The Clean and Green Club

• four to nine copies, dropshipped to different addresses, personally autographed and inscribed, just$12.95 each
• four to nine copies, shipping to the same address, personally autographed and inscribed, just$12.95 each
• ten or more copies , shipping to the same address, personally autographed and inscribed, just$10.95 each
• Of course, if you sign the Business Ethics Pledge, my thank-you gift has always been to make the book available for just $9.95, in any amount.

(Sorry, the free shipping offer doesn’t apply to the bulk deals–that would be double-dipping, and the cart is prefigured to add the correct shipping on those bulk orders.)

Why am I doing this? Number one, because I really think this is an ideal gift for business owners and managers. It can so dramatically alter your thinking about business and show how to not only slash marketing costs but vastly increase profitability by tapping into our best selves–and as the financial markets collapse, this message has never been more important. And number two, because my distributor wants to see some action on this title, and the way the book industry works, bookstores don’t want it anymore because its more than six months old. But even if it’s not a bookstore book, it may be the most important book you could read in the development of your business. (Don’t take my word for it. If you have any doubt, click on the Principled Profit link above; you’ll find over 80 testimonials, powerful reviews, and even the first couple of chapters as a no-charge download). And it could make a tremendous difference in the lives of your friends and colleagues, too.

Thank you again for being my subscriber.
Shel Horowitz

That’s the offer. Now let’s look at it. First of all, can you spot the two rules I broke?

Number one, I put two different offers in the same letter: free shipping on any book, and deep discounts on bulk quantities of Principled Profit. Common wisdom would say to do these in two separate communications. And second, the copy is very short. I’m not going into a long pitch about the merits of these books, though of course, I do provide links if you want to now more about any of the titles.

Why did I break these rules? First, because you’re already my subscriber. You already know me, you’ve heard about the books in some cases for many years, and even though long copy is proven to sell better, I certainly don’t want to bore you. Also, I like to think that my subscribers are people of above-average intelligence, and your systems won’t be shut down by the extra choices. (grin)

Now, let’s look at some of the individual components of the promotion:

1. With the holidays coming up, this is a great chance to save money on Shel’s books–they make fabulous gifts for the entrepreneurs, authors, marketers, and business managers in your life, or for those who’d like to be authors or marketers. This paragraph accomplishes three things: it reminds you to start thinking about holiday gifts, offers you the promise of saving money, and identifies six different people for whom my books are the perfect gift.

2. As a subscriber, you can not only get the usual discounts for ordering the books in combination, but you also get FREE shipping in the U.S. (or a $5 savings on shipping elsewhere) on any order for printed books now through December 1–and that offer is not for the general public. But if you want to be sure your gifts arrive in time, I wouldn’t wait that long. We ship via the U.S. Postal Service, and I can tell you from experience that as the holidays approach, delivery times slow to a crawl. The sooner you get your order in, the better the chance you’ll get fast and accurate service from your mail carriers. Stating facts you know to be true in order to emphasize that sense of urgency. Provides exclusivity–as a subscriber, you’re part of the elite club who gets to take advantage of this opportunity.

3. If you want multiple copies of Principled Profit–a very wise decision–I have an even better deal for you a bit farther down the page. (If you want to know more about any particular book, please click the book titles):
First, I reinforce the idea that buying this book is very wise. Then, I provide brief and, I hope, tantalizing quick summaries of each book’s title and credentials, with a link to many pages of information if you want to know all the details. This way, I don’t get in your way if you’re ready to buy–but if you want to know more, the information is right at your fingertips–I love that about the Web; this “have your cake and eat it too” scenario would be much harder in postal mail.

Within the credentials, did you spot the cross-sell? Here it is:

Because marketing books is really different from marketing other things. Note that there’s almost no overlap between the two Grassroots books; they’re designed to complement each other. It’s an advantage to both of us if you buy more than one title at once. You save over the cost of ordering separately, and I have less processing time and more revenue.

4. Special pricing this month on bulk quantities–see below! Teases you to keep reading, and provides some time urgency.

5. personally autographed and inscribed Something you can’t get from any random bookseller–a reason to buy from me.

6. (Sorry, the free shipping offer doesn’t apply to the bulk deals–that would be double-dipping, and the cart is prefigured to add the correct shipping on those bulk orders.) To make this clear and save myself some administrative time, and to point out the reason why it doesn’t apply.

7. Why am I doing this? Number one, because I really think this is an ideal gift for business owners and managers. It can so dramatically alter your thinking about business and show how to not only slash marketing costs but vastly increase profitability by tapping into our best selves–and as the financial markets collapse, this message has never been more important. And number two, because my distributor wants to see some action on this title, and the way the book industry works, bookstores don’t want it anymore because its more than six months old. But even if it’s not a bookstore book, it may be the most important book you could read in the development of your business. (Don’t take my word for it. If you have any doubt, click on the Principled Profit link above; you’ll find over 80 testimonials, powerful reviews, and even the first couple of chapters as a no-charge download). And it could make a tremendous difference in the lives of your friends and colleagues, too.
This paragraph accomplishes several things. First, I’m a big believer in “reason-why” marketing. Scientific studies have shown that using the word “because” is extremely convincing, even if what follows the because makes no sense. Second, I’m reinforcing the idea that this is the perfect gift for business owners and managers, and then I tell exactly why, and appeal to the reader’s better nature three separate: “tapping into our best selves”, “never been more important”, “tremendous difference in the lives of your friends and colleagues”. Since this is a book about success through ethics, this reinforces the ultimate message.And of course, adding in the bit about the strange practices of the book industry lends credibility and a certain degree of urgency.
In a situation where I was less familiar to the reader, I’d go into more detail about why this book is life-changing, right on the page. This time, though, because you already know me, rather than presenting proof right here, I’m asking you to click on a link if you want to know the proof–figuring that a lot of readers will simply take my word for it. This may be a mistake, but it seems to me this is already pretty long for a blog. What do you think? You can use the comment field to tell me if you think that’s smart or a stupid, and why.