by Tom 
I look at Craig Lawrey with a touch of jealousy. He is a Navy Distinguished Marksman, an accomplished ocean-going Sailor, and a not-so accomplished Equestrian. He has been an Army Infantryman, Postman, Navy Reservist, and an Environmental Consultant. The hardest and most inspiring job he has ever had (his words) is being a Stay-at-Home Dad.
Craig is a client of ours who recently published a book titled Does Your Daughter Have Dad Hair? Working with Craig in designing his book was a blast. The first time we spoke on the phone, Craig told me he selected us to publish his book not just because we did great work, but because we were geographically desirable.
When we met, his point of view regarding his decision to hire us had shifted more to our design capability. Almost apologetically, he showed me his manuscript in Microsoft Word: "This isn't what I want my book to look like, but it's the best I can do." We chatted for a few moments so I could get a greater feel for my new client. He described his book in a flavor of Tool Time meets What Not to Wear.
As I outlined my design concepts, Craig's enthusiasm grew. I excused myself for a few moments and returned with a sheet of paper with four silver pieces adhered to one side. I spoke two words: duct tape.
Follow up:
Those two words fired Craig up even beyond what I had already seen. "I couldn't find the book design words that expressed how I wanted my book to look. You nailed it!"Self-promotion requires a healthy dose of excitement for your project. Another large part of self-promotion is having something unique to promote. And in the world of books, Craig's book stands apart from the crowd. He first bounced the book prototype around his circle of friends which includes many moms, some stay-at-home-dads and a handful of traditionally-employed men. The unanimous decision was that they book was a fun read, made a great gag-gift and, more importantly, was a book that would actually help men with their daughter's hair.
From there, we produced the first run of books. Before he sold out (which only took a couple of weeks) Craig contacted a couple of local TV news stations. He expected the worst when the people he spoke with said they'd get back to him.
Early the next morning the phone rang. "This is Channel 5. We'll be there in fifteen minutes." Holy cow! he thought. My kids are still in pajamas!
I've embedded the YouTube video below. Take a moment and see what self-promotion can do for you. You can visit Craig's website at www.dadhair.com
12/12/09 05:09:05 pm, 
Comment from: Portrait painting [Visitor] · http://www.paintyourlife.com
Nice idea, but did it sell well? There are not that many dads at home / and not enough to care about their daughters hair or?
01/14/10 @ 15:07
Comment from: Craig Lawrey [Visitor]
A misconception most have (at first) is that this book is for stay at home Dads. It is not. It is for all Dads with daughters. I have actually received emails from Moms that bought a copy from themselves because the last time they tried to manage hair was when they were messing with Barbies. Anyway, yes indeed, it does sell well, and continues to do so with minimal marketing. All the sites I have promoted it on have been for free except for a copy or two for a give-away on their site. From which I gain several sales. And as a result, other sites link the artice. It's kind of like, I tell two friends, they tell two friends. I do not promote it on heavily sponsored sites like big corporate ones. That in itself is too expensive(at the moment). Take care!
01/31/10 @ 11:18
Comment feed for this post