The Clean and Green Club

1. Read Mark Joyner’s New Book For Free–A Year Before Publication

Mark Joyner continues to amaze me! I’ve been following him for about ten years, long before we became friends. Not only is he one of the smartest people in marketing, but he also has a strong sense of social justice.

Anyway, on the smart side of things, he’s written a new e-book on Integration Marketing. If you’ve read my own my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, some of the concepts will be familiar to you (though I don’t use that term in the book).

In this book, Mark actually demonstrates a complex mathematical formula to determine if a Joint Venture is worth your time. I haven’t seen anyone else do anything remotely like this, except that I’ve seen Bob Bly’s evaluation of whether it’s worth it for him to do an e-mail blast for your product. But Mark goes much deeper. You can use Mark’s tool to evaluate absolutely any JV proposal, far more than e-blasts. And use his creative and visionary thinking to open many doors to growing your business massively, spending little or even no money to do it.

Oh yes, and Mark’s concluding chapter ties in ecology and peace themes in a way that will strike a chord with all of you who see business as more than making money, but also a social good. Yes, he’s ReMarkAble (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Mark Joyner has a contract to publish this book, but it won’t be out for a year. I imagine that will be a greatly expanded version. But meanwhile, go ahead and blow your mind with the e-book version. It’s only 49 pages and it’s easy to digest. And with a price of zero, what are you waiting for? Get it here.

2. Train in Person with Jay Conrad Levinson, Founder of Guerrilla Marketing, for three days at the Guerrilla Marketing Business University from August 27-29th in Orlando. Not cheap–but the level of value he expects to deliver is so high that he makes this guarantee: If you aren’t blown away at the end of the first day, simply turn in your materials, and receive a refund for whatever you have paid.

You’ll come away with your own custom 1-year Guerrilla marketing plan for your own business, as well as an introduction to “200 crucial and innovative weapons in marketing today. More than 100 of them are completely free!”

Visit https://snipurl.com/3b392 to register

3. Funny how so many people are terrified of speaking, and then they do their worst to sabotage their own presentation, so the next time an opportunity presents itself, they’re even more afraid and do even worse. Me? I love to speak in front of groups. It amazes me that people pay me, and pay me well, to essentially do my own marketing while imparting useful information. Master speaking coach and media trainer TJ Walker is doing another program to train you as a professional speaker. His office writes,

At the Presentation Training Workshop you will learn:

1. Look your best in front of groups
2. Speak in a way that doesn’t put people to sleep
3. Techniques for reducing nervousness
4. Speak so people remember what you say, act on it, and pass the information along to others.

Most importantly, you’ll learn the techniques that can keep you looking calm, collected, and in control.

Click to see an introductory video about TJ’s training process.

4. Your Chance to be in the Movies

The Choosing America Project is calling for dramatic
anecdotes from immigrants who chose to live in America.

“We are looking for those special moments, encounters, surprises, experiences, disappointments, which vividly convey what it’s like

to be an immigrant in America. The good, the bad, the sad, the miraculous, the joyful–every anecdote is welcome as long as it’s authentic and well told.”

They hope to turn some of these stories into short films that will be shown in the movies and broadcast on TV.

For more details go to: https://www.choosingamerica.com

Disclosure: some of the links are affiliate links and earn me a commission. I believe in the affiliate model as long as I have vetted the product or know that a speaker/trainer delivers value.

As most of you know, SPAN launched the Amazon/BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit Campaign on July 7. The campaign is working to get Amazon.com to change its policy of requiring publishers, using their print on demand (POD) distribution services, to print with their subsidiary, BookSurge.

For the whole story, you can read my July 7 letter to members and additional supporting information at
https://www.spannet.org/amazonantitrust-home.htm.

After sending the letter to our e-mail list of about 10,000 authors and publishers, I received quite a few letters. Response to SPAN’s campaign ran about 97% favorable.

I thank everyone who sent comments and I especially thank all of you who signed the petition. I appreciate the commitment the signers made to stand up for the good of the industry. Although I was not able to get back to everyone, I read and archived your comments.

I believe in free markets, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly. I also believe in the system of checks and balances on both government and citizens as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Amazon has the freedom to do whatever it wants to do with its business (even illegal acts) until the market or the legal system stop it from doing things they find objectionable.

I’m not a lawyer, but I did take Business Law 101, which had a chapter on antitrust cases. I also recently read the class action complaint and some other information on illegal tying of products. Ultimately, it is for the court to decide if Amazon’s practices are illegal. From my research, the plaintiffs seem to have a reasonable case against Amazon for illegal business practices.

