The Sticky Function...
Posted 25th January 2010 at 08:57 PM by mikemcmillan
Creating an ebook that could be described as being “sticky” probably wasn’t on your mind, but let’s think about it.
In order for an idea, a trend, or a product to catch on and spread requires that when people are exposed to it, it kedges keenly in their mind. You want it to stick! When you begin marketing your product--you want your concept to stick to your customers--and you want them to apply the sticky function to their peers so that it sticks to them as well.
Back in about 1996 Denzel Washington starred in the movie “Fallen.” Washington was a Philadelphia detective assigned to solve a mysterious string of serial killings. The plot line centered around the occult manifestation of a serial killer that passed from one body to another by touch. Every time the killer was about to be apprehended, he/she would touch a passerby and the evil manifestation would take over the body of that person.
Developing an ebook isn’t nearly as scary as the movie Fallen, but you get an idea of what I mean by the stickiness function from the plot of the movie. The stickiness of a title is a characteristic of all great products sold online.
I’m a pretty old geezer, so I’ll talk about something before your time--but it is a good example to start with. Back in 1966 Daniel Fader’s “Hooked On Books” book was published by Putnam Books. Large numbers of teachers read his book and incorporated his concept into their instruction. The book was very good, but the title--Hooked On Books--was a stroke of marketing genius.
It was easy to remember--it stuck when you heard about it. In the 5-10 years following its publication, as each teacher read it, they talked about it and those they talked to--well, it stuck on them too! Had this book been called “How To Get Kids To Read,” I’m willing to bet its sales would have been less than 10% of what they were.
I’m not suggesting that the title of your book or product is more important than its content--but to make it successful, to make it catch on--you need to incorporate the stickiness function into the title somehow.
You’ve no doubt seen a few of the dozens of late night infomercials for one money-making scheme or another. Many of them promise their product will create “multiple streams of income” for the purchaser. This is a buzz word, or a buzz phrase that is all over the place right now. Author and real estate aficionado Robert Allen has a best selling book of the same title: Multiple Streams of Income. I mean, isn’t that what we would all like to have?--money flowing into our pockets from many different sources.
Multiple Streams of Income is one of the stickiest phrases out there right now. It’s sticky because it’s easy to remember--and, it gives the observer the “oh, yeah--that’s exactly what I want” feeling.
I’m discussing this because of the enormous impact a powerful title for a product can have on its ability to catch on and become a best seller. I cannot give you an equation for you to plug your product info into that will generate a stickiness for it; only you can do that. However, before you get too far into the development process, take a little time and work on your title--it's important!
Hop over to my blog and grab my FREE 3-ebook set (1) Membership Site Secrets, (2) Secrets Of The Ebook Selling Gurus and (3) The Concise Guide To Writing For Internet Marketers.
http://infoproductearnings.com
In order for an idea, a trend, or a product to catch on and spread requires that when people are exposed to it, it kedges keenly in their mind. You want it to stick! When you begin marketing your product--you want your concept to stick to your customers--and you want them to apply the sticky function to their peers so that it sticks to them as well.
Back in about 1996 Denzel Washington starred in the movie “Fallen.” Washington was a Philadelphia detective assigned to solve a mysterious string of serial killings. The plot line centered around the occult manifestation of a serial killer that passed from one body to another by touch. Every time the killer was about to be apprehended, he/she would touch a passerby and the evil manifestation would take over the body of that person.
Developing an ebook isn’t nearly as scary as the movie Fallen, but you get an idea of what I mean by the stickiness function from the plot of the movie. The stickiness of a title is a characteristic of all great products sold online.
I’m a pretty old geezer, so I’ll talk about something before your time--but it is a good example to start with. Back in 1966 Daniel Fader’s “Hooked On Books” book was published by Putnam Books. Large numbers of teachers read his book and incorporated his concept into their instruction. The book was very good, but the title--Hooked On Books--was a stroke of marketing genius.
It was easy to remember--it stuck when you heard about it. In the 5-10 years following its publication, as each teacher read it, they talked about it and those they talked to--well, it stuck on them too! Had this book been called “How To Get Kids To Read,” I’m willing to bet its sales would have been less than 10% of what they were.
I’m not suggesting that the title of your book or product is more important than its content--but to make it successful, to make it catch on--you need to incorporate the stickiness function into the title somehow.
You’ve no doubt seen a few of the dozens of late night infomercials for one money-making scheme or another. Many of them promise their product will create “multiple streams of income” for the purchaser. This is a buzz word, or a buzz phrase that is all over the place right now. Author and real estate aficionado Robert Allen has a best selling book of the same title: Multiple Streams of Income. I mean, isn’t that what we would all like to have?--money flowing into our pockets from many different sources.
Multiple Streams of Income is one of the stickiest phrases out there right now. It’s sticky because it’s easy to remember--and, it gives the observer the “oh, yeah--that’s exactly what I want” feeling.
I’m discussing this because of the enormous impact a powerful title for a product can have on its ability to catch on and become a best seller. I cannot give you an equation for you to plug your product info into that will generate a stickiness for it; only you can do that. However, before you get too far into the development process, take a little time and work on your title--it's important!
Hop over to my blog and grab my FREE 3-ebook set (1) Membership Site Secrets, (2) Secrets Of The Ebook Selling Gurus and (3) The Concise Guide To Writing For Internet Marketers.
http://infoproductearnings.com
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