Is green business doing enough?

Here's an interesting interview with Joel Makower that explores the new report on “The State of Green Business 2008” is just out from GreenBiz.com.

here's some of the questions they ask Joel.

Click the link to read the whole article . . .

http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi?sfArticleId=2462

Bill Baue: The report seems to reach two seemingly contradictory conclusions: pessimistic optimism or, more precisely, optimistic realism. On the one hand, you say that green business has passed the tipping point on many indicators you consider, shifting from a movement to a market. On the other hand, the positive changes seem woefully inadequate to the crises that we face, like climate change and water scarcity. Say more about this tension between the positive growth of green business and the daunting task at hand.

Francesca Rheannon: The stock markets have been incredibly roiled lately. There are fears of a recession, perhaps even of a depression. Could this throw a monkey wrench into the kind of positive developments you're talking about?

BB: You say that "while carbon intensity represents improvement of sorts, it also obscures the fact that overall carbon emissions need to decrease significantly, not grow more slowly, in order to avoid what a consensus of scientists predict will be the worst impacts of climate change. According to many scientists, greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease 80% by 2050. At current rates, the US will never get there." That is a really dire prediction. Can you talk about the problem that carbon intensity creates for creating environmental solutions?

BB: Describe the impetus behind creating the Green Index and what impact you intend on green business practices.

BB: Explain the rating system that you created: “swimming”, “treading water” and “sinking”. How did you come up with that rating system and what are the implications in terms of where we are right now and where we're heading?

BB: The report also includes what you consider the ten biggest stories from 2007. What are a few of the big stories to take away from 2007?

FR: There's the issue of green washing and green marketing. On your blog and podcast you covered the report, The Six Sins of Greenwashing, by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. Could you discuss the tension between greenwashing and bona fide green marketing?

BB: Recently, Bob Langert of MacDonald’s posited a list of the “Six Sins of Greenmuting” — when companies choose not to communicate their green initiatives for fear of being accused of greenwashing. What are your thoughts about that?

BB: You mentioned Clorox earlier, and they just bought out Burt’s Bees. Can you talk about what Clorox is doing in greening their business?

Going It Alone

An article I think you'd like:

Going It Alone

In a recent poll by Small Business Guru, 66 percent of small business owners said they were not involved in any sort of peer group. It’s all too easy for small business owners to feel isolated.

http://biznik.com/learn/articles/business-networking/going-it-alone

16 Key Irresistible Offer Making Questions

1. What’s the product or service or special promotion you’re offering (in plain english)? If it’s a service - how many sessions and how long will each one run? If it’s a product - how many, how big etc?

2. How much does it cost?

3. Who is the target market (if any) you’re trying to reach?

4. What are the major problems this product or service solves? What happens that makes them start to think about buying what you sell?

5. What is the major result/benefit/outcome that this product or service gives?

6. What is most important to your target market when buying the type of thing you sell? In terms of the product/service - but also the process they have to go through to buy it. What do they want and what don’t they want (again - not just in buying from you but in terms of buying from your industry - buying the kind of thing that you sell)?

7. What do you do to give your clients what they want (see answers to the above question)? What are your standards, policies, procedures and processes you use to maintain a level of excellence in what you do? We often assume far too much here. Tell me all the details, all the lengths you go to.

8. Is there any evidence you can show to prove all of this?

9. What are the common frustrations, annoyances and hassles people have when buying the kind of thing that they sell? What are the horror stories people have about dealing with your industry?

10. What are the 5 biggest risks that people perceive about doing business with people like you? Are they afraid they’ll look stupid? people will laugh at them? that it won’t work? That you’re a cult? This is the time to get real and honestly assess what fears (realistic or based on myths) might stop someone from taking the step to do business with you.

11. What are the values that you seek to embody as a business? Prove to me that you’re in this for more than the money. Where do you go above and beyond to live your green, ethical, spiritual or community based values? Why should I feel good about myself for doing business with you? Be specific. Do you manufacture or sell sustainable products or services? Do you give preference to suppliers that create positive social and environmental benefits (e.g. local companies, certified organic ingredients, fair trade partnerships, ethical manufacturing, renewable energy), demonstrate a commitment to responsible business practices (e.g. pay employees a living wage, donate a percentage of profits to local charities, minimize environmental impact)? Are you concerned with employee safety, work/life balance and development (e.g. Living wage, benefit programs, telecommuting)? Do you affirm a mission that includes sustainability? Do you wish to educate the public about the economic, social and/or environmental impact their choices have?

12. What is it that you think most people don’t see or appreciate about your business that you wish they did? What are the tiny details they don’t get to see? What’s the extra effort you’ve put in that seems to go unnoticed?

13. What do they need to know (see or hear) in order to feel confident that they making a good decision when buying what you sell? If your best friend in Australia was buying what you sold - and couldn’t get it from you - what would you tell them to look for to protect them from an unpleasant buying experience? What questions would you have them ask? What are the telltale signs of an excellent or a very bad business in your industry? What criteria should they use to determine whether what they’re about to buy is of good value?

14. What else is it that makes it so irresistible? Why is it more than worth the money? What makes it better than the competition to your clients? What’s so different about it? How do you give them what they want but not what they don’t want? I want you to convince me, make your case, show me the evidence, tell me a story etc. Help me understand why I would want to pay you my hard earned money for this.

15. What are the three best testimonials you can send me for this offer?

16. What are the three best one paragraph long stories or case-studies you could provide for this offer?

The 10 Biggest Offer Blunders

Why don’t other people love your business as much as you do?

Why don’t you get the kind of response you’d like to your emails, ads or mailings?

Why do you get only mild interest or blank looks from people when they ask you what you do?


I want to make two bold claims. Here’s the first:


As it stands right now, your offer is - almost certainly - resistible. It’s easy to say ‘no’ to. When you tell people in your target market what you do, when you place ads or try to market your services - you’re met with either confusion, blank faces, mild (read: polite) interest, ‘That’s nice,” followed by a change of topic or . . . absolutely no response at all.


Here’s the second:


Radically (not moderately) improving the irresistibility of your offers is the simplest and most powerful action you can take to grow your business - pretty much at any pace you want. Literally like a faucet you can turn on or off at will.


That sounds like hype.

And of course there’s more to it.

Having an offer won’t do everything.

You still need to know where to find your target market.

And you still need to have a plan on how exactly you plan to introduce your offer to them.

It’s important to make sure you have the business systems in place to make sure you can consistently deliver on what you promise.

You still need to think about the mechanisms, incentives and excuses to make it easy (and desirable) for people to talk about what you do.

All true - but consider this:

What good is it to know where to find your target market if you have nothing to offer them. Or - more to the point - nothing they are excited to buy?

How can you possibly create a strategy around introducing your offer - when the offer isn’t that good?

What’s the point of creating some really whizbang word of mouth strategy if all it’s going to do is let people know that what you’re offering is actually pretty mediocre?

But let’s go back to the first . . .


People just aren’t that excited about what you have to offer. Let me tell you exactly why your offer hasn’t been pulling even a fraction of the response you secretly know it could.


You don’t want confused faces when you tell people what you do.

You don’t want polite interest.

No, you want them to say, “Hell yeah!” or “Wow! How do I get one?”

Your offer must - at the very least - get their attention and engage them to want to know more. It must at least strike the chord of relevance.

Your offer must be crystal clear. It must give easily understandable answers to the following questions:

1. What are you offering me? (in plain english)

2. What’s the return on investment (ROI)? If I give you my hard earned money - what do I get back? Why is this worth it to me?

I’d be willing to be that you aren’t answering these questions as well as you might think you are.

In fact, let me tell you the logical reasons why people aren’t as excited about your offer as you wish they were. There’s 10 likely culprits to the disinterest you’re getting from the marketplace. I think they’ll make a lot of sense to you.

Big picture: It’s because there are certain core elements of your offer that aren’t ‘right’. You can look for all the bells and whistles and fancy new marketing tactics but - at the end of the day - if you’re missing these things your offer is much more likely to fail.

In fact, if you are suffering from too many of the following the problem may not be that you have a ‘bad’ offer - but that you have NO offer.


