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Shel Horowitz: Mad Marketer From Massachusetts
Call it grassroots, call it holistic, Shel Horowitz does his marketing the smart way: with good old-fashioned Yankee Ingenuity. And a little help from the Internet...
Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World is Shel Horowitz's third book on low-cost, high-return marketing. A highly readable text of insight, ideas and examples, the book demonstrates Horowitz's approach to making the most of readily available resources rather than indulging in unnecessary extravagances such as ad agencies, expensive promotion campaigns, and strained budgets. The long-time marketing and independent publishing advocate dispenses services and advice from his aptly named website: FrugalFun.com. Not surprisingly, the publishing deal for his new book came about in a "grassroots" kind of way."Walking the floor of BEA two years ago, I was wearing a t-shirt promoting my self-published book (The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant's Pocketbook, 1995)," he explained. "I came across Stephen Morris, publisher at Chelsea Green, in a booth promoting a book on Sustainable Hedonism. I pointed to my t-shirt and suggested that we talk. He looked at both my books, and to my surprise, he really wanted a marketing book. After six months, we'd negotiated a contract and GM is the happy result."
Horowitz's previous books, the self-published Keep Your Money -- How to Save Thousands in Advertising (1985), and Marketing Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring (Simon & Schuster 1993) preceded the paradigm shift created by open access to the Internet. When he wrote MWM, Horowitz says, "ordinary mortals weren't even allowed on the Internet--only scientists, academic researchers, and military/government types. Dot-com domains hadn't even been invented yet. MWM includes a mere seven pages about online marketing; Grass Roots Marketing has nine entire chapters on the topic."
"I began marketing MWM myself. I've had good success with online use of credit card orders. The book turned a profit within about a year or year and a half. I kept updating the update through January 1998. But I was beginning to feel that it was really time to do a new book that really integrated all the new material", Horowitz explains.
"Because of my publishing experience, my contract with Chelsea Green allows me to pursue a number of different markets--pretty much everything other than bookstores and libraries. And I got the benefit of their wonderful editorial and design staff, which made for an extremely high-quality product, far better than I could have done on my own.
"As for what else I do, I've always been a part-time publisher, full-time writer. The business I shared with my wife in the early years of our relationship, Accurate Writing & More, was a typing service that created a lot of work in the days before PCs. We specialized in resumes. I also did press releases & promotional materials for small businesses and community organizations. This afforded me clients who needed me more than every two years for resume updates."
"My marketing books are the best commercial for my services. I get many clients & speaking engagements from them. The books have helped me to propel the marketing copywriting portion to an international business, with four clients in the UK and one each in Belgium and Cyprus so far--plus every corner of the US. I expect to give my first international speech this fall, in Ecuador--organized by someone who bought my book over the Internet. One interesting MWM story: I got a call from a German businessman who wanted to know if the book was available in German. He told me he'd used the book to build a million-dollar business in two years, with no advertising! Of course, I asked him to put it in writing and used it as the basis of a press release!"
"I also sell books wholesale to promoters who then distribute them at low cost to audiences at marketing seminars. Having written three books on how to market cheaply, I do a lot of copywriting of marketing materials: press releases (my specialty), brochures, fliers, web page content (not code, just content), sales letters, etc. And since I'm active in the publishing community, where a lot of folks have bought at least one of my marketing books, a significant portion of my client base is publishers and authors."
"Much of what I know about marketing comes from promoting various community groups I've been involved with--going back to the days of delivering press releases on my bicycle in the pre-fax '70s because there was no money in the budget for stamps. Marketing my own business, Accurate Writing & More, since 1981 and building it up to the largest business of its kind in my three-county primary service area also added to my developing marketing savvy. Our focus for the local portion of the business is resumes as marketing documents.
"I live in an antique farmhouse in Hadley, MA, with my wife, Dina Friedman (also a writer), two kids, two cats, and a dog. Seven months ago, a really nasty housing development was proposed for our local mountain. Using my marketing skills, I organized a community group to block it--an endeavor that harnessed everything I know about community organizing, marketing, and environmental issues (three long-held interests). Response has been huge! We've gotten hundreds of people involved and have brought out up to 475 people to hearings (by the Building Inspector's count)--this in a town of about 4400." Horowitz's holistic approach to life and to marketing led to the growth of his career within the comfort of his own home in Hadley, Massachusetts. Wife Dina left a previous position in human resources in 1987 and now they run their successful resume writing and coaching business from home. The spouses agree on the philosophical premises that drive their businesses and work closely with each other. The Horowitz children are savvy marketers themselves, having learned the tricks of the trade by osmosis and observing their parents' clients during business meetings. Horowitz's seven year old son organized a Chinese auction this year to do his part to save the mountain.
"The hardest part of this project, from my son's point of view, was convincing retailers to contribute to his cause. But he impressed then with his clearly thought-out approach and presentation. He won their cooperation." Horowitz's twelve-year old daughter is writing a graduation speech promoting the best aspects of her school's educational program. "It reads like a brochure!" Horowitz proudly chuckles.
His mind is full of ideas for further endeavors. "When I write a book, I also start a file folder for the next version. When I feel it's time for an overhaul of the book, I pull out the relevant file folders. Keeping all that reference material organized made it easier to create the new book."
Percolating future book ideas is an exercise in which this writer/publisher excels. Sunshine On Your Shoulders, a layperson's book on low-cost conservation, is one of those ideas fermenting in Horowitz's fertile mind. "I was walking in the woods with my wife, telling her about my idea for another title, How to Find Your Next 10,000 Ideas. I told her I could come up with 20 article ideas from things I saw in the next 100 feet of our walk. She challenged me to do it and I succeeded. I just have to start thinking about the world around me and the ideas pour in."
Horowitz is not shy about adapting new technologies to his marketing skills. "On the Internet, I can use newsletters and email to capture my audiences by tailoring the messages to specific groups. A target market already exists for the taking on the 'Net. It's segmented and easily identifiable, easily served."
His marketing wisdom in Grassroots Marketing includes lessons in how to make customers happy, utilizing co-op advertising, public service announcements, personalized web sites, E-mail newsletters that save on postage, and other ideas for promoting a business at little to no charge. Horowitz points out how best to build a business identity and how to direct traffic to a business web site. For businesses without web sites, Horowitz offers a chapter entitled A Storehouse of Tricks. He supplies easily accomplished strategies for making new customers, hosting special events, and convincing customers to make larger purchases.
The book is a treasure box of sensible strategies that otherwise escape the thought processes of intelligent business people. Following Horowitz's advice should get attentive readers noticed in the noisy, competitive business worlds on and offline.
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By Yocheved Golani, Columnist and Freelance Writer mail to: yocheved@yochevedgolani.com http://www.sitedough.com/ygolani "Getting the Words Just Right"