-> 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)

-> This Month’s Tip: Website Models for Writers, Part 1: Shel Horowitz’s Book Marketing Tip, Dec. ‘09
For authors and publishers, certain ways to structure a website make particular sense. Lets explore six different models (three this month, and three next month): Resource sites, author sites, publisher or series sites, buy-my-book sites, blog sites, and salesletter sites.
(click here to continue reading)

-> Hear & Meet Shel, December 2009

Some of the opportunities mentioned pay a commission to Shel. Shel maintains high quality standards for mention in this column, and has either personally vetted the product, experienced previous products of top quality from the provider, or mentions in the write-up that he hasn’t seen it. Many products get turned down if they don’t meet these criteria. If you’d like to know if a particular program is commissionable, you’re welcome to ask us.

–> Media Coverage of Shel

Reminder: last three days to pick up your deep-discount copies of Principled Profit, and then they’re gone forever.  Buy cases at just $4 per book, single copies at $11.95. We sold quite a few at $17.50, so this is a great deal.

-> 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)

Some of the opportunities mentioned pay a commission to Shel. Shel maintains high quality standards for mention in this column, and has either personally vetted the product, experienced previous products of top quality from the provider, or mentions in the write-up that he hasn’t seen it. Many products get turned down if they don’t meet these criteria. If you’d like to know if a particular program is commissionable, you’re welcome to ask us.

–> Media Coverage of Shel

Some exciting things! I’ll be speaking at ForumDavos, Davos, Switzerland in February…Clean and Green Club is ready to launch and you can be a charter member…this is the final month of the sale on Principled Profit, with prices as low as $2.50 book in quantity.

-> 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)

Some of the opportunities mentioned pay a commission to Shel. Shel maintains high quality standards for mention in this column, and has either personally vetted the product, experienced previous products of top quality from the provider, or mentions in the write-up that he hasn’t seen it. Many products get turned down if they don’t meet these criteria. If you’d like to know if a particular program is commissionable, you’re welcome to ask us.

–> Media Coverage of Shel

For authors and publishers, certain ways to structure a website make particular sense. Lets explore six different models (three this month, and three next month): Resource sites, author sites, publisher or series sites, buy-my-book sites, blog sites, and salesletter sites.

Common Elements

For the first four of these six, certain common elements could be:

•            A navigation mechanism

•            Pages that create interest in your book(s) and/or you as the author

•            Pages that market the author to the media and to meeting planners, schools, bookstores and libraries

•            Pages that market your book to resellers

•            Materials that others can freely use on their own websites, e-newsletters, and print publications (thus spreading you to new audiences)

•            A blog that you can update on your own, at any time (some whole sites are nothing but a blog; see the fifth model)

•            Schedule of appearances (if you can keep it current—personally, I find it easier to do this in my newsletters)

•            Archive of past newsletters

•            Some way of keeping in touch with visitors

•            Feedback mechanisms: contact information and forms, order forms, comment pages, etc. (Warning: Never put your e-mail address as a text link on your website; the spam robots will collect it and you’ll be sorry! I recommend web-based contact forms)

•            Links to other relevant websites

•            A site-wide search tool (Google has a particularly nice one, and it’s free)

Let’s look more closely at the pages that generate interest in you and your book; they should offer…

• Solid information that will save or earn the reader money, solve a problem, learn a new skill, address a pressing desire (e.g., lose weight, find a mate, de-stress), shed light on historical or current events, etc.
• Excellent entertainment
• A brush with celebrity

Resource Sites

When people search on the Web, they’re typically looking for specific information about a topic. If they find your site while they’re searching, you hope the high-quality information you provide will convince them to buy—or at least sign up for your newsletter so you can sell to them later.

To set up this type of site, create a few dozen pages on your topic. These are fun sites to do and easy to gain traffic but they can get out of hand pretty quickly, because there’s so much good stuff out there.

