Let’s start with the funny stuff, shall we? Here is a sampling from my email inbox:

“I don’t get it. Do people really buy books because they might win a vacation? What does that have to do with my business?”

“Pulleeese tell me you can help me NOT do an amazon day thing. I know they must sell a ton of books but I really think I’ll die if you say I should, and it’s NOT because I don’t want to earn money either!!”

“I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE CREATING AN ANTIDOTE FOR THE INCREASINGLY FURIOUSLY PACED AMAZON LAUNCH REQUESTS.”

“I was so mad about the amazon thing I got from 11 people today I unsubscribed from everyone. The least they could do is compile the doubles so we don’t get the same identical oh so sincere message from everyone.”

And then let’s hear from just one well-known pundit:

“If your marketing strategy requires you to hit #1 in order to succeed, you probably need a new marketing strategy.”
– Seth Godin

Key word here: requires.

If you’d **like** to hit #1 for other reasons, or there are other reasons you feel are worth making the effort towards trying for #1 (addressed here) that’s an entirely different story.

For the record, I do think there are reasons to ‘go for’ #1 at Amazon.

But again for the record, here is why I (personally) will never go this route, and some follow-on thoughts about how this might apply to you.

(1) I’ve sworn off adrenaline.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have any in my life or business. Sure, the first month we hit $1000 in earnings per day, I had some great adrenaline! But this is the #1 reason I won’t pursue an Amazon Campaign, even though I have at least two book marketing campaigns in the works this year.

Amazon Campaigns focus on this “one” day. They’re the epitome of an artificially-created intensity. This isn’t a bad thing. Terry Fox masterfully created intensity by aiming for a cross-country run on an artifical leg in one summer. Intensity generates intense interest, and that’s why these work.

Which is why I think it’s more interesting to create intensity over time. Less intense intensity, perhaps, but sustained over a length of time. Perhaps you can find a way to create intensity through a different goal. How about the most books sold over the course of a month? Or a week? The number of books sold through 10 associations? Through 3 major joint ventures?

(2) I prefer less breadth, more depth.

As a business owner, I like both. Breadth is essential to business strategy; depth is essential to my helping heart.

This is similar to point (1), but the important difference is this: I enjoy having a business where it’s still plausible that I and my team can meet, or reach, or talk to the people who’re interested in what I have to say, in reasonably-sized groups over my lifetime. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve ‘been there, done that’ with huge databases of customers, several times.

But by leveraging a marketing funnel, and being willing to spend a portion of time in active revenue (coaching, consulting, etc.) in addition to passive revenue…it usually doesn’t take longer than 6-12 months to prove you can earn healthy six-figures with a database of 3,000 - 5,000. That’s with a well-defined niche market, of course.

Do you want a business where you’re almost completely hands-off, and you just count passive income? (Pause here a moment because the knee-jerk answer is almost always yes. Yet, in this community of ‘money AND meaning’ the thoughtful answer is ALWAYS no. Always.)

(Side note: Someone ask me about the time I was shocked speechless after meeting a business guru who was giddy about a money-gushing business that allowed him to never have to deal with people.)

If you want a business that’s actively engaged in changing and uplifting of hearts and minds…what would be more rewarding - reaching more people with a lighter touch, or fewer people and going deeper? There’s no right or wrong answer, only clarity around your choices. It’s a spectrum.

I care more about reaching a **certain kind** of person (one that cares!) than reaching lots and lots of almost any kind of person. So I prefer a marketing a campaign that focusses more on those types of people. Amazon Campaigns for me, are less efficient because they use a scatter-gun approach.

(3) I find doing the same thing as everybody else, annoying.

Call it ego, stubbornness, or something else. A large part of my make-up is dressed in ‘contrarian’ clothes. I like trying the untouched tray at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Besides, there is truth to the fact that once something’s been done enough to have detractors, it’s probably been done enough period. As with all marketing tactics, once something’s been done…once the trail is blazed…it’s already time enough to be inovating something different.

