The best-kept advertising secrets of the big red envelope
Two years ago I interviewed a self-publishing millionaire who had sold 500,000 copies of his special effects cookbook and had a great way to get free publicity.
This is what he said …
“As the author of a cookbook, I’ve been full-page in the food section of a newspaper, in full color. The entire front page is my face, my story, and all my contact information. And if you get a great story In Boston or Los Angeles or Chicago or New York, millions of people are going to see that.
I’ll tell you what happened to him …
When a whole story breaks out in a big city like that, you sell a lot of books! And he did!
As a self-published author, advertising becomes your new best friend. And in most cases, there is no perfect time to launch an ad campaign for your self-published book. You do it practically all year round.
You started out mailing press releases during a time when email wasn’t that prominent, but even now, email doesn’t work that well. Neither does the fax. Instead, direct mail is the way to go. There are special ways to do direct mail. You put your press release in a big red envelope and you use a magic marker for your sender and you just write in big letters all over it to make this envelope look really special. I’m talking about a big red envelope, 8×10, # 10. You can get them at Staples.
Be outrageous. Like the guy who wears a red suit, you walk into the room and you have to see it.
So you send your press release in a big red envelope and with a black magic marker you just write the guy’s name in big black letters. Use a couple of stamps and write the address by hand. You only need ten a day.
He sent hundreds a year for his book. You can do a little bit every day to get that constant stream of interest from television, radio, or newspapers, lastly, of which it may work better because you can get a review; usually a full page.
It puts an 800 number in the press release and a computerized system where everything is automated and can handle 10,000 calls simultaneously. Calls can come directly to you from the press release.
The way a press release works and looks is if you have to follow a format. At the top of the press release, in the upper left corner, just write for immediate release, have your name and your office phone number. You can leave a number with an answering machine, but I don’t recommend it. You want to handle all the media contacts yourself.
The person who calls you is usually a journalist and has an editor. And the point of writing a press release in the format I recommend is that you are not selling anything. You can’t sell anything with a press release. Make them look good with your story. When they go to their publisher and say “hello sir editor, I found this great story” … it makes the publisher look good, so you let him write and let him sell it to you. It works as a thousand wonders. It really does.
If you want your sales to skyrocket, organize an ad campaign that will get your attention. Be unique. Let them know that there is no one like you out there. Follow their advice on using this large red envelope. Works.