"Success in business lies in the ability to get customers to buy from you" (Robert Craven).

I understand small publishing houses that specialise in the Spirituality and Religious niche sectors in general like to operate a policy of attraction rather than promotion. That's great news as this is also a strong theme in current and latest thinking about selling.

These days' people don't wish to be sold to; they prefer to find/get/buy something of value themselves.

Is this a principal reason why 'word of mouth' and personal recommendations are so powerful, and why 'Try before you buy' schemes make a great marketing strategy to stimulate sales, and is a marketing model which works in many industries?

Could this approach be applied to publishing? The answer is most unlikely NO. Once a book has been used it is clearly second hand, and therefore its value is lost or greatly reduced. So how does one entice a prospective reader customer to buy a book, and what successful models are there in today's book marketplace?

Anthony Robbins, the world renowned success coach and expert on what works in business, suggests a key strategy to 'speed up success' is to model on who is already succeeding. Robbins suggests that success leaves clues. I tend to think he's right. Who is succeeding in the work of book reselling, it has to be the No1 Global giant: Amazon.com, and in the UK, it is Amazon.co.uk

What can we learn from Amazon on how to sell books, what clues do they give us?

I believe it is simple stuff, so what does Amazon do, and do well?

· Focus on value to customer? Amazon offers a vast choice of books.

· Feedback - customer reviews.

· Ease to find on the net, ease of use (good design of website), easy to buy?

· Account history, and wish list.

· Personalisation - what is of interest? Recommendations, based on customer history.

· What did others buy? Others who bought this also bought, review or whatever.

· Customer Service - quick delivery.

Much of what has made Amazon successful relates to the things that work on the internet generally, i.e. online retailing techniques like customer feedback/reviews etc. However some of Amazon's innovation has actually become the norm for the internet, such as introducing recommendations to consumers (linking to similar subjects, categories etc, and what others consumers have bought etc.)

So my simple recommendation on how to start eMarketing to a small publishing house would be to:

BUILD A PLATFORM.

Purchase one of the low cost software packages best suited to its products (see above), load up its stock inventory, and...

FOCUS ON REVIEWS.

Work hard to encourage existing loyal and new customers to write reviews of its books on its website site, as well as Amazon, Google Books and the article websites.

These days it is inexpensive to buy software packages that can provide much of what Amazon online can deliver and what publishers need to retail their stock inventory online. Examples of Amazon clone software is Ubimall (Ubispot.com), and PHP Probid software (Phpprobid.com) - auction site software - which can be set up for online shopping, but comes with the added advantage of SEO functionality in that the product descriptions are within the URLs which means the products listed will be found by the search engines. A good low cost example is PHPMyDirectory which is low cost (circa £50), has SEO capability, is easy to set up, and has the facility to handle reviews. Google loves review sites as it is content rich for the consumer.

The secret is to get visitors to the site and then to convert browsers into book buyers. This is especially difficult for small publishing businesses whose inventory is small, and their resources modest. What action can small publishers take to stimulate interest in their products?

Three factors are important in book retailing.

-Search -Find -Reviews (recommendations)

Consumers need to search for the product. They need to find the products, and they need to have recommendations to buy the product.

What are people looking for?

Who buys your books?

Book consumers search for books written by authors they respect. Book Consumers search for books about people they respect, or for books of subjects of interest.

What productive marketing skills work for the internet?

I have already mentioned reviews. One of the best methods in e-marketing is the use of article writing, and strategically posting the articles on key sites such as EzineArticles.com, Buzzle.com and specific forums within the relevant niche sector (e.g. book son spirituality) with hyperlinks included within the article (or within the signature) to specific pages on your website related to the product, e.g. an article on a book by AELRED OF RIEVAULX, 'The Way of Friendship' (M. Basil Pennington (editor) New City Publications), and as well as including a section of the book, to also include a link within the article to the publisher's website's page on the book itself.

The net result should be a tangible increase in the relevant page's ranking AND of the website itself, by inclusion in the search engines indexes. This means that the book's title could be found via a Google/Yahoo/MSN search. Other factors that might help could include linking to Google Books review of the book, and a review on Amazon.co.uk.

Therefore it is a wise strategy is to scatter the internet with book reviews and articles to raise the profile of the book and the publishing house.

The phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" is true, but creating a virtual browse via recommendation and reviews overcomes this obstacle and is a proven way to growing book sales. There is a statistic often quoted that 80% of people who buy books never read them in their entirety i.e. % of book purchases that end up gathering dust on shelves. Yet it is also true that 80% of book publishers' profits come is likely to come from 20% of book reading customers. In terms of spirituality and reading the principal customer segment group are women aged between 28-55 years old. You have probably heard the term: "If you want to hunt bear you need to go where bear live?" Where do women interested in spirituality go to get ideas about books? The best answer is: go and ask them.

A key differential with spirituality and religious publishing is that the product is unlikely to have a sell by date. Spiritual principles are eternal. Aelred of Rievaulx's Way of Friendship has been around for centuries. In commercial publishing this is much rarer, and perhaps the best example is Napoleon Hills work, 'Think and Grow Rich' based upon his research at the time of the Great Depression, and first published in 1937. It still achieves phenomenal sales and phenomenal reviews even today.

As food for thought, I'll close this article with a quote, from the Patsula Media's Entrepreneurs Guide, "Please don't sell me books; sell me pleasant hours (reading) and the profit of knowledge."

Julian Rowe Business Correspondent Business Service Finder