The 10 Biggest Offer Blunders


1. Unclear or Non-Existent Target Market: I’d say that I see this in about 90% of the cases of resistible, moribund offers. When I ask “who is this for?” I get answer that translates as “everyone. this product/service can help everyone.” But targeting everyone doesn’t work. You can’t do it. When you narrow your focus to just the communities you most love and are best able to helps you will be shocked at how the floodgates of creativity open up. You will find yourself in a place to create offers that pull many times the response of our current ‘do-nothing’ offers.

2. No clear problem being solved. This is directly related to #1. Your inability to articulate - with crystal clarity and profound empathy - the experience, problems and needs of the person your marketing too stops everything dead in its tracks. The first filter that your product and service has to make it through is the filter of relevance. People look at everything product or service and silently ask themselves, “can this help someone like me?” And if they don’t get an immediate answer of yes - the game is over - no matter how great your product is. Hard but true. They must see themselves in the product. It must be immediately apparent - with no need for guess work - that this can help them with a problem they are currently experiencing.

3. No clear results being promised. This is the flip side or mirror image of #2. You can’t just give empathy for the problem they experience - you need to paint a picture of what life would be like without the problem. You need to tell them exactly what sorts of results, benefits or changes this product will bring. You need to articulate the experience they’ll have once they own it. Most businesses don’t do this - instead, they drone on ad nauseum about how great they are.

4. Wrong Package: If you’re really clear about the three above (and I can tell you that you probably aren’t even if you think you are) and there’s no response still - then it could be a few things - almost certainly you haven’t identified the right mix of products and services. If you have a core product and service - that product or service can be made far more relevant by choosing a target market and far more valuable by adding other products and services to it. It can be made more valuable by thinking through the whole experience people will have with you from booking the appointment to the appointment itself to them leaving. From them buying the product to using it. With a few simple tweaks and additions your offer can likely be twice as attractive. What to add? What to tweak? This depends 100% on who your target market is and what problems they’re dealing with.

5. Wrong articulation: To correct that - people just aren’t that excited about what they understand of what you’re offering. You’re using a lot of confusing jargon. You’re speaking in platitudes.

6. Too much too soon: You’re trying to sell them on the whole farm on their first visit. You aren’t taking the time to build a relationship. It’s as if they come into your ice cream shop and ask to try a taste of the pistachio gelato and you try to sell them a quadruple scoop waffle cone. You haven’t thought through you marketing strategy from meeting to buying.

7. Selling your methodology before promising a result: When people ask what you do - what do you tell them? What is it that you highlight in your ads or on your website? For most people it’s their company name and logo. This is the first thing that people see. Hard truth moment: no one cares. But the next place a lot of people go to is straight to how they do what they do. The classic example is someone at a cocktail party saying, “Oh, I do a unique combination of trager, shiatsu, the reconnection, quantum healing and rebirthing.” Eyes glaze over. Awkward silence ensues. No business occurs. What just happened? They jumped to far ahead. People don’t actually care how you do what you do until they know what you do and who you do it for. I don’t tell people, “I do workshops and one on one consulting.” That’s how I do my work - but it’s not what I do. What do I do? I work with green, community minded and holistic entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow and not attracting enough clients and what I help them do is to craft strategies that allow them to attract more of the kinds of clients they’re looking for.

8. No empathy for or understanding of ‘industry frustrations’: In every industry there are certain things that piss people off. Cell phones? The way they lock you into unbreakable contracts. Plumbers? The show up late, don’t fix it right the first time and charge you more than the initial quote. Web designers? You always have to go to them to make updates on our site, which they charge you for, and you have to wait til they get around to it. Make sense? The point is that it’s not just one company that does these things. It’s the whole industry. And here’s the golden question - do you know what these are for your industry?

9. Not understanding why people are really buying what you’re selling and not speaking directly to those needs and desires: This one is shockingly difficult to wrap one’s mind around. We spend years becoming experts in articulating the features and benefits of our products and services - but we’re still novices at articulating the experiences, problems and needs of our target market. Remember, they aren’t buying your product per se. In their minds, they’re buying relief from pain. They’re buying a solution to a problem. But what is that problem or pain? Can you articulate it better than they can?

10. No case being made: credibility. It’s not enough to make wonderful, huge claims about what you can do. You must be seen as a credible source of the solution they need. They must trust that you can produce the results you say you can. You must, in short, make your case before the jury of your target market. You must show them the steps you would take them through, give them evidence (e.g. testimonials, case studies, certifications, articles written etc). Without credibility - they will not buy. Period.


Before you add any bells and whistles you must have your core information figured out. You must know what it is that you’re offering to whom - and why exactly they would find it irresistible.

Six Sins of Greenwashing

Do you know that your competitors aren't as green as they SAY they are?

Are they misleading the public?

Sure they are.

A lot of big companies are.

Arm yourself with this information on the 6 major types of greenwashing. To get it - just click on the link below.


http://www.terrachoice.com/files/6_sins.pdf

Traditional Sales is A Cult

Hey there,

One of the most brilliant people I've ever met is Ari Galper.

He's the only person I've ever known to so powerfully articulate the notion of removing pressure from sales (and to point out that pressure is THE problem in sales).

Read these words from his blog (and then go read the whole article) . . .

Dear friend,

During my teen years, my father who is a Psychologist, dedicated a few years of his career as a specialist helping parents get their adult children back from being brainwashed into cults.

He was one of a handful of experts who was skilled at “deprograming” these cult members and helping them transition back into a normal family environment.

I remember in vivid detail the amount of emotional energy my dad put into helping the parents of these kids (I call them kids, because their parents always talked about them as their children) cope with the dysfunction caused by the powerful “pull” that these cults had on their members.

My dad would spend hours, sometimes around the clock, helping these people break loose from the mantras and destructive thinking that was preached by their cult leaders.

As you can only imagine, it was a gut wrenching experience for these parents to see their kids lose themselves into a group that teaches breaking away from the people who care about them most.

Well, one thing my dad used to tell me, was that these cult leaders would indoctrinate their members with the same mantras and messages that have appealed to members in the past year after year.

Same messages, same thinking, same results, year after year, without awareness of the harm that it does to others.

The uncanny thing about all this, is that I see myself in very much the same role as him -- helping people who sell, that have been “indoctrinated” into old school sales thinking, break away from the same messages and old thinking that disconnects them – not from those who care about them – but from themselves.

You see, many of the old and newer sales “gurus” continue to pitch these same tired dictums: “Go for the close”, “Rejection is a normal part of selling you have to accept” , and “If you’re pitch isn’t working, it’s YOUR fault and you aren’t cut out for sales.”

And that type of thinking is what creates a wedge between how you’re “supposed” to communicate with a prospect and how you normally communicate with another human being.

It’s a new business environment out there, and if you’re not building trust, being completely authentic and helping solve others’ problems, then you’ll continue to be disconnected from true success.

Take a look at this article I originally wrote about four years ago, “7 Ways to Cut Loose From Old Sales Thinking”, it’s just as relevant today, as it was then:

to read the article click HERE.

You Irresistible Offer Should Solve a Problem

Some people make the huge mistake of just trying to come up with clever things that make them different.

Again - the question is, “Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”

People will buy from those who are best equipped to solve their problem or get them out of pain. So your USP should center around that and speak to it directly.

Your business cannot and should not attempt to create a need that consumers do not already have. No matter how great your USP or marketing schemata, if your product ultimately does not satisfy your customer, then your product and consequent business will fail.

You need to do plenty of valid and reliable research on your target market in order to understand which emotional responses will drive them to your product instead of your competitors.

Simplicity. A great product. Combine these two entities together to form the perfect USP for your company and product/service line.

To quote Rosser Reeves from his book Reality In Advertising:

"Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each product must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.'"

* * *
Again, from Matt Hockin’s website:
www.interactivemarketinginc.com

The following are 6 powerful USPs that alleviate the "pain" experienced by the consumers in their industries..

Example #1 - Package Shipping Industry

Pain - I have to get this package delivered quick!
USP - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." (Federal Express)

Example #2 - Food Industry

Pain - The kids are starving, but Mom and Dad are too tired to cook!
USP - "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free." (Dominos Pizza)
(This USP is worth $1 BILLION to Dominos Pizza)

Example #3 - Real Estate Industry

Pain - People want to sell their house fast without loosing money on the deal.
USP - "Our 20 Step Marketing System Will Sell Your House In Less Than 45 Days At Full Market Value"

Example #4 - Dental Industry

Pain - Many people don't like to go to the dentist because of the pain and long wait.
USP - "We guarantee that you will have a comfortable experience and never have to wait more than 15 minutes" or you will receive a free exam."

Example #5 - Cold Medicine Industry

Pain - You are sick, feel terrible, and can't sleep.
USP - "The nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine." (Nyquil)

Example #6 - Jewelry Industry

Pain - The market hates paying huge 300% mark-ups for jewelry.
USP - "Don't pay 300% markups to a traditional jeweler for inferior diamonds! We guarantee that your loose diamond will appraise for at least 200% of the purchase price, or we'll buy it back."

The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be

A powerful article by Michael Shuman:

The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be is to Finance the Revolution Ourselves

Adbusters
March-April 2006
Michael Shuman, author, The Smallmart Revolution


If Mohandas Gandhi were a typical North American activist these days, he would probably be wearing a three-piece suit and working in a plush office with his law degree prominently displayed. He would have little time to lead protests, since every other week would be spent meeting with donors – and those power lunches would hardly go well with fasting. He would be careful to avoid salt marches or cotton boycotts, so as not to offend key donors. To sharpen his annual pitch to foundations, he would be constantly dreaming up new one-year projects on narrowly focused topics, perhaps a one-time conference on English human-rights abuses, or a documentary on anti-colonial activities in New Delhi. To ensure that various allies didn’t steal away core funders, he would keep his distance and be inclined to trash talk behind their backs. In short, there’s little doubt that the British would still be running India.

The problem with activism today is that it is largely funded by grants and gifts from rich foundations and individuals. The long-standing assumption that you can take the money with few strings attached, and then run, needs to be fundamentally reexamined.

Building a philanthropic base of support can cripple an organization’s mission and wreck it altogether when the well runs dry. Most nonprofits have engaged in a kind of fundraising arms race in which our best leaders focus more time, energy and resources, not on changing the world, but on improving their panhandling prowess to capture just a little more of a philanthropic pie that actually expands very little from year to year. Armies of “development” staff spend as much as a third of an organization’s resources, not to advance the poor, but to cultivate wealthy donors. Significant numbers of our colleagues create campaigns, direct-mail pitches, telemarketing scripts, newsletters and other products exclusively to “care and feed” prospects and to frame positions that will not offend the rich.

Nonprofit structures dictated by this mode of funding also burden organizers with the heavy regulatory hand of the state. To qualify for tax-deductible contributions, for example, US nonprofits must agree to limit lobbying and not to campaign for political causes of candidates.

We believe it’s time for North American progressives to break free from the philanthropic plantation. Those of us serious about social change increasingly must get down to business, figuratively and literally. Every social change group may not be able to generate all its funding through revenue-generation, but every nonprofit certainly can generate a greater percentage than it is doing now. In other words, we should become our own funders. Once we start generating our own resources, we can invest them politically – as corporations do now – largely without limitation, without wasting our time on fundraising appeals, without worrying about that next grant, without apologies.

To get a sense of the possibilities, check out Cabbages & Condoms, a popular restaurant in Bangkok. As your senses become intoxicated by the aromas of garlic, ginger, basil, galangal and lemongrass, you cannot avoid noticing the origins of the name. On top of each heavy wooden table is a slab of glass, under which are neatly arranged rows of colorful prophylactics. Posters and paintings adorn the half-dozen large rooms, all communicating the restaurant’s central message: the AIDS epidemic afflicting Thailand can be checked only through the unabashed promotion and use of male contraception. With balloon animals made from carefully inflated and twisted condoms and the after-dinner candies replaced with your own take-home “condom-mints,” even teens cannot escape the message prominently framed on the wall: “Sex is fun but don’t be stupid – use protection.”

What makes the five “C&C” restaurants unique, along with an affiliated beach-front resort and numerous gift shops, is that they are all owned by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a rural development organization that has been a leader in promoting family planning and fighting aids in Thailand. Seven out of every ten dollars spent by the PDA on such activities as free vasectomies and mobile health clinics are covered by the net revenues from its 16 subsidiary for-profits. Were the PDA dependent on funding from the Thai government, the World Bank or even the Rockefeller Foundation, it no doubt would be told to tone down the message. Jokes on its website – like “the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurants in Thailand don’t only present excellent Thai food, the food is guaranteed not to get you pregnant” – would certainly be discouraged.

The cash flow gives the PDA a measure of confidence and boldness. The founder, Mechai Viravaidya, has no qualms about his decision to employ for-profits:“Unlimited demand is chasing limited supply [of charitable donations]. No longer are gifts, grants or begging enough. From day one, thirty years ago, we have been acutely aware of sustainability and cost-recovery.”

Consider some US examples of social entrepreneurship:

Housing Works in New York uses its Used Book Café to generate more than $2 million annually for its work, which prioritizes advocacy for homeless people with HIV. The organization runs clinics, conducts public policy research, lobbies federal and state officials, even leads sit-ins. It is fearless, aggressive and stunningly effective – and its $30 million of annual work would be impossible were it not for its vast range of real estate, food service, retail and rental companies that help pay the bills.

Pioneer Human Services is a community development corporation based in Seattle that assists a wide range of at-risk populations, including the unemployed, the homeless, ex-convicts, alcoholics and addicts. The organization serves 6,500 people a year and generates nearly all its $55 million budget through a web of ambitious subsidiary nonprofit businesses: cafes and a central kitchen facility for institutional customers, aerospace and sheet-metal industries, a construction company, food warehouses, a real-estate management group and consulting services for other nonprofits. Most of the jobs in these businesses are awarded to its at-risk clients,
allowing it to further its mission to integrate clients back into society.

The Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading promoter of alternative energy technology in Snowmass, Colorado, created E-Source in 1986 to provide in-depth analysis of services, markets, and technologies relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy production. In 1992 RMI secured a program-related investment from the MacArthur Foundation to move the work into a for-profit subsidiary. By 1998 it was generating about $400,000 for the parent nonprofit, but rmi decided it could do even better under new management, so it sold the company to Pearson plc in Britain for $8 million. Today, RMI assists and benefits from other for-profit spinoffs, such as Hypercar, Inc., which aims to create a lightweight body architecture to improve the efficiency of the entire US automobile fleet.

Judy Wicks’ White Dog Café in Philadelphia is as much a community organizing center as a restaurant. Radical speakers from around the country provide a steady stream of public lectures. An adjacent store sells fair trade products and will soon be introducing a line of locally made clothing. The White Dog itself embodies principles of social justice and environmental stewardship by paying all employees a living wage, insisting on humanely raised meats and eggs, using locally grown ingredients and running on wind electricity. Twenty percent of profits from the restaurant go to the White Dog Café Foundation, carrying on the café’s mission through nonprofit
activities.

These examples embody many possible models. A for-profit subsidiary can generate money for a parent nonprofit. Or, better still, a for-profit can become the change it seeks, by producing and selling socially important goods and services. While we reject the libertarian argument that every human problem has an economic solution, many social-change issues clearly have economic dimensions that are susceptible to creative business plans. Hate nuclear power? Launch energy-service companies to spread conservation measures, or build local wind farms to take control of your own electricity future. Concerned about the poor, minorities and women having equal access to credit? Create more community banks, credit unions and micro-enterprise funds. Troubled by pharmaceutical prices that make life-saving drugs unattainable for impoverished people across the globe? Start, as several companies based in the developing world did, companies that mass-produce affordable generic versions of high-priced American drugs.

Socially responsible business should be not just a boutique sector of the private economy, but its mainstream. We have been impressed in recent years by the growing number of local businesspeople who not only “walk the walk” of social justice in the small details of their operations and products but also tout the virtues of local ownership. This third generation of entrepreneur-organizers is being led by groups like the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). Each promotes local ownership of business, champions social justice and neighborhood revitalization, and pushes for new public policies that remove the tilts in a playing field that favors badly behaved
big business.

Sooner or later, the concepts of social-change organization and of social-responsibility business should become indistinguishable. Truly responsible businesses would be owned by all members of a community (rich and poor), hire locally, expand local skills, comport with local labor and environmental standards, produce goods and services that meet urgent local needs and become allies of social justice movements. What better way to help the poor than to transform them into the captains, worker-bees, shareholders and customers of community-friendly business?

If foundations and donors had never existed and professional panhandling had been outlawed, social-change groups would have been forced to turn to creating and running new enterprises or new networks of local businesses, and our movement would be considerably healthier than it is today. Progressives have become the classic 20-something kid still living at home, expecting an allowance from deep-pocket parents for a few basic chores, while agreeing, as a condition for the chump change, to obey someone else’s rules on social change. It’s time to grow up and strike out on our own.

Here’s a challenge to activists (one we take seriously ourselves): let’s try to wean ourselves from the charity habit, say by three percent per year. Think about just one piece of your agenda that could be framed as a revenue generator, dream about it a little, develop a business plan and give it a try. If you lack the skills, skip your next fundraising class and instead attend one of thousands upon thousands of entrepreneurship programs around the world. Or hire someone who might start the entrepreneurial subsidiary of your nonprofit.

Gandhi understood that the key to freeing India was to transform his fellow citizens into economically productive agents by spinning their own cloth and taking their own salt from the sea. Martin Luther King Jr. implored African Americans to form their own credit unions and community development corporations. The secret to being as radical as we want to be – and as radical as we need to be – is to finance the revolution ourselves.

* * *

Michael Shuman is the vice president for enterprise development for the Training and Development Corporation. Merrian Fuller is a managing director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. This article was adapted from “Profits for Justice,” which first appeared in The Nation.

Seven Secrets To An Irresistible Offer

Seven Secrets To An Irresistible Offer - Dan Kennedy

www.dankennedy.com

#1: The offer must be clear. People must be able to understand it instantly. Confused people do not respond. For example, half off is better than 50% off and a lot better than 35% or even 60% off. People have difficulty understanding percentages. Two for one is usually better than half off.

“Is your product positioned as part of a general class, then differentiated on the basis of it's most needed attribute? That's the way people hold things in their heads: "the dandruff shampoo that doesn't dry out your hair". The cereal that adults have grown to love." "The luxury four wheel drive". If you can't state your product in such succinct terms, chances are your customers will not be able to describe your product either. And if your product can't survive word of mouth, it probably can't survive at all.” - The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, George Silverman

“Always remember - The confused mind says ‘no’. If there’s too much information, consumers get overwhelmed and they don’t know what to do. What happens is they stop, dead in their tracks. We find if you offer people more than 3 options, they won’t make a decision. They’ll just sit and look over and ponder the information.” - Colette Chandler, www.marketing-insider.com

#2: The offer must be a good value. It has to be understood as a good value. That's why percentage off coupons doesn't usually work well. People get suspicious. They think as soon as they see I have coupons they'll just raise the price to recover the discount. Percentage off coupons work well where there are known published prices.

#3: The offer should involve either a discount or a premium or preferably both. Sometimes premiums work much better than discounts. A premium is something you give away as a free gift to someone who comes in or who makes a purchase. Bill Glazer in his retail store meticulously track results of all his offers and has found that by adding a premium he will average a 30% increase in response.

#4: There should be a logical reason for the offer. If you discount or give something away without an explanation you create skepticism and suspicion. People have been told all their lives there's no such thing as a free lunch. You have to explain. We're doing this to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood as an introductory offer in celebration of opening our new store, as an anniversary sale, a clearance sale, customer appreciation week. Just about any explanation will do but there needs to be an explanation.

#5: There should be a reason for immediate action - expiration dates, limited availability or a bonus for fast response. These all work well in creating a sense of urgency on the consumer's part.

#6: There should be a strong, clear, direct call to action. Tell the person exactly what you want him to do. Do you want him to pick up the phone and call? Go to a website? Come in to a business? When? What will happen when he does?

Here's a good call to action, for example. Cut this coupon out of your newspaper. Bring it in to any of our locations any day of this week from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Take it to the cashier at the counter; she'll give you your free travel alarm clock a gift for just coming in while the supply lasts. Then feel free to browse through our unique travel store. Take advantage of the huge mark downs and sale prices and get a second travel clock free with any $50.00 purchase to give to a friend.

#7: Consider mentioning or even emphasizing your guarantee. Guarantees are not tired, not worn out - they still work. They're still important to people. If you offer any kind of guarantee I think it ought to be an integral part of all your advertising.

Raising Prices Makes People Like You More

Afraid to raise your prices?

You might not need to be . . .

Want the public to like your product better? Raise the price.
Published: Monday, January 14, 2008 | 11:43 AM ET
Canadian Press: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Want people to like your product more? Raise the price.

That seems to be the lesson from a new study in which people were asked to taste wines marked with different prices. Researchers scanned the brains of the testers and found that the part of the brain that records pleasure lit up more for the more pricey vintages.

And that was true even when - unknown to the testers - they were sipping a wine that they had liked less when it had a lower price tag.

Antonio Rangel and colleagues at California Institute of Technology thought perceptions of higher price meaning higher quality could influence people, so they decided to test the idea.

They asked 20 people to sample wine while undergoing functional MRI's of their brain activity. The subjects were told they were tasting five different Cabernet Sauvignons sold at different prices.

However, there were actually only three wines sampled, two being offered twice, marked with different prices.

A $90 wine was provided marked with its real price and again marked $10, while another was presented at its real price of $5 and also marked $45.

The testers' brains showed more pleasure at the higher price than the lower one, even for the same wine, Rangel reports in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In other words, changes in the price of the wine changed the actual pleasure experienced by the drinkers, the researchers reported.

"Our results suggest that the brain might compute experienced pleasantness in a much more sophisticated manner that involves integrating the actual sensory properties of the substance being consumed with the expectations about how good it should be," they reported.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

BSR: Now Greenwashed!

just got an email from my friend kate holloway today:

I went to a huge dinner last night for Robert F. Kennedy. While the hosts was legit - the Toronto Region Conservation Authority - and the speaker was totally legit - Bobby Jr. is the real deal -- however it was drearily obvious that some of the event sponsors flashing on the ballroom screens, were just big corporate names that were simply greenwashing.

Read on, MacDuffs, anyway, read this gripping tale of our own Laury Hammel (co-founder of BALLE), from 2005 and learn a little more about how and why BALLE came to be. We don't want ever this to happen to BALLE Canada, and it won't, because what we're doing is the real deal.

//kmh

Published on Thursday, November 3, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Hijacked: Business for Social Responsibility
by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman


We've just returned from the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) conference being held here in Washington, D.C.

We picked up maybe five pounds of propaganda being handed out by the sponsors -- ExxonMobil, Chevron, AstraZeneca, Walt Disney, Pfizer, General Electric, Altria/Philip Morris (remember: altriameanstobacco.com), McDonald's, Edison International, Starbucks, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Abbott Labs, Microsoft, Monsanto, KPMG, Chiquita -- among others. The news -- what these giant multinationals don't want you to know -- is that they hijacked Business for Social Responsibility from its founders.

In 1991, the founders, a group of small businesses, wanted to counter the voices of the giant multinationals -- the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable -- in the public policy arena.

Enter Robert Dunn, stage right.

Dunn is now chairman of Business for Social Responsibility.

At the time, Dunn was a vice president at Levi Strauss, one of the large corporate members of the group.

Dunn said to his colleagues -- the only way we are going to change large multinational corporations is to bring them into this organization.

And the only way they will come into this organization is if we vow never to engage in the public policy arena.

Dunn said that the focus of the organization would be on changing big corporations from within.

Translation:

No talk about government regulation.

No talk about national health insurance.

No talk about a living wage.

No talk about war and peace.

No talk about law and order -- for corporate criminals.

In 1994, Monsanto, purveyor of genetically engineered foods, wanted into the group.

One member, Gary Hirschberg, chairman of Stoneyfield Farms, said -- wait a second.

Do we want a company that makes pesticides and herbicides and genetically engineered crops to be a member of a socially responsible business organization?

