Thread by @InformedinSport

Among other things, I write and publish books.

Where I've proved less successful to date - and even been neglectful - is marketing and promoting those books.

I am beginning to see how illogical my thinking on this has been🤦‍♂️

A 'mea culpa' thread 🧵👇

An exchange between @jordanbpeterson and @jockowillink:
'No matter how good your product.. the world will not beat a pathway to your doorway... you need to pay attention to marketing; you can't be contemptuous of it... who the hell is going to buy something they don't know about'

Fair to say the inescapable logic of that hit me like a punch in the face.

Sometimes you need a punch in the face 🥊

When 'Informed' came out in 2018 a colleague in the field (privately) compared it very favourably to a title from another coach that has been wildly successful - stating 'this is the book that ________ ________ should have been'

At the time I took this as a compliment...

On reflection, if it is true that 'Informed' was such a superior book then the fact that the other title outsold it by perhaps 100x needs to be accounted for in some other way.

Timing and good fortune aside, the discrepancy suggests I did a horrible job of reaching the audience

.@jordanbpeterson again from the same conversation:
'People allow a casual and unconscious contempt to allow them the luxury of not having to consider the importance of all the things they are not doing'

I freely and openly admit that the promotion and marketing aspect is what I have the least affinity for - and is also the part that I am least adept at (those two things likely being related).

I am acutely aware there is no shortage of shameless self-promotion and snake oil salespeople in the field.

But in my caution to avoid being seen as that I have tended to do a half-hearted job of promoting the books and at times opted out entirely.

What is less excusable is that I have viewed this as some sort of virtue rather than a failing.

'it is more comfortable in some sense to have contempt for things... that casual contempt for what you can't do is a real ethical mistake'

Another 🥊 from @jordanbpeterson

Feedback from friends and colleagues who I respect highly suggest that the books have genuine value for coaches, practitioners and students in the field.

Also why write books if nobody gets to read them.

So failing to do the work to reach the audience doesn't serve anybody

The puzzle of handling promotion in a way that doesn't sacrifice integrity is something I continue to grapple with.

But it is worth investing the time and continue to grapple with figuring it out.

Perhaps time to get over myself.

Link to the titles:
amazon.com/Paul-Gamble/e/…