The Clean and Green Club

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Should You Use a Blog to Host Your Non-Blog Website?

Blogs have several advantages over traditional websites. To name a few:

• They get into the search engines almost instantly (I once did a Google search for something I’d blogged about ten minutes earlier, and my blog post was there, on the first page of the results)
• It’s easy to increase the reach of a blog by feeding it to your social networking profiles
• You can set your blog to automatically ping Technorati and other blog content aggragators, as well as pretty much all of the major social networks (Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, Plaxo, and I believe MySpace) so people will find you quickly if you blog about something topical and hot
• Blogs are incredibly easy to update; you don’t need to wait around for your webmaster to post content, just hit the “Publish” button
• Most blogs include a comment feature, which can create interactive discussion and a much greagter profile for your blog (unfortunately, the spammers figured this one out–so you always have to moderate the comments, approving the relevant ones and ditching the junk–plug-ins such as Akismet make this much easier, though they’re far from foolproof)

With all these advantages, why not use a blog to put up an ordinary non-blog website? WordPress, my favorite of the blog platforms, is available for free, updated regularly, and supported by a plethora of third-party add-ons. And you can host your WordPress site on your own domain, which I stongly recommend.

For the last several sites I’ve put up, I’ve had my webmaster install WordPress on my domain’s server (from what I understand, a matter of only a couple of clicks anyway), select and customize one of the myriad “themes” (templates) available, and then, depending on the site, either I put up content or she does. Here are some examples of sites we’ve done in WordPress:

• https://www.principledprofit.com
• https://www.business-ethics-pledge.org
• https://ddinafriedman.com
• https://painlessgreenbook.com

In short, the WordPress blogging platform offers a great deal of flexibility in design, ease of use, interactivity, and good search engine “juice,” and is appropriate for lots of websites, not just blogs. Something to think about as you put up more sites (I think I have 14 right now).

I was just beginning to think about what I’d write about this month when Jim Cox’s column crossed my desk. Jim has tons of good resources for authors and publishers on his https://www.midwestbookreview.com website and cheerfully gave me permission to reprint here.

Guest Column: Why Covers Matter
By Jim Cox, Editor, Midwest Book Review

I’ve had the pleasure of being one of the annual Audies Award judges for a good number of years now. But this year there was a new twist — most of the award categories were being offered to we judges as computer downloads instead of our assigned category audio book CDs arriving in the mails.

I don’t have a laptop computer that I can sit back in an easy chair with to listen to hours upon hours of audio book recordings. Neither am I familiar with iPods or whatever it is that is sticking out of the ears of so many young people these days. What I usually do is listen to the audio books I review (including those that I once-a-year annually rank and pass judgement upon) while I’m working at my desk, driving around in my car, taking long walks, or retiring to bed in the evening.

So this year I passed upon most of the categories and volunteered for one that I’d never had before: Package Design. Ranking and judging audio book submissions entirely upon how they looked.

I took an hour to go over the entries carefully and make preliminary notes on the pros & cons of their respective packaging. Quite a change from assessing their contents!

But it did prompt me to reflect on how important packaging is when it comes to the commercial viability of a book — any book, any genre, any category, any format — and any author!

Simply stated, people judge books by their covers. And by people, I mean far more than the general reading public browsing through a bookstore or a library trying to decide what they’d like to choose from all that is being offered them. I also mean book reviewers, wholesalers, distributers, retailers, and librarians who are faced with the same decision.

How very often I’ve seen a lot of an author’s labor go into the writing of a book only to have a poorly chosen cover or badly executed packaging design crush any chance at commercial success.

Authors getting published by the major conglomerates have very little say in what the art departments of a Random House or a Simon & Schuster determine the ‘packaging’ of their book will look like. Self-published authors have the sole say for what their book will look like. Between those two extreme points on the decision making scale are most of the small press published authors. So if you as an author are being published by a small or independent press, get involved in the decision making process to assure that your book will not be handicapped in the market place by flawed artistic concepts, inferior execution of design, or slip-shod attention to the thematic relevance of what the artwork will be with respect to the content of the book being packaged with it.

