Tim Ferriss is a global icon.

He's built a career championing the idea of lifestyle design,

that you should own your time rather than letting your job own it.

But in 2007, almost 20 years ago, Ferris wasn't a brand name yet.

He was a first-time author with a stack of rejection letters.

26 publishers told him no before one finally said yes, but with a warning,

don't expect this book to become a mainstream success.

Ferris decided that to make it big, he would have to become his own marketing engine.

So he spent months interviewing best-selling writers and asking them what actually worked.

What was worth investing in?

And what he learned surprised him.

A traditional book tour, skip it.

Hitting number one on a major bestseller list, an absolute must. But reaching number one on a list isn't about your total number of readers over time. It's about velocity. It's about getting

everyone to buy your book at the exact same

moment. So instead of a tour, Ferris spent months building genuine relationships with niche

tech bloggers and online communities. Eventually, he coordinated them all to post pieces that

referenced his book in a massive 48-hour surge.

It worked.

His book, The Four Hour Work Week, debuted at number one on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list,

and soon hit the top spot on the New York Times advice and how-to bestseller list,

where it would remain for years.

Those number one tags changed everything.

...