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ARTICLE Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer! A Case Study in Marketing for Authors Laura Pasternak Principal and Chief Brand Strategist MarketPoint, LLC Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer!

In his seminal work, Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approach, E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the “4 Ps” approach to marketing. McCarthy divided the marketing process into four areas: product, price, promotion, and placement. And by doing so, he laid a foundation for students and practitioners that has In that same span of 50 years, we have witnessed the birth of the Internet, the invention of the personal computer, the development of WYSIWYG and GUI technologies, the rise of desktop publishing, and the explosion of the world wide web and social media. All of these technological advances have conspired to return “the power to publish” to the hands of the author, where it had resided 240 years earlier in the person of Benjamin Franklin, writer, inventor, statesman, and printer. To quote the 34th U.S. President, Dwight David Eisenhower, “Things are more like they are now than they have ever been As we discussed in the first two articles of this series, the author’s power to publish implies certain specific responsibilities with respect to marketing and branding. Today’s author cannot (or should not) simply finish a manuscript and turn it over to someone else, while hoping for success. Instead, the author must take an active role in choosing, developing and promoting a brand. And if the brand is conceived and advanced properly, it will pay huge dividends in While many authors take an active role in promoting their brand, we have found none so glaring as speaker / author / sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer. Gitomer is a showman on a mission, constantly defining, living and expanding the Gitomer brand. And love him (or hate him), he stands as a glittering (or garish) example of branding in the new world of publishing. As a writer, Gitomer’s “products” are his books. And from a product development standpoint, he is as pervasive as any author in his field. Walk into any bookstore – in an airport or at the mall – and you’re likely to find at least one Gitomer book. His product packaging is clever and consistent, all books being the same trim size and approximately the same length (or should I say 1 Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer!
His books are sold hard-bound and cloth-wrapped, and the titles are self- descriptive and obvious: The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Gold Book of Yes, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections. Open a few covers and you’ll find the writing style pithy and personal. These “little gems,” as the names imply, are full of “hints” and “secrets” and “lists.” And the lists have a twist, each implying that the reader is getting a bonus: “6.5 Assets for Networking,” or “12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness,” or 99.5 Real-World Answers.” His pricing is simple and straight-forward; most books are $20, but all are Gitomer’s promotional efforts never sleep. He advances himself continuously through blogs, writes articles and columns, posts YouTube videos, emails his “Sales Caffeine” newsletter to opt-in subscribers, and maintains a social media presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. He even owns the website “lastname.com” (Gitomer.com). Do you? And he goes to market through public seminars, by distributing through major bookstores and online booksellers, and by operating the merchandising site BuyGitomer.com. Gitomer is a walking brand. In fact, it’s hard to tell where the personal brand ends and the marketing mix begins. The guy is a walking brand. In fact, it’s hard to tell where the personal brand ends and the marketing mix begins. (But I‘ll give you a hint…) Gitomer likes to make it easy for his followers to follow him. So he often wears a red shirt, or a red t-shirt under a black shirt. (Red is his trademark color, but only a small part of his personal brand.) He always sports a few days growth on his beard (and not because he can’t afford a shave or doesn’t care how he looks!). He publishes short instructive videos on the web (filled with the inimitable Gitomer personality) which he calls “Rants.” And he drops tasty “follow me” morsels along his teaching path, which he carefully labels “Git Bits” 2 Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer!
Some have called him overly aggressive, some obnoxious, some vaudevillian. Some think his brand is just shtick. But what if they’re right? Gitomer doesn’t just have a brand, Gitomer is brand. And in the brand war of publishing sales gurus, he’s winning. Key performance indicators might include: Distinction – Nobody is confusing Gitomer with the competition. Empathy – Gitomer strikes a chord with a defined group of followers. Resonance – He’s tapping into both the emotional and rational aspects of his audience’s decision-making process. Congruence – Gitomer communicates his core values, creating a more Loyalty – This guy has evangelists who help him sell his products and services through word of mouth and other social marketing media. Credibility – Gitomer’s authority survives brand extension into new market offerings (like his new sales training, “TrainOne.”) Is there a risk that he might offend some readers? Of course. Is his the brand you want for yourself? He would probably hope not (though if it were, he’d already be first-to-market). The point is, Jeffrey Gitomer is leading trump. And 3 Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer!
About the Author: Laura Pasternak is Principal and Chief Brand Strategist at
MarketPoint LLC, a consulting firm providing honest, insightful and effective brand and marketing services for business-to-business, education, and non- profit organizations. Visit www.yourmarketpoint.com to learn more. Physical Reprints: MarketPoint, LLC grants the reader permission to print and distribute unaltered copies of this article. Reprints must include, without changes, the entire text and author profile. Individuals or organizations interested in republishing this article may obtain permission from EzineArticles.com. 4 Glaring, Glittering, Garish, Gitomer!

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