You’re about to read about what I will almost guarantee is THE Biggest goal you’ve come across this week in an Internet drowning in resolutions, goals and good intentions.
So if you like wussy resolutions, such as dropping 25lbs, earning an extra $25k or quitting smoking, then you may want to keep right on moving because this is the big leagues brother (or sister).
Several times over the last few days I started writing a post about my own life coaching goals for the coming year, stemming largely round health.
You know the kind of stuff; less alcohol, hire a life coach, more trips to the gym, more yoga, less red meat and no fun etc.
Each time I sat down to start the process something (usually dog related) happened to distract me.
When I came back and re-read what I had just written I was underwhelmed with not only how boring they almost certainly were to life coaches not called Tim Brownson, but also with how similar they were to a billion other online posts on goals I’d read and nodded off to over the holidays.
I was doing my best to add some spice and humor, but jeez if I was bored writing the post I didn’t hold out much hope for people unfortunate enough to be reading it getting to the end .
Not only that, but what did it say about my own commitment to the goals if I wasn’t inspired writing them down? After all, setting new years resolutions isn’t compulsory even for life coaches.
So after much hemming and hawing, a modicum of tooing and froing and a dash of um-ing and ah-ing I decided I was going to dump the small stuff and throw my really big goal ‘out there’ before it’s properly finalized.
Or more to the point, BECAUSE it isn’t properly finished.
Last week I had a meeting with John Strelecky my co-author of ‘How To Be Rich and Happy’ to discuss the long-term strategy of the book. Things have gone well, feedback has blown us away (in a good way) and the book is having the positive impact on people we both intended and hoped for.
However, it’s really not enough.
As I’m sure you know, I have a goal to sell 1,000,000 copies of the book. I’m pretty sure thousands of other aspiring authors have similar designs and it has a bit of a “So what?” aspect to it.
After all, it’s easy to throw a number out there and say “I want that” without a plan to actually achieve it or a solid reason as to why you’ll get it when millions of people prior to you have failed in a similar quest.
It’s no different to all the hopefuls saying they want to win American Idol. Sure they do, and they probably also want to win the lottery and get married to their local Prince or Princess, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen.
When I talk about goal setting with life coaching clients I always want to get to the ‘R’ part of the SMARTER method of goal setting. And by that I mean, what is the real long-term reward of the goal?
What is it that will drive you on even when things aren’t going according to plan and you’d rather be napping by the pool?
What really drives me to want to sell 1,000,000 copies?
The obvious answer of money and a comfortable life misses the mark more easily than any St Louis Rams Quarterback red zone pass attempt seems to be able to. And that really is saying something.
I’m not especially motivated by money or what that gives me. So what else could it be?
Whenever I talk about the book with John we’re always discussing the impact we want it to have on peoples lives. We don’t want people to just buy it, we want them to buy it and use it. We want it to help them improve the quality of their lives.
Of course that applies to people who’s lives are good and they want to get them to great, but more so, it applies to people who think their lives are crap and want to get them to good and then to great.
Or even people who genuinely don’t know there are alternatives out there and they can change the way they think and positively effect their lives and the lives of those around them.
The more we thought and talked about it, the more we kept coming back to the same groups of people that we most wanted to get the book into the hands of, and they were:
- Kids ages between 15 – 20
- Single parents on income support
- Unemployed people
- Homeless people
Maybe a note of realism was called for at this point. We’d pretty much targeted the social groups that are least likely to buy such a book either through lack of funds or a lack of interest.
But what if it were free?
What if it were put into their hands and told by reading it they could improve the quality of their lives? Now surely that would be a completely different matter, wouldn’t it?
Of course plenty still wouldn’t bother to read, but we can’t really get too wrapped up with them, because a LOT of people would take the trouble.
Suddenly we had created a new improved goal and it’s this:
Distribute 1,000,000 FREE copies of the paperback version of How To Be Rich and Happy
Now before you dismiss it as not being that big of a goal, let’s break it down a little.
