–> A Life-Changing $11.95 Gift for the Entrepreneurs in Your Life
A one-time deep-discount (minimum 32 percent) offer from now through December 31 that WILL NOT be repeated, ever. And the more you buy, the bigger the discount, all the way down to 77 percent, in case quantities. Your perfect chance to snap up inexpensive but extremely valuable gifts for business owners, key staff, colleagues, and customers
This may be the perfect gift for the entrepreneurs and marketers in your life, especially those who’ve been hit hard by the recession. Imagine a roadmap to business success that shows how to… (click here to continue reading)

–> Very Important: The Sustainability of My Newsletters—Please Read
Don’t panic—I’m not getting rid of the newsletters. But I *am* changing the business model. Please read on for the reasons why, the important details of what happens next, and how you can participate most effectively for your own needs.
(click here to continue reading)

–> Why Covers Matter: Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip, Nov. 09
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 http://www.midwestbookreview.com website and cheerfully gave me permission to reprint here. (click here to continue reading)

–> Hear & Meet Shel, November 2009

• If you’re a consultant or business coach or you’ve had a desire to become one, then you’ll be excited to know that tomorrow, David Frey and Elsom Eldridge are kicking off the week-long no-cost Consulting Masters Telesummit. It starts on Monday, November 16th. The interview that I contributed to this event describes how to get raving testimonials for your consulting business even if you’re just starting out.
• Environmental journalist Diane Tegarden interviews me December 8, 1 pm ET/10 a.m. ET, for her monthly 30-minute Renewable Energy Radio Show (I imagine we’ll be talking both about Painless Green on the consumer side and Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green on the business side). Listen in: 712-338-8710, PIN number 618#
• 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/

–> Friends Who Want to Help

• Eric Gruber is a true article marketing expert. He and his clients get published regularly on my websites as well as on top websites like About.com. He’s offering a very low price for his Complete A to Z Article Marketing System: 7 different ebooks and special reports that will take you by the hand and teach you step-by-step how to write your way to  profits. Check out his article system now at: http://www.broadcastyourarticles.com/shel – and the free ebook waiting for you: “How to Build Your Business with Articles in 6 Steps” — no purchase necessary!
• So you probably know that I make a good chunk of my living writing press releases and other marketing materials. But even though you’re much more likely to get press coverage with a professionally written release, not everybody can afford that (or sometimes, the deadline is too short). In those situations, it’s good to have a swipe file.  For that purpose, I’ve long been a fan of Paul Krupin’s *Trash Proof News Releases*: a tool designed with one specific goal – to get you high-ROI publicity in your target media. Use it as a model to provide the media everything they need to run with the story using you and the resources you’ve arrayed and meet their needs in today’s fast paced environment and ever changing technologies. Last time I checked, I still had a press release or two included.  Book page to download Trash Proof News Releases Smashwords edition (no cost, if I’m not mistaken):  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5921
• Join Diane Tegarden as she engages Environmental and Renewable Energy Experts for a half-hour interview on environmental problems and their solutions through Renewable Energy technologies.  On December 8th at 10am PST/11am MST/ 12 noon CST/ 1pm EST the guest will be Shel Horowitz of Principled Profit, to discuss the ins and outs of green marketing.  Listen in at 646-721-9960 or visit the show’s home page at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Diane-Tegarden
