Business News
Book Publisher Reinvents Industry, Inspires 60 Million With Viral Movies
Monday 08. June 2009 - A small, young company in Naperville, Illinois is quietly reinventing the traditional book publishing model in three innovative ways: by publishing gift books for the corporate market, translating viral marketing into a profitable business model and delivering directly to customers who order online.
The company is Mac Anderson’s brainchild. A long time presence in inspirational and motivational circles, Mr. Anderson is the founder of Successories, the leader in motivational and recognition products. After selling Successories, Mr. Anderson started Simple Truths in the fall of 2005. Today, the company emails Mac Anderson’s Simple Truths newsletter, with inspiring stories and short inspirational videos, to over 900,000 people. Anyone that is in need of a shot of inspiration may subscribe to Simple Truths’ free newsletter.
Publishing Corporate Gift Books by Best-Selling Authors
Simple Truths’ books weave photography, words and art work together into compact gift books that can be read in about 30 minutes. Featuring more than 40 gift books with over 600 stories on a variety of topics including leadership, customer service, ethics and goal-setting, Simple Truths’ author list reads like a “best of” business list: Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, General Hal Moore and Andy Andrews. Best-sellers include: 212: the Extra Degree and The Dash: Making a Difference with Your Life and The Simple Truths of Service: Inspired by Johnny the Bagger.
Translating Viral Marketing into a Profitable Business Model
In 2006 Simple Truths produced a short movie based upon their best-selling inspiration gift book, The Dash [http://www.thedashmovie.com]/, as a test. If people liked reading the book would they want to watch a free movie about it online? With over 30 million views worldwide, The Dash is one of the Internet’s most-watched movies. Every day, 55,000 people tune into http://simpletruths.com/movies to watch the company’s collection of over 30 inspirational movies (the movies have generated over 60 million views to date).
Delivering Directly to Customers, Corporations and Newsletter Readers
After customers watch the movie, they can buy the book and the free DVD that’s packaged with it online. Gift book buyer segments include corporations, newsletter readers, educators, coaches and churches. Each title averages selling 30,000 copies a year. New releases like Learning to Dance in the Rain: The Power of Gratitude by BJ Gallagher and Mac Anderson come out monthly.
About Simple Truths . . .
Young, strong and thriving, Simple Truths is the world’s number one destination for inspiration. Launched online at http://www.simpletruths.com/ in 2005, the company freely hosts always-online motivation for millions; ships books and DVDs worldwide; and serves over 50% of Fortune 500 companies by reinforcing core values with corporate gift books. Founded and led by Mac Anderson, who also founded Successories, Simple Truths is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.