Firstly, we have to raise about $1,000,000 to pay for it from a starting point of zero. Then we have to get the books into the hands of the RIGHT people which is without doubt the greater of the two tasks.
Now if you bear in mind we have 40 manuscript copies winging their way to us as we speak, that means we’re 999,960 short and the clock is ticking.
Even if we had all the books paid for and sat in storage as I write this, that would still mean we have to distribute 19,607 books per week until the end of 2010!
That’s an enormous number and quite frankly without the help of a nationwide distribution network it’s not going to happen.
Obviously Amazon could do it, as could Wal-Mart. So could any of the major carriers like Fed-Ex or UPS if they were on board in a sponsorship role. We even suspect the Armed Forces could do it as could possibly Starbucks and some of the larger fast food chains.
But we have to remember why we’re doing this.
Whereas we’re happy to see some large organization benefit from positive publicity and it would be naive to think they’ll help without something being in it for then, we don’t want that to be the only reason.
I for one would take some convincing to partner with Wal-Mart even though this would be like shelling peas to them.
On the other hand, Target already donate some profits to helping schools, so they may be a better option?
As we were talking about what we wanted to achieve the question kept coming back to how the hell we would make it happen? We had differing opinions of the best approach, but none were without it’s own pros and cons.
Then John suggested we were getting caught up with ‘Mad How Disease’
We were focusing too much on the how and not enough on the who. We were doing the exact opposite of what we advised people to do in the book. How ridiculous is that?
So who is the who you may be wondering? Who is the person that can help us?
Well I’m kinda glad you were wondering that, because it could very well be YOU!
We’ve decided to ask the people that already read our stuff if they can think of a cool way to help make this happen.
I’m going to tell you the three options we have looked at to date and would love to know which you think is the approach most likely to succeed.
Option One – Reverse Tithe
I’m going to be honest and say this is the direction I’d most like to move in, but it has its own distinct road blocks
Effectively it works like this. We do a reverse tithe and 90% of all money that comes in from the sale of the book from a predetermined date is allocated toward producing the new book.
10% may be a tight margin to maintain the website and other sundry costs and it may need to be closer to 15%, but that’s the general idea.
This option may mean we make the cost of the book a donation with a minimum amount. So it may be a recommended retail of $47 with a minimum of $15 for example. And yes, I am pulling those figures out of my ass so don’t hold me to them.
Pros
I feel sure people would feel really encouraged to buy the book if they were on the fence. Knowing that a purchase they make is going to help other people in more need can be a real motivation to a lot of people.
Also, by lowering the price we include people that cannot currently afford the full amount.
This option is also the most likely to go viral, although that’s in the lap of the gods and not something I’d ever want to bank on.
Cons
The real problem could be the time we’d need to donate to this project with no income from it. As you may well know I don’t earn a lot of money compared to most people, in fact I only earned $30k in 2008 and little more in 2009.
Therefore, what I literally cannot afford to do is turn away life coaching clients because I’m wrapped up in something that won’t help pay the rent.
I don’t relish the irony of being sent one of my own books!
I’m also very concerned about pissing off people that have already been kind enough to buy the book at full price. We (well me actually) have already messed up one launch and I don’t want to do it again.
Option Two – Ask For Donations
In terms of up front work his, this without a doubt the easiest option We continue to sell the book as we’re currently doing. Then as a separate entity running parallel, we work on getting a multitude of small donations that are filtered off to be used to get the book printed and shipped.
Pros
I am not under any financial pressure because I can work on the marketing the book and still gain some income whilst collecting money to go toward the bigger long-term goal.
If we come up short we could donate any money raised to a registered charity.
Cons
This could create a lot of work. we have to consider tax implications and making the accounting transparent to some extent. We do NOT want to create a charity at this stage for a number of reasons that I’m not going to go into.
It could potentially take a long time and require some massive web traffic as undoubtedly some people would opt to buy and not donate and vice versa.
Option Three – Find A Wealthy Sponsor or Foundation
This option is the one that could move us from being nowhere to having the goal nailed on in no time flat.
Two miles up the road from me lives a guy called Tiger Woods. You may or may not have heard of him, but he does a lot of work with kids when he’s not hanging around on golf courses and engaging in other assorted extra-curricular activities.
He is the kind of guy that can click his fingers and make this happen. He’s also the kind of guy that it is incredibly difficult to get in front of and will receive hundreds, maybe even thousands of requests per annum.
We’d not only have to stand out, but also offer something different to anybody with the kind of influence Tiger has.
Pros
If we hit on the right person it’s a done deal. $1m is not a huge commitment in the great scheme of things and it would be fun having a huge name behind the project.
I would literally sacrifice a small cute furry animal to have Sir Richard Branson on board*
We are more than happy to have the book branded so that the individual or organization gets benefit out of it. In effect, we would be giving up our intellectual rights on the million books (maybe more if things went well)
Cons
We could spend all of 2010 working on bringing in the right person/organization only to be turned down flat for reasons we hadn’t thought about.
A ‘yes’ would also mean the person making the decision had read the book. Currently I have about a dozen books to read that I have been asked to review and I honestly cannot keep up with all the e-book I get sent.
I’m a small time blogger with less than 3,000 subscribers so I cannot imagine what it’s like for some of the bigger players.
Getting somebody like Tiger to read How To Be Rich and Happy (I know, it sounds absurd doesn’t it?) would present a problem. Not insurmountable I know, but a problem nevertheless.
How Can You Help?
This is a truly monstrous goal. Our odds of getting it done in 2010 are small, but they’re infinitesimally small without your help. And yes, I do mean YOU!
If you have an idea no matter how off-the-wall or silly you think it may seem, please, please, let us know in the comments.
If you know somebody that you think knows somebody that knows this guy that may be able to contact some gal that can help, please forward this blog post.
The person could work in the media or the charitable or distribution sectors. They may work for any large organization that has the kind of pull we need to make this happen or whatever else you can think of.
If you know of reasons why one of the ideas will simply not work, please say so, you’ll not get criticized for being negative.
If you have a spare million dollars lying around let us know.
If you have a blog or a Twitter account and you can help us publicize this, that would be amazing, thanks!
Even a Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit or Facebook mention would be appreciated.
I’m sure there are ways you can help that we haven’t even thought about, but you have, so we’re open to all options.
I am massively excited to hear your ideas and hope you’ll help us make this happen and have a whole load of fun into the bargain.
* I wouldn’t really, but I’d probably give it a good dressing down and embarrass it in public all in the name of a good cause.
The Rich and Happy Giveaway in Underway!
Thanks so much people, as of 5th March going to close comments here. We have started this and if you can help in anyway click the link above and that will take you to the page on the How To Be Rich and Happy blog where we can talk about this. Thanks again!
Tim Brownson is a Certified Life Coach and has been unsticking people and helping them reach their true potential since 2005. If you would like to know how he can help you
The first thing that came to my mind when I read your post as an idea, is that I would get a hold of someone in Joe Vitale’s office who works in his Operation YES charity to end homelessness. I don’t know whether this is something they would want to get involved in or not, but it couldn’t hurt to ask, and they’re likely to have suggestions for you about who else you might want to talk to.
I suspect that getting to Joe himself is probably very difficult because of the demands on his time, but then again, he does love books, and loves to help people, so maybe if you build a relationship with someone in his office…
The other person that came to mind, though I’m not quite sure why, is Jason Calacanis CEO of mahalo.com. He knows an awful lot about getting things done, and likes helping “the little guy”.
Probably the best way to get a hold of him is@Jason on twitter.
Hopefully that’s helpful, I wish you all the best in your coming adventure.
Andy
Http://binauraljourneys.com
Is there any reason why your book needs to be in a physical form? If the goal is to get your message out to the maximum number of people, why not send it out as an Ebook?
A million people is quite ambitious to be sure, and it seems in order to reach that lofty goal, you’ll need to rely heavily on the book going viral. You’ll need readers to share your book via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. (which can be done from within the Ebook itself).
And the best part? Ebooks can be distributed at virtually no cost!
Ebooks are also interactive. With the ability to add navigation, links, roll-over reveals, etc., your readers will truly be immersed in your message.
In short: instant distribution, virtually no cost, interactive and you save a few trees. I can help you reach this goal. I do this everyday.
The title’s based on Crocodile Dundee of course :)
Nearly everyone has a printer.
Stores like Staples have their own printing centers.
Distribution at a grassroots level is your main concern: getting copies to the right recipients by people on the ground.
I was wondering if, instead of a single ‘who’ you could break it up – kind of like multiple sponsors. So, a ‘who’ for printing and a ‘who’ for distribution, etc. Are you targeting just the US? If not, maybe think of ways to specifically request help in countries abroad. It’d be harder to co-ordinate but increases your chances of hitting target.
I agree with Paul Durban above.
Why is it so important for the book to be a paperback?
Awesome goal, Tim!
I like the idea of the book being physical — I think the problem with ebooks is that they require a computer and (usually) net access, which not all your target groups will have. People still see “real” books as more valuable, and I know I’m prone to buying ebooks and forgetting about them — a physical book is harder to do that with.
One thought, if you do go the paper-book route; could you ask individuals to each sponsor one book? It could potentially carry a little sticker in the front saying who’d sponsored it. I’m not sure if this would get round the problem of charity status or not?
Love the post! Love the goal and the public commitment!
I think an inexpensive paperback book, sold in the model of 1 Laptop Per Child (pay for 2 books, 1 gets donated), would be one good strategy. Find a PR person to donate their service and get out to the national media, the news, and even Oprah. Send a box of books to Oprah and tell her what you are doing. The Joe Vitale idea is good. Go after Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, write to all of them.
“You call THAT a knife? THIS is a knife.” Crododile Dundee
Good luck guys! Keep up the good work. I’m with you all the way.
I think you’ve got it Robert –
Contact Peter Shankmin at HARO he can probably help you find a PR person who might be interested.
Andy
@ Andy – Good stuff man. I actually think John has made preliminary enquiries with Joe Vitale, but I wasn’t aware of his charity so that may be a better option.
@ Paul & Hadi – Everything you say is right, however it precludes anybody that hasn’t got a computer and that will be quite a number of the people we want to target.
Also I think a tangible gift is more likely to be valued than an e-book to most people.
@ Jeff – Nice one! E-mail me your address to tim at adaringadventure dot com and I’ll send you the book.
@ Michael – That’s why we’re throwing this out there man! Never thought of companies like Staples and getting them published at each individual local source. Thanks for the idea.
@ Mark – We’d love it to be International, but I think we probably need to concentrate on the US to begin with and then expand if it goes well. Agree that multiple sponsors is a good idea.
@ Ali – Interesting idea with sponsorship, I’m going to look into that.
@ Robert – We’re told that Oprah’s studio no longer accept books as they got to many, but that’s a wuss’s cop out, tight? ;-) I think you’re probably right in so much as we may be wisest hammering lots of people at once.
Too late on the Crocodile Dundee reference, Jeff beat you to it.
What an exciting idea! I am going to come back to it today to brainstorm some more but my first instinct was something like Robert’s idea of emulating one laptop per child. I’m wondering if we could get the ball rolling on a grassroots level perhaps it would make it more attractive to sponsors to step up and help fund it on a national level? I know I’d be willing to do something like pledge a month’s blog revenue to buy books that I could donate to someplace like this women’s education center in town. Sure, it would only be a handful of books, depending on the cost, but every bit helps.
I absolutely agree that a physical book would have more impact. There is a reason the State of Tennessee sends out free books to every child birth to age 5 even though we have libraries – something about owning books does make a difference.
Love the goal and I agree with Ali, for the people you are targeting, a physical book is best. Disagree with those who say you need to find a PR person.
Start by building a community of people to help and let the rest unfold.
Decide on the size of an economical print run and start taking pre-orders. When you have enough orders, print them. Cost of the book is the cost of printing and fulfillment.
Once the system is in place, work on getting a-list bloggers to post about it.
I wouldn’t worry about setting up a non profit. If a $100 or so contribution not being tax deductible is a deal breaker, then that is probably not the person you are looking for anyway.
You can do this!
Blah blah good for you blah blah.
But do you seriously think that’s the kind of talk one should use if one were courting Sir Richard Branson? Now you’re sure not to get him. Because he’s probably sitting there, reading his Twitter stream, and thinking, “Well, I WOULD give that bastard money, but then he’ll kill a small cute furry animal.”
DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE?
doing a community based distribution model is something I heard about with the EFT film “Try it on Everything.” They ask people to apply to be “EFT angels” and they state where they are going to take the films (That they have established relationships to make sure they get used.) They give out the films in packs of 10 to keep fulfillment costs to a minimum.
Maybe something like that model but with cases of books could work.
Andy
Nicely done Tim, it seems to be all about tapping into existing channels rather than building something from the ground up, and contacting as many high profile people as possible to get Names involved is certainly a great way of doing that.
Get onto radio shows nationally to talk about your idea and why you’re doing it, go speak to students at College’s and Universities and see what those institutions can fund. It’s things like that that make the Oprah’s and Ellen’s look and listen.
I won’t pretend to know how non-profits work out there, but getting national support is a fascinating and exciting route. Get that appointment with Hillary.
I’ll continue to plunge the depths of my head for some ideas for ya.
Why not both a physical book AND an Ebook? Give readers a choice.
[...] to add: check out Tim’s latest post on his absolutely magnificent goal for the next year. He wants to give away a million books and is looking for your ideas on how to [...]
@ TRacy – Yeh I think ownership is important too. Never knew that about Tennessee. I’m learning a shit load of stuff doing this. I must have been a real dumbass before.
@ Ken – Thanks a lot for the encouragement and I think you’re right about the charity thing. If that’s a persons reason for giving then quite frankly it sucks imho.
@ Naomi – I have it on good authority that Dickie likes an occasional sacrifice, so I’m not too concerned. I’m more concrened with the women scanning the post and not reading the disclaimer
Now get thee to Twitter to tell your tribe.
@ Andy _ I hadn’t heard about that whole EFT thing, I’m going to check it out.
@ Steve – Thanks mate, don’t plunge too hard, I don’t want you hurting yourself.
@ Paul – Hmm, I need to think about that one. Thanks!
Does it have to be 1,000,000 new copies of the book? Perhaps you could hook up with some organization that is behind a “green” effort and use sort of a “Pay it Forward” idea. In others words, get 10,000 copies out there and each person has to read it and give it to someone else. Admittedly with the group you’re targeting, tracking the book will be difficult. It would be sort of cool though if each person had to sign the front of the book and then the 100th reader could send the book back to you.
You could somehow number each copy so you oculd track it? Or you could find 10,000 people who were willing to get the book read by 100 people including the population you’re targeting, so you could track each book better, build more accountability into the system.
I see a lot of logistical issues with this idea, but it also has some fun energy to it.
[...] Choose goals you’re passionate about (Tim Brownson has just published a great post with a vivid example of this: Call That A Goal? THIS is a Goal!) [...]
Tim,
A few thoughts …
1. Why not approach Lulu to see if they could donate some of the publishing costs in exchange for a “printing provided by Lulu”? If not Lulu, then go to a reputable US printer and see if they’d do a deal on reduced printing price.
2. Unless you form a 501(c)(3) (the US designation of a charity) you won’t be eligible for 99.999% of foundation money. It’s just the way that works.
