Here are all the URLs for this issue. Ah, how I miss the days when e-mail actually worked.

I FORGOT TO PUT THIS ONE IN THE E-MAIL VERSION: If you’d like to save money on PMA-U (formerly known as Publishers Marketing Association University),  register in March to save over $100 on the early bird rate. And use this link and code to take an extra $50 off the price. This seminar immediately preceding Book Expo America (May 27-29)  is a powerful learning experience for independent publishers. I’m not teaching this year but I will be attending (the Wednesday advanced track) and taking plenty of notes. Class descriptions at http://www.pma-online.org/pmau/2008/template.aspx.
Register at
http://www.pma-online.org/pmau/2008/registration.aspx.  Use Discount Code
PMAPU08 to save $50. Info: 310-372-2732, e-mail: info@pma-online.org

–> A Rare and Special Treat: Your Chance to Learn in a Small Group with the Inventor of Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson–On the French Riviera

–> This Month’s Tip: Selling Books in Strange Places
Venues that you might not have thought about may be very successful.

–> A No-Cost Way to Connect with Reports 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. 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

–>Friends Who Want to Give You Stuff
This link contains seven giveaways (three around frugal fun, four concerning frugal marketing), several of them time-sensitive\. Even if you usually ignore that part of the newsletter, I strongly recommend you look this batch over. Note to subscribers of Frugal Fun and Frugal Marketing Tips: a few changes since your newsletter was published
http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/2008/03/05/friends-and-colleagues-who-want-to-give-you-stuff/

–> Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?
http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/2007/06/18/shels-award-winning-books-which-should-you-own/

–> Mark Joyner: Conversations with Bestsellers
This one you have to pay for. Internet marketing genius/bestselling author/philosopher of abundance and social change Mark Joyner has released a set of audio conversations with other bestselling authors on how to become one. Includes transcripts and various cool bonuses. http://snipurl.com/21s4r (yes, this is an affiliate link)

–> Hear and Meet Shel
http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/2008/01/06/hearmeet-shel-january-to-may-2008/

–> Latest Additions to the Websites
http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/2008/03/05/new-on-the-sites-march-2008/

–> Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.
http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/administrative-information

Published monthly since September, 2003 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388
http://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com

http://www.frugalmarketing.com/shop.shtml

Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip of the Month

With a book about traveling around Mexico in an old VW van, Rich Ligato’s choices of venues may be different from yours. But whatever kind of book you sell, there will be perfect places to sell it–places that have nothing to do with bookstores or websites. Use your creativity, and some of Rich’s techniques.

For lots more creative book marketing ideas, I recommend my own Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers–click here to learn about it.

–Shel Horowitz

Guest Tip By Rich Ligato

We have had the greatest success at unusual events. Our book is a
travel narrative about our three year journey in a VW campervan and
we’ve sold at…

Grape Stomp / Wine Tasting: One weekend, we set up at a the
Julian Grape Stomp and sold 20 books. Drunk people make great customers.

Art Nights: Here in San Diego we have two different “Art Walks” where
local galleries serve finger food and wine to attract buyers. We
simply set up a table next to our van and sold 25 books. The art was
so expensive yet everyone wanted to go home with something.

Farmers Markets: Our local farmers markets charge $20-25. We always
sell between 15-20 books. We secured local radio, tv, newspaper and
magazine interviews at our farmers market. The farmers markets
offer the perfect opportunity to practice sound bites. When the
interviewers asked questions we were practiced and ready with a short,
interesting, funny answer.

Car Shows: Our local car show allows anyone to set up and show off
their car for free. Nobody seemed to mind that we were selling books too.

Travel Club Meeting: We set up at the Discover Baja Travel Club and
sold a bunch of books.

The best thing about these venues is that we get to keep the entire
purchase price. At bookstores signings you generally have to give
them 40-50%. The most important thing is that you put yourself out
there. At first it is uncomfortable. Before you know it…it will be
fun.

Oh, and we always ask the buyer if they would like us to sign their
copy. It’s amazing how the simple act of signing a book causes others
to think “I’ve got to get one too.” We will go for an hour without
selling a book then suddenly someone will purchase one, we’ll make a
big deal of signing it, and the frenzy is on. We’ll sell a pile in 10
minutes.

Rich Ligato
www.vwvagabonds.com

Something very special: Jay Conrad Levinson, the man who gave us both the Guerrilla Marketing series and the Marlboro Man, is doing a seminar on the French Riviera, May 24 & 25, 2008, and there are only 79 seats, total.

“Jay Conrad Levinson had coffee with me in 1983 and it changed my life forever. Jay has forgotten
more about effective marketing techniques than most of us will ever know. He’s the man.”
– Seth Godin, best-selling author of Permission Marketing and Unleashing the Ideavirus.

