Yesterday I got a message from Miro Skender, who is a personal development coach, one of the few successful ones in the small market of my home country, Croatia. Miro wrote (I’m translating freely):
===
I mean, you and your book!!!! I start reading, then some quote or you mention somebody, so I have to Google or ChatGPT to find out more, then you mention somebody else and again, it’s like browser windows keep popping up on my computer on their own. Then I say, fuck it, I’m just going to read, two pages later I’m searching for my favorite comedian on YT 😂
===
In case it’s not 100% clear, Miro is talking about my new 10 Commandments book. As for the engagement trick that’s making his browser tabs explode:
It’s a universal truth, one I’ve found to be very powerful in marketing and influence, and yet one I find lots of people ignoring to their own detriment, that it’s much easier to sell people than to sell ideas.
Ideas are shadowy and hard to grasp. It takes work and effort.
On the other hand, we all have big chunks of our brain dedicated to detecting, recognizing, and evaluating other people. It’s automatic.
You can apply this fundamental truth in a million ways, but here’s just one simple and practical one:
I ran ads on Amazon for my previous 10 Commandments book, about A-list copywriters. I tried ads based on keywords (eg. “stages of market sophistication”). I tried ads based on related book titles (eg. “Breakthrough Advertising”). But nothing worked as well as simply matching the names of people who are somehow connected to my book (eg. “Eugene Schwartz”).
I’m doing the same for this new 10 Commandments book. I’m running ads on Amazon for search terms like Gary Bencivenga, Milton Erickson, Chris Voss, David Mamet, Derren Brown, Harry Houdini, Jim Camp, Patrice O’Neal, Robert Cialdini…
… all of whom are somehow connected to my book. In case you would like to find out how, or to get sucked into my new book yourself: