Jeff Brown, founder of RideBuzz.org: a web-based organization to promote and facilitate ridesharing/carpooling, thus reducing carbon footprint and use of fossil fuels, easing traffic congestion, and saving its users money. Jeff talks about how and why he started this organization in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, how it’s benefiting its users, and how others might replicate this idea elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »
When I spoke at the Go Green Expo in New York City a couple of months back, one of the companies exhibiting there was a wind-powered printing company from New Haven, offering attractive pricing, eco-oriented design templates, and of course, FSC-certified and/or recycled paper. I have actually seen their wind turbine when I take the bus from New York back home to Massachusetts; it’s visible along the coast, just as my bus turns up I-91.
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Free: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson (Hyperion, 2009)
Reviewed by Shel Horowitz
The influential author of The Long Tail has once again broken new ground. He argues persuasively that the price of anything that can be digitized, and the price of even many things that are based in physical space inexorably gravitates toward zero–and then, even though it might be counterintuitive, demonstrates a seemingly infinite number of ways to monetize your free offerings.
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I love it when a single offering addresses multiple social and environmental issues, providing benefits on several levels. And increasingly, I’m finding quite a number of them. One that has intrigued me since I first learned of it about a year ago is Mr. Ellie Pooh.
How’s this for capturing a whole bunch of birds with one photograph (my nonviolent spin on the old “killing two birds” proverb 🙂 ):
This month’s Expert Interview is with Hazel Henderson, an economist and citizen activist who has taken an active role in creating a Greener, more ethical business community. Her books range from the landmark Creating Alternative Futures in the 1970s through the more recent (and wonderful) Ethical Markets, which I reviewed about a year ago. You won’t want to miss this (originally recorded for my Principled Profit radio show). Read the rest of this entry »
If the consumer pressure directed to kids is an issue for you…if you’re disgusted by over-the-top parties for 6- or 10-year-olds that cost thousands of dollars…if you want to raise your children with an awareness of how they can make a difference in the wider world—here’s something I found remarkable and inspiring.
A mom-run Canadian company, EchoAge.com, has completely turned traditional birthday parties inside out. Instead of the usual model of everyone bringing a little present, Read the rest of this entry »
NOTE: Now that this column is restricted to paid subscribers, you’ll notice the reviews are a lot more in-depth, and I’m picking the books more carefully. Order links will be at the end of the reviews, when possible. Enjoy!
All Customers Are Irrational: Understanding What They Think, What They Feel, and What Keeps Them Coming Back, by William J. Cusick (Amacom, 2009)
Reviewed by Shel Horowitz, primary author of Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green
Most companies, says Cusick, are completely wrong-headed about customer satisfaction. If they pay attention to it at all, Read the rest of this entry »
6. Create an Irresistible Product! Once again, these partners have only a limited number of products they can promote—so a smart thing to do is to make a product they’ll fall in love with. The more they personally think the product is fabulous, the more they’ll want to promote it. Your product should make people’s lives better when they use it! At least since my third book came out in 1993, my books have gotten extremely positive feedback from readers. People constantly praise their practicality, their approachable language, and their easy-to-implement yet radically different concepts. This newest book, in my opinion, is far and away the best book I’ve written yet. It has the potential to actually change the business culture in our society.
7. Sweeten the Appeal with Social Proof—and Let Others Spread It Not only does this book have the imprimatur of one of the country’s most successful publishers of business books, not only does it carry the name of the single most successful author in the field, but the book is also going to press with more than 50 endorsements, some of them quite prominent. Not to mention a foreword by another celebrity author, Stephen M.R. Covey, son of the 7 Habits guy (also named Stephen Covey) and author in his own right of the amazing (and relevant to my book) bestseller The Speed of Trust. In short, we’ve made it a no-brainer to believe that this is a book worth reading, because the experts have already certified it. And throughout the marketing, we have subtle little messages that it’s ok, even encouraged, to pass it on. For instance, the launch email invites recipients to pass it on.
8. Remember to Implement the Traditional Marketing Strategies While I expect to gain most of my sales through the power of endorsements from my partners, we’re also doing a lot of the lower-cost pieces of traditional marketing:
9. Build the Buzz For months, I’ve been dropping hints (not repeating the exact same message, but creating different messages) about this book everywhere I can. I’ve even had a form up to collect e-mail addresses for advance notification. Since it often takes multiple contacts to move people to action, when they get the announcement that the book is finally out, I’m hoping for a lot of “oh, yeah, I’ve been hearing about this and I need it.”
10. Have the Infrastructure In Place We set a week-long window for the partner mailings, so people could mail on their own schedules (and told them they could still mail even if they missed the window). We bought inexpensive, robust software for managing password-protected membership sites that include affiliate programs (yes, this is an affiliate link). We thoroughly tested the forms to capture bonuses and load them into the bonus package with minimal work from us (we see and approve it so nobody fills it with crap, and then off it goes). We put up two new websites, one for the book and one for the membership program. We talked to the charity partner ahead of time. Ideally, that phase would be a couple of months,but we had to compress it into a couple of weeks.
