I’m as cynical as the next guy when it comes to the notion that digital person-to-person marketing will become the dominant force in the economy, but I’m starting to wonder. In the last 24 hours I:
- Bought a a book because Jason Kottke recommended it on his blog.
- Bought another book because of a tweet.
- Bought a share of a boat in Denmark because of a YouTube video.
- Purchased a license for a piece of software because the developer answered a question I tweeted him.
While there’s a lot of infrastructure underlying those “purchase-influencers,” they are all, at their heart, “user generated” by people I trust.
Comments
Thanks for buying Laurie’s
Thanks for buying Laurie’s book. The book is based on a blog. The most effective marketing of the book to date has been through Laurie’s online world using various social media sites. The non virtual world may catch-up after real world book launches but Laurie’s real human connections facilitated by online networks has been driving interest in the book so far.
I love you dearly Peter, but
I love you dearly Peter, but you’re not exactly representative.
No of course I’m not
No of course I’m not representative.
But I wasn’t representative when I spent $400 on a first generation iPod in 2001, and look what happened with that.
Today they announced that
Today they announced that book sales went up this quarter in Canada by 7%. The reporters didn’t have a clue why this trend occurred. I guess they didn’t read your blog.
Ah, so you’re a trend setter?
Ah, so you’re a trend setter? Maybe. I’ll believe it when I see people lining up for Heaven Can Wait.
Heaven Can Wait’s worldwide
Heaven Can Wait’s worldwide gross was $81,640,278.
Annie Hall, that won the Oscar in 1978, had a worldwide gross less than half of that: $39,200,000.
The loop is starting to close
The loop is starting to close…Jason Kottke bought the new Pearl Jam reissue because of Steven Garrity:
http://www.kottke.org/09/04/so…
Now now. My favourite movie,
Now now. My favourite movie, Groundhog Day, grossed $70,906,973. So you have me beat in that regard. Of course no one consulted me first before going to the movies. If they had, I’m sure it would have been higher.
Hmmm. I may have actually
Hmmm. I may have actually watched Groundhog Day more times than Heaven Can Wait - it’s a very rewatchable film. So at least one point in your column.
The greater indicator around
The greater indicator around books is the increase is library circulation once a book is actively promoted in the websphere. I know that, in the past week, I have put my name on 4 waiting lists for books at the library based simply, and solely, on information that originated with a Tweet that led to a blog that had a comment promoting a particular author or subject.
A very interesting article on library usage in the failing economy over at ScaleDown.ca — a good read and written by a librarian to boot! (He’s not jaded — trust me…)
http://www.scaledown.ca/2009/0…
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