(You can read the complaint and several antitrust articles here: www.spannet.org/amazonantitrust-home.htm.)

People have asked me, “How is the campaign going?” At this point we have 307 signatures on the petition and five publishers’ and writers’ organizations supporting the campaign. Additionally, several organizations contacted me to say that the decision would have to go to their board and it might take a few months.

As for the advocacy side of the campaign, I will send the letter and a copy of the petition to Jeff Bezos at Amazon.com at the end of July.

One price of freedom is a responsibility to hold in check unjust practices by taking the time to be informed and to
voice our objections. SPAN’s campaign provides an opportunity for our community of voices to be heard.

Have you added yours?

Thanks,

Scott Flora
Executive Director

Ps. We still need people to sign the petition www.spannet.org/amazonantitrust-petition.htm and publishers’ and writers’ organizations to support the campaign.

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month, Volume 2, #1, July 2008
Market Your Book with a Postcard, Part 1 of 2
10 Reasons to Promote Your Book with Postcards

• Visit libraries and bookstores, show your book and leave your postcard
• Mail postcards to your local mailing lists to announce author events
• Pass them out at fairs, festivals, and other public events
• When you talk to someone at a trade show or business networking event, give the postcard instead of (or in addition to) your business card
• Excite people who’ve never met a real live author by giving them personally autographed cards–one for them and one for a friend
• Enclose cards with every direct order to get more business from your “word-of-mouth army”
• Enclose when you send press releases, letters of interest about speaking gigs, responses to inquiries about consulting, etc.
• If you’re doing a flier exchange with another author, offer postcards instead of fliers to put in their packages
• Distribute to school classes if you do school gigs, and hope that some show their parents and talk about how much fun you were, and the parents order
• Hand them to clients and suppliers and say, this is my new book

Next month: what to put on your postcard.

(Shel Horowitz’s latest book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, is his third in a row to win an award. Order at https://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com/ )

–> Some Useful Blogs for Book Marketers
Yes, there are many others besides Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month. Here are a few that I like, in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

–> How to Get Grassroots Marketing for Half-Price
Over 300 pages of solid information on lowering your marketing cost and boosting your return.

–> Get Noticed in a Big Way!
Jill’s new book, GET NOTICED … GET REFERRALS, is available today! We want to give you thousands of dollars worth of valuable and unique gifts from her colleagues – speakers and authors who are the best of the best! Jill’s new book teaches you how to get noticed and become influential using an intuitive, people oriented approach that will serve you throughout your career. Here’s the details and a quick peek at all the special gifts you will receive: www.GetNoticedBook.com

–> Boost Your Profits & Get More Referrals with Your Business Card
Do you worry that your business card is going to get thrown away as soon as your back is turned? Can subtle design changes really double, triple, even quintuple the follow-up business you get from simple little business cards? Learn the secrets of effective business cards with Diana Ratliff’s ebook (recently revised to include a brand new chapter on business card referral strategies!).

–> How to Make a Major Impact
JV maven Ken McArthur’s long-awaited book, Impact: How to Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World is available, with a ton of bonuses including one from me–and 100 hours of no-cost top-level audio training on the Impact Factor site. I haven’t seen the book yet, but I’ve followed Ken’s process of writing, and the amazing way he turned this launch into a months-long internship on Internet marketing, imparting skills to others while building the launch in the best win-win People first fashion. The quality of information he provides is superior, plus he’s a really nice guy; I fully expect the book to be worthy of him. When the time comes for me to update Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, I expect to include his story, as I just love the way he embraced the idea that he can profit by making everyone he knows into a better marketer.

–> A Book and A Seminar from Rick Frishman
Rick Frishman is a busy guy; he’s got two things going on that you want to know about.

First, his newest book, “Where’s Your Wow! 16 Ways to Make Your Competitors Wish They Were You” (co-authored with Robyn Spizman). I’ve read the whole thing and I think it’s an excellent introduction to branding. https://www.wheresyourwow.com/.

–> Myanmar Cyclone Relief: Make a Donation to Doctors Without Borders
Sharon Tucci put together a site to funnel donations directly to groups on the ground doing cyclone relief in Burma/Myanmar. Her preferred charity is Doctors Without Borders, but she offers several other choices as well. Note: Donations through this site are administered by an organization that takes a small administrative fee, but makes the process very smooth. If you’d rather give directly, that’s fine too.

