Anyone think the books name hampered it's sales?

[hawkal]

"for smart people" sounds like a prerequisite to me. Of course I know that's not the case as someone who is familiar with Steve's work but those browsing their local book shop may see it like that.

What do you think?

[Brutha]

Tim Ferriss approach of doing split testing with book titles seems to be better but I don't think that Steve name is that bad.

[spirit4711]

I think 'PD for dumb people' would have sold much less .

[KazeCraven]

Someone tell me why Insert Title Here for DUMMIES sells AT ALL and then maybe we'll be able to answer that. I instinctively go to anything that implies I'm intelligent.

[seeker5]

The title was aimed at selling it to people who already knew about Steve, as Steve had built a brand online with his tagline "Personal Development for Smart People". So, branding the book this way was made to maximize sells, at least initially. Then with word of mouth (and word of blogs/reviews) it would spread to others who may never have heard of Steve.

Long term, however, I think his book's real logical title is something like "Seven Principles to Effective Personal Growth". That is what would describe the book best, but it may not be the best marketing for it.

[Brutha]

The title was aimed at selling it to people who already knew about Steve

I don't think that was the case.
If he just wanted to reach those people he could have gone with self publishing.

Long term, however, I think his book's real logical title is something like "Seven Principles to Effective Personal Growth".

I think that 6 words is to long (and five is as well.
A book title should make it easy to say: Hey, Bob have you already read "The Power of Now" and be able to come up in conversations.

Additionally a title should grab attention.

[seeker5]

I meant as an initial strategy. Reach the people who know him first. Then use that word of mouth and reviews to sell to other people as well. Hay House agreed to publish his book because of his following on the internet. If he was writing the same great things he was writing, but had no built-in audience, they wouldn't have agreed to publish his book.

I think that 6 words is to long (and five is as well.
A book title should make it easy to say: Hey, Bob have you already read "The Power of Now" and be able to come up in conversations.

There are plenty of long time best sellers with title that are 6 words or more. "The Seven habits of highly effective people" is one of them. "Don't stand next to a naked man" is another well known book.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by KazeCraven

Someone tell me why Insert Title Here for DUMMIES sells AT ALL and then maybe we'll be able to answer that. I instinctively go to anything that implies I'm intelligent.

For some reason Insert Title Here For Dummies would be a book I'll at least flip through when in a bookstore..

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by hawkal

"for smart people" sounds like a prerequisite to me. Of course I know that's not the case as someone who is familiar with Steve's work but those browsing their local book shop may see it like that.

What do you think?

I think part of Steve's strategy might be passively pre-filtering people who aren't really a good fit for his work and his message.

I'm sure he wants many people to read his book, but if people get turned off by the title, imagine what the book will do!

I've seen quite a few businesses (Site Build It is one of them) that seem to deliberately construct their "sales funnel" so that, in the end, usually the only people who (willingly) make it through are the ones appropriate to the service--people who resonate with the approach, methods, etc.

I recently went through a course that taught me how to do that with a business, but in an authentic way that focuses less on constructing a sales funnel that filters people, but more on applying using your awareness to make decisions that ultimately result in your business being a very authentic reflection of you.

Ultimately, I think that's probably what Steve has done with his book. Behind Steve and his work is an energy, and people will either resonate with it or not. I used to think it made sense to appeal to everyone when you have a product, but I can see how limiting that is. I think you can appeal to a lot of people, but you always appeal to a certain audience. Trying to serve everyone ultimately seems to make people less happy, and less effective since their efforts aren't very targeted and focused (and maybe even not that authentic, since they feel they have to subvert their authenticity to cater to lots of people with many different interests. In the end, it's too hard to please everyone).

[Warping]

I don't think it looks like a prerequisite at all. People who randomly find the book will either realize it's a play on the 'for dummies' title or just find it interesting. I doubt if there are many people who would go, "Wait, I'm not smart, maybe I shouldn't pick it up".

My mother found the book lying around and started reading it and she loved it, even though she only read the first chapter. I found this really odd, cos the only other book she's read is the bible!

[windsorspirit]

Steve’s book attracts those who resonate with his message, and the aesthetic he presents it with.

Originally Posted by spirit4711

I think 'PD for dumb people' would have sold much less .

I’m not aware of how many copies PDSP has sold. But, and by a long way, it does have a higher Amazon sales rank than ‘PDDP.’
link

[MidasGirl]

The question is, how many of you read the book and couldn't wait to recommend it to anyone and everyone that would listen?

[MidasGirl]

Originally Posted by hawkal

"for smart people" sounds like a prerequisite to me. Of course I know that's not the case as someone who is familiar with Steve's work but those browsing their local book shop may see it like that.

What do you think?

How does anyone know that sales were hampered? What were the actual sales versus expected sales?

[MidasGirl]

Originally Posted by KazeCraven

Someone tell me why Insert Title Here for DUMMIES sells AT ALL and then maybe we'll be able to answer that. I instinctively go to anything that implies I'm intelligent.