Yes, came back the answer -- how else are they going to get better?

Well what about tobacco companies?

How else are they going to get better?

What about oil and chemical companies?

How else are they going to get better?

What about nuclear companies?

What about military companies?

The reality is that Business for Social Responsibility has become a public relations organization for big corporations.

The only criteria for membership -- you have to be big and loaded.

The hijacking is now complete.

Laury Hammel knows what happened.

He was present at the creation.

Business for Social Responsibility was his idea in the late 1980s.

Hammel owns a string of health clubs in Boston.

Hammel wanted BSR to help business become more socially responsible, but also to engage in the public policy debate.

"We were sick and tired of having the Chamber of Commerce being the voice for business," Hammel said.

So, he started the group, and brought in such luminaries as Arnold Hiatt, former CEO of Stride Rite.

But at a board meeting of Business for Social Responsibility in 1993 in Cape Cod, there was a showdown between those who wanted the group to remain a voice in the public policy debate and those who wanted to stay out.

Dunn told the board that he would become president of BSR if the group stopped taking public policy positions.

"Dunn didn't want anything to do with influencing government policy," Hammel said. "Dunn believed that we would never change the world if we didn't get big corporations behind us. And we would never get them on board if we kept our foot in the public policy arena."

Hammel lost the battle with Dunn over allowing big corporations into the organization.

Dunn then asked Hammel to resign from the board.

Hammel refused.

So he was forced out.

"Dunn said he wasn't going to renominate me to the board because I didn't have money or stature -- I wasn't a big corporation," Hammel said.

Hammel is very fond of Arnold Hiatt, the former CEO of Stride-Rite, and a founding member of BSR.

Hiatt is still a member of the board of Business for Social Responsibility.

"He's an icon, one of my heroes," Hammel said. "But he's not in charge. It's Robert Dunn who is the driving force."

Hammel believes that Dunn's strategy of trying to change large corporations from within is bound to fail.

"Dunn has an incorrect analysis," Hammel said. "Take Wal-Mart for example."

Wal-Mart is a member of BSR.

"The only thing you can do to Wal-Mart is to do what they did with Standard Oil and take it apart," Hammel said. "There is an inherent flaw in the way they operate. When you make a change in Wal-Mart, you make a difference. But ultimately, you are going to fail because the business plan is flawed."

After being forced out of BSR, Hammel continued to organize local BSR chapters around the country.

Back then, the local chapters still had a voice in the national.

"But in 2000, the national BSR sent us a letter. There was no discussion. They just said -- we are eliminating all local chapters," Hammel said. "They told us that BSR was going to spend all of its time on big corporations."

Hammel has gone on help jump-start a new organization -- the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (www.livingeconomies.org).

The message -- buy local, buy independent.

"When I first formed BSR, I thought all businesses had the same interests in common," Hammel said. "Then I realized that big corporations didn't want to be with us. And we realized that our interests were different."

"The first allegiance of big public companies is to their stockholders," Hammel said. "Most of these big companies have to cater to the whims of the stockholders. That puts them in conflict with the consumer, community and the environment. Very few big companies can buck that stockholder dictatorship."

"Second is -- where do you live? Are you locally owned? If yes, then you are connected to the community," Hammel said. "Companies like Starbucks (a BSR member) are creating a homogenized culture. They are homogenizing cultures all over the world. We want to see locally owned coffee shops."

"We have done several studies showing that for every $100 spent at a local independent company -- $45 goes to the community," Hammel said. "If you spend the $100 at the corporate chain like Starbucks, only $13 goes to the community."

The last BSR conference that Hammel attended was in 2001 in Seattle.

This was 10 years after he founded BSR as his dream.

"I sat down at a table and noticed three guys with name tags that said Philip Morris and Company," Hammel said. "I asked these guys -- you are not with the cigarette company, are you? And they said -- 'yes, we are with the holding company.'"

"I said to myself -- these guys are members of BSR? They make products that kill people. What is this?"

That was the last conference he attended.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor. Mokhiber and Weissman are co-authors of On the Rampage: Corporate Predators and the Destruction of Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press).

Pay what you want zine subscriptions?

Pay what you want magazine subscriptions?

Yes.

Check it out:

http://www.springwise.com/media_publishing/paywhatyouwant_magazine_subscr/

Articulating Offers Powerfully

Hey there,

I got an unexpected email last week from my
friend Tom.

I've talked about him before.

I've pasted the email below as it's contents
could honestly be exactly what you need to
take your marketing to the next level.

No joke.

But do me a favour and don't skip ahead. Just
keep reading because . . .

MY response led to HIM sending me another
email.

THAT email led to me calling him a
'sonnovab*tch'.

No joke.

But more on that in just a second . . .

This email has an awfully irresistible offer
in it. I think you should take advantage of
it.

It's at the bottom (don't peek yet!).

Here's your main lesson (and then more about
Tom) about Irresistible Offers for this week.

The first key to crafting irresistible offers
is coming up with the idea. The second part is
ARTICULATING it in a way that people immediately
'get it'.

Let me put this to you: you may ALREADY have
an irresistible offer - but be articulating it
in the wrong way.

As Dan Kennedy talked about last week - clarity
is key.

You can articulate the SAME idea in many
different ways - some ways will have more impact
than others.

Here's an example from marketing guru Jay
Abraham (read it carefully) . . .

* * *

"Here, I'll give you a couple of examples.
Years ago, I worked with a brokerage firm
that was selling precious metals. They ran
ads in the Wall Street Journal and happened
to have a relationship with a bank that was
bank-financed.

They ran ads for bank-financed purchases of
silver and gold. Their headline said,

"Two-Thirds Bank Financing on Silver and
Gold."

When they ran the ads, they pulled okay.

They brought back a profit, the sales people
made commissions adequate enough to stay,
the owners made salaries, the overhead was
paid and they had money left over to keep
running the ads. They were happy. But they
hadn't questioned, "How high is high?"

This company had never tested headlines.
They were doing great -- or so they thought.
I said, "Let's try three other permutations
of our offer."

We tested three small headline changes. One
did a little bit better, about 10%.

One did about the same -- the improvement
was negligible.

**And one improved the yield of the ad they
were running by five times -- or 500 %.**

This was back when gold was not selling very
high. The market price for gold was about
$300 an ounce and about $6 for silver.

Remember, their headline read,

"Two-Thirds Bank Financing on Silver and
Gold."

Keep in mind, my question is always,
"What does that mean to me as the customer?"

That headline meant nothing -- so I changed
it. All I said was,

"If Gold Is Selling for $300 an Ounce, Send
Us Just $100 an Ounce and We'll Buy You All
the Gold You Want."

And I had one for silver also.

"If Silver is Selling for $6 an Ounce, Send
Us Just $2 an Ounce and We'll Send You All
the Silver You Want."

It was the same statement, but more powerfully
denominated in the context of what's in it
for the ultimate consumer. That one simple
change -- of all about 12 words made in the
same amount of space they were already buying
and using, and the same body copy (which was
90% of the ad) increased their pull by 500%.

* * *

Back to my friend Tom.

The sonnovab*tch.

Here's the story . . .

My good pal (and Toronto's resident marketing
wizard) Tom St. Louis received the offer for a
90 minute pay what you can consultation (the
same one that hit your email inbox on October
4th).

Well he loved it.

He asked permission to use it.

I told him he was far too gracious - and of
course he could.

Then he emails me HIS articulation of it.

And I, frankly think he did a better job than
me at articulating the whole pay what you can
thing.

Sonnova . . .

Mine's here: http://tadhargrave.com/consulting

His offer is below - is his articulation
better than mine?

You decide.

Warmest,
Tad

p.s. You CAN'T book a PWYC session with me
right now. I'm going on the road for two months.
In fact, I had to push two I'd already booked
for today to happen in December because I'm so
busy.

He was only offering this to his own list but
I asked him if it would be okay to send it to
my list as well and he agreed.

If you're wanting up to $1000 of to-die-for
marketing handholding from a real marketing
genius - for whatever you want to pay -
well you should keep reading.

Yes. You should.

p.p.s. Tom, you're a sonnovab*tch.

* * *



FROM THE DESK OF: Tom St. Louis.

