How Do We Kill Birds

September 10, 2009 · Comments

Leann's Son with Trust Agents I’m thinking, and I really want your thoughts, too. Here’s the premise: I’m trying out different types of promotion for selling books, and now I want to see if I can tie the effort to social good. All my lessons are open-faced so that you can learn from them and take them for your own projects. But I need your thoughts and ideas on what ELSE we can do, because I think it’d be useful to marketers, to other authors (and yes, to us). Are you game?

So far, Julien and I have been very fortunate. Trust Agents hit the New York Times list within two days of the book coming out. The week after, we hit the Wall Street Journal list. That was you. YOU did all that, and I’m grateful.

As part of the promotion, I made a trade. I gave away 5 deals of “200 books for a 1/2 day of my time” and then gave away 4 (there’s still one left) of “300 books for a 1/2 day of my time.” That most definitely moved the needle. I’m in the midst of fulfilling all those requests, by the way. It’s a LOT of flying, but it’s also a great way to get out and meet great folks.

More recently, with my promotion for Mitch, I gave away 10 guest blog posts and accompanying tweets, in exchange for a purchase of 10 of Mitch’s book. (We sold out pretty quickly.) A strange side-effect was that a bunch more people bought Trust Agents at the same time (so thanks!).

How Might I Tie Trust Agents Sales to Social Change?

Here’s what I know: every individual sale is wonderful, and I’m always grateful, but as one of my mentors, Jeff Pulver taught me: it’s every bit as much work chasing single sales as it is making bigger things happen. So, knowing that every blog post you wrote helped, and knowing that visiting places is helpful, but not really scalable (I’m traveling 49 out of the next 60 days), I want your thoughts.

How do we kill two birds? In what way can I tie purchases of multiple copies of Trust Agents to something charitable and cool? I’ll give you some starter thoughts, but I want YOU to share yours.

Ideas for Trading Multiple Copies of Trust Agents for Social Good

  • If a corporate sponsor bought 300 copies of Trust Agents, I’d donate 5 hours to a nonprofit of their choice, helping with social strategy, promotion, blogging, etc.
  • What if I offered to pay $50 to a charity/cause for every 10 copies of Trust Agents an individual bought (up to 10)? (That way, it’s within reach of an individual to make a difference).
  • What if, for every 10 copies an individual buys, I donate 1 book to a local library?
  • …and your ideas will go here.

What do you think? What are other ways that people can tie a marketing goal (selling more _____) to a charitable good goal? How have you seen other companies do it, and how do you think it applies to what I’m trying to do for Trust Agents, and/or for that matter, how will you take these ideas and apply them to you?

The kid in the photo (and the photo itself) belong to Leeann

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  • You, Chris, are a limited resource. Your following, (a.k.a. the best conglomerate of social media marketing badasses on the web) is much less limited. You can choose a certain number of non-profits that want to use Trust Agents for a cause (not sure how you'd pick). All you do is give a shout-out, or even a full post to the non-profits of your choice, explaining that it's up to your followers to help them out with advice on a specific area of social media marketing. This connects them to unbelievable resources and if I know your followers, they'd be happy to lend a hand.
  • Now that's kind of interesting. A barn-raising for social good!
  • Count me in for something like this... Great idea, Dan!
  • Instead of a Borders or B&N or BAM, have your next book signing at a soup kitchen or at the open house of a charity you endorse. On top of that, give a discount on the book to people who show up to pitch in/donate/get on a mailing list/etc. Heck, start doing this all over the place and give them a catchy name like 'TrustUps.'
  • I really really like this idea, Jeff. VERY clever! I'm going to start requesting this for my upcoming appearances.
  • Thanks, Chris.

    I think the best thing about the idea is that it puts the book into action and becomes something that can sustain itself without you and Julien attached to it, though it's leveraging you to get it moving.
  • Conferences who want to hear you speak can purchase a certain amount of books, and give it to their attendees :)
  • Chris, the best option in my opinion is giving your time pro-bono in exchange for a large purchase. Or maybe with the sale of every 1,000 books (from now on) you give an hour of your time to a cause chosen by your followers and readers?
    Cool idea!
  • Chris- Inspiring what you are doing, you are a true example. I like what nigellegg suggests. How can you argue with philanthropy?

