{"id":20287,"date":"2025-09-24T12:16:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T17:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/?page_id=20287"},"modified":"2026-01-18T19:56:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:56:44","slug":"the-threaded-rope-how-your-idea-marketing-and-content-can-work-together","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/maiglobal.org\/fr\/the-threaded-rope-how-your-idea-marketing-and-content-can-work-together\/","title":{"rendered":"La corde raide : comment votre id\u00e9e, votre marketing et votre contenu peuvent fonctionner ensemble"},"content":{"rendered":"
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La corde raide : comment votre id\u00e9e, votre marketing et votre contenu peuvent fonctionner ensemble<\/strong><\/h3>

Discover ways to make your book idea and content marketing into a compelling offering with Casey Helmick, co-founder of New Bridge Studios.<\/em><\/p>

This is an edited transcript of Casey\u2019s\u00a0webinar<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>

Edited transcript<\/strong><\/h3>

How the spreading of ideas has changed over time<\/strong><\/h3>

So, thousands and thousands of years ago, the only way humans had to communicate was verbal. We’d gather around the fire, tell stories, and those would<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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spread from village to village or town to town. We didn\u2019t really have a great way to distribute ideas, so we did those just with our mouth. At times in my work, I\u2019m envious of that time\u2014things have gotten so complicated. I wonder what it must\u2019ve been like to live when there was no writing, no podcasts, no videos, no YouTube, no TV\u2014just me telling you something. In a way, I\u2019ll suggest at the end of this slide that we\u2019re kind of getting back to this mentality.<\/p>

We get from this kind of verbal communication thousands of years ago to the printing press. Now ideas could be spread written, and power was in the hands of those who controlled the press. Distribution of books around the world and ideas, society grew, and began to flourish.<\/p>

Then came radio in the early 1900s, then TV in the early 1900s. And finally, the internet, digital, social media, and podcasting\u2014as you see here, we do a lot of podcast work.<\/p>

Podcasting in the early 2000s was created. These are all things we\u2019re having to deal with now. Maybe it was simpler when it was just who could get attention around the fire, who could get their book on the printing press, who could get their words out through the radio tower in your community, television, same.<\/p>

Now we get to this place in history where it\u2019s just more complicated. When the internet came out in the 1980s, 1990s, and then early 2000s, we called this the age of information.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Succeeding in This Timeframe: Needing the Best Information<\/strong><\/h3>

You needed to put out a website, to put out a podcast episode that had very quickly, information spread quickly and freely. That was the name of the game.<\/p>

Information was the winner. But as time went by and things like social media began to come out, information wasn’t enough anymore. Everybody has information. It became commoditized. Now it’s about the age of convenience.<\/p>

We needed to not only have information that we can spread quickly and often freely, but it needed to be conveniently distributed everywhere. You can’t just have a website, a podcast, or videos on the internet. You have to have all those things in different shapes and formats\u2014on social media, in emails, on your website, on television, on radio, in books, and in verbal communication.<\/p>

It’s just layers upon layers. I’m sure you all are already feeling overwhelmed by that.<\/p>

The Third Age: From Information to Entertainment<\/strong><\/h3>

But we’ve moved into a third age that we’ve seen and noticed here, and this really came about in the global crisis of 2019\u20132021, when it felt like the world shifted under us in many different ways. You can’t just have that information, and you can’t just distribute it conveniently everywhere to everyone. Now you have to entertain people. Now people’s expectation is that it isn’t just words on a page, not just words on paper, but that they get to know you, your story, and be entertained by you in a way. We’re not calling for everyone to become comedians or actors, but we do want to point out that part of succeeding in this world, part of the threaded rope mentality, is thinking about yourself in the society we live in, where it\u2019s no longer just about the radio station, television, printing a book, or even having a podcast. It’s about distributing information quickly, often freely, conveniently, in all the places, and entertaining people along that journey.<\/p>

