Pitching and selling an idea in a foreign country has its potential pitfalls, and can quickly discourage even the most ambitious self-promoters.
New York PR veteran/author Ray Josephs, however, has mastered the tricks and challenges of self-promotion. Infusing ingenuity and a lot of energy into the self-promotion of his book, Josephs is testament to the old saw that if there's a will there's a way.
Josephs wrote the time-saving book, "How To Gain an Extra Hour Every Day," in 1955, and nearly 2.5 million copies were sold in the U.S. and in about a dozen foreign countries (Penguin, U.S.A., $11.00). Now, 37 years later, the 84-year-old Josephs has upgraded his collection of over 500 helpful hints on making the most of your time, giving it a 90's-style spin and a broader audience of busy men and women, ages 18 to 45.
In addition to founding and running the International Public Relations Company (now David E. Levy Inc.) in New York for 25 years (before selling it in 1992), he has written nine books on international relations, over 700 magazine articles and now works pro bono for the Business Council for International Understanding and the United Jewish Appeal Federation.
With a new, updated book and untapped markets overseas, the hard part was yet to come. Josephs set out to pitch his book, attract foreign media coverage and ultimately sell the book to one publishing house in each of his target countries.
Here's how he did it:
Josephs began by researching the types of books that major publishers in each country have published and focusing on those that best fit his genre. He scoured the shelves of local bookstores looking for any books whose content resembled his, but didn't find any. Judging by the number of countries who adopted his first book, Josephs knew there would be an international market, as well as national.
Josephs figured that by first pitching the media in each country, he'd attract potential publishers. And that's just what it did. Listings of local correspondents for the major foreign publications in each country were available from state departments and organizations (such as the Public Relations Society of America).
He created a master list of New York-based foreign correspondents, the papers they worked for and the editors for each department that might be interested in his story.
By faxing and calling New York-based correspondents, Josephs did as much work as he could out of his home, before going to the country to pitch his story in person. When calling people, the language barrier was never a problem, Josephs said, because, "it was remarkable how many people in each country spoke English. Even most of the phone operators at each paper and publishing house understood enough words to put me through to someone who could help me," he said.
And despite how busy people were, he said they never refused his calls. By telling people he was from New York, Josephs figured he piqued people's curiosity and at the vry least, they heard him out.
Josephs personally visited the publishers he couldn't get in touch with before he left New York. In most countries, Josephs stayed about three weeks, just in case publishing houses had to reschedule appointments. So far, the book has attracted media coverage in nearly 100 foreign publications, usually in the lifestyle section of newspapers and in some consumer magazines.
Most of the newspapers sent Josephs a copy of each story after it was printed, after much nudging and reminding from Josephs, although he does admit that there are probably a handful of write-ups that he's never seen.
His book has been sold in 23 countries including China, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Russia and Turkey. Josephs says that he got a book deal out of about 80 percent of the countries he visited. The publishing houses in the countries that passed on the book said no because they felt it wouldn't be well-accepted.
Josephs didn't disclose the budget for the project, because he said he hasn't kept expense records. He didn't offer a ballpark figure for what a project such as this would cost, since expenses depend on the marketer. He said that this is an ongoing project with varying costs for each country.
Keep in Mind...
Kent McKamy, president of McKamy Marketing and Communications, Inc., in New York, had worked at a magazine that bought one of Josephs' stories some years ago, and has seen him at industry gatherings throughout the years. He said Josephs is "doing it in absolutely the right way, by using a time-intensive, personal effort...it's difficult to do this all yourself, I don't know anyone else who's doing it, or anyone who could do it."
McKamy says the sharp, 84-year-old bundle of energy is a smart businessman because he has an evergreen product that he updates, freshens and pitches to suit the country to which he's targeting. If the tips in the book are too "American" for a foreign country, Josephs tells the publishers to change or delete parts of the book, as they see fit.
For example, the book talks about new media and technology, and how things such as the Internet and cellular phones can be used to save time, but in a country that's not as technologically advanced as America, these tips for daily use wouldn't be applicable.
McKamy can recall people in the past who have marketed such products as software and cookery, but since most self-promoters are just small companies that need substantial capital to back them, succeeding on their own is difficult.
On the other hand, going solo, with no PR/marketing firms, allowed him to pitch the story as only he knew it best.
"When you've been doing PR for clients for so long, you kill yourself to get them a couple of inches, and they're never satisfied," said Josephs. "Then you become your own client, and you see things differently." Josephs didn't want a PR firm to do his job because he felt he knew his product better than anyone else could.
Josephs said that the more countries he visited, the more sophisticated he became in pitching his book. The No. 1 thing to remember is to research the publication. "The best way to turn somebody off is to know nothing about their paper or publishing house," Josephs said. Other tips he adopted over time were to be persistent in being transferred from editor to editor until you get someone who will listen, or speak English. Then you must boil your pitch down to no more than one minute (something he learned from many editors' busy schedules) and make it as clear as possible.
"Don't ever promote a product before it's available to consumers," said McKamy. He also advised to capitalize on a product that's unique, making sure people know it's one-of-a-kind, and to enlarge your scope of markets, because more people may be interested in your product than you might think.
(Ray Josephs, 212/758-1313; McKamy Markeing Communications, Inc., 212/953-2290)