You can see examples at <http://www.frugalfun.com > (my site on having fun cheaply, with arts and travel magazines and frugality resources—which gets at least 50,000 visits every month these days) and <http://www.frugalmarketing.com> (my general business site). Both of these sites actively promote my books but also attract a lot of traffic that will never buy, because they just want the specific information they came for

Author Sites

A site to promote your ” brand” as an author. It should let readers get a sense that they know you personally, as well as, of course, introduce them to your various books. It may or may not have a direct-selling component.

This kind of site is also an ideal place to set up a fan club.

My wife’s site at <http://www.ddinafriedman.com> is one of these

Publisher or Series Sites

Similar to the author site, but promoting the book series or entire publisher line. Typically, these present a catalog page, with tiny book covers and brief descriptions; when you click on the cover or description, you get much deeper information about the book.

Condensed from a much more in-depth section in Shel Horowitz’s seventh book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers.

• I speak at the two-day Forum Davos conference in Davos, Switzerland, February 9: “Communicate the Value in Your Values and Turn it Into Sales: Effectively Marketing Your Social/Environmental Commitment” (this is the same hall and just after the world-famous Davos World Economic Forum, where people like Bill Clinton speak–I’m extremely excited).
• Wednesday, February 24, 5 pm, I’ll be exhibiting my new book and other goodies at the Amherst-Area Chamber’s Buy Local Expo. Somewhere within ten miles of Amherst, MA.
• I’m attending Ryan Lee’s Continuity Summit, March 4-6 in Stamford, CT, http://www.ryanlee.com/rsvp/. He’s not even charging for the seminar, though of course, you’re on your own with lodging. Last year’s conference was excellent, although a bit high-pressure for my taste.
• March 24, I’m doing a teleseminar for Stacy Karacostas on Green and ethical business success: 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/
• May 8, I’ll be speaking once again on book marketing at CAPA University in Hartford, CT (also in negotiation to speak at both IBPA-U and Book Expo America later that month)
• Pioneer Valley Book Launch Event for Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet, Broadside Books, Northampton, MA, 7 pm, Tuesday, January 26.
• Monday, February 22nd at 9:00 pm ET, 6 pm PT, I’ll be leading another teleclass for Hilton Johnson’s organization (which means, once again, you’ll be getting notices about his health coaching and about the other speakers booked that month, which include T. Harv Ecker). This time, my topic is “Create Value from Your Values.”

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
• 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.
• Bhavin Patel is a student of many of the classic masters of wealth-building. He’s put together an anthology of good business practices for recessionary times called “Cure the Crunch – Business Big Shots Reveal the Secrets of Small Business Success During a Recession!” This book includes an essay from me. One of the things he’s doing, for which I’m a BIG advocate, is including a charity component: during the launch, he’s giving one British pound (about two dollars) from every sale to Kiva.org, a microlending organization that funds village sustainability in developing countries. And if you’re new to the whole marketing thing and want to pick up some of the classics, his package of 12 bonuses includes several must-reads for any entrepreneur:  Classics from T. Harv Ecker, James Allen, Napoleon Hill…a veritable library of success wisdom from the past hundred years. I’m proud that Bhavin considers my report, “Five Ways to Increase Profitability by Doing The Right Thing,” worthy enough to include with this collection as one of his 12 bonuses.  http://bit.ly/Cure-shel-Launch
• Feeling stuck when you call prospects and can’t get past the gatekeepers? Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” wants to help. She’s offering a call *This Thursday,* called How to Bypass Gatekeepers and Voice Mail to Reach Your Prospect Directly. Cost is $79–and if you get even two or three new clients from her techniques, that’ll be money well spent (yes, there is a recording if you can’t make it). http://tinyurl.com/y89t6ja
• Dan Janal from PR Leads has worked out a short-term deal with PR Web, to post a press release for just $150 instead of $200–has to go out by the end of January, so don’t wait too long to contact him, dan (at) prleads.com or Twitter: @prleads
• The always-very-cool Kathleen Gage has launched “Street Smarts Marketing   Membership Program: A  Step-By-Step, 52-Week Training Program For Starting And Running A Successful  Six Figure a Year Online Business,” a one-year monthly membership program focused on Internet marketing strategies and passive income generation at a very reasonable price. http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?Clk=3434337
• Of course, if you’d rather have a membership program focused on Green and ethical success strategies, I recommend my own Clean and Green Club, http://thecleanandgreenclub.com/

