How to break through...

Inspired by Hugh at gapingvoid, we made this hierarchy to talk about with our other authors. But it applies to any product or service today. And the today part is important, because in the past, a big enough marketing/ad budget could win market share, even if your product was just like everyone else's.

Even the biggest ad budgets can't save you today.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that if what you make is totally f'n amazing, you won't need to advertise. The good folks on the net will take care of that for you, assuming you're keeping up the conversation.

The way we apply that hierarchy to technical learning books (not reference books), for example, is something like this:

Level 5: the book teaches people deeply enough for them to have an "I Rule!" experience, more quickly or dramatically than they imagined or expected.

Level 4: the book's look, feel, and storyline pulls people in and encourages them to keep turning the pages. The experience keeps them awake and encourages a flow state. (The assumption is that if they don't keep turning the pages, they can't learn, and if they don't learn, the book is a complete waste.)

Level 3: the book's order, flow and format make sense, and the language is readable (as opposed to overly academic, too advanced, obscure, or poorly translated).

Level 2: the technical content of the book is correct.

Level 1: the topics in the book are the right ones to meet the reader/learner's needs and goals for that subject.

Two important points:

1) You can't skip any of the lower levels!

Level 4 (Engaging), for example, could refer to the "cool factor" of a device. The thing begs you to touch it. But if what it actually does isn't exactly what you want, coolness can't save you. Or we tell authors that even if they achieve the top four levels--the book is fabulous at pulling people in and getting them to learn some amazing things quickly, if they're weak on level 1, they're still screwed. You'll get Amazon reviews that say, "Wow, what a great book. Unfortunately, it doesn't teach you the things you really need, so you're better off buying this other [insert less interesting book] one. Too bad, because this is such a compelling book."

2) If you stop at level 3, you're stuck in the trenches fighting with all the gazillion other products and services that offer the same, good quality.

So, it's such a simple formula : ) Just be Totally F'n Amazing.

Then all we need to figure out is... how?

Yeah, that one's tougher. But we try to take our lead from those who've managed to do this... and they share the following mantras:

* It's not about YOU.

* Break the rules.

* Talk to your users.

and most of all...

* Be Brave!

If you're Totally F'n Amazing, word will spread from the ground up.
You won't have to use "fake" word-of-mouth because you'll get The Real Thing. You won't have to scare up a huge promotional budget, because all those electrons flying around the net are free. You will have to accept, though, that whatever is Totally F'n Amazing today will be Totally Expected or Totally Outdated sonner than later. So learning to unlearn is another crucial skill, because the goal is to keep coming up with new ways to be T.F.A.

Keep reading Seth and Hugh for inspiration and ideas, but in the end... you just have to be willing to believe in your Big (or at least Unusual) Ideas, no matter who tries to shoot them down. Listen to what everyone has to say, then trust your passion. But our best advice? Care. Genuinely caring about improving the life of your users can't be faked, and that's an area where the "little guy" can usually beat the pants off even the largest competitors.