11 Book Marketing Strategies From Ferris – A Dog

 

 

Ferris, a beloved black lab tipping the scales at 100 pounds, just celebrated being with my family for the past three years. We got lucky when we provided him with his forever home and adopted him straight off the truck from Oklahoma while covid was raging. He is named after the lead character in the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a high schooler who always pushes the limits to get what he wants.

Besides being a wonderful companion and home officemate, he is my book marketing hero. He can’t talk but he manages to get what he wants — often. He has me trained!

He uses a lot of good skills to snag more than his fair share of food, which is his form of gold. I don’t want him to be obese but this guy is a beast at sniffing out what makes him happy. We should all market our books the way Ferris asserts himself and secures what he wants.

So, how does he do it — and what can we emulate about his strategic approach?

1. Sets Goals and Be Obsessive

He thinks about food, only food, all of the time. He knows what he wants and pursues it with a passion. 

2. Develops The Right Skills

He knows how to sniff out food. He constantly smells all over, looking in places where people likely dropped or tossed some food. That comes naturally and from practice. He has gotten rewarded enough times to incentivize the perfecting of his skills.  

3. Exploit Your Assets

He has those innocent eyes and a dopey swagger that beg me to give him snacks. How do you say no to a lovable and playful creature? Shake what ya momma gave ya!  

4. Observant

In order to get food, he observes and watches, looking for crumbs or pieces of unguarded food. He has an awareness of his environment.

5. Have A Food Filter

He processes his thoughts and actions through a single-mindedness filter: Will this activity or person net me food?

6. Opportunistic

He is always on the lookout for food and gets himself near the people likely to give him food, either by intention or accident. He positions himself to be successful. 

7. Always Be In The Room Where There Is Food 

Whenever I enter the kitchen, he is there. Or when I eat in the den or cook out in the backyard. He could have been sleeping for hours but as soon as he hears the crinkle of a chip bag or the opening of a cabinet door or the suction-cup swish of the fridge, he is there, ready to pounce.

8. Non-Discriminant

Part of his success at the sport of getting food is due to him being non-judgmental and never delaying or pausing his efforts to snag some food, no matter what the food item is.  

9. Always Available & Ready

He is on the prowl 24/7. Morning, noon or night. Indoors or outdoors. He is never too tired or preoccupied to pursue the No. 1 thing that makes him tick. 

10. Turns Other People’s Garbage Into Gold

Someone’s junk is his meal. He loves to find roadside food, the things people toss from a car or abandon after a picnic. He is like a bear. 

11. Employs The Seek-And-You-Shall-Find Approach

He is forever in hunting mode, sticking his snout everywhere, eyeing every morsel of food that is lying around or entering my mouth. 

 

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.