12 Lessons Learned While Marketing “The Four-Hour Body”

I’ve heard about Tim Feriss since he first launched “The Four-Hour Work Week” concept (Seriously, what’s not to love? Design your life in a way so you only end up working four hours a week!). Well, he recently launched “The Four-Hour Body“, and one of his assistants details 12 lessons learned in handling the marketing behind the book. It’s a great read and chock full of illustrative insights on how to launch a book successfully.

On top of that, there were a few self-imposed rules set, which made things even more challenging:

– No book tours
– No paying for access to email lists
– No intense focus on building Facebook and Twitter accounts
– No paying for consultants who buy your way onto the bestseller list
– No email drip campaigns
– No multi-month pushes for pre-orders

Some of the key lessons I particularly enjoyed:

#9 – He who cares less, wins: Being able to completely walk away from the table gives you an edge in negotiating.

#8 – Timing the release to maximise sales: Yes, timing is an important factor in marketing strategy – often overlooked due to delays in launching and pressure from impending deadlines.

#6 – The Motherf***ing Book Trailer: If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures.

#4 – Carpet-Bombing the Internet: Brief Periods of Intense Noise-Making: Coordinating the effort among key media stakeholders so that, for a brief period, your message comes through in a concerted push. I like the part that goes on to say that this can’t be “manipulated” but takes time to build up before hand – so that you don’t come across as a sleazy “push-marketing” kind of way.

#2 – The Honeypot: Top 1,000 Blog: Having built a strong and loyal fan base on his blog has been a cornerstone to his marketing success. It doesn’t come easy, it cannot be insincere… it takes time and generosity.

#1 – Write an amazing, definitive book: In the end, having a remarkable product is the foundation for everything else.

Read the full list of 12 here.