Nearly 100 books line Ethos3’s digital bookshelf. Since its creation in 2013, the Bookshelf webpage has significantly increased our website traffic. Just this year, the page has received about 670 views. If that sounds cool, then this will blow your mind. The entire concept for the Bookshelf stemmed from a personal journey Ethos3 CEO Scott Schwertly embarked on a few years ago. Within the same timeframe, Scott had completed a mentorship with Michael Hyatt; accomplished his goal of crossing the finish line of his second Ironman race; and achieved huge success with the business. He sought another goal. And the one he saw on the horizon was a challenge called 52 in 52. The concept? He would read one book a week for a year. To increase the difficulty level of this challenge, he committed to writing a net out – or summary of the plot, pros and cons, and noteworthy quotes – of each book. But what did he do with all of these net outs? Turned them into blog posts for his personal website of course.
From there, the project skyrocketed. Over time, Scott realized that 90% of the web traffic on his personal site came from the book blog posts. This observation led him to ask a content strategist with the company to model the concept on the Ethos3 blog. To this day, we are adding books to the shelf – as the team reads one book per month related to our industry and professions or some other notable motivational piece. Below, we’ve outlined three lessons we have learned through managing the Bookshelf webpage:
1. Give the people what they want.
Peter Shankman, the man behind Zombie Loyalists: Using Great Service to Create Rabid Fans
2. Don’t underestimate the influence of personal growth.
At Ethos3, a culture of awareness and thoughtful reflection on ourselves and our relationships with others is central to our day-to-day routine. We believe so passionately in personal growth that we developed a list of 10 core values for the company. One of these core values reminds us to pursue growth and learning. Although certainly applicable outside of our careers, this statement is the foundation of the Bookshelf. And the Bookshelf represents years of stored knowledge and subsequent application. The high amount of traffic flowing to this page demonstrates the presence of an audience as curious about personal elevation as we aim to be every day.
3. Innovate better.
When the content strategist started adding books to the bookshelf, she could have following the same format at Scott’s personal website. Instead, the team added another layer to the net out: a scoring system to allow readers to rank different characteristics of a book.
What started out as a personal tool for improvement for one individual has turned into a company-wide pursuit of growth and learning. And it has attracted an online audience who appreciates an organization that encourages consuming products unrelated to their business. To find out more about Ethos3, check out the following resources:
How to Maintain a Founder’s Heart
How to Create a Reading Plan for Your Team
