Tag: selling books

Human Nature Is Flawed And We Should Recognize That

I’m a hopeful person.

I think we have to be
hopeful people
to build businesses.

We hope there will be
customers
for our products/services
when we bring them to market.

But I don’t
pretend human nature
is anything other
than what it is.

I know, for example,
that while
people SHOULD boycott
books that are written
by AI,
the majority of people
WON’T.

The average person doesn’t care
who ‘writes’ the books
they buy.
And they don’t care
about the future of books.

They only care about the product.
They only care about themselves
and their enjoyment of that product.

That’s human nature.
We are selfish.

Knowing human nature,
accepting our flaws,
saves time and effort
and it focuses us on solutions
that have a better chance
of being successful.

Returning to my example,
writers shouldn’t waste time and effort
trying to convince
readers to boycott AI.

They should, instead, focus their energies
on deriving
solutions that have a better chance
of being successful.

Accept humans
for who we truly are,
flaws and everything else,
and make better decisions.

Make It Safe

The easiest way
to make a book sale
is to reassure readers
it is like a book
they’ve already read
and loved.

Readers want a ‘safe’ read,
a story they can be assured
will turn out
well for them.

Romance Novel Writers
(small business owners)
use tropes and comparisons
to reassure readers
their book is the same
in many ways.

THEN
they might also mention
the ways their book
is special.

As Seth Godin
shares

“The reason we haven’t taken
systemic action
is that it’s scary,
not because
it isn’t novel enough.

If you want more people
to take more action,
make it safe,
don’t make it interesting.”

If you want to appeal
to a lot of prospects,
ensure your product/service
seems safe
in your marketing material.

Should You Start A New Organization?

A well known marketing guru
is setting up an organization
to help fight climate change
(and, I suspect,
to sell more books).

The thing is…
similar organizations
already exist.
Their structures are in place.
They are ready to go,
are getting to work,
are making a difference in the world.
Today.
They merely need more support
and more people involved.

In contrast,
when the founders started #TeamTrees ,
they set it up
as a conduit for Arbor Day Foundation,
an existing organization
that plants local trees by local people
worldwide.

#TeamTrees could focus
on the huge task
of driving awareness and support.

They’ve helped plant
over 19 million trees thus far.

If your goal
is to make a difference
in the world,
ask yourself
if you can make a bigger difference
by supporting an existing organization
rather than starting a new one.