Orbit Media's Andy Crestodina On Why Write Your B2B Book

My book "The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches." Includes multiple interviews with industry leaders including the all-important agency search consultant universe. I decided that my latest advertising agency book, "How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency" needs only one interview.

I recently read Andy Crestodina’s book "Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing." It’s a mind-blowing, very detailed, fully illustrated overview of the world of content marketing. Buy it.

Side note: Watch Andy's !!! webinar.

Andy is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of Chicago’s 50-person Orbit Media Studios, an expert website development agency. I gave Andy a shout and we discussed the following, which, not surprisingly, reinforces some of the points I make in this book. In this case, unbelievably brilliant minds think alike. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Write Your Book -- WHY!

PL: There are so many advertising, digital, and content development agencies. How do you use your book to stand out?

Andy: A way to differentiate is by being the most helpful, informative, and generous brand. When I started publishing blog posts 15 years ago, I quickly figured out that the lifespan of a blog post is short, that the value you’re putting out in the world is not very durable, and that I could get greater value from this work I was putting in if I was more strategic about it and applied more forethought.

So early on, I put out this hypothesis: If you think ahead and write an outline of everything you know on a topic and then blog into those topics, write articles about each of those subtopics, then you will end up with having not just a list of topics and a bunch of articles, but you’ll have a table of contents and a half-written book.

It’s partly differentiation. It’s partly a sales tool because we send it to prospects, and it makes us look and feel different. So strategically, it’s a good strategy because it’s efficient, and it solves a problem, and it supports the bottom of the funnel. It supports sales. That’s basically it.

PL: I agree that books create differentiation. What other advantages do you get from the printed word?

Andy: In the digital world there’s a Back button in front of the reader. A book delivers more of a captive audience. If you can hook them and get them into a printed book, they’re reserving more of their time and attention for you than in other formats. There are no notifications, there’s no distractions. This book doesn’t do anything else. And the fact that it’s so visual means that we stopped making an electronic version of it. It’s print only. So, I’m really looking for that quality time with the reader, for the chance at better attention and intimacy.

PL: How does the book work into your overall marketing program?

Andy: The book supports sales goals. And prospects are the ultimate target audience. They’re the most important target audience. But it also supports marketing goals. It leads to lots of speaking engagements, it leads to conversations like this one, it leads to interviews on podcasts, and it creates a lot of exposure. Books are a differentiated format. Anyone can write a blog post, hit publish, and it goes live. But there’s only a smaller percentage of those of us that are willing to take the time, like you’re doing, invest all of that research and writing into something bigger.

PL: How do you promote the book?

Andy: The book is sent directly to prospects after meetings. So that’s the number one way it gets promoted. The book also is promoted on our website and has been a popular textbook at universities.

The book is in my introduction when I give presentations. We do at least one or two webinars a week. This morning I was interviewed for a podcast. I was asked, “How can people find you?” I say orbit media.com, and I’ve put all my best into one book called Content Chemistry. You can find it anywhere. It ends up in my introductions, in my interviews, amplified through all of my normal activity.

So, what you just heard was, there’s not a specific marketing strategy to promote the book, but we get more value out of all of our visibility because the book is included in everything we do.

PL: What are your thoughts about being a guest on other people’s shows—podcasts, for example—versus doing your own?

Andy: Anybody can have a podcast. I’ve done that as a data-driven marketer. It’s a black hole. There’s so little data and feedback you get on podcasts. There aren’t good reports for it. It’s just an act of faith. Even if you’re very, very efficient with the production, it’s frustrating to know what it’s doing for you. You rely on anecdotes. Oh, I heard you on that thing. So, my podcast strategy is to be part of other people’s shows. My blog post strategy is very similar. Early-stage content marketers, two-thirds of their content should be on other people’s websites. Write for everybody. Write all over the place. I will never stop guest blogging. It’s been part of my strategy for 10 years.

PL: Thanks. I’m currently stealing lots of ideas from the book.

OH>>> Buy Andy's book here.