3. How about getting some of the good folks who follow you to donate the cost of cover development, the cost of the book layout, etc, in exchange for acknowledgment? I know that’s only a couple thousand dollars reduction in costs, but it’s something. (Can you tell I’ve worked in publishing?)
4. You could also (if @Naomi is correct) hold a number of furry creatures hostage, threatening to sacrifice them if Sir Richard does NOT come on board.
5. I think this is an interesting goal … but I wonder about one other tidbit … there are quite a few folks in your target audience who may need more than just a book. Could you create a network of local folks to support recipients of the book as they take action on the steps you put forward, to help them fulfill your vision? That way, anyone, anywhere could participate in some way to, quite literally, change the world.
I’m thinking about the 1000 true fans model. Get 1000 fans to agree to give out 100 copies each of the book to 100 people in their local communities who meet your specifications. Let’s see. That doesn’t quite add up, does it? I’m not great at math. That’s why I majored in journalism. Or is that a limiting belief? Anyway, the point is that there might be some other workable option there, too.
Wow this is exciting and very good stuff…Every three years I review Washington State’s Family Planning Council grants…and how the volunteer boards in each county used the funds to stop teen pregnancy or get teen mom’s health care, attempt to keep kids in school and recover kids from drugs and alcohol abuse. In my book there is only one county truly succeeding in this goal and one lone social worker has even taken on health care for the elderly and gotten 2 health clinics opened in their very impoverished community…. So it comes to mind that if someone who could teach a workshop on your books, traveled to each board and presented your book and a workshop approach, the hands on printed book could get to a huge number of your target age group in this state.
The Community College system used to pay me to travel the western part of the state and get disenfranchised women to work with a course called Women as Winners which included career planning testing which was donated to the program….my classes were hugely successful with an 80% rate of getting women into great training programs with scholarships attached…(not so successful with male truck drivers forced to retire due to health issues and find new careers)
I never seem to work for money, but would need books and gas funds…to see what I can do here…the book is great and good…and works…How can you use me?
Found your post through Steve’s forum. Catchy title, made me click through.
Have you checked out Tim Ferris’ keynote at Le Web? fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/12/13/how-to-create-a-global-phenomenon-for-less-than-10000/
I like the grandeur of your goal, but I think some kind of launch or plan to reach the 1k true fans model will help a long way to moving towards such a big number and getting your book some buzz.
@ Bill – Another cool idea we hadn’t though of asking people to pay it forward. That’s into the pot too.
We’re gonna need a bigger pot.
@ Christy – That’s definitely something we hadn’t considered but here is the deal with it. We could get the books printed in the Far East for not much more than 50 cents. No US company could get remotely close to that, so it would put the initial cost of $1m up to more like $2.5m and massively increase the necessary investment by a company like LuLu.
Not saying that means we couldn’t do it of course, but it would need thinking through.
I still like it though, thanks.
Naomi is a wuss and suggested torturing furry animals was a no-no.
@ Alisa – I like the model, although I need to look into it more.
I was thinking last night if I had to give away 1,000 books like that without the use of my blog, could I do it?
The honest answer is I’m not sure. It deserves more thought.
@ Patricia – Many thanks, let me process will you please. Maybe we could chat at some stage? At this point I’m collating ideas to see which seem the most viable and I have more t han I expected after some brilliant comments here.
@ Vanessa – Thanks a lot for dropping by and the link I will definitely check it out.
“After all, it’s easy to throw a number out there and say “I want that” without a plan to actually achieve it or a solid reason as to why you’ll get it when millions of people prior to you have failed in a similar quest.”
- Kinda like wanting to win the lottery and not buying a ticket
“Then we have to get the books into the hands of the RIGHT people which is without doubt the greater of the two tasks.”
- I think this is easier. You have a readership that would GLADLY help you distribute this. I personally can think of at least 8-10 groups I could distribute this too right in my town.
Wealthy sponsor? Try TED.