    Another option might be to encourage your subscribers to purchase 10 copies for co-workers, clients, and friends (after reading it themselves), as your thank you, offer them access to a special webinar that builds on the themes found in the book. As an added bonus you might consider putting attendees in a raffle to be personally coached either on the webinar (so all might benefit), or outside of the webinar (1 ticket for every 10 books purchased?). Ok, I'll stop there. :-)
    -Travis
  • Hey Chris, being an entrepreneur, I know how valuable time with you would be. There are a lot of questions I have about how to best position my startup in terms of branding and in social media.

    You mentioned giving 5 hours of your time to a non-profit of a company's choice. I'm sure they would pick a large, established organization. But how about non-profits that are in the startup phase? I know that they could use your help and that a few hours with you would mean a lot to their marketing efforts.

    I propose that a startup non-profit sell a certain number of your books (through word of mouth, a blog post, or whatever their methods may be) for 2-4 hours of your time.

    I know a few startup non-profits that would definitely be interested in this idea if it interests you. Let me know!

    - Jun Loayza
  • Whoever can move 200-300 books is fine by me. I'm not singling out the big guys. :) If it's a smaller volume, I'd have to find a way that it's not my time personally, as I only have so many hours, and can't spread any thinner than I am.

    Make sense?

    And I'm glad you chimed in. I like you.
  • mikemyatt
    Chris: I'll follow this with interest as I've been working on similar thoughts. As an example, if buyers purchase a copy of my book off my site as opposed to Amazon, B&N etc., I make a donation to the charity of their choice. Hasn't made a big difference in terms of sales, but at least it generates some donations...

    Great thoughts as always Chris...Thanks
  • I'm not sure where on the "social good" meter this one ranks, but how about if I buy X books, I can ride along with you for a day, just as an observer/student.

    Saves you travel, and I bet a lot of us would jump at the chance.
  • Now that's interesting. You'd have to buy airplane tickets most days, so that'd get costly quick. : )
  • Most people I know would front the money for a day shadowing you while you work... Really cool idea.
  • Hi Chris, Is that picture of your Son? What a great picture! Kids know how to do facial expression far better than us older folks.

    To the point, I have always struggled with questions like this, we have so much here in North America and yet so many struggle. I don't mean Charitable Organizations, I mean people that these organizations don't help. I would rather see you try to help families that can't make ends meet, or find work in your own back yard.

    I have always tried to live by this motto: How Many People Are Better Off Because You Lived?

    Anyway, food for thought. Thank you for being who you are and for giving some of us hope.

    Many Blessings, Owen
  • Not my son, no. I like the snap. It's Leeann's kid (link at the bottom of the post).

    It's a good point, Owen, and I like that quote a lot. Thank you for that.
  • Hi Chris - my son was absolutely flattered that you posted his pic on your blog :) I wrote my book for parents of newly diagnosed kids with autism. Ten percent of the proceeds go to the National Autism Association. I've also formed a coalition of autism parents and started legislation in our state that would help parents pay for medically necessary, evidence based treatments and have helped take it to the federal level. I appreciate your philanthropic endeavors and think you're just an all around great guy. What about something for kids since they're generally so internet/social media savvy? Maybe a Chris Brogan boot camp for kids with Asperger's or High Functioning Autism or troubled youth? (either on the web or in conjunction with a large non-profit?) Congrats on TRUST AGENTS success!

    Best,
    Leeann
    leeannwhiffen.com
  • Marc Reindell
    How about donating a small portion of each book sold to a charity chosen by your subscribers, twitter followers, etc.? That could really add up and make a real difference.
  • there's got to be a way to roll this into an education-based focus. school/profs/students buy x books, and are treated to a guest lecturer.

    or maybe some sort of case study project rolled into the curriculum, judged and evaluated by you.
  • Just like any other strategy exercise, I suggest going back to the basics. From your list of preliminary ideas, it seems like you're starting the process of tactical execution before committing to a set of objectives. Which causes do you (and your audience) really care about? Which causes are you best positioned to help? You're trying to find the intersection between your value/purpose and the cause's.

    Once you answer those questions, I think it'll be much easier to crowd-source effective tactics...because you'll understand what these organizations need and how you can help.
  • That's just it, Nicole. I know the strategic effort: find and align my resources with a cause of my choice. What I want to know are some interesting new tactics to distributing MORE books and MORE value at the same time.

