Each weekday morning, I receive a bubbly, little invite to check out what I may win that day. It could be a business book (or a library of books), or it may be a seminar, CDs, an interview with a famous author, or a bag of crap from the lost and found (they’ve given away 5).
“inBubbleWrap Guy” Ryan Schleicher notifies me of what is up for grabs in his own quirky way.
And I like it.
I like the quirky invites. I like the simple home page. I like the goofy questions I answer in order to enter each contest.
I like it so much that I called up Ryan for a little People Brand exclusive interview.
Ryan, can you fill in those who don’t know what inBubbleWrap is all about?
Ryan: That’s tough because I’m usually talking to publishers, but let me tell you what it means for users first.
For users it’s just a fun way for you to find out about books. It’s a way to enhance your experience of 800CEOREAD. We wanted to make it fun for users to discover business books.
For publishers, they get an audience that chooses to be advertised to. These are users that opt in to receive daily emails, subscribe to RSS and come back each day to read our website. I guess you can say it’s a form of permission marketing. People come back and want to look at 
that advertisement. It’s a better way of spending the money they spend anyway (Co-op goes to this instead of ads in business journals that don’t do anything)
Basically, I tell people we’re the Oprah of business books. She gives away stuff, but of course she gets paid to do that. They (the audience) don’t see it as an advertisement. They’re just happy to have a chance to win something.
What’s with the goofy questions?
Here’s my take. The idea was to ask business questions to use as market research. I just didn’t feel comfortable with asking two questions a day. I felt like people would just glaze over. So most of our questions are fun. It is for two reasons:
One, it’s one more way for audience to enjoy site and talk about it. Two, people are more likely to answer a business question if they enjoy it. So, every so often we say, ‘OK, here’s a serious question for a change.’
These answers are becoming an amazing source for content. But it’s hush, hush. More is to come about that later.
So, you can’t tell me about that?
(laughs) Nope. The site will stay the same, but there will be options to go see more stuff. If you like to read the answers, you’ll like this. We get at least 3 emails a day asking about reading the answers.
What’s your favorite response to those questions so far?
I wouldn’t say this is the best answer, but the one that stick out in my head the most. The questions was, “Tell me a story” Answer, “My wife and I just made out this morning. It was great!”
Does bribery or flattery toward inBubbleWrap Guy help one win books?
(laughs) It does not.
Our selection process is literally just one little button we click that randomly picks out names. I don’t honestly know how it works, but there’s only one way someone can’t win… they don’t answer the two questions.
How many books have you given away so far?
Over 1500 books, 100 magazine subs, 2 email interview with authors, 40 chances to participate in conference calls with authors, 25 CD’s, 5 bags of crap from the lost and found, 5 bags of candy, 5 hats, 5 t-shirts, and a few other things.
What precipitated your launching of inBubbleWrap?
It was originally to creatively take care of co-op money to produce something of value. I do have to say it was at the urging of Seth Godin.
Really?
Yes. Loyal inBubbleWrap reader Jose (thinkjose.com) has a conspiracy theory that everthing good in business is linked to Seth Godin.
I buy that. What is on the horizon for inBubbleWrap?
World domination! (laughs diabolically) Well, there are constantly ideas of what we can do. Updating site to make it better. Branching out. Keep it simple because it works, but maybe create separate pages that enhance the user experience.
So, would you say you guys are capitalizing on word of mouth?
It’s pretty much all word of mouth. Dave Balter’s book Grapevine discusses how most word of mouth is literally spread by mouth, not through email, blogs, etc. But we’re not seeing that. Most people read about us in blogs. A friend, an author who we’re featuring, etc.
Maybe a better way to phrase it is this: We haven’t paid one cent for marketing.
That’s a powerful way to phrase it. Have you seen inBubbleWrap have an effect on 800CEOREAD?
Actually yeah. In a few different ways.
We find out how many people are going to buy from us instead of Amazon. It’s almost always more expensive to purchase as a single order with 800CEOREAD.
When we do our special offers on inBubbleWrap see good sales on those offers.
More people seem to enjoy the 800CEOREAD site because of inBubbleWrap. It’s the whole triangle of our blog, 800CEOREAD, and inBubbleWrap.
People will say, “I used to buy from Amazon, but what you have to offer actually benefits me more, so now when I go to order, I buy from 800CEOREAD.”
You mentioned the ‘triangle.’ How do these efforts work together?
Part of it is that it doesn’t work together. On 800CEOREAD, even reviews you see are not paid for. All the ‘Jack Covert Selects’ are things we think are good. They’re not paid for.
In the blog, we find something that we think our users will find interesting and blog about .
People that buy a promotion on inBubbleWrap don’t get featured on the blog or 800CEOREAD just because the buy a spot on inBubbleWrap. They’re separate things. If we really like your book we’re going to write about your book.
They work because they build us as a viable source. You might like the silliness and fun of inBubbleWrap. You might like finding interesting information on the blog. If you want to listen to a podcast interview, we have those. There’s just a wide selection of interesting information on business books and business authors.
At the same time, I think the book the other day… Get Back in the Box, it follows the idea that you don’t need fancy ad campaigns and ‘bandaids’ to help you improve. Just do what you do best. For us, that’s business books. You take what you do best and find out ways to do everything for you can for a customer with those core values and competencies. What we know is business books. We take what we know in that world to ultimately create what you (the user) want.
What makes 800CEOREAD different from other book retailers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon/Borders, and others? What’s at the heart and soul of this company?
The way to say it is . .. we’re the Nordstroms compared to cheaper dept store. You’re treated like a customer. You get the attention and care you want. You know, more service. Most of our customers are bulk customers. They get what they want on time with a competitive discount. We make sure it arrives OK and if something’s wrong you can get help right away.
We don’t want to be Amazon. We might be more expensive, but there’s reasons why. We don’t need to be them (Amazon) to be successful. We’re our own identity. It took a long time to embrace that. We thought we had to do this and that because Amazon did it. We finally said, “Forget Amazon. We’re going to do it our way and decide what the value and worth of that is and that is what it is going to be.”
And it’s actually fun. In every portion, maybe we’re not as good at fun as we want. But if you call us you’ll get something fun. We’re all a little odd here, but we’re having fun.
How long has 800CEOREAD been selling books?
We’ve been selling books 22 years now. We’ve been online since late 90’s.
Any more history of 800CEOREAD?
It literally started in a Harry W Schwartz brick-and-mortar book store in Milwaukee. Jack (Founder and CEO, Jack Covert) was in charge of the business section much like someone would be in charge of the fiction section. He put some books in the trunk of his car drove madly, and went door-to-door to businesses and that’s how it started.
I’ve participated in many of the book offers on inBubbleWrap, so I have answered many of the silly questions you ask. Time to turn the tables. Just how covert is Jack?
Geez. Putting me on the spot here. Well, he’s been flying under the radar for years, but pretty soon, if you don’t know Jack, YOU DON’T KNOW JACK.
Here’s my last question. It’s a Barbara Walters special: If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 books would you want to have with you?
1) The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Off a Freaking Desert Island.
2) Killing Things for Food for Dummies
3) 100 Years of Solitude – Marquez