I think if you charge an amount and use a large percentage of that to have the book distributed to your target groups. That would work but still offer us the opportunity to use our networks to get the book out. The offer still stands. I will help distribute here. Why not set up a web site just for that, as one of your methods of distribution.
Why not use ALL the methods you suggested. They are all good, tried an true methods. There are also a TON of organizations already set up to distribute to the target groups you are aiming at.
That’s a goal. While I do’t have good insights about accomplishing it, I do have a suggestion about another place to check.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson set themselves a goal to sell a million copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul. They basically went from publsiher to publisher trying to sell one on the book.
Wow, fantastic ideas.
Many thanks for helping Tim and I.
I’m even more enthused because of your enthusiasm.
I think maybe a hybrid/blend of some of the ideas will get us there.
Buy a paperback copy at $10 and we send you not only
your book, but three more to give away…
Or if you don’t want to give them away, the three will be given by
us to the organizations we’ve talked about.
If you don’t want the paperback copy, we’ll send the e-book but give
the paperbacks…
Then also give the option of the true fan model, a hundred books
at a time, you distribute to the organization you have a passion for…
I guess the question in my mind is what is the right price point where
you’d not even hesitate to jump in. Is it $10 and we give three,
or $5 and we give two…
What’s the right price so that the e-book download is a no brainer
and then 90% goes to giving the paperbacks?
Just using Tim’s technique of yanking numbers from below, but
those are probably pretty close.
John,
Sounds like you are thinking of a price around $2.50 per book. Maybe 4 for $10 for people who don’t have a large circle to distribute to. I would jump at 10 books for $25 myself. And I would think that after reading one, it would still be passed on. Maybe include the ebook download at 10 or 20 book donation level.
Tim, I love the idea! Even if you don’t get close to the target, the whole thing is great because it shows that sharing really matters to you guys.
I would go for option #3 but a bit modified as you spread the effort on many organisation and foundations involved.
If you find 500 foundations/organisations accross the globe each will have to print and distribute 2000 books.
You send an ebook and they print it in the local print houses that also take part in the project.
This way you:
- get a list of people WHO should receive the book as organisations know the needs of local communities
- each organisation is reposnsible for printing an exact number of books
- each organisation may have friendly sponsors that will love the idea and will pay for the printing&delivery (or may have some larger funds/programmes running)
- as local print houses print the book the delivery costs are minimised
What do you think?
I also like the idea of TED by Maureen and of 1000 fans by Alisa.
I like the idea of a celeb helping to promote this. You have identified target groups ie young adults, homeless etc. Why not do a bit of research and find celebs who donate their time and finances to help these groups already? For example, Jimmy Carter is really into habitat, why not get him to help distribute to people on the habitat waiting list?
I think if you can find famous folks who have already demonstrated a commitment to that target group, they would be more interested in helping thier cause with your book.
Bob Poole sent me. :-) I think that Maureen is on to something, suggesting TED as a sponsor. And I *love* Christy’s idea to create local workshops to support folks as they go through the process.
Two other possible sponsors (if you can get ‘em!): Geoffrey Canada runs the Harlem Childrens’ Zone (http://www.hcz.org/), and has a variety of programs for local kids. Dolly Parton is another celebrity who’s passionate about education, and so is Bill Cosby.
@John: As for the price point, I can only speak for me: I’d happily pay $10 for an eBook if I knew you were giving away three copies to people who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
Thanks a lot people, we really appreciate your input!
Keep the ideas coming we are digesting them and hopefully will have an announcement of how we’re going to kick things off in the next week or two.
[...] Tim and John also have set a huge goal for themselves when it comes to this book – they’d like to get in the hands of people who really need it, but may not have the financial resources to obtain it. If you are interested in helping out, be sure to read Tim’s blog post: Call That A Goal? THIS is a Goal! [...]
Tim,
You might try simply sending copies of the book to libraries.
Include details of how the book is available online so that they can keep learning from and using the book after they return it.