    I'm asking a tactical question. : )
  • imseekingbalance
    You could give one copy to a non profit for every 10 sold... the non profits could apply by commenting with a link and what they do. The world would see how many great causes there are to support and some lucky applicants would get a copy.
  • Cath
    Why not borrow from the XO's marketing push and offer two for one, buy two copies and one goes to a local school/college or library?
  • lorensanders
    hey i like what you are doing keep crankin it! it would be fun to buy 200 of your books and give em to my community 1/2 to strugling out of work folks and half students...maybe mixing them together and stirrin the pot generate some sparks for both sides.
  • You've just given me a GREAT idea! I'll share it in a moment.
  • How about using your professional skills to help a nonprofit organization?

    If a corporate sponsor or a neighborhood association bought 1,000 copies of Trust Agents you would help a nonprofit of their choice to improve their online communications. Instead of giving them a fish, you teach them how to catch some.
  • Great idea, Bruno. It's what I wrote about as one of my first recommendations above. I'm glad we think alike. : )
  • This is a great book to have on required reading lists for marketing/communications students at all levels. When I was doing my masters in Advertising at the Univ. of Florida much of our reading was outdated; especially when it comes to social media. Ad students often do pro bono projects for organizations, as part of curriculum. What if your book was required reading, and the students used the learnings to develop social media strategy for an organization? This would get more books in young people's hands (the next gen of social media), and creates a legion of people using their knowledge for social good.

    Are there colleges or universities you could develop such a program with? Best, a.
  • bobbicknell
    Excellent marketing article Chris! Awesome strategies to deliver value to all! More folks focused on delivering value and content like you do the world would be a better place! Thanks again for sharing!
  • Hey Chris,

    Kudos on the idea to leverage your book promotion with some social good. Why other authors, and marketers to that point, don't try to incorporate some charitable element to their book campaigns is beyond me. Not only do you get people talking about the book, but the tie to a charitable cause give people the sense they are not only going to learn something but will give back without making much effort.

    One concept you could explore builds off your second idea. What if for every individual that received one of the original ten copies received a referral code for Amazon. If they bought 10 more, Amazon (or another book seller) would make a charitable donation too. Then both you and a related third-party are getting in the action.

    Interested to see where you go with this.

    Cheers,
    Michael
  • So I can do that, but without Amazon. I can have you show screenshots of purchases. It's what I did already. But maybe I can find corp sponsors to match up to $1000 or whatever, and get even more dollars to flow. Good one, Michael. : )
  • michellegreer
    My answer is obvious: build a well!

    Building a water well to provide clean drinking water to an entire village of people can cost as little as $4000. This prevents war and completely preventable diseases. One in six people on the planet doesn't have clean drinking water. That's just crazy talk.

    P.S. If you are down for this, I can help you raise money for charity and promote your book with an idea that I've had for a WordPress plugin. Your star is so bright, I should have no problem getting it built 100% free by one of the many bright coders here in Austin in exchange for you just mentioning it. Just give me a call at 512.294.3909. I'll explain it and if you like it, I'll make it happen.

    Keep it up, Chris. You aren't just typing. These are hard times for people and your guidance is helping people through a really difficult time. The book is good too. It's my "chilling out at Barton Springs" reading.
  • Build a well. Isn't taht what the Twestival folks all do?

    I knew I should've just asked you. : )
  • michellegreer
    Brogan, your star is so bright these days, who knows how many wells you could build.

    Anyway, if I can be of any help, just ask. The offer's on the table.
  • waynemansfield
    Chris

    Talk with my friend Paul Dunn with www.B1G1.com who are doing amazing things as socially responsible entrepreneurs. I am sure they will be able to help you achieve social change, one book at a time
  • It's hard to beat hitting NY Times best-seller list in 2 days. Congratulations!

    You might take a look at what Rohit Bhargava did to promote Personality Not Included. I participated in his blogger interview contest and his breakfast brain storming meeting at Blogger Social NYC April 2008. You can follow the saga of his book promotion on his Influential Marketing blog and on the official personalitynotincluded website. I would also talk to him to find out what worked and what didn't.

    I wrote about the contest here:
    http://itsdifferent4girls.com/blog/2008/04/08/t...