• Just for fun: A silly dictionary of publishing terms, courtesy of book distributor, publisher, and author Jacqueline Simonds: http://www.rightreading.com/publishing/publishing-glossary.htm
• Liz Lynch has an EASY, fast and effective way to build your network… online and offline: http://SmartNetworkingNow.com For starters, she has 74  networking gifts for you in a special limited time gift basket, no purchase necessary. I’ve looked at her book and it’s solid, practical advice. Yes, you can find similar wisdom scattered around the Net, but it’s nice to get it all in one place.
• Who would have thunk it? The brilliant and quirky New Zealand marketer Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics is *giving away* one of his $2500 courses! I’ve signed up for this one myself, and the link I’m giving you is not an affiliate link. I’ve learned considerably more from Sean’s freebie newsletter over the years than I have from most of the hundreds of marketing books I’ve read. Go sign up at http://www.psychotactics.com/freezone before he closes this offer (the opt-in form is waaaay at the bottom).
• Does “selling” feel like an icky, sticky, dirty word, to you? It does to a lot of people but without sales, your business will fail-leaving you feeling awful and depriving your prospects of a needed resource! Don’t let that happen to you! Listen to a replay call, “Stop Selling and Start Sharing: Learn How Your Marketing Can Be Authentic, Be Effective and Change the World!” Suzanne Evans, of Help More People, promises to “de-ick the sales conversation for you once and for all.” Visit this page to hear the replay. Since I write about similar ideas in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, I’ve very much looking forward to seeing what she has to say.
• If you’ve followed me for a long time, you know that participation in online discussion groups has been the single best marketing tool for going from a tiny shop with a small local clientele (branching out from writing resumes to doing press releases, book covers, web page copy, and the like) to being internationally known as a copywriter, book shepherd, marketing and publishing consultant, and speaker. Mohit Kumar has launched a new no-cost Internet portal, Tweble, that tracks over a million discussions online form around the world. What a cool concept! Great for tracking stories and trends you can comment on or need to know about. Oh yeah, and if you own a forum, there are some revenue-sharing possibilities in the future. If you get value out of places like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon, check out http://tweble.com/
• I’ve long been a believer in the incredible positive benefits of being a “giver”; it’s something I’ve talked about in Principled Profit and elsewhere. So I was delighted to discover a book built entirely around this concept. The book, The Power of Giving: How Giving Back Enriches Us All reveals strategies and secrets of people who possess true wealth and happiness: making the world a better place, which has the side benefit of bringing a great deal back to you-but only if your giving stems from sincerity rather than selfishness. I was also quite impressed with the authors’ philosophy – and with their commitment to give away 100% of the royalties they receive. I’ve poked into several sections of the book and have found gems all the way through. http://powerofgiving.org/paperback
• 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 on our search page – click where it says “Say Hello to Search 2.0?” and start typing your query.
• Sokule (pronounced so-cool) is a cool new Twitter-like social network offering some revenue possibilities.
• 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/