–> A No-Cost Way to Connect with Reporters Seeking Stories
My friend Peter Shankman, a very well-connected PR guy in NYC, has started a no-charge service called Help A Reporter Out. He sends queries from reporters a few times a day, and if there’s a good fit, you answer the journalist. And he gets some leads that never make it to Profnet/PR Leads. This should be a no-brainer–but don’t abuse it. Only answer if you’re approrpiate for the query, or else you’ll spoil it for yourself and everyone else . If you get one good lead in a year, it’s worth it. He has passed on leads from the NY Times and Washington Post, as well as lesser venues. Sign up at www.helpareporter.com

–> Finally–An E-Book Site Puts Authors’ Needs First
Writers: Mark Victor Hansen (of Chicken Soup fame) has just launched a very author-friendly e-book/multimedia content distribution site at https://www.youpublish.com/referredby/shelhorowitz. No fee to set up, no fee to upload your files (wide range of types), 50% commission.

–> Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?

–> Want a Free E-Copy of Mark Joyner’s Classic Book, The Irresistible Offer?
This amazing book has a prominent place on my bookshelf–but I had to pay for my copy. You can get the e-book at no cost by following the above link.

–> Also from Mark: the re-release of his infamous “Mind Control Marketing,” the book that built his reputation years ago as one of the most focused and creative marketers in the world. I confess, I haven’t read this one-but I’ve heard about it for years.

–> Facebook Teleseminar with Mari Smith
If you’re not on Facebook yet, you may be missing valuable business opportunities. If you are on Facebook, are you getting the most out of it for your business? Recently, The Blog Squad grilled Mari Smith about why you need to be on Facebook and how to use the social networking site to be smart about building your business. Now you can get access to the audio program from the live teleseminar for an investment of only $20.

–> You’re invited to join Foundercontact
Christophe Poizat, founder and chairman of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs (INSE) has invited you to receive a free membership with Foundercontact. Foundercontact International Ltd is a web 2.0 online marketplace designed to bring entrepreneurs into contact with 3500 investors for seed, early stage, or growth capital. With members from 5 continents and 93 different countries, it opens up international business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Sign up at https://www.foundercontact.com/user/register

–> Latest Additions to the Websites

–> Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.

–> Don’t forget to play our games, at the top of any page on FrugalFun.com— no fees to play, prizes to win, and you help me continue to bring all this good information to you.

Published monthly since July, 2007 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month, June 2008

Yes, there are many others besides Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month, and this is not intended to be comprehensive. Here are a few that I like, in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

Marion Gropen’s Publishing for Profit blog. Would you believe there’s at least one person in the universe who can bring an accounting perspective to book publishing and marketing issues without losing sight of the marketing agenda? She’s been CFO at some mid-sized publishers and a stalwart on the indy publishing scene for years. And she really gets it.

Brian Jud’s blog on book marketing – very useful essays on strategic marketing, some of them in great depth.

Bookmarket Blog – John Kremer. From the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. A mix of posts advertising his own offerings with very perceptive writing on the book industry–everything from web design to the Regnery case that I’ve written about, where conservative authors sued their publisher claiming diversion of funds to book clubs they own.

Ken McArthur’s recent book The Impact Factor had a great launch. Ken used the launch as a lesson in social media, invited people to participate in all sorts of ways. Ken’s blog includes entries about the book launch and also his joint venture conferences.

Jacqueline Church Simonds of Beagle Bay Publishing/Creative Minds Press works the book trade show circuit, and reports on it here: witty, opinionated, observant–everything a blog should be, other than frequently updated.

Dorothy Thompson’s Pump Up Your Book Promotion featurs lots of interviews about book marketing with various successful authors, plus good and sueful tips (e.g., using Google alerts to discover copyright infringement.

Got a favorite blog about publishing? I’ll do a column like this every once in a while. If you have a suggestion, please list it in the comment section.

Another Recommended Book: All Marketers Are Liars, by Seth Godin (Penguin Portfolio, 2005).

Seth Godin, author of such classics as Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, and Unleashing the Idea Virus (and founder of the social networking site Squidoo), continues to display his chops as one of the freshest and most visionary marketing minds in the English-speaking part of the planet.

In this book, he looks deeply at the power of story in marketing–with some insights I haven’t seen elsewhere.

Why does wine actually taste better in a $20 glass than in a $1 glass? The wine is no different–but the story makes it feel different–and people buy the story (and the glass).