    The brainstorming breakfast was a great investment for him. Of course your ability to crowd source ideas from the mere power of your following is tremendous. Rohit's breakfast added to idea collection, discussion and refinement of each idea and then voting. You could do that right here as well.

    Because of my background in Japan, the first volume related idea that comes to me is to make sure that you get a good Japanese translation out there quickly. The Japanese are voracious readers and Trust Agents should be of interest there. Your publisher should have the connections to make international distribution happen fast and happen right.
  • Thanks for your ideas, Linda.

    Rohit's a great guy. I followed a lot of his ideas when he put out his book.

    As for translations, that's in the hands of the publishers, and of Japanese companies. Rights for translations are purchased via Wiley, not commissioned by the authors. : )
  • Yes, not many people realize that the publisher controls the translation rights. I'm just suggesting to nudge them in the right direction.

    Once your book gets out there, you can use your own networking power to help create buzz, even internationally. No doubt you are connected to powerhouse Joichi Ito @Joi
  • Chris:
    As Board Chair for Big Brothers here in Vancouver and someone who works in the Social Media field I hear your question and live it daily. How to build community on the web, boost sales (volunteerism) and highlight non-profits. Great goals all.

    In the current economic landscape I see more non-profits chasing more elusive corporate sponsor dollars and individual donations/time. It's dog eat dog.

    Isn't every weekend the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, Awareness Walk, Food Drive, Half-Marathon for Life, Breathe Easier Hike to Aid Pulmonary Research? How are companies and individuals to choose which worthy cause to support with ever-dwindling resources?

    My idea then is for you to tie your Trust Agents promo to collaboration. Reward the best two OR more non-profits that collaborate on a community initiative that can/cannot include the sale of your book. For instance, here in Vancouver why doesn't the Vancouver Aquarium and Science World (two institutions with very similar demos) offer a joint Family Membership that provides equal access to both? Their membership drive could be aimed at urban professionals with families and each membership includes complimentary "Trust Agents" copy. Presto, book sales, collaboration and community benefits abound.
  • Now this is great, Rich, because it brings TWO groups or more to bear together. I love this. I really like that initiative a lot!
  • I'm ready to work on thsi anytime you are. sorry for the delay, had my head somewhere else...
  • I think it's also important to get people will read it to buy it. Having someone buy 100 books then donating it to whoever will generate short time $$ but no referring sales.

    You don't want people to put the book on a shelf and not reading it.

    Speaking about your book at a local or national conference may be a good way to get people to actually read the book.

    I would also consider selling a PDF format as today's generation probably wont read something if it's not presented on a computer screen.
  • The PDF version usually comes out 4 months after the book, so that'll happen.

    As for speaking, I can't possibly do more events than I'm doing now. : )
  • I've worked with Plant-It 2020 before. It's a cool organization that will plant 1 tree for every $1.00 you donate.

    All pulp and paper guilt aside, wouldn't it be cool to help replenish the earth from the paper used to print books?

    http://www.plantit2020.org/
  • Oh this is good!
  • As an entrepreneur I tend to think in the early-stage business sense, and think the small guys should be empowered by thought leaders whenever they can afford to do so.

    I'd focus on lowering the bar in terms of access to your services. The obvious hurdles any low-budget non-profit faces are simple; resources versus need for a wider audience. Many are turning to social media as a lower cost way to jump those hurdles. I work with many in Chicago, and the learning curve, especially towards making the right moves in community building, is somewhat steep.

    Many won't even know who you are. However, many will have people in their audience who do, and who might bring this to their attention and tell them to take a shot at earning some insight from you. Maybe their audience will make it happen FOR them.

    Those insights would be invaluable, but so would the interface with their audience that this kind of an opportunity presents. It highlights not only raving fans for these non-profits, but it gives them resources when they need further insights into their social web and marketing initiatives.

    Donate time and insight to non-profits who can't afford it. Let their audience...their community...rally around them to boost their strategies and understanding of what I think is their most compelling area of potential growth and sustainability.
  • I donate time to charities. I'm not seeing the cross-marketing perspective here. Are you going with the, "be nice and helpful in front of them and they may check out your book" perspective?

    If so, it's a nice thing to do, but doesn't move the needle. I will be definitely donating lots of time to charities over the next year, as I have this year. : )
  • I'm approaching this from the perspective of someone who's donating time to
    non-profits to help them take smart steps towards engaging the socially
    active crowd online. They need you and can't afford you. I have no doubt
    you're already using your time to help charities, and definitely didn't want
    to suggest you aren't.