When it comes to books, the two reasons for a badly designed or poorly executed packing I most often encounter is that the author and/or publisher didn’t have the capital to invest to produce a professionally competitive cover, or that they had some friend or relative that dabbled in art and they felt obligated to oblige.

Please believe me — if you as an author or a publisher find the book packaging to be distasteful, or substandard the chances are that your otherwise prospective buyers will too.

Bottom line — Spend as much time an energy on the outside of your book as you did on the inside.

As a long time “Green evangelist,” I’ve always been a big fan of clearinghouses that reduce waste and let people share resources. It’s better for the planet, better for the pocketbook, and better for building community.

This month, I’m going to share two such initiatives from opposite ends of the country.

Neighborhood Fruit

A single tree can sometimes produce hundreds of fruits or nuts. It’s overwhelming for a homeowner with multiple trees (especially if a whole bunch ripens at once), and much of the fruit goes to waste (making an unsightly and smelly mess in the process). California-based Neighborhood Fruit lets homeowners who are buried in the bounty from their fruit trees share the harvest with those who’d love more fresh, local produce. Scavengers pay a small fee; farmers earn credits that they can redeem for fruit, and can decide if they’ll pick and bag, or let their “customers” do it.

So far, 10,000 trees around the US are registered with the program. Oh yeah, you can also share zucchinis and other produce.

(My thanks to Steve Puma of Triple Pundit  for his article about this company)

Ride Buzz

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Jeff Brown formed Ride Buzz to do something similar with empty seats in cars: a clearinghouse of rides offered and needed, both ongoing and one-time. Jeff is quite the go-getter and not only went out and got 501(c)3 nonprofit tax exemption, he’s also formed numerous partnerships with area organizations (something I advocate very strongly in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First).

Among the many partnerships:

• Working with an area human service agency, Highland Valley Elder Services, to create more transportation opportunities for elderly people who can no longer drive but are able to remain at home if they can get around
• Obtaining endorsements for setting up internal ride sharing networks for three municipalities, several colleges and universities, and a number of private businesses
• Partnering with event organizers to promote ride sharing to events from folk festivals to conferences to retreats (including events as far away as Guam and as close as its hometown of Amherst
• RideBuzz coffee, roasted by the organic fairtrade coffee company Dean’s Beans and promoted to reduce greenhouse gases and build sustainability, with all profits donated to RideBuzz
• Organized a five-band concert to thank the town of Amherst, MA, the Amherst-Area Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management for their promotion of ridesharing (One UMass professor even integrated ride sharing into the curriculum, as a case study for students to communicate the social, environmental, and economic benefits of ridesharing to area residents.

Launched three years ago, the organization became a nonprofit corporation in September 2008, and received 501(c)3 status in June 2009.

While still heavily tilted toward its native region (the Connecticut River Valley in New England), the site is beginning to attract out-of-area users too. Brown says the infrastructure is able to be supported in 63 countries.

And how are you getting to your Thanksgiving dinner? Use RideBuzz and you may be able to share the cost and lower our collective carbon footprint by carpooling.

Another Recommended Book: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Of the dozen or so books I’ve read on Internet-based communities (and their application for marketing), Trust Agents stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. Normally when I review a book, I take a page of notes, maybe two. In the smallest handwriting I can still read, I had more than half a page by the time I got to the end of Chapter 1! By the time I was done, I had four full pages.

A generation younger than me and a generation older than those who grew up with computers from the womb on, Brogan and Smith bring insights from Read the rest of this entry »

Postal direct mail isn’t cheap, and if you only have a two percent response (considered pretty good, believe it or not), that means a mailing that costs you one dollar per envelope costs you fifty dollars per sale! A one percent response costs $100 per sale. Big ouch!