In the movie Field of Dreams there is a scene where the actor is told, \u201cIf you build a big baseball field in this cornfield, the people will come.\u201d That famous quote, \u201cIf we build it, they will come.\u201d I think sometimes we feel this way when we’re an author or a publisher or something; people think if we write it, they’ll read it. If we publish it, they’ll buy it. If we do great work, they’ll donate money to our cause.<\/p>

When you hear this, does it make you smiley and optimistic\u2014like, hurrah, the world can work this way? I wanna believe, I wanna have faith, I wanna have trust. Or does it make you skeptical, cynical, angry, because that’s not how the world works? I can’t just write the book and people will magically read it.<\/p>

The reality is we don’t just gather around a fire and tell stories anymore. We don’t live in a \u201cif you build it, they will come\u201d world. You do have to wear a lot of hats.<\/p>

What is \u201cthe threaded rope\u201d?<\/strong><\/h3>

The threaded rope concept is the active weaving together of your product, content and your marketing<\/strong> to develop buyers, fans and advocates who are informed conveniently while being entertained.<\/p>

Building Strength Through Product, Story, and Marketing<\/strong><\/h3>

The product is simply: \u201cI wrote a book. I think you\u2019ll love it. I hope you\u2019ll buy a copy today.\u201d That alone is just a thin string\u2014it creates some buyers but not a rope. Adding content<\/strong> means sharing the why<\/em>: \u201cI made this book with you in mind over the course of seven years as I watched my son grow up and deal with crippling anxiety.\u201d<\/em> Now people resonate emotionally. Finally, marketing<\/strong> is the how<\/em>: \u201cIf you\u2019re a parent with anxious kids, this book will change your perspective. Get your copy and tell me what you think.\u201d<\/em><\/p>

Now your audience isn\u2019t just buying; they\u2019re becoming advocates<\/strong>, sharing your work with others. In the end, everything we do fits into three buckets: product<\/strong> (what you\u2019ve made), content<\/strong> (your why), and marketing<\/strong> (the impact it has). Woven together, they form a thick, strong rope that simplifies the many hats you wear and strengthens how you connect with the world.<\/p>

The Power of Product, Story, and Marketing: The C.S. Lewis Example<\/strong><\/h3>

How many of you have read something that C.S. Lewis wrote? That would be his product. He wrote a book, hoped people bought it, and people still buy his books today. He and the people around him were able to communicate the what: Mere Christianity<\/em> and Chronicles of Narnia<\/em>. They created buyers.<\/p>

How many of you are fans of C.S. Lewis? Most might say yes, but could you tell two or three facts about him? Usually not. Heather, for example, knows lots of fun facts and is a fan. Today, it\u2019s important not just to create great products, but also content about us, our product, our process, what we\u2019re building, so people become fanatical about our work. They love C.S. Lewis not just for the Chronicles of Narnia<\/em> series, but because he shared his journey and process. As an author or publisher, a second hat is to let people get to know you and your process. This can be done through social media, podcasts, YouTube, radio interviews, community events, and live interactions.<\/p>

So again, many have read C.S. Lewis\u2019 work, but fewer are fans because they don\u2019t know much about him personally. He\u2019s known for his work, but not his story. There\u2019s an opportunity for authors, publishers, or anyone in your role to let people get to know you. If people become fanatical about you and your mission, it\u2019s much easier to convince them to buy your next product.<\/p>

If people are not fans of you, who you are, and why you\u2019re doing what you\u2019re doing, you have to really sell your book hard. Many people share C.S. Lewis\u2019 work, but few, like Heather, can explain why you should read it by connecting his experiences, life, and the culture he built. With only a shallow depth of fandom, one can advocate for individual works rather than his broader journey.<\/p>

Are You Meeting the Expectations of Your Audience? The J.K. Rowling example<\/strong><\/h3>

Fast forward to the 90s, J.K. Rowling writes Harry Potter, one of the best-selling series ever. Many have read her work, fewer are fans, and even fewer advocate for her. The premise: try to check all three boxes.<\/p>