Escape the Mundane + Experience the Remarkable

The Plight of the Bookstore

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Business

For the first time in about a year, I was in Barnes & Noble yesterday buying a book and realized that bookstores – as we currently know them – are on their death bed.

As I stared blankly at the business section, I noticed some favorites and some new books. Most had an attractive title and compelling cover art. But something was missing:

Social proof.

I’ve read hundreds of books and know not to judge a book by its cover. Literally. It may have the most captivating inside flap, yet will leave you wishing for your time and money back.

Big-box bookstores, no matter how well staffed, will never have the ability to guide you into a buying decision the way Amazon or 800-CEO-Read does. I among most other book buyers, base 99.9% of the buying decision on reviews and chatter online for a book.

While yes, they could integrate some kiosks or what not into the store to read reviews, but at that point why leave the house? I can do that from the comfort of my couch and my iPhone’s Amazon app. And have the book on my doorstep the next day.

So What Is A Bookstore Owner To Do?

Over the upcoming years, I’m predicting a huge transition in the ways bookstores position themselves. Just as any other business must focus on a niche in a highly competitive market, bookstores will start segmenting themselves.

If a bookstore is to compete successfully against online stores, the staff and offerings must become extremely compelling. Someone should be able to walk into the store, rattle off a few favorite books to a well-read worker, and within minutes be happily walking out of the store with a book perfectly suited for their desires. If the bookstore can’t accomplish this, they will follow in the footsteps of Borders.

This past weekend I was watching CBS Sunday Morning and they had a great segment on a bookstore doing just that:
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Building Your Audience: What Ellen’s Gold Digger Machine Can Teach Us

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Marketing

The Ellen DeGeneres Show is genius. She is smart and funny, a tough combination to achieve.

One of her segments is Gold Digger, in which a viewer gets a few moments in a box with flying money up for grabs.

But a common theme I’ve noticed is the contestant usually freaks out and tries to grab the biggest clumps of cash. However, reflexes aren’t as fast as the fan blowing the money. So by the time their hand reaches the large wad, it’s gone. They try for the big bucks, yet end up with nothing.

Having grown up on an Indian reservation (blocks from a casino), I’ve watched these cash boxes in action first hand. And I’ve always noticed the participant grabbing for the clumps while winding up with nothing. However, what rarely happens is the contestant thinking logically.

We know the clumping strategy doesn’t work because we’re slower than the fan. But what does work is concentrating on one bill at a time. Humans have the ability to focus on one flying item and pluck it from the air. Maybe it’s an innate quality passed down from our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Whatever it is, we can focus and grab one item at a time. No matter how fast it’s flying.

To reiterate, grabbing one bill at a time is the key to tons of cash.

Building An Audience

So what does this have to do with building your audience? In one word, everything.

All to often, brands try to take a shortcut and grab for clumps of followers. They think it’s possible to bypass the need for individualized attention of their fan-base. This simply does not work.

A friend of mine shared with me a Wall Street Journal article today about a company, Bill.com, complaining that their B2B business is not seeing any positives from social media. But as I explored deeper into their strategy they are failing to understand how to cultivate a following. The article states that they have over 10,000 customers. Yet hardly any followers.
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The Secret Behind David Ogilvy’s Brilliant Headline Copywriting

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Marketing

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
~ David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy is one of the greatest ad men ever. His contributions to the marketing industry are incalculable. And anyone in advertising couldn’t imagine a world without his iconic ads.

In his day, marketing budgets were spread amongst the traditional marketing outlets; magazines, newspapers and commercials, for example. But as we have transitioned into the digital age, what could we possibly learn from this classical ad man? Turns out, a lot.

Appealing to Your Audience


The above ad contains what is arguably considered the most famous headline of all time. But why is this? To answer that, we must think critically about the underlying message here and what Ogilvy is attempting to convey to readers.
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12 Usability Resources to Improve Website Conversions

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Marketing

A usable, high-conversion website. It’s the goal of any Internet marketing campaign, but how do we do it?

While we all strive for a better converting website, we may find ourselves confused by all the different points-of-views of graphic designers basing answers on so-called design trends. Worse yet, our graphic designer may value a pretty website over a functional website.

So before you accept your next website design, take a look at these usability and conversion optimization articles and resources:

The Myth of the Page Fold

Summary: This article is a thorough write-up & images of what user’s look at on a website. Most importantly, they conclude that when the site is designed correctly, the content below the “fold” of your website still has a chance of being seen.

Google Labs: Browser Size

Summary: Input your website’s address and see what it looks like to the majority of users. But I would recommend those with centered website designs to shrink your browser to it’s smallest size without a horizontal scroll bar.

The $300 Million Button

Summary: By changing only one button, a company saw an increase of $300 million in sales in one year.
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Simple Three Step Process for Combating Social Media Overload

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Marketing

Man Stressed in front of Computer

Maintaining a Facebook page, a Twitter account, YouTube channel, a blog, etc. can be extremely overwhelming. Social media can quickly begin consuming more and more of your day. You may find that the majority of your work hours consist of reading, commenting and posting relatively useless info. With this information overload, it’s easy to get distracted.

Worse yet, I often notice people automating the entire process through services like Hootsuite and Ping.fm, in where they post the exact same thing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and anywhere else they can. This strategy is not only ineffective, it’s lazy.

My solution for those just getting their feet wet, or drowning, in the social media pool is a simple, yet effective one:
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