Frugal Marketing Tip, October 2009

–> Cognoscenti vs. Hoi Polloi
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… Click here to continue reading.

–> My Quandary = Your Opportunity
You might have heard that the rights to my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, got picked up by John Wiley & Sons, and it forms the basis for my eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson). The new book will include all but, I think, two chapters of Principled Profit, plus some 20-25,000 words of new material. Wiley will publish it in 2010. I’m especially proud of this because, following an e-mail introduction by one of Wiley’s business authors, I landed the deal and negotiated the contract myself. But my problem is…my contract with Wiley forces me to stop selling Principled Profit by the end of this year. And I still have quite a few left. This was a groundbreaking book when it came out–one of the only voices showing that ethical business not only made good moral sense, but good business sense as well. While there are more resources in this area than there used to be, it’s still really hard to find this sort of solid, practical advice on both the theory and the implementation, in a nice, easy-to-read format that anyone can put into practice. So I’ve got a deal for you! Want a copy for yourself? Take $5 off the original $17.50 price. Visit http://snipurl.com/kdq1j to order this remarkable book. Just visit and enter the right code:
GET5OFF – $5 off one copy
GET10OFF2 – $10 off two copies
GET15OFF3 – $15 off three copies
With any of these three coupon codes, you’ll also receive my two newest e-books free with your purchase. Get all the details here.

–> Friends Who Want to Help

  • The average online retailer converts less than 2% of visitors into customers. That leaves a lot of room for improvement. Though research shows that engaging videos can help boost conversion rates many online merchants struggle with creating effective videos. Pixability from Cambridge, MA has come up with an easy, innovative (and cost-effective!) way to produce videos that help your conversions.  Learn more: http://www.pixability.com/frugal
  • The brilliant George Kao, the best social media trainer I’ve ever encountered (and I’ve tried quite a few), is actually letting me share his slides from his fantastic presentation on September 22. If, now or in the future, you expect to be marketing on social media, and especially Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you absolutely want to spend some good focused time with these slides.  http://georgekao.com/socialslides
  • Booklets are Much Easier to Write than Books-Learn the Secrets Paulette Ensign, the Booklet Queen, is running a new teleseminar series: interviewing nine people who’ve been successful as authors of booklets. Booklet Author Success Series Paulette beleives in delivering a lot of value, and her interviews generally go well beyond the basics. This series is no exception. Among the topics: preselling thousands of copies before you write the first word, partnering effectively with charities, using the same content a gazillion different ways. The first of these calls starts today, September 15, 2 pm Eastern-but don’t fret if you missed it. She’s making recordings available.Reminder also that I’ll be speaking for Paulette Thursday evening on creative book marketing and bulk book sales; see the “Hear and Meet Shel” section
  • Tipping the Point is a quick-start guide to viral marketing, using integrity and ethics-and incorporating many examples.  In fact, there’s so much good stuff that I took the very unusual step of becoming a dealer and putting it up for download on my own cart. And let me tell you, something has to be really good for me to do that. I still can’t believe he only wants $9.95 for this!  Please click here to get your own copy, and yes, I do benefit financially (a little, anyhow) from your purchase.  http://shelhorowitz.com/go/tippingthepoint/
  • Author 101 University Rick Frishman is doing another Author101 University, Oct 30 & 31 in Las Vegas. http://snipurl.com/25r7o
  • If you’ve seen Mark Joyner’s wonderful Cashmap series, you know that he and his business partner Brad Semp, and some subject-matter experts, have created a wonderful tool for thinking differently and holistically about a whole range of stuff, from managing e-mail to healthy eating to happy marriage. Mark is offering quite a deal right now: 10 of his best Cashmaps for just a dollar, and a free month of the Cashmap program. Grab this one before his sanity returns.
  • Jim Donovan, author of several bestselling books on having a happier life (and a long-time friend and occasional co-panelist), wants you to have a happy middle-aged and elder life. He writes, “If you didn’t know when you were born, how old would you be?”  Are you ageless – full of energy and ready to go – no matter what your birth certificate says? Or does the prospect of aging leave you deeply concerned about what lies ahead?  The rest of your life can be the best of your life: http://www.BestLifeBook.com
  • Two new no-cost offerings from The Blog Squad, known for their high-content programs:
    Get the Best Out of Your Blog – Free 5-Part Video Course: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?Clk=3217930
    Quality Blog Traffic – Free Audio Program: http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?Clk=3217931
  • A Search Tool That’s Better than Google? How about one that delivers your choice of results from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Yelp, Wikipedia and various other places-and displays results before you even click? Try it yourself at http://frugalmarketing.com/search.shtml#web – click where it says “Say Hello to Search 2.0? and start typing your query. You might want to bookmark this page, which also allows you to search all of my dozen-plus sites at once and even provides tips to help you find exactly what you want in any search (people have thanked me quite a few times for this little tipsheet).
  • Judith and Jim’s “Bridging Heart and Marketing III (BH&M III) – the Soft Sell Virtual Conference,” October 8-18, online from anywhere in the world. The conference motto is “Marketing with Consciousness and Conscience.” Judith and Jim are the authors of The Heart of Marketing: Love Your Customers and They Will Love You Back, which I reviewed a few months ago at http://frugalmarketing.com/newsletters/2009/04/15/another-recommended-book-the-heart-of-marketing/ Learn more at http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3221681
  • Sokule (pronounced so-cool) is a cool new Twitter-like social network offering some revenue possibilities. Check into it at http://su.pr/ADj6Fh
  • AdWords guru Perry Marshall has a new version of his Definitive Guide. He’s one of only two people I trust for useful, actionable AdWords strategy. The 2010 edition actually has over a dozen brand new chapters covering things like the Content Network, Analytics, Quality Score, and the new interface. Prices start at $49 for the basic one-module version: http://bit.ly/5YdBJ
  • This is by far the cheapest program on how to become a #1 bestseller that I’ve ever seen. 9 audios, plus support materials and bonuses. I have not personally reviewed the material but I did look at the scope of what it covers, seems like a lot of good info. Again, I haven’t listened–just sharing the information. http://shelhorowitz.com/go/yourbestseller/
Some of the opportunities mentioned may pay commissions. If you’d like to know if a particular program is commissionable, you’re welcome to ask us.