    My thought was to engage their audience and let those purchases act as
    donations to a charity. Either create a lower, individual threshold (10
    books = X hours for named charity) or track individual purchases and their
    relation to a charity (I buy a book, and tag it to Chicago Dramatists, my
    non-profit - if I can rally 10 or 20 or 30 other people to do the same = X
    hours). The second option seems as though it'd require a bit of a tweak to
    the current purchasing methods, but certainly isn't impossible.

    It also might inspire the notion of competition, if you found a way to
    engage the "teams" surrounding charities with one another. Competition is
    viral and would probably result in more needle-pushing, per se.

    Does this move the needle? I'm not sure it significantly does, and I
    certainly don't think it's an awe-inspiring original idea. That doesn't
    mean I don't like it:)
  • annemai
    Chris, I have two suggestions for you:

    1. As a marketer -- and former corporate citizen -- offering your book for sale to a company with an agreement to speak to their employees at a Town Hall, say, for an hour a day would be a great way of sharing the principles of Trust Agents. Perhaps you can be sponsored by one of the employee groups/mentor associations, etc.

    2. From a social good perspective -- you could do a riff on your program of donating money based on every 10 books sold, that you've outlined above. Instead of it having to be one individual making the purchases, can "teams" be created representing a particular cause. The teams would compete to raise money for the causes through purchases of your book. The "reward" could be money for the cause as well as webinar with you for the winning organizations. Organizations can not only use the money during this prolonged recession but also benefit from your insights and enthusiasm to help them become Trust Agents themselves.
  • The second one's pretty darned clever. I have a variation of an idea based on this and think I can riff with it. Thanks for your participation. : )
  • melissaleon
    This is a cool idea. Charities are often left out of the discussion because they typically cannot afford to pay as much as for profit companies. I think the consulting idea is great!

    How about if a charity could get their supporters to buy X amount of books then you would donate X amount of hours for consulting. The charities could ask their supporters and fan base to purchase books on their behalf. It would take a little logistical planning, but could be very helpful to charities.
  • I like that idea, Melissa. : )
  • jimbrochowski
    I'd be interested in trying something like this with my non-profit.
  • Chris: Have you talked with the fine folks over at TechSoup.org? They're behind the revolutionary "Non-Profit Commons" project in Second Life. I'm sure that they (you might want to connect with Susan Tenby) would have some very specific ideas.

    I used to run a small publishing house, so I'd have some suggestions, but for "best fit", why don't you go to the source (and TechSoup is a "clearing house" for services to non-profits)?

    One suggestion that I have for general exposure is to contact LibraryThing.com to get in as part of their "Early Reviewers" program. Information on this is here: http://www.librarything.com/forpublishers/ ... and a list of previously offered titles is here: http://www.librarything.com/er/list?program=ear... ... a "business book" would stand out and get a lot of attention! The person who runs the program is the "Head Librarian" for LibraryThing, Abby Blachly ... who is reachable at: abby (at) librarything.com

    - @BTRIPP
  • Some great suggestions here that could be rolled into one strategy. I agree that you need an objective before you decide the tactics. As far as donating your time to a charity, I think to be compelling, you need a larger objective around this.

    Two things stand out: (1) Helping "social entrepreneurs" (as suggested by Jun) and (2) Getting into the hands of higher education, and even secondary education, institutions. As Anna pointed out, universities are frequently behind the times, using outdated materials.

    You could:
    - Establish "Trust Agent Social Good Circle" and identify social entrepreneurs/start-ups, and educational institutions that would receive X amount books for every book bought by a company. The company would purchase the books (perhaps at a lower cost), and they would be donated to one of the organizations as an "in-kind" donation (non-profit speak). If the company wanted to do this with someone not on the list, that org could become a member of the circle.

    - Along with book, you could choose one of the organizations on a quarterly basis to receive mentoring personally from you. X number of hours. Or a company could chose to pay for your time with a chosen organization.

    - The Circle would be set up on social media sites and info, insights, and successes shared.

    - You could have your corporate customers pair with someone in the Circle on a project.

    - Best project of the year receives an award donated through corporate sponsorship.