Special "BUSKING OFFER"
for Marketing From the Heart Subscribers ONLY

Get up to $1,000 worth of Live, In-Person,
One on One Marketing Consulting . . .
For Whatever YOU Decide to Pay

Dear Tad:

A lot of people commented on my recently related
adventures busking in the streets of New Orleans. (If
you missed that installment, see it here: http://www.zerald.com/downandoutinneworleans.doc )

Definition: "Busking" is the act of providing a service
without a fee agreement in place. After performing the
service -- like singing a song for a stranger on the
streets of the French Quarter, for instance -- the
customer pays whatever THEY think it is worth.

What I liked about remembering my busking
days -- and I have busked in many places including
Montreal, Toronto, Amsterdam, Paris, Vancouver
and New Orleans -- is that if I didn’t perform well,
I DIDN’T GET PAID!!!

I found that I performed very well with my feet to
the fire.

So today, I’m going to make you the most
provocative and potentially profitable proposition
you’ve received all year -- maybe ever. I have my
friend Tad Hargrave to thank for the idea. A day or
two after sending you the most recent Marketing
From the Heart, I saw Tad making a "Pay What
You Can" offer to his database, and I thought,
"What a great idea!"

So I got permission from Tad to make a similar
offer to you.

This is your chance -- perhaps your only one --
to get a better than guaranteed consultation up
front even before you decide what you want to
pay for it.

Here’s the bottom line:

You will get a 90 minute breakthrough marketing
coaching session with me on a "pay what you can"
(PWYC) basis. You decide AFTER the consultation
what it was worth to YOU. I will accept whatever
you decide it was worth, with no hassles and no
guilt trips.

That’s it! I will go ahead with this for the first ten subscribers who let me know they are interested.

"YES! I want to Book a Session!"
Send an e-mail to:
moistlotus@gmail.com and let me know
what it is you want me to help you with.

THE 7 STEP PROCESS:
Here’s exactly what will happen, step by step

1) After receiving word from you, we will
schedule a call at a mutually convenient time.

2) You will immediately receive my marketing
consultation questionnaire. This allows me to
examine all the major dynamics in your
marketing and messaging. And, answering
the questions will help you get totally focused
on your marketing challenges and aspirations.

This process was created for delivering Marketing
Audits for larger organizations, but I promise you
will find the process illuminating.

3) You will e-mail me any and all materials
pertinent to our discussion. They could be ads,
scripts, presentations, web pages, copy to
improve -- you name it. I will spend up to 30
minutes reviewing your materials prior to our
call.

4) You will receive 60-90 minutes of my time
in a coaching call by telephone. We will address
your greatest challenges and create concise action
sequences to help you get to where you want to go.

5) Within 24 hours of your consultation you will
receive the full audio from the call to review as
many times as you’d like to get every last drop
of value from the call. You can download this
to your computer, iPod, burn it to a CD etc. and
listen to it whenever you want. Remember: You
get all of this before I receive a penny from you.
It’s in my best interest of course to provide
phenomenal value -- to hold nothing back
-- because what I’m paid depends on it!!!

6) Within 48 hours you will receive a follow up
email that will include my reflections and guidance
on next steps. It may also include additional materials
and resources that I think could be useful.

7) On the day you receive your e-mail
recommendations from me, you will indicate to me
via e-mail what you have decided to pay me. I will
then send you a bill via pay pal for half of what
you are committed to paying. The balance will
be paid in 30 days. And, again, this is based on
the value you have received ñ from your own
perspective -- and what you feel you can afford.

"YES! I want to Book a Session!"
Send an e-mail to:
moistlotus@gmail.com and let me know
what it is you want me to help you with.


Let Me Be Very Clear on What This
Consultation Could Be Worth For You.

First of all, many marketing consultants charge
between $200-$5000 per hour for their
consultations. When I do consultations by the
hour, which is rare, I charge $300 an hour with
a four hour minimum.

When you consider how many business owners
have attributed huge revenue and profit
breakthroughs to the advice they have received
from me in these sessions, you will realize that
it is a steal. Remember, you only pay what YOU
think it’s worth to you! All the others had to pay
in advance based on what I wanted to receive.
This offer is based on what you want to pay but
only AFTER you get all the value.

7 Reasons Why You Should
Jump on This Offer Right Now
With Both Feet

1. You will receive your own, one on one,
intensely focused coaching session from me
to you when the heat is on -- and I love to perform
when the heat is on! This is very different from a
seminar where you are only one person in a large
group. In these calls, everything is focused
towards your needs and challenges.

2. You get $500+ worth of my time (30 minutes
of my time prepping for the call and 90 minutes
on the call itself) with no obligation to pay me a
penny more than you can based on what you
thought it was worth.

3. You will receive a full audio of our consultation.
You can listen to it in your car or in your office or
wherever you want. You will discover that when
you get me "in state", I am able to articulate your
key messages very powerfully. The value of this
"hot copy" could easily be worth a serious multiple
of what you decide to pay.

4. You will get clear answers to your toughest and
most intractable marketing problems.

5. You will get specific, explicit step by step
directions from me on EXACTLY what you
need to do to flatten your challenges and increase
YOUR cash flow and attract more clients.

6. You get to pick my brain about any marketing
or positioning or messaging issue and take
"ethical advantage" of me for an hour and a
half. In fact, forget the ethical part. You will
be able to steal me blind if you want to. I’m
betting that you will pay me at least a fraction
of the value you receive.

7. You get the chance to try me out at my risk.
I have never made an offer like this before and
may never do so again. Frankly, before I saw
Tad’s offer, I’d never heard of or thought of a
Marketing Busker offer -- and when I first saw it,
I thought it was a bit loony. But upon reflection,
it just made sense. The bottom line is you pay what
YOU think it’s worth. And I promise to accept your
assessment of the value of what I have delivered to
you.

"YES! I want to Book a Session!"
Send an e-mail to:
moistlotus@gmail.com and let me know
what it is you want me to help you with.

The Catch.

You have to honestly tell me what you think the
session is worth to you and PAY that. This is not
free. You cannot take and not give back. I only ask
that you pay what you think it was worth to you.

If you wish, you can pay in two installments -- one
on the day you received your report and the second
thirty days later.

* * *

Radioheads Pay What You Want Album

Radiohead Releases a Pay What You Want album.

Have they taken the whole Pay What You Can thing too far? You decide.

http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/an-album-that-costs-what-you-want-it-to/?ex=1191988800&en=aa34a60c66c588e2&ei=5070&emc=eta1">CLICK HERE

Green Market to Hit $500 Billion in 2008

Some people think the green marketplace is set for a big surge next year. Don't believe it?

Click http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/09/28/consumer-spending-on-green-will-double-reach-500-billion-in-2008">HERE to read more.

Your Irresistible Offer - "The Four Letter Word of Marketing" - Part 7 of 19

Hey,

I hope you've been enjoying this series of
email on how you can craft "Your Irresistible
Offer". If you've missed any - you can find
them here on this blog.

The subject of this week's email is all
about one, four letter word: RISK.

GASP!

Did he just type that?!

It's the dirtiest four letter word in
business. And it's likely costing you
more than you'd care to admit.

You're likely losing a lot of money right
now - I can promise you - because you aren't
addressing and dealing with the risks people
perceive in doing business with you.

Reducing, eliminating or reversing the
risk is probably the most powerful single
secret of making YOUR offers more irresistible.

In fact, to illustrate my point, I'd
like to make YOU an offer.


http://tadhargrave.com/consulting


I think you're going to like it.

I think you'll agree that it's one of the
most relevant, valuable and risk free
offers you've ever seen.

Crossing my fingers - I hope that you
might even find it irresistible.

But . .

I only have time to offer it to yourself
and two other people. There's only three
of these available. Once they're gone,
they're gone.

And it might not be right for you. It
might not be a fit.

This offer is only for you if you are:

1) In a place where you want to grow your
business.

2) Are open to honest, constructive
feedback on your marketing

3) Committed to living your values.

4) Ready to do two to three hours of
highly focused homework.


If that's not you, you might as well stop
reading now.

But if you're willing to put in a little
Effort to get a lot of reward - then keep
reading.

