60 Second Ideas - Branding by Book

No Video Today, just a quick little 60 Second Marketing Tip. Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold of The Republic of Tea, a high end specialty tea company have written a series of books starting with "Success @ Life: How to Catch and Live Your Dream," and their latest, "Tiger Heart, Tiger Mind: How to Empower Your Dream." The books are for what the duo calls "zenpreneurs" (Entrepreneurs who have both a business and a life) and offer a blend of spiritual teachings and business advice, but these books do so much more for their core business than just give advice. According to a May 17th 2005 Newsweek article, the books have actually acted to create awareness and sales of their Republic of Tea brand, which the two say is part of a balanced lifestyle.  Apparently many consumers are buying into that lifestyle. Rubin says business has quadrupled in the past five years to more than $10 million in annual sales. "They're amazing marketing tools," says Brian Keating, founder of Sage Group International, a Seattle market-research group. (Newsweek, May 17, 2005, "Time for Tea - It's the brand of 'zentrepreneurs.' The Republic of Tea mixes spiritual advice with a good, expensive product" by Jennifer Barrett). One more thing, The Republic of Tea does not advertise, but sales have quadrupled in the past five years to over $10 million in annual sales.

I don't remember who said, "there is at least one good book in everybody" but Rubin and Gold show how the written word, whether a published or self-published book, ebook, blog, or online article submissions can do wonders to build your credibility and brand to increase sales. With books, ebooks, and blogs you can also create an additional profit center.

Links:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4892339/site/newsweek/

http://www.republicoftea.com/