The trick, says Godin, is to tell a new story, often to a new audience. Look for a market segment that feels ignored, that its worldview isn’t being heard–and tell a story that reaches them. Don’t try to bang your head against the wall telling a modified familiar story to the same old familiar audience that’s already been buying from someone else. While your story should not contradict facts, the facts are much less relevant to the marketing than the narrative you weave around it.

Specific examples?

The rock band Wilco rejected the classic record-industry story that illegal music downloads are a destructive force. The band released its repertoire for free download and watched CD and concert ticket sales shoot through the roof.

Cereal maker General Mills responded to the Atkins low-carb diet craze of several years ago with a rapid switch to 100% whole grain for all its cereals–and was able to tell a story about health in a world where healthy foods had become relevant. Godin doesn’t mention this, but from a marketing/public perception point of view, that switch was relatively easy even for a giant conglomerate, because several of its most popular product lines (Cheerios, Wheaties, Total) had been telling a story about health for decades.

By contrast Interstate Bakeries, whose iconic brands like Wonder Bread and Hostess Twinkies were widely perceived as non-nutritive, was not able to be convincingly healthy in that market and went bankrupt. Which is especially interesting because Wonder has tried to tell a health story for over 50 years, with its “Helps build strong bodies 8 (later changed to 12) ways” tagline–but the product sure didn’t feel healthy, despite its added vitamins.

Yet Wonder is still trying to tell a health story to a skeptical world that has discovered in the meantime what real bread looks, tastes, and feels like. This is on the company’s website as of June 15, 2008:

Wonder has helped America build strong bodies for over 80 years. It provides essential vitamins and minerals, an important part of your family’s healthy diet. And today Wonder is more nutritious than ever before. Every slice is an excellent source of calcium and a good source of folic acid.

Back to Godin, speaking of health:

Marketers have a new kind of responsibility…If you make a fortune but end up killing people and needlessly draining our shared resources, that’s neither ethically nor commercially smart, is it? Nuclear weapons have killed a tiny fraction of the number of people that unethical marketing has…I refuse to accept that there’s a difference between a factory manager dumping sludge in the Hudson River (poisoning everyone downstream) and a marketing manager making up a story that ends up causing similar side effects.

Among many other examples, he comes down hard on food giant Nestle for telling a story in the 1970s that got mothers in desperately poor nations to switch from breastfeeding to infant formula, under conditions that made failure–and thus, dead babies–inevitable. In his words, there’s a difference between a harmless marketing fib that the consumer tells him/herself in order to believe the story, and an outright fraud with harmful consequences, and Nestle was guilty of the latter, until an international boycott made it hurt too much.

On a related note, Godin also points out the importance of making sure the customer experience delivers on the promise of your story. Cold Stone Creamery, the ice cream chain is one of many businesses he faults for breaking the promise:

Scoopers at Cold Stone Creamery occasionally break into song. They’ll sing for tips and they’ll sing about the joy of ice cream. At my neighborhood Cold Stone, though, they don’t sing. They sort of whine a funeral dirge. It’s obvious that someone ordered them to sing, and they don’t understand why and they certainly don’t care…They are in the business of telling a story. And the song and the smiles and the staff are a much bigger part of that than the ice cream…Soon the hordes will stop coming when they find that the experience leaves them hollow.

Final advice from Godin:

• Marketing must take responsibility to be authentic and have integrity (something I talk about at great length in my own book Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First)
• When people shift their pre-existing worldview, they’re ready to hear a story that reinforces the change
• Powerful stories can often be found at the junctions of apparent oxymorons like “socially conscious investing,” “adventure cruise line” or even “compassionate conservative”

Just back from my annual trip to Book Expo America, and one of the things I noticed was a definite shift toward sustainability–not just in the books being published, but also in attention to industry practices.

Some of these were aimed at publishers and printers, and some at consumers. One of the latter–which I learned about not at BEA but in a personal note from one of the founders–is EcoLibris.com, whose slogan is “Every book you read was once a tree. Now you can plant a tree for every book you read.”

Like carbon offset programs, this attempts to let consumers make restitution for the environmental effects of their reading habits. Starting at a dollar per tree and going down slightly with quantity purchases, the group funds reforestation projects in developing countries. It’s a for-profit business, and does retain a percentage of the donations. But it also includes all sorts of interesting environmental information on the site.

One of the pages I like best is the Collaborations page, which lists joint efforts with publishers, authors, bookstores, etc.–who are of course encouraged to spread the word and who receive customer kudos for being Green.