Here are a few ideas to bring down the costs of those mailings:

• Organize your own Val-Pak-style co-op—get a few other businesses to share the cost, and postage drops dramatically (hint: Your response rate will be much higher if the offers are related in some way, and the list is targeted—so, for instance, a florist, caterer, and DJ could mail together to a list of couples that registered for an upcoming bridal show)
• Use postcards instead of envelope-mailings, and give your URL prominently on the postcard (with a reason to visit)
• Let your own computer do some of the postal processing (sorting, bar-coding, etc.) and take advantage of postal discounts
• Enclose a flier when you’re mailing something else already (such as filling an order)
• Partner with others to enclose your fliers when they mail, and vice versa
• Trade lists with others who reach a similar customer profile

By the way, I have an extensive section on how to implement these and other postal mailing cost-savers in my fifth book, Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World (which was a Finalist for Foreword magazine’s Book of the Year Award)

About the timing of this article

In October, 2008, I devoted this newsletter to thinking strategically about when to use postal direct mail—and I promised a part 2, on reducing direct-mail costs. And then I guess I forgot to look at my notes the following month. I never lack for ideas, so I went on and wrote about a bunch of other things. Today, I went to the archives and saw that Part 1 staring at me, with no Part 2. But I try to keep my promises, so here, a year later, is the long-awaited article.

Last month, we talked about the mindset to craft an effective pitch. Now, how to actually get in front of the journalists you want to cover you.

1. Use media query services that aggregate reporters’ requests for sources. There is no better way to get publicity than to hit a reporter who’s desperately looking for someone exactly like you in order to finish an article. I use HARO, PitchRate, ReportersSource and some others I can’t remember, none of which cost anything. In the past, I’ve also used ProfNet, which has a significant cost. I’ve had far and away the best success with HARO and ProfNet. Several of the media lead sources also post leads on Twitter. You’ll want to follow (in  alphabetical order) @helpareporter, @pitchrate, @ProfNet, and @reporterssource
2. Use social media sites to follow reporters on your beat, and build relationships (gently and without pressure); pitch only when you’ve established yourself as credible and your pitch is directly relevant to what they’re working on
3. Send a press release that’s NOT “I’ve written a book” but that focuses on the attitudes we discussed last month. Some sample headlines I’ve actually used for my clients:

• Pro-Anorexia Sites “Danger to Children,” Says Expert

• Moveable Historic Action Figures Awarded BEST CLASSIC TOY of 2009: Industry Newcomer’s First Release Joins Yo-Yo, Crayons, Other Long-time Favorites
• Teenage Partisan Who Fought the Nazis Lives to See Her Story Told—On Film and In Print
• Ethics Expert: As an Ethics Warrior, Spitzer Must Meet a Higher Standard (this was not for a client but a news tie-in for my own book, Principled Profit)

Of course, I go into much more detail in my seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers,and in several of my other marketing books too. Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First has a particularly nice section on building relationships with reporters.

Several months ago, I had Dee Boyle-Clapp, co-owner of Starlight Llama Bed & Breakfast in Florence, MA, as a guest on my radio show. Prior to the show, she sent me a marvelous list of the Green steps she and her husband have taken with the inn, and the list so inspired me that I put it in my Future Positive Power Spotlight file. Having just read Barbara Kingsolver’s wonderful book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (all about eating locally and minimizing environmental impact), I feel this is the perfect time to share it with you–in part as a tribute to Barbara, whose book doesn’t quite fit the criteria for reviewing in my column, but is extremely worth reading, and in part because it shows how much each of us can actually do to improve our environment, even here in cloudy, cold New England. I have both photovoltaic and hot water solar systems on my own roof, but unike Starlight Llama, we do remain connected to (and dependent on) the grid.

Here’s Dee:

We are Massachusetts’ first solar-powered, off the grid B&B.  Our house has never been grid-tied.

We serve gourmet vegetarian breakfasts using organic or locally grown products.  We feature vegetables, fruit and herbs grown in our own organic gardens and we serve eggs from our own free-range hens.

Wherever possible we use green and scent-free laundry and cleaning products.  We never use a dryer, which we feel wastes energy.

The house was built with wood taken from our own land and many found or recycled products including our large  4 x 8 ft windows in the greenhouse and diningroom.

We are commited to preservation and put 55 acres of our property into a conservation restriction, to help serve as a wildlife corridor for the region’s deer, bobcat, coyotes, moose, bear, fox and other animals.

