Why We’re Giving Away “Hacking Growth” and “Traction” (and ContentUpgrade.me)

UPDATE May 24: Added 1 year of Designrr Professional to bundle. This is no longer just a good deal. This is ridiculously good!

As we’ve worked to grow our own businesses, a few figures recently have really inspired us: Noah Kagan, Sean Ellis, and Gabriel Weinberg (among others).

That’s why, when we decided to do a giveaway (using Noah Kagan’s KingSumo Giveaway) to promote ContentUpgrade.me, it made sense to include Sean Ellis’ book Hacking Growth and Gabriel Weinberg’s Traction.

Traction is a super reference book for entrepreneurs of all stripes. Most startup advice that you find online follows the formula “How I Got Eleventy Bazillion Users in Two Hours Using this One Simple Trick”. Which turns out to be baloney. Not so with Traction. Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares outline nineteen channels that you can use to get initial traction for any new product, whether you’re launching a SaaS or mobile app, a course, an eBook, or a physical product. The authors then walk you through each traction channel to generate ideas and then select the best ideas to create a “critical path” using the “bullseye” method to hit the target. Whether you’re just getting started or trying to build momentum, this is a book that you’ll keep on your desk rather than on your shelf.

Traction was one of my favorite books until I read Hacking Growth. I first listened to the audiobook, but I decided to purchase the paper copy because I kept wanting to go back and re-read what I had just heard. To be honest the term “growth hacking” rubbed me the wrong way until I read this book. I’m a bit of a curmudgen, so many growth hackers seemed like arrogant kids who just got lucky once or twice. Not so. Authors Ellis and Brown present Growth hacking as a legitimate discipline. Before reading Hacking Growth I would use the “spray and pray” method of marketing — try everything that anybody recommends and hope something works. But that’s not growth hacking — that’s insanity. Growth hacking is actually a scientific and systematic approach to trying various experiments, documenting the results, and doubling down on what works. This is another one that looks destined to spend more time on my desk than on my shelf.

I think so highly of both of these books that I want to give them away. And if we’re giving away a “growth hacking” bundle, it makes sense to include a lifetime supply of lead magnets via ContentUpgrade.me.

Go here to enter the giveaway.

If you win, we’ll give you a free copy of Traction, a free copy of Hacking Growth, and a lifetime subscription to ContentUpgrade.me. Can’t beat that!