Copy This Working Model: A Simple, Super-Cheap Video on Amazon That Will Sell a Lot of Books

Gary North

June 8, 2010

This is the first Amazon video I have seen. It's for Malcolm Gladwell's 2008 book, Outliers.

This is a guerrilla video, the way Bill Myers teaches you how to produce.

First, Gladwell is weird looking, because of his hair. The still video image grabs our attention. (I am not willing to copy this powerful sales technique.)

Second, the video thumbnail is close to the top of the page, right under the ordering information.

Third, it's short: 2 minutes. People will invest this much time if they have reached a page they searched for.

Fourth, this version is aimed at Amazon users. But it would be cheap to produce other versions for other retailers.

Fifth, video uses a mixture of straight talking-head image, stock footage of Asian rice farming, and a few other spliced-in video images. None of them is necessary for the video. I would have skipped them. But the publisher was paying.

Sixth, the music is stock music -- royalty-free. Cheap.

Seventh, there is a still image of the book. This is good. Cheap.

Eighth, he uses a lapel microphone. We can't see it, but it's there.

Ninth, the lighting is natural light. No special lights. Cheap. Effective.

Tenth, the opening scene is shot inside what appears to be a public library. This says, "book freak." That's the correct audience to identify with.

Eleventh, he gives a brief teaser about the book's theme: the hidden roots of overachievers. He asked: "Where did they come from?" This summary creates interest. "I want to learn more!"

To sell a Gutenberg product these days requires digital promotion. Make it cheap.

If you can learn to produce a video like this with $1,000 worth of equipment, you can sell whatever it is you are selling. You could develop a nice side business: helping others to do the same.

This kind of guerrilla video output is easy to crank out after about 50 hours of learning. Yet hardly anyone knows how to produce videos like this. Learn how. Fill a niche.

You might think, "If this is so easy, lots of people would learn how to do it." But most people resist doing anything new. There is some sort of psychological barrier operating. That barrier to entry is what presents an opportunity for a handful of entrepreneurs.

Start with this book: V. O. Schwab's How to Write a Good Advertisement.

Download Microsoft's Movie Maker 2.6. For tutorials on how to use it, go here

Remember KISSS: keep it short and simple, stupid.