And while I think offset programs are only a temporary solution to reduction of pollution, greenhouse gases, etc., when I think of that convention center filled with literally millions of books and imagine a forest sprouting up with a tree for each book, it’s a vision that has a lot of appeal.

Read Shel Horowitz’s award-winning book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, for more on Green and ethical companies succeeding.

Finishing up our extended series on Web 2.0, a few more ways to get known (at no cost) in Cyberspace. First, we talked about Facebook and similar sites, then blogs last month, and now, a roundup of other ways to get noticed:

Make Comments on News Articles

Just like blogs, many of the top (and lesser known) mainstream media allow comments on their stories. And the value of a link is even higher. While in traditional media the number of published letters to the editor is sharply limited, blog comment space refreshingly open-ended. Spam comments will be removed, but most legitimate ones will be allowed to stay. As an advocate for decades of letters to the editor as a marketing strategy, I adapted easily to this new reality. (Tip: Keep a copy of the comments you post on other blogs and news sites).

“I Found Something Cool” Sites

Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and many other sites let you share great discoveries. It’s a bit tacky to flag your own stuff, but you can get away with that once in a while, if you’ve been flagging other stuff too. The sharp marketer can build respect and traffic.

You might notice that at the end of this post (and every post on both my blogs), there are over 30 icons that enable you to click and share my posts with these networks; this is something you can easily set up for your own content, too.

Twitter (and similar sites)

140 characters (typically 10 or 20 words is a very small canvas, but more and more marketers are Twittering (and feeding their Twits into Facebook. You can connect with people you admire by following them, and you can post short updates similar to the Facebook status updates (in fact, you can even set up your Twitter Tweets to show as Facebook status updates). More and more marketers are using this. For pros and cons, click on this link for an extended discussion of Twitter on the LED Digest.

–> Triage Webpages
A lot of marketers think the one-page salesletter website is the one solution for all kinds of businesses. Other marketers believe every website should be a full-blown info-portal, with lots of links and menus. But I’m not in either camp.

–> Another Recommended Book: Truth: The New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World by Lynn Upshaw

–> How to Get Grassroots Marketing for Half-Price
Over 300 pages of solid information on lowering your marketing cost and boosting your return.

–> How to Make a Major Impact
JV maven Ken McArthur’s long-awaited book, Impact: How to Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World is being launched today starting at 1 pm US Eastern Daylight time, with a ton of bonuses including one from me–and 100 hours of no-cost top-level audio training on the Impact Factor site. I haven’t seen the book yet, but I’ve followed Ken’s process of writing, and the amazing way he turned this launch into a months-long internship on Internet marketing, imparting skills to others while building the launch in the best win-win People first fashion. The quality of information he provides is superior, plus he’s a really nice guy; I fully expect the book to be worthy of him. When the time comes for me to update Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, I expect to include his story, as I just love the way he embraced the idea that he can profit by making everyone he knows into a better marketer.

–> A Book and A Seminar from Rick Frishman
Rick Frishman is a busy guy; he’s got two things going on that you want to know about.

First, his newest book, “Where’s Your Wow! 16 Ways to Make Your Competitors Wish They Were You” (co-authored with Robyn Spizman). I’ve read the whole thing and I think it’s an excellent introduction to branding. https://www.wheresyourwow.com/.

And second, Rick is organizing a big one-day conference just before Book Expo America. He writes,
“Hold the date Thursday May 29. Author 101 University is coming! It will be at the Westin at LAX for one day. This is the day before BEA starts in Los Angeles. This will be an amazing event that will be very exclusive. Only 200 people. I will bring a Publishing Panel of editors, agents and editors. Mark Victor Hansen, David Hancock, Brendon Burchard, Alex Carroll, and the amazing Barbara De Angeles.”

I’ll be attending this event (as well as the Advanced Track at PMA-U the day before). If you’d like to go, please visit https://snipurl.com/25r7o

–> Myanmar Cyclone Relief: Make a Donation to Doctors Without Borders
Sharon Tucci put together a site to funnel donations directly to groups on the ground doing cyclone relief in Burma/Myanmar. Her preferred charity is Doctors Without Borders, but she offers several other choices as well. Note: Donations through this site are administered by an organization that takes a small administrative fee, but makes the process very smooth. If you’d rather give directly, that’s fine too.

