To Market, to Market… to Sell a Fat Book!

So you think you have an idea that can sell? So do
millions of people every year. So why is the proportion of successful
entrepreneurial ventures so low? One word: Laziness.

            When we are hit with that genuine
and exciting new idea, there is little anyone can do to convince us it would be
anything but in demand and profitable. The reality that we
sometimes forget is that an idea is an abstract concept. Pardon me for getting
philosophical here, but an idea is nothing but an aesthetically pleasing shell.
It is neither tangible nor self-sustaining. In many ways it is like a seed for
a supposed breathtakingly beautiful flower without dirt, water, or nutrients. 

            “But it’s not just an idea,” you
challenge. “I have a completed product!” But this isn’t about your idea for a book or for anything you want to create. This is about your contention that you
have an idea worth sharing and that people will just willingly flock to it.

            There are a lot of tools to turn
your abstract idea into a reality, but marketing is one of the most effective
tools. The term “lazy marketing” has been applied to several unsuccessful ideas,
and is a result of that arrogance we sometimes feel when we think our idea is
the best thing to become available since sliced bread. The problem with being
lazy in marketing your idea is that you are lost in the sea of millions.

            Like one of our earlier posts this
month suggested, marketing isn’t always about spending a lot of money, but it
is about spending a lot of time and effort. Instead of using your passion and
belief in your idea to fuel your complacency and frustration in its apparent failure,
use it to fuel your determination to succeed and persuade others to believe in
it. Nobody worth mentioning has ever succeeded by playing the waiting game. I’ve
heard many people say, “Well maybe if we just wait the idea will eventually get
out there.” Let me reassure you from many hours of research and years of
experience; in this fast-paced idea-heavy world, if your idea isn’t accessible to
the point of “unavoidable” it will not succeed. Nobody just seeks out new ideas
to believe in, they have to be convinced, and it is a tough consumer world out
there.

            So still think you have an idea that
can sell? Good. If you got through this post and are even more passionate about
your idea than before, you probably do and the world should experience it.
Marketing isn’t a part-time job, and it’s certainly not the easiest or most
instantaneously gratifying. But if you work to have your voice heard then you
will stand out among the millions in this sometimes overwhelming and seemingly
unforgiving market as one of the ones people are willing to listen to.