Learn From Amazon

While I was on vacation, an email from Amazon hit my Inbox about the Amazon Dash Button.

According to the email, they were offering me a "limited time offer" to buy the "Amazon Dash Button for $4.99 and automatically receive a $4.99 credit with your first purchase using that Dash Button."

What The Dash?!!

The gist of it is they want me to buy an app that allows me to order household products from Amazon. Of course, they do rebate the price of the app with my first order.

As busy as I am, I still manage to get to the supermarket about a half a mile away to stock up on Tide, TP, and other necessities of daily life. This app has no application, if you'll pardon the pun, for me.

But...

I do know people who buy their daily necessities from Amazon. Just because I don't doesn't mean there aren't thousands--millions?--who want the Amazon Dash Buttons. If you're interested in getting one of these smart little buttons, by all means click the link and do it.

Genius Marketing

The reason I'm mentioning this today is that this is a genius marketing idea. Amazon's think tank is always working on ways to increase their market share. If you're a small business--or large--online, you should be doing the same.

Amazon's email went on to say: "Keep Dash Button handy in your pantry, laundry room, bathroom, or anywhere you store your favorite products. When you’re running low, simply press Dash Button, and Amazon quickly delivers your selected item so you never run out of your household favorites again."

Emulate The Big Dogs

You need to figure out how you can come up with the same type of thing: something that automatically gets the viewer to take action and buy your products.

If you can afford to have someone create an app for you that sends visitors to a place where they can buy your products (books if you're an author), that's fantastic.

If you're an author, the back matter in books is a lower cost alternative to your own app. You should have a list of your products (books) and embedded buy links for each. At the very least, have a link directing readers to a website page where you list all your books with all the buy links.

Takeaway Truth

Always study the big boys to see how they market and promote. When they roll out a new idea, see how you can emulate it.