These days consumers are much more savvy about what they want to buy and how they are being sold to. Often they are better informed than the person selling to them.

According to Angi Egan, founder of Pure Vision UK, leading brand & client journey specialists, it’s not about the product or about need. It’s about who the client is, what they do and the experience they want to gain from the product or service. This can be seen in the trend away from global brands. Take the HSBC bank, for example. Despite being global, its advertising campaign is about having local knowledge. When individuality rules and conformity is frowned upon, owning or experiencing something no one else has is increasingly important. Hence global brands are refocusing their strategies on local or individual needs. Even products that are considered to be mass market are likely to be customised and personalised the moment they leave the warehouse, website or store.

Angi’s mantra is to “surprise and delight in every aspect of our work - to make even the mundane appear precious.” As a retail specialist in the skincare market, she understands the need for packaging to be “divine” and the experience to be beyond client expectations. “Therapists spend many years training and it really never stops. They are driven to provide the best service and to up sell constantly. Clients these days are smarter and more educated about beauty treatments and products so therapists must keep one step ahead.” Angi remembers how much she spent on training. “I had to buy many books – there was always a recommended reading list. Most of what was in these books was puff. I skimmed through them, picking out the salient points. There was no time to read them all in depth. What I wanted was a book in a nutshell. That way, when I needed to know more about a particular subject, I could then go to a specialist book.”

Angi‘s first book was published in July 2007. Holistic Skincare: an essential reference book for Therapists is a book in a nutshell. “Therapist kept saying to me: ‘I need your brain in a book’, so that is what I produced.”

When it came to the concept of the book, Angi embraced her knowledge of powerful branding and retailers creating theatre. “I wanted people to see the book and go ‘wow’. I wanted it to inspire them. So, I filled it with beautiful photographs and inspirational quotes. “Traditional therapies such as Ayurvedic medicine or Traditional Chinese Medicine advocate ‘bathing the eyes with beauty’ or nourishing yourself through sensory awareness, and that’s what I wanted to achieve.” And people have embraced it. “Everyone who sees it loves it. Beauty spas use it as a coffee table book for clients to read while they wait for treatments,” says Angi. “Everyone says it’s so different.”

Angi’s saw writing the book as a labour of love. “The fact that it might produce a residual income stream was low down on my list of priorities.” To date Angi has sold nearly 1300 copies of the book at a cover price of £19.95. At the beginning, she found it very difficult to find the right publisher. “Traditional publishers suffer from a herd mentality. The majority of the books they produce on alternative/beauty therapies are like textbooks, only using anatomical illustrations. I wanted my book to be a thing of beauty but they place no value on this. They think that to be authoritative, a book must be factual and read like a reference book. I didn’t want a reference book. I wanted something people could dip in and out of. Then I found Word4Word.”

Angi likens her experience with Word4Word to aromatherapy. “It’s like taking all of those flower petals and making the concentrate. They listened and embraced my ideas. They got it - and then some. They far exceeded my expectations.”

So how has Angi achieved her sales? Not marketing your book, according to Angi, is like “winking in the dark at parties”. One of the first things she did was to organise a launch event. “Its bonkers not to,” she says. And true to form, she held it in a beautiful spa. She also organised book signings. In particular, she used independent book shops. “I love people who have a passion for books, who are specialists, who elevate knowledge. Just go in and ask. They are always receptive. It’s about creating theatre.”

Angi is also a professional speaker so giving talks comes naturally to her. Her advice to other authors is to use as many platforms as possible, including conferences, exhibitions, seminars and workshops. “It’s about talking to your target groups. Think about all of the associations and federations that represent them.” And, according to Angi, create anticipation in advance. “Start talking about your book two or three months before it’s published. Inspire your audience so that they can’t wait to see it.”

She also advises authors to write lots of articles. “The key thing is to romance editors. Be persistent and create a relationship with them. Give them lots of articles and quotes. Become the ‘go to girl or guy’ on your subject. Be the expert they turn to when they need a quote.” And don’t forget to advertise the book on your website. Angi has a dedicated page for her book on www.purevisionuk.com.

So what has Angi got from publishing her book? On a personal level, she still gets “the biggest thrill ever” and feels incredibly privileged when someone buys her book. And on a business level, “publishing a book opened doors to the movers and shakers. I feel like the magnet and they are metal filings coming to me.”

Order Angi's book from here.