–> Media Coverage of Shel

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

–> New on the Sites, November 2009

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

Published monthly since July, 2009 by Shel Horowitz

• Eric Gruber is a true article marketing expert. He and his clients get published regularly on my websites as well as on top websites like About.com. He’s offering a very low price for his Complete A to Z Article Marketing System: 7 different ebooks and special reports that will take you by the hand and teach you step-by-step how to write your way to  profits. Check out his article system now at: http://www.broadcastyourarticles.com/shel – and the free ebook waiting for you: “How to Build Your Business with Articles in 6 Steps” — no purchase necessary!
• So you probably know that I make a good chunk of my living writing press releases and other marketing materials. But even though you’re much more likely to get press coverage with a professionally written release, not everybody can afford that (or sometimes, the deadline is too short). In those situations, it’s good to have a swipe file.  For that purpose, I’ve long been a fan of Paul Krupin’s *Trash Proof News Releases*: a tool designed with one specific goal – to get you high-ROI publicity in your target media. Use it as a model to provide the media everything they need to run with the story using you and the resources you’ve arrayed and meet their needs in today’s fast paced environment and ever changing technologies. Last time I checked, I still had a press release or two included.  Book page to download Trash Proof News Releases Smashwords edition (no cost, if I’m not mistaken):  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5921
• Join Diane Tegarden as she engages Environmental and Renewable Energy Experts for a half-hour interview on environmental problems and their solutions through Renewable Energy technologies.  On December 8th at 10am PST/11am MST/ 12 noon CST/ 1pm EST the guest will be Shel Horowitz of Principled Profit, to discuss the ins and outs of green marketing.  Listen in at 646-721-9960 or visit the show’s home page at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Diane-Tegarden
• Just for fun: A silly dictionary of publishing terms, courtesy of book distributor, publisher, and author Jacqueline Simonds: http://www.rightreading.com/publishing/publishing-glossary.htm
• Liz Lynch has an EASY, fast and effective way to build your network… online and offline: http://SmartNetworkingNow.com For starters, she has 74  networking gifts for you in a special limited time gift basket, no purchase necessary. I’ve looked at her book and it’s solid, practical advice. Yes, you can find similar wisdom scattered around the Net, but it’s nice to get it all in one place.
• Who would have thunk it? The brilliant and quirky New Zealand marketer Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics is *giving away* one of his $2500 courses! I’ve signed up for this one myself, and the link I’m giving you is not an affiliate link. I’ve learned considerably more from Sean’s freebie newsletter over the years than I have from most of the hundreds of marketing books I’ve read. Go sign up at http://www.psychotactics.com/freezone before he closes this offer (the opt-in form is waaaay at the bottom).
• Does “selling” feel like an icky, sticky, dirty word, to you? It does to a lot of people but without sales, your business will fail-leaving you feeling awful and depriving your prospects of a needed resource! Don’t let that happen to you! Listen to a replay call, “Stop Selling and Start Sharing: Learn How Your Marketing Can Be Authentic, Be Effective and Change the World!” Suzanne Evans, of Help More People, promises to “de-ick the sales conversation for you once and for all.” Visit this page to hear the replay. Since I write about similar ideas in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, I’ve very much looking forward to seeing what she has to say.
• If you’ve followed me for a long time, you know that participation in online discussion groups has been the single best marketing tool for going from a tiny shop with a small local clientele (branching out from writing resumes to doing press releases, book covers, web page copy, and the like) to being internationally known as a copywriter, book shepherd, marketing and publishing consultant, and speaker. Mohit Kumar has launched a new no-cost Internet portal, Tweble, that tracks over a million discussions online form around the world. What a cool concept! Great for tracking stories and trends you can comment on or need to know about. Oh yeah, and if you own a forum, there are some revenue-sharing possibilities in the future. If you get value out of places like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon, check out http://tweble.com/
• I’ve long been a believer in the incredible positive benefits of being a “giver”; it’s something I’ve talked about in Principled Profit and elsewhere. So I was delighted to discover a book built entirely around this concept. The book, The Power of Giving: How Giving Back Enriches Us All reveals strategies and secrets of people who possess true wealth and happiness: making the world a better place, which has the side benefit of bringing a great deal back to you-but only if your giving stems from sincerity rather than selfishness. I was also quite impressed with the authors’ philosophy – and with their commitment to give away 100% of the royalties they receive. I’ve poked into several sections of the book and have found gems all the way through. http://powerofgiving.org/paperback
• 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 on our search page – click where it says “Say Hello to Search 2.0?” and start typing your query.
• Sokule (pronounced so-cool) is a cool new Twitter-like social network offering some revenue possibilities.
• 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/

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 http://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.

–> A Life-Changing $11.95 Gift for the Entrepreneurs in Your Life
A one-time deep-discount (minimum 32 percent) offer from now through December 31 that WILL NOT be repeated, ever. And the more you buy, the bigger the discount, all the way down to 77 percent, in case quantities. Your perfect chance to snap up inexpensive but extremely valuable gifts for business owners, key staff, colleagues, and customers
This may be the perfect gift for the entrepreneurs and marketers in your life, especially those who’ve been hit hard by the recession. Imagine a roadmap to business success that shows how to… (click here to continue reading)

–> Very Important: The Sustainability of My Newsletters—Please Read
Don’t panic—I’m not getting rid of the newsletters. But I *am* changing the business model. Please read on for the reasons why, the important details of what happens next, and how you can participate most effectively for your own needs.
(click here to continue reading)

–> Positive Power Spotlight: Neighborhood Fruit/RideBuzz
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. (click here to continue reading)

–> Another Recommended Book: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
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. (click here to continue reading)