–> Hear & Meet Shel, October 2009

  • Marc Grant interviews me about business ethics this Thursday, 11 a.m. ET. Info: media (at) mentorequitypress.com
  • Guest on Kim Smith’s Blog Talk Radio show, “Introducing Writers,” Wednesday, October 14, 8:30 pm ET/5:30 PT (book marketing). http://www.blogtalkradio.com/KimS
  • A book marketing teleseminar aimed especially for speakers: as part of her monthly membership program, Susan Levin from SpeakerServices.com interviews me on “Marketing Your Book Beyond the [speaking] Platform,” Thursday, October 29, 7 pm ET/4 p.m. PT. I exhibited at one of Susan’s life events a few years ago and I thought it was one of the best organized conferences I’ve ever been at, with top-name faculty and the most vendor-friendly attitude I’ve ever experienced (we vendors even got to attend all the sessions as part of our sign-up fee).
  • Negotiating with meeting planners in Africa for January, Switzerland for February. Nothing definite. If you have a lead on a paying gig in or near Switzerland, I would pay a nice commission if it materializes.
  • March 24, I’m doing a teleseminar for Stacy Karacostas: stacy (at) success-stream.com
  • April 25, I’ll be speaking on collaborating with a co-author at the American Society of Journalists and Authors conference in New York. http://asja.org/wc/2010/

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

–> New on the Sites, October 2009

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

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Note: As is the case for most professional reviewers, many of the books I review on this site have been provided by the publisher or author, at no cost to me. I've also reviewed books that I bought, because they were worthy of your time. And I've also received dozens of review copies at no charge that do not get reviewed, either because they are not worthy or because they don't meet the subject criteria for this column, or simply because I haven't gotten around to them yet, since I only review one book per month. I have far more books in my office than I will ever read, and the receipt of a free book does not affect my review.