Can you be first?
image credit: formerly-JF presently S-Team via flickr
How much success is a result of being somewhere first?
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit in relation to bookselling..
Why did Amazon.com succeed? If you were watching in the early days (I was), you will remember that it was the first site where you could find book reviews from “real” people. There was a rudimentary “if you like this, you might like that” recommendation engine. The deep discounts and free shipping offers came later.
When authors want to put “buy now” links on their websites, they will often include Powell’s (and hopefully IndieBound). Why does Powell’s come to mind? They were the first independent to maximize their e-commerce site.
You can also be first.
It may seem as if you missed the boat on blogging, social media, e-commerce, but in truth, it’s still the early days.
You can be the first in your market, as you define it.
There are very few independent brick and mortar businesses using online marketing. Since most of you define your market as geographically local, or subject-specific, you can still be first in your market. And you can use that position to grab the mindshare of your customers. But I do think you have to start figuring it out now.
I am what is often called an “early adopter,” but I’m not “bleeding edge.” I tend to be a year or two ahead of the mainstream. I think that’s where you want to be, too, with your business.
Why blog if most of your customers don’t read blogs? Because soon, they will.
Why start an online discussion group for your in-store book clubs, if nobody has asked for it? Because if you don’t do it, someone else will.
Why publicize your sales and events on Facebook or Twitter, if none of your customers use those services? Because soon, many of your customers will.
Do you have a strategy for offering digital books to your customers? You need to start thinking about it. You may think your customers aren’t ready yet, but why not be there ahead of them? When they are ready to buy, they will look to you first if you are prepared for it. Be first.
As you start putting up those “New Year, New You” displays in your store, I hope you will make your own resolution to think long and hard about a strategy for being first.
The territory is wide open. Grab it.
Be first.
Drew says:
December 29th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I’ve had discussions with booksellers who say that blogging or twittering doesn’t seem to be having an effect on their sales, online or off. The inevitable question in these discussions is, “Is it worth our time to keep doing this if we’re not seeing dividends?”
True, the overall effect of blogging on your bookstore may not be huge right now, but what about six months or a year from now? Are you blogging and just hoping people stumble across your blog, or are you actively building a social network through all available avenues? “Social” is the key word in this new media. Being active in responding to comments on your blog, responding to “tweets,” building a network and interacting with your network on Facebook, just to name a few, are key to finding a following. Tying all of these networks together is also integral to your online strategy.
As more and more of our customers get online and become part of our networks and see our participation in the conversation, I think we can pull them back from the “other places” online. People are always looking for a connection. This is why social networking sites are so popular. Can Amazon, or Ebay or Wal-Mart, really provide this kind of social interaction with their customers? It would be difficult. Its up to us to engage, inform, and yes, entertain.
H.C. says:
December 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
There’s four independent bookstores in my town, all within four block of each other. Only two have real websites. I actually get a fair amount of traffic to my bookstore from people searching for the two without webpages, as I mention them as specialists. (they carry totally different stock than I do)
Of the two with website, I’m the only one that has a website you could actually order off of. The other one with a website just has a placeholder page with directions. I also let people order online and pick up in person. If you can manage that trick, its an easy way to pull ahead of the nearby chains or Amazon.
Joni says:
December 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I am trying to adopt the social media approach and I think it will have an effect on my success. While not everyone follows my blog and tweets enough do that it has built a word of mouth “buzz” around the opening of Paragraphs. I like the idea of reaching more people with little cost and especially enjoy the conversational quality of social media. My site is evolving as I continue to refine the areas of interest to concentrate on. I really like the idea of having a discussion forum. A future plan.
Ann Kingman says:
December 30th, 2008 at 8:50 am
@Drew – excellent points. I will write a post on measuring effectiveness in the next few weeks, but my short response to such a question would mirror yours. Thanks so much for your great insights.
@H.C. – I’m always amazed at the number of local independent business that don’t have websites. It sounds like you are well ahead of your competition — bravo! Allowing customers to order online and picking up in person is something that I’m hoping more stores do this year. I’m always remembering about that thing I need at midnight — it’s nice to be able to just order it and not forget.
@Joni – You will do great, I know. I can’t wait to hear all the wonderful buzz when you open! Thanks.