–> Hear & Meet Shel, November 2009

• If you’re a consultant or business coach or you’ve had a desire to become one, then you’ll be excited to know that tomorrow, David Frey and Elsom Eldridge are kicking off the week-long no-cost Consulting Masters Telesummit. It starts on Monday, November 16th. The interview that I contributed to this event describes how to get raving testimonials for your consulting business even if you’re just starting out.
• Environmental journalist Diane Tegarden interviews me December 8, 1 pm ET/10 a.m. ET, for her monthly 30-minute Renewable Energy Radio Show (I imagine we’ll be talking both about Painless Green on the consumer side and Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green on the business side). Listen in: 712-338-8710, PIN number 618#
• 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/

–> Friends Who Want to Help, November 2009

This post (along with about 300 other articles) is available exclusively to subscribers or to members of the Clean and Green Club. If you are a subscriber or Club member, please login at www.thecleanandgreenclub.com/members If you are not a subscriber or member, please visit www.thecleanandgreenclub.com

This post (along with about 300 other articles) is available exclusively to subscribers or to members of the Clean and Green Club. If you are a subscriber or Club member, please login at www.thecleanandgreenclub.com/members If you are not a subscriber or member, please visit www.thecleanandgreenclub.com

-> A Life-Changing $11.95 Gift for the Entrepreneurs in Your Life
A one-time deep-discount (minimum 32 percent) offer from now through December 31 that WILL NOT be repeated, ever. And the more you buy, the bigger the discount, all the way down to 77 percent, in case quantities. Your perfect chance to snap up inexpensive but extremely valuable gifts for business owners, key staff, colleagues, and customers
This may be the perfect gift for the entrepreneurs and marketers in your life, especially those who’ve been hit hard by the recession. Imagine a roadmap to business success that shows how to…
Click here to continue reading

-> Very Important: The Sustainability of My Newsletters—Please Read
Don’t panic—I’m not getting rid of the newsletters. But I *am* changing the business model. Please read on for the reasons why, the important details of what happens next, and how you can participate most effectively for your own needs.
Click here to continue reading

-> Master Classes: Shel Horowitz’s Frugal Fun Tip, November 2009
Here’s a Frugal Fun idea I hadn’t thought about until this past Monday, when I had the amazing privilege of sitting in on a master class with superstar cellist Yo Yo Ma, coaching three different teenage chamber groups.
Click here to continue reading

-> Hear & Meet Shel, November 2009

• Environmental journalist Diane Tegarden interviews me December 8, 1 pm ET/10 a.m. ET, for her monthly 30-minute Renewable Energy Radio Show (I imagine we’ll be talking both about Painless Green on the consumer side and Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green on the business side). Listen in: 712-338-8710, PIN number 618#
• 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/

-> Friends Who Want to Help, November 2009

-> A Life-Changing $11.95 Gift for the Entrepreneurs in Your Life
A one-time deep-discount (minimum 32 percent) offer from now through December 31 that WILL NOT be repeated, ever. And the more you buy, the bigger the discount, all the way down to 77 percent, in case quantities. Your perfect chance to snap up inexpensive but extremely valuable gifts for business owners, key staff, colleagues, and customers
This may be the perfect gift for the entrepreneurs and marketers in your life, especially those who’ve been hit hard by the recession. Imagine a roadmap to business success that shows how to…
Click here to continue reading

-> Very Important: The Sustainability of My Newsletters—Please Read
Don’t panic—I’m not getting rid of the newsletters. But I *am* changing the business model. Please read on for the reasons why, the important details of what happens next, and how you can participate most effectively for your own needs.
Click here to continue reading

-> Revisiting Postal Direct Mail, Part 2: Holding Down Costs: Frugal Marketing Tip, Nov. ‘09
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…
Click here to continue reading

-> Hear & Meet Shel, November 2009

• Environmental journalist Diane Tegarden interviews me December 8, 1 pm ET/10 a.m. ET, for her monthly 30-minute Renewable Energy Radio Show (I imagine we’ll be talking both about Painless Green on the consumer side and Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green on the business side). Listen in: 712-338-8710, PIN number 618#
• 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/

-> Friends Who Want to Help, November 2009