    Lots of other things you could do, and this could also boost your exposure and biz in the corporate world if that's an objective. But instead of doing several, perhaps disjointed things, you could extend your book, brand, and social good much better through one, bigger, concerted effort.

    (BTW- Looking forward to your talk in Austin at AMA next week).

    Leslie
  • Tons of great stuff here, Leslie. I'm still chewing on it all. Thank you for this. I really appreciate it. : )
  • Hey Leslie, just noticed your reply and thanks for mentioning my comment in your comment.

    I really love the circle idea. Kind of like a "Mastermind Group" or something.

    Chris brought up a great point that he is just overstretched. I would suggest doing 1-hour phone consultation for a startup but that just doesn't provide the "WOW" factor that I think Chris is looking for.

    What if Chris started a Mastermind Group of trusted marketing strategists that could help social entrepreneurs build a better startup. In this way, social startups that sold only 50 books could possibly get a 1-hour meeting with one of the people in the Mastermind Group. The grand prize winner would get a meeting with Chris himself.

    It would take a lot of work though, but I'm sure there is an entrepreneur out there who would help Chris organize it for him for free. The entrepreneur would have to be internet-savvy, responsible, dependable, and trustworthy. Hmmmm... I wonder where Chris could find such a guy :)

    - Jun Loayza
  • BarnabyKnoll
    I really liked @Jeff Stolarcyk and @nigellegg suggestions.

    It might also be cool to give an hour video or phone consultation to charitable organizations for every 50 people who show up at a book signing. It could be like a contest and you could have the people who showed up suggest a local charitable organization to help out. The winning organization would get a free consultation.
  • btwaxman
    A suggestion or perspective of sorts - The 3-way Share: Think of a corporate entity that would want your product/service (in this case books and/or your time). What do they then have to offer a non-profit? When successful you create a very useful round robin.

    An example: XYZ computer maker wants good press and likes to support homelessness issues. XYZ could simply donate to a non-profit that renovates homes for homeless people. Instead, XYZ makes a deal to give free computers to ABC building supply company valued at $XXXXX. ABC then donates $XXXXX in building supplies to non-profit homeless org. All 3 entities get good press and things they need without any exchange of $ - just product.

    You know your audience better than I do. Perhaps there are orgs out there that would value having your book or your time and they in turn would give their product/service to the non-profit. Try to think one step removed and see where the brainstorming takes you. - Ben Waxman (ben@btwaxman.com)
  • This is fantastic that you are doing so much to promote social good and I applaud you for bringing this question to the community. Its also exactly what we are trying to do with The Good Web (http://www.thegoodweb.org) - to bring marketers, brands, and causes together to talk about how we can make social good and still make a living for all involved.

    I think the one thing we need to always be aware of is that the most successful cause or non-profit is always one that runs like it is for profit. This can be said the same for the marketing tactics that we use to raise awareness and participation around these causes.

    Chris, I wish I knew this was dear to your heart because I would have asked you to speak at my conference. Haha. Thanks so much for spearheading the discussion!
  • I like what you said.
  • danatwichell
    There is only one of you and thousands of org's that need your help, and the most valuable product is your personal attention. I think delegation is the quickest way to generate sales, and the most effective use of your time will be with the non-profits that have read it and are ready for you to help them apply it to their own org's.

    You can hand pick individuals (or successful non-profits) and empower them to act on behalf of the Trust Agency. Those official Agents can give seminars for $20pp about the successful application of Trust Agents and include a "free" book. Armed with fresh interest and your book, non-profit leaders will be likely to read it. Then make a short online form for organizations to apply for a discussion group to show they are ready and host discussions with 4 or 5 non-profits at a time. It lets others drive sales/interest, non-profits take responsibility for change, and helps you maximize your time with action-oriented leaders.
  • Hi Chris,

    I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of Trust Agents at the moment (it's taking some time).

    1) How about an initiative for Kiva? It's a great organization. Add $1 (or whatever amount seems fair) for every book sold, and for every $25 dollars you make a loan. On the selfish-but-not-selfish side: You get your money back. Or, you could keep it circulating to different entrepreneurs whenever the loan is paid back, or you withdraw the cash as it is repaid and put it into charity afterwards. Win-win: Entrepreneurs are supported and a charity is supported by the same money.