* * *

HERE'S YOUR OFFER:

WHAT: I would like to offer you a 90
minute marketing coaching session with me.
It's worth at least $500 (and that's if you
only count my time).

You will also get the full, audio recording
of that call. You will receive an executive
"coaching summary" of the call.

But there are only three of these available.


For more info:

http://tadhargrave.com/consulting


HOW MANY: Only three. I only have time to
do your call in the first two weeks of
October. After that, I'm on the road for
two months.


COST: Pay what you want. Ten days after your
session I will ask you to send me two cheques
for whatever you want to pay. There's no
minimum and no maximum. No pressure. No games.
No joke.

* * *

HOW CAN I AFFORD TO OFFER THIS?

Well, you can find the full answer at:

http://tadhargrave.com/consulting

Isn't there a lot of risk to me in doing
this?

After all, couldn't someone just get
everything and then not pay me at all? Or
what if they only paid me like $2 for my
time?

But here's my explanation - and maybe the
most potent marketing lesson on creating
offers that I can give you.

Most entrepreneurs are silently scared of
getting screwed. And that fear is not
serving them.

- Maybe you fear giving big guarantees in
case you have to offer refunds.

- Maybe you're scared to teach people how
you do what you do in case someone steals
your info or uses it but doesn't hire you.

- Maybe you've given your clients incredible
value - even free stuff - only to have it
taken for granted and drain your time,
energy and cashflow.

- Maybe you're afraid to get the short end
of the stick.

So, you learn to protect yourself.

You learn to value your time. You tell
yourself that your expertise and information
is worth a lot and that you deserve
compensation for anything you give out.

Maybe you also tell yourself that if you
just gave away information that people
wouldn't really value it.

And of course - you would have a point.

Maybe you've figured out all sorts of ways
to reduce your risks in doing business and
protect yourself.

And while this all might meet your need for
self respect and safety - and it's far better
than letting yourself be taken to the cleaners
- it's not the whole journey.

What if I told you that there are ways to be
100% safe and yet outrageously bold in lowering
the risk of your offers?

Here's a counter intuitive thought to
meditate on: to succeed in business you
must learn to love getting the short
end of the stick. To grow your business
you must learn to assume the lion's share
of the risk in any interaction.

And yes, there are ways to do this where
you're also protected. I'll cover them in
a later email to you.

**Put another way: you have no idea how
much money you're losing every year because
you are silently asking your prospects and
clients to take on the risk of taking the
next step in the relationship with you.


THIS IS A CRITICAL MARKETING PIECE:
Lowering the risk of the next step.

How can you lower the risk?

Here's some simple, tried and true ways:

1) Iron clad, No Hassle Guarantees.

2) Testimonials & Case Studies

3) Free Intro Events

4) Spelling out the process you use in
detail so there's no mystery of the unknown
about it and they can begin to appreciate
why your process works.

5) Your credentials, awards etc.

6) Becoming a well known figure (hosting a
radio show, writing magazine columns)

7) Writing a blog that shares your honest
perspective about the issues you help
clients with. What causes the problems?
What are the best solutions?

* * *

A primary way I do this is by offering
many of my services on a pay what you can
basis.

Meaning you receive the full consultation
or weekend training and then - when it's
all done - you pay me whatever you thought
it was worth based on what you can afford.

No catch.

This does a number of things:

1) It lowers the risk for people to take
the next step. This makes is much more
likely that they will raise their hand and
say 'yes'.

2) It makes my life far easier. I don't
have to sell so hard because there is
zero possible financial risk. A ridiculously
high percentage of people who come to my
intros sign up for the full weekend.

In short, it makes me a lot of money.

For less effort.

Could you use a PWYC consult?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But ask yourself, are you feeling:

- 'stuck' in your marketing?

- Not sure what the most important next steps
are for you to take in your unique situation?

- Like you could use an outside perspective?

http://tadhargrave.com/consulting


WHY ACT NOW?:

But this will be about ten times as hard to
book in three weeks.

Because, as of Oct 17th, I'm starting on my
tour and I'll be on the road - almost non-stop -
for two months. During that time I will do
very few consultations. If any.

I did a ton of them this summer but I know
that some of you are new on my list and may
not have heard of this. So, this is just a
little courtesy reminder.

If you'd like to book one you can just click
reply and email me here.

If you have any questions - check out:

http://tadhargrave.com/consulting


Warmest,

Tad Hargrave
Founder
Radical Business
"helping conscious folk make more money"
tad@tadhargrave.com
www.tadhargrave.com

P.S. Please consider the environment before
printing this email - Thank You!


P.P.S. REMEMBER: I am offering three pay
what you can consultations worth $500 to
the first three people who respond.

To get more info:

http://www.tadhargrave.com/consulting

.

The 57 Top Web Business Tools

I just got this email from Stu MacLaren. Very cool guy.

If you know you need to get your computer, website, and business systems up to snuff but have no idea where to start - start here.

warmest,
tad

*********************************************
I've got a video and a fun training for you:
http://www.myideaguy.com/57tools.htm
*********************************************


Dear Tad,

New Products...

Big Launches...

... and a Wedding!

What a week so far!

There are so many exciting things happening
right now (personally and professionally)
that I'm finding it hard to keep pace with
everything.

First John Reese launched BlogRush on the
weekend and then Jason Potash launched his
website with non-stop "deals" all year long.

Then to top it all off, I'm hitting the
homestretch before my wedding so it's
"wedding madness" around here... YIKES!

Does life always seem to speed up as soon as
September hits?

Anyway, a while back I started doing a series
of teleseminars called "Saturday Trainings".

They have always been a HUGE hit and I've
decided to do another one this Saturday.

However, this one has a unique twist because
I won't be "teaching" anything... I'll just
be giving you TONS of free stuff :)

Curious?

Check it out:
http://www.myideaguy.com/57tools.htm

It's taking place this Saturday so register early :)

See you soon!

Take care.

Stu McLaren
Your Idea Guy

The Almost Perfect, Pressure Free Sales Letter

I just got this email from Ari Galper of www.unlockthegame.com.

He's a genius.

His work on removing the pressure and hype from sales is really the only thing I ever recommend to people.

He just sent me an email that describes an almost perfect, results producing sales letter written with warmth, empathy and profound relevance to the reader - but no hype.

Read on . . .

Hi Tad,

Mark Coudray, a client of mine, sent me this email a few weeks ago about a breakthrough sales letter that he wrote (which I'm going to share with you) based on the insights he learned in the Unlock The Game mastery program.

Mark's letter is here:

https://utg.infusionsoft.com/in/i493e0/tad!tadhargrave.com/186a00/

The interesting twist about this letter is that it's designed to generate a phone call back to him (not forcing them to buy anything from the letter)....here's Mark's email he sent me:

------------
Ari,

I talked to you briefly at the System Seminar in Chicago to let you know how well Unlock The Game is working for us. I have attached a copy of the sales letter we use to bring in new clients. This letter is currently pulling 40% response with a perfect 100% conversion of the responding companies.

In our first year of testing the program with 20 randomly selected test companies, we increased our revenues almost 1.1 million dollars. This was with 20 companies. The annual revenue per client was just under $56,000. There are 1850 companies that meet our demographic profile in California alone.

I know a good part of our success is based on the low key, non sales pressure approach you teach in your Unlock The Game program.

We are currently preparing to move into 16,000 sq ft new building and production facility. This is triple what our current space is. We have doubled our production capacity and we are about to double that again.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the letter and I am always looking forward to your insight and observations.

Warmest regards,

Mark
----------------------------------

You probably get sales letters in the mail all the time, or see them on websites.

You know the kind, really long text pages, yellow highlights, oversize headlines... you can almost feel the sale pressure jumping off the page at you.

Which of course is exactly the opposite feeling and approach that my clients and I work so hard not to be associated with.

Putting pressure on your prospects, whether it's over the phone or in writing, breaks the opportunity for you to build genuine trust with that person. And trust is what's at the core of long term sales success.

Mark's letter is a testament to not "hard pitching" his solution, but instead focusing in on the problems his prospects are experiencing.

In a moment, I'm going to share with you:

1. His sales letter with my written comments in the margins, to explain what Mark did
so well (Mark, the gracious guy that he is, gave me permission to share his letter with you.)

