One of the best ways to make yourself, a brand or a product known nowadays is by the great influence of Social Media networks. If there were ever any doubts on the reach of Social Media, the case of JC Hutchins and his 7th son novel can prove you wrong.
When JC Hutchins wrote his novel mentioned above, and was ready to publish, it was hard for him to find an agent to publish it, Therefore, he decided to self-publish as a podcast. This way of promoting his book help him gain success as a podcast author and as a modern story-teller. With the support from thousands of fans and followers finally was able to gain a publishing deal and a possible movie option for his work.
When the printed version of his novel finally came out on the market, the success it had was no near to the one it had as a free podcast, which for bottom-line marketers will be considered the bad side of having had his work completely available for free over the internet. Social Media Helped him get his creative mind recognized, yet there were little monetary rewards, which for JC Hutchins was not the most important goal of his project. For him as storyteller, the most important aspect is to tell a story to an audience that recognizes and admires his talent.
Even though he didn’t had very much success with his 7th Son printed copy, The recognition he gained with his first book through Social Media Networks will definitely help the way of being considered for other creative projects.
I have to agree that stories like this put things into perspective for marketers. Although many students are eager to tout their social media "skills" to recruiters, and many businesses are eager to gain a presence on social networking sites, there are still a lot of questions surrounding how these sites actually lead to a bottom-line profit or increase in sales.
ReplyDeleteI think we sometimes need to step back and make sure that new waves in social media don't end up being a sort of "long-term" fad. This story of J.C. Hutchins proves that success in social media does not always translate to success in the marketplace. Great post!