How do you create something that stands the test of time?
Is it possible to produce an album that people are still listening to in 20 years?
How about writing a book that’s still selling copies 50 years from now?
And can you build a business that’s still around in 100 years? How about 200 years?
Not only is it possible, it happens all the time.
So how do you build something like that? Something that endures the test of time? Something that lasts?
That’s what Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday explores.
And if you’re a creator who wants to produce work that continues to sell year after year…
Ryan Holiday walks you through his framework for making and marketing work that lasts.
While it focuses more on the high level strategy and fundamental principles and less on individual tactics…
There were three points that stuck out the most to me.
- The Work Is What Matters
- Marketing Is YOUR Job
- Build A Body Of Work
The Work Is What Matters
There are a lot of bad products in the world, and some of them even make a lot of money.
But none of them are perennial sellers.
If you want to create work that lasts, the quality of your work matters.
Mediocre work doesn’t keep selling years later. Great work does.
But unfortunately, creating great work is hard.
It takes lots of time, energy and sacrifice to create something that can last.
But you have to do it.
Because all the marketing in the world can’t save a bad product.
You might make some quick money up front with a mediocre product and flashy marketing.
But it won’t become a perennial seller. It won’t be something that stands the test of time.
So do the hard stuff. Focus your time and energy on creating the best work you possibly can.
Because in the end, the quality of your work is what matters.
Marketing Is YOUR Job
This is a point that a lot of entrepreneurs don’t get, and it’s to their own detriment.
You can’t just rely on people to find your work organically.
Or write a check to a marketing agency and be done with it.
Once you’ve created something you care about, YOU have to market it.
As the creator, the marketing falls squarely on your shoulders.
No one can sell your work better than you can.
Your blood, sweat and tears went into creating it.
No marketing agency can show the world how important your work is as well as you can.
Plus, no one cares about your work as much as you do
You built something from nothing, it’s your baby.
You want it to succeed more than anyone else in the world.
More than your friends, family, employees and contractors.
It’s yours, you have to take responsibility for it’s success.
So create the best work you can, then go out there and market it.
Sell the crap out of it.
Be it’s biggest cheerleader.
Because if you want your baby to succeed, you’re not the creator anymore, you’re the marketer.
Build A Body Of Work
What should you do after you spend all this time and energy creating something great, and exhaust yourself going out and marketing it?
You get to work on your next creation.
The best marketing you can do for your work is to create your next thing.
Because great work builds on itself and compounds exponentially.
That’s why bands sell more of their previous albums every time they release a new one.
And authors sell more of their older books when they write a new one.
Your new work increases exposure to your older work.
So don’t stop after your first creation.
Start the process over.
Make your next great piece of work.
Market it with everything you have.
Then do it again. And again. And again.
Continue to build your body of work, one great piece of work at a time.
That’s how you create perennial sellers.
Perennial Seller Is A Book For Creators
It’s for people who want to make a living creating great work.
So if you’re an entrepreneur, writer, artist, YouTuber, filmmaker, marketer or musician…
Perennial Seller is a book worth reading.