2. A 45-minute "audio briefing" where I explain, in depth, the key elements that Mark incorporated from Unlock The Game that makes this letter a true breakthrough

3. A word-for-word written transcript of the 45-minute "audio briefing"

Here's your access link:

https://utg.infusionsoft.com/in/i493e0/tad!tadhargrave.com/186a00/

(After you click the link, you'll be taken to a page that confirms you're one of my subscribers and you'll see the link to access Mark's letter)

To your success,

Ari Galper
Unlock The Game

P.S. I'd love to hear your feedback, just reply to this email. And if you have any written sales materials that have worked for you that minimize sales pressure...please do send them over. I'm creating a collection of these to make available at a later date.

Free Coaching Call Download (hosted by Katie's Club)

Hey everyone,

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Katie Curtain of Katie's club in Toronto.

It was a really powerful, jam packed call that got into some real nitty gritty detail. More info below on how you can listen to or download the call

Dear Friends,

I am getting rave e-mails about last night's Katie's Club teleconference with Tad Hargrave on "How to Grow Your Business Without Selling Your Soul". If you missed it, I did a recording of the evening.

Just click on here and you can listen
http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WfCQb3JQ

Or download it to to your computer or MP3 player.
http://coachkatie.audioacrobat.com/download/TadHargrave1.mp3

The topics Tad covered included:

* tips for people setting up a holistic or green business
* five mistakes that social entrepreneurs make when running their businesses
* the importance of establishing a niche
* the two critical elements that make up a niche
* the three ways you can tell if your niche is any good or not
* the power of educational marketing
* the power of empathy in your marketing (including a secret all women know, but men don't)
* the power of 'stay in touch' marketing (and the 80/20 rule of how to do that)
* the four levels of how to make your business irresistibly attractive


Participants also had the chance to discuss some of their own business challenges.

So enjoy listening and if you get a chance, e-mail me what you found most useful. Also take a look at Tad's website. He has lots of free material, including a marketing self assessment test. Go to : http://www.tadhargrave.com

As well, Tad is coming to Toronto and is doing a workshop the first weekend of November, where you pay what you can. If you are running a small business or practice, you got to get out to this. The information and resources he provides are priceless. As well he's a real fun kind of guy, and very creative in his approach to marketing and business for the socially
conscious.

I'm doing an introductory evening for Tad at Ellington's Cafe, 805 St. Clair Avenue West, on Tuesday, Oct 30, 7-9PM. There's limited seating, so sign up as soon as you can by going to Tad's website, at http://www.tadhargrave.com/freeintro, or by e-mailing me.

Also keep your eyes peeled for upcoming Katie's Club teleconferences. I have one coming up on October 9, with Cherie Carpenter on Body Talk which is an extraordinary system of holistic healing.

Warmly,

Katie Curtin

Katie's Club
Helping women serve themselves and the world
Katie's Club is a club for women dedicated to creating positive
planetary change through the arts, holism and social action.

Want more information about becoming a member, please e-mail me at katiecurtin@mac.com or phone 416-656-6455.

"Your Forgotten eBook" - 111 Page, 100% 'On the House', Three-in-One ebook

Hey,

Can't believe I forgot to tell you
about this. Unreal.

Here's the scoop . . .

A few months ago I created an ebook.

It was born at 90 or so pages long,
but has since grown to a whopping 111
pages long.

Of course, *I* think it's the most
beautiful ebook in the world.

Ended up very pleased with it all.

I created it to use as an incentive to
get people to sign up for my email list.

I wanted to them to be surprised and
delighted by this great thing they got -
just for giving me their email.

So, now, when people sign up - they're
immediately emailed a link to this beautiful
bouncing, 111 page baby ebook that I'm
really proud of.

* * *
HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN COPY?

1) Go to www.tadhargrave.com
2) Fill in your name and email on the
left hand side of the screen where it says:

"FREE!
Marketing Self Assessment
Find out what might be holding your
marketing back"

3) A link to download it will be
instantly emailed to you.
* * *

It's already gotten me rave reviews.

(though I fear it will one day grow up
and quit college on me too)

It occurred to me - a month or so
after creating this ebook - that I hadn't
told you about it and it's absolutely
the clearest and most up to date summary of
what I teach these days.

I just forgot to send out the word.

. . . What??!

Expect me to live what I teach?

(Don't you judge me . . .)

Anyway, there's no charge for this ebook.

No catch.

What is it?

It's basically a three in one package:

PART ONE:

An edited and expanded version of my live
two hour intro. The only thing missing is
my card tricks.

If you haven't been to my intro, here’s a
sneak preview of what you’ll learn:

o the difference between your inner
marketing game and your outer game (and
which one 90% of businesses totally ignore)

o the three critical criteria to
developing a strong target market or niche

o how you can craft an irresistible
offer that will compel your ideal clients
to buy from you in ways they never have

o the massive importance of identifying
‘hubs’ for your business (and the three
critical criteria of a good one)

o the difference between active and
passive word of mouth (and how you can
create substantial, positive word of
mouth for your business)


PART TWO:
The Horrible Hundred+

This might just be my favorite thing I've
ever created.

It's basically a diagnostic for the
conscious entrepreneur to see where they're
strong and where they're weak.

But from a particular angle.

I created it because I saw one too many
good-hearted conscious entrepreneurs
completely mis-diagnosing their situation.

They came to me thinking they needed
marketing help - but their real problems
lay outside the realm of marketing. Often
they were in the wrong business entirely,
they were addicted to urgency, they had
no goals etc.

I've gotten rave reviews on this thing.


PART THREE:

The Radical 180

This is a 180 point checklist that focuses
almost entirely on your marketing game plan.
It's divided into what i consider to be the
five most 'mission critical' areas of your
business.

It should give you a good birds eye view
of where your marketing is strong and where
it's weak.

* * *

HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN COPY?

1) Go to www.tadhargrave.com
2) Fill in your name and email on the
left hand side of the screen where it says:

"FREE!
Marketing Self Assessment
Find out what might be holding your
marketing back"

3) A link to download it will be
instantly emailed to you.
* * *

That's it.

I hope you're well.


Warmest,
Tad

P.S. PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS: The only
thing I ask is that instead of emailing
people the direct link to it, you send
them the following email (feel free to
modify) or some such thing.

* * *

"Hey, Just came across this free 111 page
ebook on marketing for green, holistic
and community minded entrepreneurs.

It's pretty amazing. Well worth your time.

It's got three different parts to it.

The summary is below but to get it

1) Go to www.tadhargrave.com
2) Fill in your name and email on the
left hand side of the screen where it says:

"FREE!
Marketing Self Assessment
Find out what might be holding your
marketing back"

3) A link to download it will be
instantly emailed to you.

Here's what's in it . . .


PART ONE:

An edited and expanded version of my live
two hour intro. The only thing missing is
my card tricks.

If you haven't been to my intro, here’s a
sneak preview of what you’ll learn:

o the difference between your inner
marketing game and your outer game (and
which one 90% of businesses totally ignore)

o the three critical criteria to
developing a strong target market or niche

o how you can craft an irresistible
offer that will compel your ideal clients
to buy from you in ways they never have

o the massive importance of identifying
‘hubs’ for your business (and the three
critical criteria of a good one)

o the difference between active and
passive word of mouth (and how you can
create substantial, positive word of
mouth for your business)


PART TWO:
The Horrible Hundred+

This might just be my favorite thing I've
ever created.

It's basically a diagnostic for the
conscious entrepreneur to see where they're
strong and where they're weak.

But from a particular angle.

I created it because I saw one too many
good-hearted conscious entrepreneurs
completely mis-diagnosing their situation.

They came to me thinking they needed
marketing help - but their real problems
lay outside the realm of marketing. Often
they were in the wrong business entirely,
they were addicted to urgency, they had
no goals etc.

I've gotten rave reviews on this thing.

PART THREE:

The Radical 180

This is a 180 point checklist that focuses
almost entirely on your marketing game plan.
It's divided into what i consider to be the
five most 'mission critical' areas of your
business.

It should give you a good birds eye view
of where your marketing is strong and where
it's weak.