First–if you’re going to launch an ebook–or anything else–do pay attention to this book.  It’s derived from other product launch material, and it’s got a solid, “todo” style approach.  It’s action oriented, highly specific and really solid information.  If you DO the steps, you’ll certainly recoup the $97 bucks they charge your paypal.  The info is out there, but this is a good, trusted filter that is a great stepping off point to successfully sell your ebook.    And the killer part is the worksheets, and the step-by-stepness of the thing.  It lays out pre-writing research, and making an information product that sells, building a list and other fundamentals that we all need on the internet.

HOWEVER…

and there are a couple of big”howevers…”

There are some weaknesses.  My book (pictured right) didn’t exactly lend itself to the prewriting research.  I was making a manifesto, something suited for http://changethis.com more than it’s suited for “how to lose weight now,” types of products that comprise 80% of the ebook market.  It’s also got a lot of information on how to write an ebook, and this isn’t really what I happened to be looking for.    (Also, it seems that @rockyourday still has a dayjob, which is something that grates on me when you’re still tethered to the old world, I hope he quits tomorrow…but I’m biased severely and I DO think he IS a social media expert).

Also, there’s a failure to prioritize. I’m finding that reviews are killer, having inflammatory posts is killer, and Twitter can sell the book itself.  The rest of the stuff feels a lot like makework, stuff that’s not really needed, or can be outsourced/delegated effectively.  The marketing is where it’s at.

I’ll get myself to 1,000 copies in a couple of weeks…my goal is 10,000 copies in 270 days.  But…the ambition of the authors is to be simple, sturdy and profitable.  And there’s a roadmap to it, and they lay it out, but it feels like a JOB.  I wanna take over the world.  I want fans and friends running through walls carrying my banner.   I could write a practical guide like I once did for loan officer lead generation, but I was interested in putting the best I had out there.  If you’re doing a how to, this is the book.   For my own marketing, I wasn’t horrifically far off, and this book ‘filled in the gaps’ (post in forums, daily, twitter the @#%^ out of yourself).  It’s just…that I wanted to do more.  Think your own thoughts.  F#@% all the friction and drama that got us into the busted mess we’re in and work our asses off to make F#@%ing great things.

The one thing that’s right is that they get that marketing is a job.  You have to work to make something happen.  You have to follow up, you have to work hard, think hard, do cool thing to make stuff happen.  You’re not just gonna build it and have ‘em come, you’re gonna have to introduce yourself to people, grind out sales, and ensue that the work is done.

[[Affiliate Disclaimer: No affiliate links here.  My integrity is worth more than the $46 bucks or whathaveyou I will eventually get to the point where I'm doing links, but I generally think that people that put a bunch of affiliate links on their blog are thinking too small.  My blog is my brand.  And I have to be 100% behind something before I endorse it.  I think that my growing client base needs to know that I don't have nickels or dimes on the line.   There are times, like with Aweber, that I will hustle my affiliate link out there so I can get support and so I can get feature upgrades.  I've refered a dozen or so people there, and I don't think I have ever gotten any money (though that isn't their fault, I just never looked at my affiliate balances or whatever).]]

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http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/steal-this-idea-im-begging-you/

Regarding ideas, he writes:

If it’s that good, people will try to knock it off the moment you gain any level of traction, notoriety or both. Maybe sooner. In fact, if they don’t, it just may speak to the fact that what you’ve got is either not nearly as cool as you think it is or you’re not able to communicate it’s coolness…

I know that people will steal ideas.  I steal ideas.   I work with great people at places like Lenderama and BHB and those folks throw off great ideas all the time.  For free.  For real, and they keep on doing it, all the time.  One of my synapses will fire a half formed idea, and then Tood or Greg or Pat will throw off some nugget that I didn’t know before.  And I’ll be enriched with thoughts and thought, and I’ll be able to do my job more effectively.  These ideas are given away for free.  All the time.

And they are precious.  Look–if we apply the lessons that are here already for the taking, we’re going to get so far ahead of the curve, so enriched, so smart, that we’ll never finish.   The value of Twitter is mostly that we see other brains having firing synapes together.  Ideas are everwhere, and they’re precious.  An idea to use a spammy plugin like FeedWordPress to create a non spammy blog network came out of a conversation.  Anyone can use it.  There you go.  It just requires putting it into use.

And there’s the rub, isn’t it?  We all know essentially, in broad strokes, what to do to to make life happen.  We know that we need to pick up the phone and call people, we know we need to connect, think, help, add value.   And yet, we find ourselves not executing because the next big idea is right around the corner.   Well, the next big thing…is simply executing what we do well already.  It’s taking the bull by the horns and getting things DONE and not started.  Execution is more profitable than shere creativity.

There is nothing staggeringly new about what’s happening now.  The best of what we do is about elegance, not novelty.  Facebook could have been twitter, could have kept twitter from happening.  They didn’t go that route.  Twitter could have been blogging.  Livejournal could have been WordPress.  Etc.  Etc.   All of those ideas were half thefts, and just SCAMPER type solutions.    What was different is execution.  There isn’t really an ‘information advantage’ out there right now that has a lot of meaning, except in the realm of execution, finishing projects, getitng things all the way done.

Even though they are abundant–ideas are precious.  Having what it takes to finish, to do, to be, to have whatever we seek…starts with being created in the mind.   Instead of fighting over who owns the knife, we should help one another grow a bigger pie.  Or mix a better metaphor.   All it takes is a realization that scarcity and value are different things.  In an abundant world, we can continue to freely throw off knowledge.  Hoarding knowledge is going to become a thing of the past.

How can we encourage others to think?

How can we encourage ourselves to think?

How can we continue to make sure ideas grow?

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Simply put, I already use “twitter tools” to auto post blog stuff to here and Facebook.  Works fine, if not perfectly.  It’s one thing I don’t have to do and it seems to have increased my Twitterer Followers and FB follwowers in my virtual dick waving contest to collect people.  I don’t ‘try’ that hard, but I want ot think it through.

Since Josh says to me that comments beget comments, and I happen to agree, why not use Feedwordpress + Twitter tools to beget yourself some comments.

Here’s what I’ll be doing, and this may be a kudge on a kludge.

I’ll set up a blog @ comments.genuinechris.com, and I’ll feed it with the comment stream of approved comments.  I’ll make sure all nofollow tags are removed.

Then, I’ll install twittertools to that.  And each time I get a comment, it’ll show up in my twitterstream, inviting more people into my house to have a ‘spirited debate’ with me, to tell me I’m full of it, or to tell me what’s what.

This should not take long at all–it’s on the list for tomorrow.

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