Much of our heat is from our passive solar greenhouse (in the winter on sunny days we don’t need to turn on other heat sources).  Our home is also heated by wood cut, split, stacked by family members from our own land.

We heat our hot water via 3 systems: on-demand for the B&B rooms, and a blend of wood heated or solar heated water for the kitchen and the rest of the house

The B&B is located on a llama farm that uses integrated pest management to control ticks and bugs harmful to llamas.  Our guinea fowl and peacocks wander our property freely and together have reduced deer and dog ticks.

Our product choices are as low impact as possible.  Many of our bed sheets are made from bamboo.  We use cloth napkins at breakfast, and reusable cups in the rooms.

I knew bamboo could be used as a sustainable, regrowble building material, but didn’t know you could make bedsheets out of it!

Yeah, the big words in the headline are on purpose…and very relevant. Cognoscenti are those in the know, the experts, connoisseurs (same route word, I believe—but French origin, rather than Italian). the secret society,if you will. What Edward Bulwer-Lytton called “the great unwashed.”

Hoi polloi are the rest of us, the masses.

Sometimes you want to market to one sometimes the other. There’s actually a lot to be said for marketing to an in-group, especially if you don’t have to pay to reach those not in your target audience. When you make your prospects feel special, they’re more likely not only to do business with you, but to maintain an ongoing business relationship. You make them feel appreciated, you talk to them on their own level. Just as with my headline, I’m identifying you, my reader, as someone sophisticated enough to be curious about the headline and to read the article. After all, I could have said “snobs vs. the masses” or “the elite vs. the common people.” But those are so…ordinary! You get no satisfaction from conquering those molehills.

When you write for the masses, make your language as accessible as possible. But when you’re seeking a much more select audience, jargon and “secrets” have their place, if not done to excess. Not only does your audience feel like you’re talking directly to them, they feel like you’re one of them.

I was inspired to write this after reading copywriter Ivan Levison’s critique of an ad with the headline,

Levison wrote,

It seems to me that this is less a headline than a secret message that needs decoding, and make no mistake. Writing an ambiguous headline like this  can destroy readership of an ad, email, Web page, brochure, you name it.

Now, I’ve been involved at least a bit with energy and environmental issues all the way back to the 1970s, and to me, this headline made perfect sense. The grid is the infrastructure that transmits the nation’s electricity. The footprint, of course, is a carbon footprint: the impact on our environment, and specifically on climate change.

Levison is right that the headline needs decoding—but he’s wrong in seeing it as ineffective. Those who grapple daily with issues of climate change and CO2 in electricity transmission will be immediately clued in that this ad is for them.

Whether it made sense to place this two-page ad in Business Week is another question; it might have had far better results in something like the trade magazine Electric Light & Power, where actual prospects would be a much higher percentage of total readership. And it probably didn’t need two whole pages. So from a frugality point of view, the campaign could certainly be improved, even if advertising—the most expensive marketing method—is a big part of the mix (which, as regular readers of this newsletter and my books on frugal marketing understand, it doesn’t have to be).

But if the goal was to select and attract those people in the general big business community with key decision-making roles in power generation, it was probably effective. They were marketing to the cognoscenti.

Have you been cited in places like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Woman’s Day, Entrepreneur, and the top trade publications in your industry?

I’ve been in all the above–several times each. I’ve also been in hundreds of lesser known publications.

If you’d like that kind of ink, your pitches and press releases have to reflect the reality of the newsroom: overworked journalists sort through a mountain of information, mining for the nuggets to share with their readers, often under severe deadline pressure.

Here are a few approaches that tend to work:

• Solve a problem/ease a pain point/make people’s life better
• Expose some hidden truth that can change people’s thinking or behavior
• Tie in to a current and immediate news story or trend
• Provide a deeper “back story” on a news topic—or on a celebrity’s life
• Dip into your personal journey to show how you overcame adversity, did something really unusual, or separated yourself from the crowd in some other way
• Win an award, achieve a big milestone, etc.
• Create a catchphrase or buzzword that so perfectly captures an idea that it enters the common language

Next month: specific tools you can use to make your pitch. Note: my seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, offers six entire chapters on effective publicity. Click on the book title to order your copy.