside. What to do with them? He decided to promote a free book sale - the "I printed the wrong book" promo, as he called it -, which some considered to be a promotional stunt. Ryan recorded a video explaining what had really happened and that it wasn't a publicity stunt. In the video he said that he'd send those interested a copy for free. They'd just pay shipping and handling. It worked.
When the new version of the book came out, he decided to give away some free copies. In addition to selling it in his website, so he can have control of the sales, it also sells on Amazon. Readers have an option. He can use his own website, because he owns his own media and lists. But there's another reason, what I'd call an "uncommon" reason: he doesn't care about rankings and making lists. [Unusual, to say the least. But fantastic, imho!]
Why hasn't Ryan gone the traditional publishing way? He referred a couple of reasons: the creative aspect, meaning that he wants to be able to decide what goes into the book; the long waiting period for the book to be published, which can go from 12-18 months and in his specific area things change during that time; and, the ability to change and tweak things a little, as well as correct some spelling mistakes and grammar errors, for example. [I totally agree with the three aspects and believe that e-books give us freedom and flexibility that have no match in traditional publishing.]
What has worked for marketing the book? Video, especially when included in blog posts generates a lot of engagement; YouTube retargeting; bonuses such as additional training videos and mini digital classes, a form of opting in for a perpetual launch or campaign, one of the ways of doing email follow up; and a Facebook community.
Thanks, Ryan, for an interesting webinar with the human touch. On a few occasions you made some comments that touched on your values.