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- Mar 6, 2011
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Matthew Bennett
If you think you have to be well known or have a lot of credentials before companies will take your book seriously enough to buy it in massive quantities, think again.
Matthew Bennett had been working with the California Special Olympics for more than five years and was looking for a change. One night he was talking to an OB/GYN over dinner about the horrible level of infant mortality in the United States. When he started asking questions, the good doctor said to him, “Well, it's nice you're concerned, but there's certainly nothing you can do about it.â€
That's not something you should ever say to Matthew.
He decided right then and there that somehow, some way he was going to do something about the problem. So he did a little research and learned that the March of Dimes campaign for healthier babies was THE preeminent charitable organization working to boost prenatal education in the United States.
That led to his creating an informative, upbeat maternity guide that would help mothers with newborns chronicle their experiences and help them care for their babies in the best possible way. The result was his first book, The Maternal Journal. He set a dream goal for himself. He decided he wanted to sell 1 million books and raise $100,000 for the March of Dimes. But he didn't know at first how he was going to do it.
So he first started trying to sell books the traditional way. But he soon grew frustrated with sales, distribution, and all the other headaches of dealing with bookstores. He couldn't see how he was going to sell millions of books that way.
He then realized he could achieve his goal much more quickly and make an even bigger impact by selling the book in mass quantities to companies and organizations who might want to give it away as a premium. He arranged the deals so that the March of Dimes made money on every sale.
But this idea – as great as it was – proved to be more difficult at first than he figured it would be. He stumbled many times and made a lot of mistakes back then because he had never done anything like this. He had trouble figuring out who to contact. Even when he found the right person at a particular company, they might say, “Nice idea…we'll think about it.†He didn't have a mentor to show him the ropes.
After a long time of not seeming to get anywhere, he learned from his mistakes and changed how he approached companies and what he offered them. As a result, he perfected his system and sold more than 3 million copies of The Maternal Journal and The Baby Journal to Ross Labs and Babies ‘R Us. Those books were featured in/on People Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Hard Copy, The Joan Rivers Show, and many other media.
But something else was “born†in the process: a whole new way of selling books.
He began writing other books. He applied this same system to sell these books in mass quantity over and over. He created The Puppy Journal and The Kitten Journal, which offer new pet owners answers to their most common questions in a lively, fact-filled format. The entire initial run of 300,000 copies was distributed by Veterinary Centers of America as part of a national education program aimed at new pet owners, helping them raise healthy dogs and cats.
Then Matthew created another book called Lifestyles of the Trim and Healthy. He sold over 350,000 copies to companies like Reebok and many medical facilities, health fairs and diet programs that use it as a value-added, gift-with-purchase item.
Another book which he wrote titled, In a Child's Eyes, is an inspirational book with photographs. He sold more than 80,000 copies to Aetna to give away as a gift-incentive to encourage parents to have their toddlers properly immunized. Sales of this book supported the National Paralysis Foundation.
Matthew has perfected his methods to sell over 5 million books … close deals with many Fortune 500 companies … raise more than $1 million for charity … and help lots of people around the world!
Matthew has used his system to sell or distribute books among a wide variety of companies including Reebok, Disney, Starwood Hotels, Pfizer, Babies ‘R Us, Subway, Domino's, Macy's, Proctor & Gamble, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Sony, Chevron, Arm & Hammer, Reader's Digest, Ross Labs, Wells Fargo Bank, US Healthcare, Aetna Healthcare, UCLA (and many other universities), Bayer, Samsonite, Veterinary Centers of America, Abbott Labs, Merial, Bellini, A Pea in a Pod, Discus Dental, dozens of charities, dozens of religious institutions, dozens of expos and conventions, over twenty catalogs, several infomercials, dozens of magazines, thousands of doctors/dentists/veterinary offices, dozens of gyms, and hundreds of small stores which sell everything from maternity clothing to electronics.
One of the things I like and admire about Matthew is that he's very passionate about helping others. His personal mission statement is “to have a permanent, positive effect on as many people as possible.â€
In fact, whenever he sells a book in mass quantity to a company he always makes sure that a nonprofit charity will receive some of the proceeds. He has raised over $1 million for charity largely through the book deals he's been able to put together with such charitable organizations as: American Heart Association, March of Dimes, Special Olympics, American Veterinary Medical Foundation, National Paralysis Foundation, American Cancer Society, Child Abuse Prevention Center, American Diabetes Association, National Parenting Center, President's Council on Physical Fitness, and many others. He's going to show you how you can sell tons of books, make huge sums of money and ethically raise a lot of money for charity – all at the same time.
(C) Culled From: Sell Books by the Truckload
Lessons I learned:
1. He went after BIG markets (Commandment of Scale)
2. He used Levearage (also Commandment of Scale)
3. He created several products (obvious yet ignored by many)
4. He was willing to start small and learn. And grow big!
5. He refused to take 'you can't do anything about it' for an answer.
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