Why not offer the book as an ebook for the price of one dollar? I do not know about the hosting issues or any revenue sharing plans but certainly just about everyone I know can afford one dollar. Use the principle of Henry Ford, make the thing so cheap everyone can afford it and many will buy.
@ Declan – Great idea mate!
@ garrettpd – Yeh I agree they can, but can they be bothered? The whole micro payment model is tricky because people lower the perceived value. It is worth pondering though, thanks.
[...] fact, I’m in the process of trying to raise $1,000,000 to print up copies of How To Be Rich and Happy to give away to people that can’t afford it. Trust me — I need help, and I know most people [...]
[...] fact, I’m in the process of trying to raise $1,000,000 to print up copies of How To Be Rich and Happy to give away to people that can’t afford it. Trust me — I need help, and I know most people [...]
First reaction idea: Sell the book 2 for the price of 1 and ask the people who buy the book to give the freebie copy away to someone who needs it. Then you could have a web-space for the purchasers to post a note about who they gave the book to (leaving out personal info), why they chose that person and how the conversation they had with that person made them feel during the giving of it.
I enjoyed your post, Tim. Your writing strikes me as very similar to Douglas Adams.
On the question of distribution: how about through independent bookstores? There are thousands of such smaller bookstores across America in towns of populations too small to be of interest to big box chain stores. The one in my hometown has a thriving business and it serves the needs of a community that is miles away from a Wal-mart or Target.
The proprietor is a man called Tom who’s been an independent book dealer for more than thirty years and knows the ends and outs of distributing books through smaller urban areas. Contact info is: Corner Bookstore, 43 N. Jackson St. Winder, Georgia, 30680 – (770) 867 – 5800
cornerbookstore@alltel.net
On the question of financial backing from philanthropists or grants: Why not try networking through TED.com affiliates. Now there’s a group of active-minded do-gooders always on the look-out for ways of helping people better their circumstances. Sir Richard Branson is a TED affiliate, in fact.
Good luck with the book, Tim. I think it’s a splendid idea. This is just the kind of advice we all need in the face of this recession.
Wow that is a HUGE goal. I believe you can accomplish it. You have put the path down in place for you to reach your goals.
I am predicting you will have a mix of all 3 options in your outcome :)
This puts my goals to shame, back to the drawing board.
Mukul
@ Stephanie – Wow, Douglas Adams, I’m flattered!
I didn’t know Branson was a TED affilaite and I will definitely look into that. Small books stores is intriguing although I’m not sure if we could get enough to do it for free to pull it off. Definitely going to give it some thought though. Thanks!
@ SI – I think you’re right and that is the way we are leaning.
@ Mukul – No it doesn’t! All goals are worthy if they are right for you.
Hey Tim! I didn’t go through all of the comments, but here is what I would do: I would get the contact information of big companies like Wal Mart, Target, K Mart, Sams Club, Costco, etc. ANY COMPANY that could have anything to do with selling books.
This could really give any company a great public image, which would help them rake in the sales. It’s a minimal investment for them, with potential for positive press, and greater returns. I would not just contact 1 person; I would probably contact multiple people from the company, and try to set up a sales pitch. If that didn’t work, then I would go to the next company. There is always hope around the corner; even in the face of rejection.
I hope that you achieve your goal, and I can’t wait to hear when 1,000,000 copies are given away!
Best of luck,
Josh Lipovetsky.
[...] para nuestro enorme y audaz objetivo, así que les pregunté a ustedes. La entrada “¿Llamas a eso una meta? ¡ESTA es una meta!” sirvió para esos fines. En vez de correr como gallina decapitada, pedí ayuda, y entonces [...]
Tim, you live in Windermere, Florida, don’t you? So does Mike Dooley of Totally Unique Thoughts. Or did last time I looked. He has a lot of fans. Maybe he can help.
@ Bob – I do indeed and I know Mikes brother Andy fairly well. It’s complicated, but all I’ll say is I don’t think it will work, but thanks for the idea.