Is there a new way to market stuff?

Oh I know my timing sucks, the weekend and all, I should have asked when you all had your business brains on. Still, those who haven't disconnected them yet -

Can you think of a new and fresh way to market something in a flooded and saturated market? I'm interested for books, but marketing is marketing, other products could have a fresh new angle that could be twisted. Whether you're selling holidays, cars, double-glazing, yourself, clothes, or pebbles you picked up on the beach and lovingly hand-polished ...

There's nothing new under the sun but sometimes a fresh look from an outsider can spark a new idea. I'm not, I promise, going to market anything at you, I want YOUR ideas.

Summary so far, the freshest ideas -

From Ish #1 'message in a bottle' advertising (roping in the international CS community)

From Ish #2 lingerie and even doll lingerie to catch the eye

(and Non-smoker is up for a fish 'n chips date with any female who buys a promoted book handshake)
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Comments (56)

Whats the product legs?
My particular interest, mainly ebooks, although some paperbacks. Crowded market. sigh
I think getting your own website and to blog on as many blogs to do with reading and writing :) Ebay and other auction sites with a buy now price for your books :)
And have you tried publishing houses?
Cheers Scotty - do have my own website, do try to elbow my way onto the book-type sites and was astonished to find some of my paperbacks already being offered on eBay! In box sets!!!! rolling on the floor laughing

Man I'd be annoyed if they're making money out of that laugh
Well this might sound silly but the same as movies do trailers to promote their movie so people get an idea how about whats it about, how about a sequence of images with something about the book..
This woman went viral with her facebook post and now we have all seen her photos

Publishing houses, what a novel idea, you should pardon the pun laugh

The books I'm trying to get new thoughts on are novellas so when I sent the first to my agent she said no chance, double the length and she would try it. Or, she said, go ebook, where the length doesn't matter. So I did.

Been fun but I seem to be permanently following well-trodden paths on the marketing front. I just wondererd whether anyone could think outside the box because for sure I can't.
You need to get a copyright on them, then you can sue,.....
Ish, that's brilliant and innovative and fun and exactly the sort of different I'm talking about, yay you!

I mean I can't get engaged to one of my books rolling on the floor laughing but she totally thought outside the box, love it
Scotty, they're not doing anything illegal, they buy my books at my price, then package and try to sell them - not only me, of course, hundreds of writers. They get the order, THEN they buy the books.

I know they're not doing well, because I'm not selling many paperbacks at trade price rolling on the floor laughing
Ish idea a good one, try to promote yourself on you tube too, got nothing to lose?wine
Thing is I've been doing this about 4 years now and I probably know every conventional way there is to market books - along with some 9 million other writers, many of them way more determined than I am to follow the usual paths and hammer them to the ground.

The hope of the blog was unconventional offbeat ideas and, as I say, not necessarily books. Shifting product is shifting product.
Get that determination, put some fire in your belly and grab that bull by the horns cheers
You need more people to notice your work(obviously). I think the news media may be the best way. Maybe study the local criminal law and find something with the biggest splash and the least punishment. Merit alone is likely not enough to sell something for a profit. Marketing is probably more valuable than great ideas.
Here is another one.. Get one or a few CS bloggers to print your book, stuff it in empty 5l bottle and say they found it on the beach,, The news will start to cover how this book has appeared all over the world. At least people will start to recognize it.
Nonsmoker, haha, tell you what, can I offer a date with you for everyone who buys the book?

yay yay yay
One time payout or dividends for your CS workers?
Biffffffffff! I don't like the beach but I can do as Ish suggested! applause applause applause
Rock, great ideas can turn into great marketing. Give you an example, the first writers who packaged PDF excerpts which people could download there and then off their websites, or off twitter or Facebook, did really well. People read them, got caught up in the story, ordered the book, excellent.

I've got two PDFs, want to read one? You've probably been offered about 6 today already, I for sure ignore at least 40 a day on Twitter. (I do follow a LOT of writers)

But it was a great idea when it burst on the scene laugh
Ish, you are a GENIUS. Not the whole book, just a couple of pages, yeah? Telling them at the end where to buy the rest -

yay yay

okay, who's going to be a sweetie and offer to chuck a couple of bottles in the sea? DC, love you babe, thanks!

Er, will I get stuck with a fine for encouraging pollution? uh oh
Rock, I think commission could work, put your name on the excerpt and I will know who to pay the commission to (paypal, of course, no bank details)

Deal?
Re-reading Ish's suggestion. doh No pollution, bloggers just PRETEND they found it laugh
I have no name but I would still like to help you market your book. But I am still interested in some type of payment system of course.
Ish, please become my marketing manager wow
Biff you need make up your mind, first i was your personal photograph now you want me to be your marketing manager..You need move to Spain and have me near, you will have all you need, Sun, beach, men and me... Perfect life style for a woman of your character.
Ish, you're right, please start looking for a bijou apartment for me in Malaga near you rolling on the floor laughing
The attention span of modern people is so short these days, I fear books could soon be no more than part of a history lesson.
Well if Rocking is right why dont you make them audiobook, which is fantastic as you could listen too anywhere.. Also fantastic for people with dyslexia like me..
I did work with a woman with the perfect voice, but she's not fiercely enthusiastic about spending 10 hours or so recording a book, even for pay rolling on the floor laughing
I understand this "modern" way a bit too much
Use Gerard Butler, they say he is scottish but does irish accents,, I dont care, i would not stop listening to your books if he did the male part.
Ish I couldn't afford him but is it okay with you if I promise him a night with my marketing manager instead of pay?

innocent
I dont think one night is enough for his work.. promise him a week, what the heck, one month..
By the way, Non, my most effective promotion to date shifted 900 books so I hope you really like fish 'n chips rolling on the floor laughing
Ish, do you have a teeny crush on Gerard Butler? rolling on the floor laughing
I had the most unpleasant opportunity spending time with some children recently. I noticed they could not even listen to an entire song at length. Besides driving me crazy, I felt it was a strong indication of where we're headed. I do not feel people have changed. The Pony Express was an example of a desire for sound bites. It's now the technology we possess that allows us to feed our desire for constant stimulation. We always wanted to get there as quick as we can, it's just now we have faster vehicles.

Can you publish you book in braille?
How about the use of drones? (not for the Braille copies)
Of course, drop your books from the sky. Sure, you're likely to get arrested but with some persistence you might make the UK Daily Mail.
Get a few hundred copies and flying missions late at night. Return home as soon as possible to beat the police to your house.
Rock, I'll pass on that one then.

Promoting at the moment and it is going slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly (hence the blog) with only 100 takers in the last few hours, so I had better get back to that and follow Scotty's advice to stick to the traditional.

sigh
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by Elegsabiff
created Aug 2016
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