Some of the opportunities mentioned pay a commission to Shel. Shel maintains high quality standards for mention in this column, and has either personally vetted the product, experienced previous products of top quality from the provider, or mentions in the write-up that he hasn’t seen it. Many products get turned down if they don’t meet these criteria. If you’d like to know if a particular program is commissionable, you’re welcome to ask us.

Here in New England, and in much of the Northern Hemisphere, we’re heading into winter: a cold, dark time of cocooning, staying at home a good deal more, looking for antidotes to cabin fever. Short days and below-freezing temperatures keep us at home a lot more, and it’s easy to get restless.

What better time to trot out a tradition as old as humanity itself: storytelling. For tens of thousands of years, people have been educated and entertained, have kept their culture alive and passed it to heir children, by telling stories in the dark, cold nights.

Today, we no longer have to rely on shamans and griots to tell those stories. Our memories are no longer entrusted solely to the fragile and fickle oral repositories.

We have books. And audio books. And professional storytellers who give concerts. A fabulous 5000-year tradition of poetry, drama, and fiction, of memoir, of narrative prose. And of course, we have e-mailed jokes and Youtube videos and even events like the 30 Poems in 30 Days challenge just completed in Northampton, Massachusetts (which raised over $8000 for a literacy group, by the way).

Even better, we don’t need to build a fire. Electric light makes this effortless.

Yet we, as a culture, have largely forgotten the oral tradition. This month, I urge you to rediscover it. Reading aloud is a whole lot easier than keeping the memories of past generations in your head. You don’t have to create the material, just share it out loud.

My wife and I have had an on-again, off-again tradition of reading to each other. We’ve done entire Shakespeare plays, a poem a day from one of the many poetry books on our shelves, some of our own work, ethnic folktales, even jokes. On long car trips, we tend to do audiobooks (my favorite so far is Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, which we’ve listened to twice as we drove from Massachusetts to the Midwest and back, a few years apart. The Orson Welles Les Miserables from the 1930s is another favorite.) It definitely makes the winter go by faster.

Enjoy!

Down to Business Magazine

• Where else will you find… “As my boat sank into the Zambezi”
• Improving Customer Experiences – Is It Still Important Or Is Price The Only Thing That Matters?
• The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing
• Sales Lessons From The CEO Of 6th Fastest Growing Company
• The Business Bookshelf
• Only Losers Cut Their Prices

Global Travel Review

• Krakow 101:  Food and Architecture
• Three Days in Northern Morocco
• Return to Andalucia After 17 Years
• The Travel Bookshelf

Global Arts Review

• The Theatre Review

Frugal & Fashionable Living

• Google Is More Than Just a Search Engine
• Your Words Have Power–Choose Them Carefully
• Elegant Christmas Dinner on a Dime

Ethics Articles

• Saying Thanks is Good Marketing

Good Business Blog

• Green Press Initiative Reports Publishers with 50% of US Market Now Have Environmental Commitments
• Are Kids Really More Prone to Lie than Previously
• Ben Franklin: Genius and Contradictions
• Obama, International Communication, and the Need to Organize
• Palin’s Book Trashes Alaska Republican Former Ally: “The Falafel Lady”
• FAIR: Interlocking Directorates Could Influence Media Reportage on Healthcare
• World Wildlife Fund Teleseminar on Climate Change/Corporate Partnerships
• A New Low in Anti-Obama/Anti-Muslim Propaganda?
• Breaking: No Vote to be Taken on Medicare-for-All
• Social Responsibility: A Global Virtual Summit–Q&A with John Gerstner/Discount Offer