    2) Think big. I'm from Norway, and I've ordered your book because I heard about it on Jonathan Fields' blog first, then found out more about yours. How can you reach outside the US borders? How about a live webinar at universities that have courses that deal with social media (some issues with time zones, but where there's a will there's a way, right) and order a certain number of copies of the book (as either curriculum or recommended reading).

    3) More big thinking. How about companies that work with social media consulting. Halogen and Sermo are a couple I know of in Norway. English is no issue in Norway (or Scandinavia and most of Europe), so having webinars or some form of communication as a bonus on purchasing the book is absolutely possible.

    3 Ideas from me :)

    Lars-Christian
  • You have two problems, the time to manage a promotion and the time to provide the prize if you are the prize.

    I think you can spread the most goodwill without spreading yourself too thin by running a contest with a consulting strategy session with you as the top prize.
    Perhaps the group that sends you the most screen shots of receipts, -- actually that would be a bit of a nightmare to track.

    Here's an idea:

    Have a contest for the most books sold by a particular charity.

    Here's a way you could do it:
    Set up a special affiliate link, with sub affiliate links for each charity so you can easily track the number of sales each charity makes.

    All of the affiliate proceeds go to the charities and the winner gets a session with you. You could probably get lots of us to offer other prizes too, but once again that could become a nightmare to manage.

    Limit it to the first 5 charities. Allow people to write comments explaining why everyone should purchase through their charities link. It will probably go viral you'll sell a ton of books and help out some charities a bit and one charity a lot. Everyone wins.

    Doug
  • From personal experience, you simply tweeting about something brings a lot of attention to it, Chris... even at 2am. And that's valuable. Thanks again, by the way. :)

    I can't stop thinking about the corporate sponsor idea. Tim Ferriss got a sponsor to donate $3 toward building a school for every twitter follower he received a while back, up to a certain amount. You could apply something like that to total books sold, from where you are now to a certain target number. You could then blog / tweet updates a set number of times with the sponsor's brand in each message.

    Or what about something like a celebrity auction... You have an X book minimum buy-in to get into an event where your super friends auction off their services for charity.

    Just throwing things out there... Feel free to throw them right back. :)
  • Great ideas already, and I just want to mention that many tiny charitable projects, like the one my family sponsors, helping children in Brazil through their artisan mothers, can put a $50 donation to good use: http://h2h.2wtx.com/

    Regardless of which causes you decide to support, I think this is a great idea to tie your promotion efforts with social good.
  • I read all the comments and lots of good things in there. The only thing I would add is you have wide and deep network. Maybe for every X amount of books, you will hook someone up with a gig. I know that it requires that you know what that person is capable of and sure you do that already. Trying to take some of the themes from your book and apply them
  • claudio alegre
    Kind of like the idea of: X amounts of books bought, you'd donate your time and input. Ppl value what they can apply....But why fly? Webcast, or podcast...live interview, structured based on books purchased, etc...easier on your time and your pocket.

    As it is I think that's where you brand is headed Chris...ie. (GaryV/winelib tv.) but on the niche you've created for your self and your "audience"...That you can scale, and the social impact is pretty much without limit.
  • mlkeone
    Chris,

    You need scale and ease. It isn't reasible for you to consult or guest post your way there, (although we are looking forward to ours with great anticipation!).

    1) Have companies like ours, who are involved in social media marketing, find corporate sponsors. We do it all the time, trade for scholarships, trade for donations.
    2) Have us do the "free consulting trade". We provide our corporate sponsor with something valuable that equals the amount of books donated. Tacked onto a consulting bid, few companies will balk at $1,000 trade.
    3) The books are jointly donated to a good cause- one in our area helps single moms get back into the work force. Great audience for impact through your book.
    4) You provide a short video talking about some of the principles in the book, thanking both us and the corporate sponsor(s) for participating in spreading good and light.

    Simple, Scalable, Quick.

    Maile
    @mlkeone
  • Well that's all pretty cool stuff! Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.
  • Chris,
    Are you blogging or flogging?

    I respect the fact that you and Julian are thought leaders and have published a book that many of us will gain knowledge from. You have rallied your followers to support your commercial interests.

