What can a 6 year old tell us about marketing?

Posted by: Krishna De | Posted on: July 30th, 2006 | 4 Comments | Posted in: Uncategorized

As you will have read about in one of our newsletters and blog posts, writing your book is one of the fastest ways to build your personal brand and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

My daughter, Elisha, recently was inspired to write a book.  I hasten to add she is only just turned 6 years old.

She created the book all on her own – the title of the book, “All about me” and all the content were hers and hers alone.

She took the printed book (thanks to her Daddy’s printer) to the street party we had in our community, along with a little chair and table, and set her little stall up to sell them.

Here are a few observations on the evening and also some learnings that we can all apply to our business:

• At first sales were slow – the first person to purchase one was our lovely neighbour Karen (Learning one – she tapped into her network of people who already knew and loved her);
• Someone who was offering stick on tatoos for the children at the party started to use the table for their things but Elisha stood firm - or should I say she sat firm (Learning two – it was a crowded market but Elisha was not put off – she was resilient);
• For a six year old to stay on one place for any length of time is a challenge so it was to be expected that when Elisha saw there were face painters, she decided to have her own face painted.  But before she did so, she made sure that one of her younger sisters, Megan, who she trusted, was around to represent her should anyone come along and want to buy a book in her absence (Learning three – ensure that you have a success team of other people who can represent you, be that your employees or affiliates);
• Sales were slow, so we looked for some above the line advertising – we got the DJ to do an announcement.  That was great and Elisha got a round of applause, but not many books got sold (Learning four – the media is a great resource to build your profile but it won’t guarantee you sell more products);
• So Mum (me) spoke to a few people on the way to the salad bar, asking them to invest €1 to buy their daughters book – not a great idea as people didn’t have money with them and I didn’t have a copy of it with me (Learning five – make sure you offer your product or service when someone is ready, willing and able to invest in them);
• Elisha then decided she wanted to go around and ask people to buy her book.  Books in hand and Mum in tow with to pot of change, Elisha proceeded to ask all the groups of adults if they wanted to buy her book, told them she had written it and te money was going to charity.  How could they resist?  (Learning six – low cost marketing with a compelling offer and a direct approach makes a huge difference to your success);
• When she had circled the crowd, Elisha then went off to play; however I was approached and asked where Elisha was as others wanted to buy copies of her book (Learning seven – word of mouth had kicked in and Elisha had created raving fans – other people were recommending her – one family actually bought three books).

All the profits from the book (a vast sum of €40) have been gifted by Elisha to a local charity and she can now proudly call herself a published author. 

In fact is was probably one of the fastest books ever written for the most profit as most authors don’t make any money on their first publications!

Here is the book if you’d like to view it.

Yes I am very proud of my entrepreneurial daughter.  In summary:

• she had a vision
• she implemented a plan to make that vision a reality
• she saw it through – unlike many of us where we have a great idea but don’t execute it
• and what’s more she provides us with great learning for how to succeed in the marketing of our professional services practice.

So if a 6 year old can write a book what’s your excuse?