Maybe P2P is the future after all…

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:

While there’s a lot of infrastructure underlying those “purchase-influencers,” they are all, at their heart, “user generated” by people I trust.

Comments

Tim's picture
Tim on April 7, 2009 - 18:05 Permalink

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.

Marian's picture
Marian on April 7, 2009 - 19:28 Permalink

I love you dearly Peter, but you’re not exactly representative.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on April 7, 2009 - 20:01 Permalink

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.

Ryan Filsinger's picture
Ryan Filsinger on April 7, 2009 - 22:49 Permalink

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.

Marian's picture
Marian on April 8, 2009 - 00:26 Permalink

Ah, so you’re a trend setter? Maybe. I’ll believe it when I see people lining up for Heaven Can Wait.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on April 8, 2009 - 15:04 Permalink

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.

Marian's picture
Marian on April 8, 2009 - 16:40 Permalink

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.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on April 9, 2009 - 00:59 Permalink

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.

PFA's picture
PFA on April 9, 2009 - 20:16 Permalink

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…