    When it comes to charity and social responsibility, I believe you need to make a personal choice rather than a popular choice, based on a cause or charity that you feel passionately about. To me, your charitable idea sounds more like a tax deduction than a cause that you sincerely wish to support.
  • It's a reasonable opinion, Bruce. Over the last year, I've pushed social media into charity once a month to show how the tools can benefit charity. I have yet to take a tax deduction on my efforts (mostly because I'm a really crappy tax filer, not because I'm altruistic or something).

    My point with looking for ways to benefit both is that I believe charities are hard hit right now, and that businesses are seeking more genuine marketing angles, and that the responses I get from this post are some guidelines for both to work with each other for mutual good.

    The body of work on my blog would suggest that my occasional post looking for support is in the minority, but then, you don't need me to tell you that. You can scroll back a few months and pick out what you like or don't like.

    That's the beauty of it. You don't have to like every post.
  • Michael Procopio
    A two part idea:

    If your goal is to sell more, follow the lead of Scott Sigler, podcast the book and post it for free. Amazingly he became a NYT Best Seller that way.

    To add the charitable component - give the audio only to charities to sell with a 50/50 (or pick your percentage) split they keep their part you get your part.

    Hope your contract allows for such.
  • ProfS on Twitter
    Why not connect with Make a Difference Day (10/24) participants all over the US? Offer every team completing service a free entry to a webinar that you'll host (they collect that info from teams registering) and find a corporate sponsor to underwrite a book discount purchased by those participants and/or their teams. It's a win for USAToday, rewards good folks for volunteering in their community and the non-profits they represent and volunteer for, and has a practical education component -while making the most of small amount of your time with the potential for impact all over the US.
  • Chris, you put up a lot of great content that people can read and use, but the missing piece is how to pull it all together and formulate a strategy for a specific organization. That work is left to your readers (unless they hire someone to help their org do it).

    What if you did something like:

    Buy X books and I'll give you X hours of web based coaching/teaching and content (not from blog. i.e. more targeted to org being helped) to help you get started with your social media/online strategy.

    This let's you do things from where ever you are and you could probably build a 'kit' of sorts that you could give to each nonprofit.

    http://twitter.com/franswaa
  • Chris,
    I took Trusted Agents advice and created a blog post that will help you and other authors crack a huge non-profit market with your books.

    http://bit.ly/8Fa55

    See you in Boston...

    Dale - EchoQuote
  • interculturaltalk
    I've not read all the comments, so sorry if this is duplicate. You might want to start with who you know. Look at your clients, and see who is on boards of which not-for-profits (most CEO's end up being Chair of some annual gala for some organization, and perhaps they can buy books (at a good rate) to go in each of the goody bags that guests at the event get. As far as the return to the non-for-profit, you might want to package it as something more tangible/visually exciting than 5 hours--is there something you can do/complete in 5 hours?--a workshop for their marketing team? A Twitter/You Tube Viral Sensation (a la when you got on that Pirate Ship--it was big, visible, made you look good but in this case might make a great association between the cause and the company that is buying the book.). How will the book make someone's client happier? Oohh--I bet a bank or appropriate company might like to offer a workshop or key note to their top clients--you could do a 1 hour keynote, and work 4 hours with teens at a local school and have them create something amazing (a la Damon Weaver) to show as well (maybe it's a competition, with a scholarship or savings bond prize to the students as well), company buys books to give to exclusive guests as take away at event.

    And, I'd be irresponsible to not offer to submit a proposal to plan this promotion for you! (my marketing experience is more in not-for-profit and programming arena!)

    Of course you can always do the x percent from purchase of each book as a promotion with a specific charity so that they market it to their consituents/members.

    Good luck and congratulations on the book.
  • bethkanter
    Hi Chris:

    In August, at Mashable Social Good - use the book title/screen capture and principle to urge people to make change in the world -- the archimedes principle. Now it's in the slide show.

    I got a box of Trust Agent books (a small number)- and using it as an incentive for donors to help me raise the Leng Sopharath's senior year tuition - doing this at the end of October at an event with several hundred folks. I've also given away one copy so far to a nonprofit (a hospital) - in a guest by Frank Barry about how to be a nonprofit Trust Agent. I'll be profiling the winner.

    I've also given the books to a couple of folks who talk to a lot of nonprofits - and urging them to read to it -- indrect way to make change - but many nonprofits could make a lot of change using the principles in your book.

    Anyway, small numbers -- but don't forget that small actions add up.
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