Catching the wave of the Amazon Campaign right now may have less upside than when it was new. Based on anectdotal evidence alone, there may be a lot more downsides. One of my mastermind group colleagues admitted they received almost 100 times more unsubscribes to his list when he did his Amazon campaign. That’s 100 times…was it worth it?

For him, yes. He had a ’son-of-a-gun, if they get pissed at me inviting them to buy a book for 20 bucks, then I’m doing something wrong’ attitude about it. Interesting stuff.

(4) I’m dedicated to anti-hype.

My husband still thinks ‘marketing’ is a dirty word. (But he’s coming around.)

Marketing, to me, is everything. It’s whether you’re wearing lip-gloss as you sit having your lunch on a bench downtown. It’s what kind of paper you print your resume on. Do you think I’d get more requests for autographs at book signings when I’m wearing my hair in a bun with my new cat-eye glasses or, when I’m wearing my contact lenses, hair down? It’s marketing, I’m telling you.

And because I’m hard-wired to care about things, it annoys me when there is a backlash. Not that the world should be all rainbows and ceiling wax, but marketing is communication. And what I think (not so secretly, after this post) when I get approached by someone (else) to participate (again) in creating a really big Amazon Day result…is….

- I wonder who on all of our lists will in fact NOT buy the book…
- I wonder who will get so annoyed and unsubscribe…
- I wonder who could get turned off of coaching, or prosperity or health, or other new-age or not-so-new-age topic…

BECAUSE OF the marketing technique used. (Amazon Days or no.)

I know, I’m an idealist and a romantic. And this isn’t rigorous thinking. (This isn’t solely a ‘business strategy’ post.)

But I do wonder that. And… I think about things like being a credit to my profession and to the work I try to stand for. So I always spend a little extra time thinking about a non-hyped way to present new ideas.

The books I help announce through Amazon Days are always worth the cause. And I know those authors will be spending the rest of the year doing other things to move their ideas forward, because they are worth it. So for them, it’s about Amazon Days AND other things.

For me, I skip the Amazon days because I’m about marketing on a quieter channel and preserving my energy. Where others may be hollering, I like to see whose ears will prick up because I’m whispering. Does this make sense to you/for you?

If you find yourself with an allergic reaction when on the receiving end of an Amazon campaign email, certainly think twice before trying it yourself. It will almost certainly be a complete and utter flop.

On that note…

(5) The final reason I personally will never do an Amazon Day is - I like looking at the horizon.

I like planning to win the war, not the battle. Not that ‘battles’ aren’t fun to win - I love a great game. So maybe it’s an ‘I’m getting older’ thing - what do you think?

It’s much more compelling to me to ask:

- How many universities will stock your book and develop programs around it?
- Did what you write change the way an industry was perceived?
- How many times did your book get read by each person, and were they energized each time?
- Did readers tell you they’ve lent their book to three people and had to drive over to make sure they got it back, each time?
- How many post-it notes were stuck in the book and how much ‘life work’ was evoked as a result?
- Could someone read your book 5 years from now and still find ‘work’ to be done?

I don’t know what my coach will say when she reads this. She’ll probably just smile because there are a lot of “I”s in this post.

So I’ll leave you with just one more.

The bottom line is, Amazon Campaigns are just not ‘me.’ Until and unless they are, they might sell tons of books, but, thanks to the way I’m built, I’ll (personally) never do one, ever, even though I sometimes have days when I *wish I wanted to*.

After all, they sell books, right? And what’s the matter with that?

So the next time you receive an Amazon Day invitation, read between the lines. What’s the abiding message you can get from my (albeit very personal) reasons for and against Amazon?

And for the author in you - whether you’re for it or against it, love it or hate it…think the Amazon heyday is over or here to stay…what will you do? What is your Antidote to Amazon?

What’s important to you —- in addition to selling lots of your book?

Design a campaign around that, so your book promotion strategy reflects the entirety of what you want for your business, and who you are. And that’s all I got to say about that.

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