–> A No-Cost Way to Connect with Reporters Seeking Stories
My friend Peter Shankman, a very well-connected PR guy in NYC, has started a no-charge service called Help A Reporter Out. He sends queries from reporters a few times a day, and if there’s a good fit, you answer the journalist. And he gets some leads that never make it to Profnet/PR Leads. This should be a no-brainer–but don’t abuse it. Only answer if you’re approrpiate for the query, or else you’ll spoil it for yourself and everyone else . If you get one good lead in a year, it’s worth it. He has passed on leads from the NY Times and Washington Post, as well as lesser venues. Sign up at www.helpareporter.com

–> Finally–An E-Book Site Puts Authors’ Needs First
Writers: Mark Victor Hansen (of Chicken Soup fame) has just launched a very author-friendly e-book/multimedia content distribution site at https://www.youpublish.com/referredby/shelhorowitz. No fee to set up, no fee to upload your files (wide range of types), 50% commission.

–> Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?

–> Want a Free E-Copy of Mark Joyner’s Classic Book, The Irresistible Offer?
This amazing book has a prominent place on my bookshelf–but I had to pay for my copy. You can get the e-book at no cost by following the above link.

–> Also from Mark: the re-release of his infamous “Mind Control Marketing,” the book that built his reputation years ago as one of the most focused and creative marketers in the world. I confess, I haven’t read this one-but I’ve heard about it for years.

–> Facebook Teleseminar with Mari Smith
If you’re not on Facebook yet, you may be missing valuable business opportunities. If you are on Facebook, are you getting the most out of it for your business? Recently, The Blog Squad grilled Mari Smith about why you need to be on Facebook and how to use the social networking site to be smart about building your business. Now you can get access to the audio program from the live teleseminar for an investment of only $20.

–> You’re invited to join Foundercontact
Christophe Poizat, founder and chairman of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs (INSE) has invited you to receive a free membership with Foundercontact. Foundercontact International Ltd is a web 2.0 online marketplace designed to bring entrepreneurs into contact with 3500 investors for seed, early stage, or growth capital. With members from 5 continents and 93 different countries, it opens up international business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Sign up at https://www.foundercontact.com/user/register

–> Latest Additions to the Websites–> Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.

–> Don’t forget to play our games, at the top of any page on FrugalFun.com— no fees to play, prizes to win, and you help me continue to bring all this good information to you.

Published monthly since July, 2007 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388

A lot of marketers think the one-page salesletter website is the one solution for all kinds of businesses. Other marketers believe every website should be a full-blown info-portal, with lots of links and menus. But I’m not in either camp.

I believe firmly that different products, offers, and audiences lend themselves to different approaches. In fact, in my seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, I describe seven different types of websites and suggest good situations for each.

One of those seven that you probably haven’t come across elsewhere is the “triage website”: a concept that I’m pretty sure I invented, and that’s very helpful selling the same product to different audiences (something that fits many books), or sells different products. Ironically enough, if you’re using a one-page salesletter site and driving traffic through anything other than extremely specific campaigns such as pay-per-click, it might be the perfect front end to show visitors before they get to your salesletter.

A triage website uses the home page to identify and separate different categories of visitors, and to present content that resonates with those specific people.

So, for instance, if you visit https://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com/, you’ll see some introductory text about the book industry overall, and then these choices:

• Click here if you’ve already written and published your book
• Click here if you’re a publisher of more than one author
• Click here if you have written or mostly written your book and you’re trying to figure out how to get it published and marketed
• Click here if you have an idea for a book but haven’t written it yet
• Click here to read what Dan Poynter, John Kremer, Fern Reiss, and other experts say about Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers
• Click here if you love facts and statistics and want sources for all the numbers cited in this report
• Click here if you’re ready to order

Each leads to a slightly different page, tweaked to provide maximum impact to those particular visitors.

Note that it’s helpful if the categories are at least somewhat related. I noticed that publishing guru Dan Poynter has actually moved away from a triage homepage at parapublishing.com. Previously, his home page offered four widely disparate choices: book publishing/marketing, expert witness, cat lovers, and of course, parachuting. (You can see an archived version here.) Now, the home page is about publishing, and if you know where to look (bottom of the left column) you can find links to the other sites (subsections of the main site).

I’m guessing he changed because the four topics just had too little to do with each other , creating challenges for things like search engine optimization, not to mention possible confusion. However, from a user interface point of view, the transition wasn’t all that smooth. If I were him, I’d probably set up different domains for each major area, and go through the whole site to make sure that key pages reflect the new architecture.

What’s the best kind of website to promote *your* book? You might just find the answer in Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers. And remember–if you order either that book or Principled Profit, you can currently get the original Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World (which has very little overlap witht he Grassroots for Authors and Publishers) at half price.