Jay is sharing the program with a couple of other marketing legends, among them Mitch Meyerson, Monroe Mann and Alexandru Israil (who is apparently an Internet marketing legend in Europe), plus there are $847 worth of goodies for attenders.Organizer Christophe Poizat, whom I’ve been networking with since December, has allowed me to offer some special pricing, on a limited basis:

• Code Savings Number available
• xgmcp999 —> 50.00% discount –> 1 Ticket
• xgmcp998 —> 30.00% discount –> 5 Tickets
• xgmcp997 —> 20.00% discount –> 10 Tickets
• xgmcp996 —> 10.00% discount –> 20 Tickets

Use whichever discount code gives you the best price still available.

To register, or to learn more about the speakers, etc., please click here. (Yes, it’s an affiliate link)

Vol. 5, #7

–> Positive Power Spotlight: Herman Miller

–> Friends Who Want to Give You Stuff
This link contains eight giveaways (three around frugal fun, five concerning frugal marketing), *several of them time-sensitive*. Even if you usually ignore that part of the newsletter, I strongly recommend you look this batch over. Note to subscribers of Frugal Fun and Frugal marketing Tips: a few changes since your newsletter was published

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

–> Another Recommended Book: Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships that Strengthen Your Community, by Laury Hammel and Gun Denhart

–> Mark Joyner: Conversations with Bestsellers
This one you have to pay for. Internet marketing genius/bestselling author/philosopher of abundance and social change Mark Joyner has released a set of audio conversations with other bestselling authors on how to become one. Includes transcripts and various cool bonuses.   (yes, this is an affiliate link)

–> Hear and Meet Shel

–> Latest Additions to the Websites

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

Published monthly since September, 2003 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388

By Shel Horowitz

How many companies did their first environmental impact report in 1953?

That’s when the well-known office furniture company Herman Miller began reporting its environmental progress. The 100-year-old company came to my attention through an article by CEO Brian C. Walker in Harvard Business Review, on Greening the Supply Chain. And this is remarkable in itself; while most companies are just beginning to grapple with sustainable measures within their own confines, Herman Miller has not only made a huge effort to get its vendors –both domestic and international–in line, but is teaching other companies.

Going to the company’s website, I see good links on the home page:
What we believe (with eight subsections, some of which have another layer as well)
The environment (11 subsections, including Green buildings, cradle-to-cradle and LEED certification, and even a recommended reading list!), and diversity, among others.

The environmental section notes,

Our values are the basis for Herman Miller’s corporate community. One of the nine things that matter most to us is called “A Better World.” For us, contributing to a better world takes many forms–environmental advocacy, volunteering time and contributing to nonprofit groups, acting as a good corporate citizen.

It also lists nine separate corporate teams involved in Herman Miller’s environmental responsibility activities.

In his follow-up comments (same URL), Walker points out that he and several competitors have joined forces with the Michigan Department of Corrections to train inmates in a furniture component recycling pilot program, and is looking at technology to better monitor chemical content, and to replace more toxic materials like PVC with more environmentally friendly alternatives.

For more business ethics and sustainability success stories, please see Shels award-winning book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First

Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships that Strengthen Your Community, by Laury Hammel and Gun Denhart
Reviewed by Shel Horowitz (Berrett-Koehler, 2007)

Another wonderful title in Berrett-Koehler’s Social Venture Network series, Growing Local Value profiles a number of successful companies who see themselves as partners witht heir communities–and shows how these businesses can market successfully by distinguishing themselves from faceless corporate competition. Examples: An independent bookseller in Utah who says, “the real pleasure in bookselling comes in pairing the right book with the right person”…a San Francisco chain of boutique hotels, restaurants and day spas where each unit provides a completely different experience, and where a “hotel matchmaker” channels guests into the facility that best matches their tastes: concerning itself with “creating wonderful dreams” rather than providing a mere place to sleep…a large bakery that provides jobs to people formerly seen as unemployable (and got the contract to supply Ben & Jerry’s, probably as a direct result of this social commitment), and does so in such a way that the company is protected, and the employees can get away from the poverty, prison, and drug problems of their pasts…a garden supply company that helped revitalize the blighted neighborhood it called home.

All of these, and most of the other numerous examples in the book, were good for the community AND highly profitable.

Different chapters look at

• Putting the customer and community first
• Financing without compromising values
• Making employees into partners
• Partnering with other local businesses, government entities, and nonprofits (separate chapters)
• My favorite chapter, on turning sustainable principles into competitive advantages (which I also talk about in my own award-winning book, Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First)

Vol. 11, #10

This Month’s Frugal Marketing Tip: Marketing on Web 2.0 Sites, Part 1: Why Participate in Social Networking?

This Month’s Frugal Fun Tip: Art for Pennies a Picture, Part Two: How to Get Art Books Affordably

Friends Who Want to Give You Stuff
This link contains eight giveaways (three around frugal fun, five concerning frugal marketing), *several of them time-sensitive*. Even if you usually ignore that part of the newsletter, I strongly recommend you look this batch over.

Which of Shel’s Books is Right for You?

Hear and Meet Shel

Latest Additions to the Websites

Administrative Information
Subscribe, unsubscribe, back issues, etc.

Published monthly since May, 1997 by Shel Horowitz
16 Barstow Lane, Hadley, MA 01035 USA
413/586-2388