People buy For Dummies titles because they have a sense of humor. There is a difference between laughing at one self (self-deprecating humor) versus putting oneself down. If I wanted to learn about how to make toy airplanes, I woudn't go buying Making Toy Airplanes for Smart People. Makes no sense.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

The question is, how many of you read the book and couldn't wait to recommend it to anyone and everyone that would listen?

I didn't do that because I don't do that with PD books anymore. I rarely ever buy books for others, but I did buy a couple of extra copies to give out to some people I thought would enjoy he book.

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

People buy For Dummies titles because they have a sense of humor. There is a difference between laughing at one self (self-deprecating humor) versus putting oneself down. If I wanted to learn about how to make toy airplanes, I woudn't go buying Making Toy Airplanes for Smart People. Makes no sense.

The for dummies series is also a recognized brand name.

[bluedragon]

I think it is a good idea to imply that personal development can also apply to smart people, because there is a huge number of people who believe that only naive people read "self help books". Many believe that reading such books equates to letting someone else tell you how you should spend your time etc. It's hard to reason with those people, although they may be quite reasonable in general, and quite successful themselves in teaching others how to be successful.

I don't think an accomplished author and expert should worry weather using the right words will have a negative effect on his sales, but should instead insist on using the right words to convey his message. There is always the danger of letting the audience influence the writting of a book, and when that happens, authors don't only write what is good for the people, but what is easy to sell.

[KazeCraven]

I suppose you guys make a good point. Though if I really am a beginner, I go for beginner stuff, not stuff for dummies. I always got the impression that stuff "for dummies" implied that I was getting some dumbed down mush that is only a semblance of the true intricacies of the thing I really want to know.

On the other hand, I can sift through a book that goes way over my head and get a little something out of it, but at least I'm getting the whole truth and not just something that just so happens to work but is simplified heavily. If I really was clueless in a subject that I really wanted to get started on and found a "for Dummies" book, yes I admit I would flip through it in the bookstore. But if it's just teaching the basics while padding the information with humor, there's really no reason for me to buy it is there?

I still stand by my reading things that are more likely to go over my head than not.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Supposedly, 90% or more people think that they are smart, and most of the people in the market for his book already read his blog and probably participated on the forum. I thought the book was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.

As to whether or not the "smart people" label has hampered sales, perhaps, but those who do not buy probably aren't ready to hear some of the things Steve has to say anyway. So it's not like he's lost thousands of enlightened potential readers, but those who don't even consider themselves smart in the first place.

Sure, it's not on the NYT Bestseller list, but it has a lasting impact that will allow it to be around for years to come.

[KazeCraven]

Smart is such a blanket term. It applies to a variety of mental skills, and someone adept at any one of these skills can consider themselves "smart". With that in mind, I think 90% is a pretty good number. I'm not sure if you were implying that many people are deluding themselves or not, but I thought so.

[YourHumbleNarrator]

Originally Posted by KazeCraven

I suppose you guys make a good point. Though if I really am a beginner, I go for beginner stuff, not stuff for dummies. I always got the impression that stuff "for dummies" implied that I was getting some dumbed down mush that is only a semblance of the true intricacies of the thing I really want to know.

I tend to agree with you. I look at the popularity of "Dummie's" guides as an extension of the glorification of unintelligence in America. (People may often think of themselves as being smart but there's a definite push against real intellect. The image is more important than the substance.) I know it can be a good bit of self-depreciating humor, too, and I even appreciate some humor in the material I use to learn. However, I don't appreciate gimmicks. Even if the information is sound, gimmicks cheapen it.

I don't think "Smart People" lessens sales because people are turned off by the idea of having to be smart in order to benefit from the book. If it lessened potential sales, I'd wager it's because the immediate response is, "What does that mean?" Successful marketing is poingnant-it gets right to the point and evokes an immediate response which is favorable to the purchase of the product. If you're trying to sell an economic survival guide, you need an apocalyptic title and a quote from a mainstream outlet verifying the book's claims right on the cover. ("Chilling."-N.Y. Times. It may have nothing to do with your book, but technically they said it at some point about something! Who's gonna know?)

This book's title provokes a very cerebral response. "What's that?" Most people won't buy it based on that. Marketing is based on emotion. If you're not evoking an emotion, you're not going to get the impulse buys which fuel the top sellers. Considering Steve's take on things, I think he prefers it that way. He'd probably say something like, "What's the point in writing the book if most people who buy it never actually read it?" Desperation, particularly the desperate need to feel good, fuels the self-help industry. That's clearly not the audience he wants.

[Darren]

I don't think the "for smart people" title would necessarily put someone off buying the book for themselves but they would maybe be more apprehensive about buying it because of what other people would think.

Personally i wouldn't be 100% comfortable with a book on show in my sitting room implying that "I'm a smart person" but at the same time, after reading the book (which I haven't yet*) and all of Steve's online content I'm sure such insecurities regarding the title would be overcome, or at least should be.


*Haven't seen it available in the UK

[Daffy Duck]

I think most people consider themselves smart, and so, the book title wouldn't really interfere with them looking at it.