Million Dollar Marketing Report - September

This is part of a series of posts on the Million Dollar eBook Marketing Plan. Here are the highlights of my "Funny Employee Awards" book promotion for the month of September:

Monday, 9/1 - Launch: Listed Funny Employee Awards eBook for sale with no fanfare or announcement. This soft launch gave me a few weeks to work out any errors or bugs in the eBook (it turns out there weren't any).

Wednesday, 9/3 - Affiliates: Officially announced the launch of affiliate program on Larry Weaver (LW) blog.

Tuesday, 9/9 - Television: Sent video submission for The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.

Monday, 9/15 - Newsletter: Sent upgrade email to all previous Funny Employee Awards customers.

Friday, 9/19 - Guerilla: LW blog post offering free t-shirts for best ideas on promoting the new book. Cross-posted to Facebook and Twitter.

Wednesday, 9/24 - Blog: Launched Funny Awards blog with inaugural post. Cross-posted blog launch announcement on larryweaver.com.

Wednesday, 9/24 - Newsletter: Emailed Larry Weaver fan list announcing new book, affiliate program, and free t-shirt offer.

Thursday, 9/25 - Press Release: Sent first press release over PRNewswire as part of their targeted campaign to editors of Workplace and Careers features.

Miscellaneous Marketing Notes:

• Added hi-res downloads to site: author photo, eBook cover, and site logo.
• Hired NewspaperGirl to help write and edit press releases, based on a positive endorsement from a ShoeMoney blog post.
• Reached out to Peter Shankman for possible advertising opportunities in HARO.
• Designed direct mail postcard and sent to printer for October mailing.
• Committed to increased social networking (both online and offline) for the remainder of the year.

Based on current conversion rates and average transaction amounts, I'll need approximately 3 million visitors to my website between now and the end of the year to reach $1,000,000 in sales. It's not unthinkable, but it will require something big to happen. Do your part - buy the book and spread the word...

Funny Awards Blog

In an post earlier this year, I alluded to a forthcoming eBook in my post, Million Dollar eBook Marketing Plan.

The eBook in question is in fact the Second Edition of Funny Employee Awards: Your Complete Guide to Organizing a Humorous, Entertaining and Rewarding Recognition Ceremony.

I've spent the past year tuning up the Pay-Per-Click and Search Engine Optimization campaigns, as well as searching out the best advertising mediums for the eBook. I firmly believe this is a Million Dollar Idea.

I'll continue posting about my marketing and advertising successes/failures on this blog, but I'm moving the majority of posts about the funny awards themselves to the newly launched Funny Awards Blog.

As you may have guessed, the blog launch is part of the Million Dollar eBook Marketing Plan. Stay tuned - things are about to get interesting.

Subscribe to the Funny Awards Blog today!

Free T-Shirt for Promoting Funny Employee Awards

In a recent post, I told you how you could earn 20% commission just for referring your friends and colleagues to Funny Employee Awards. Now I'm upping the ante and giving away free shirts!

These are high-quality, screen-printed Funny Employee Awards t-shirts. The shirt is free. The shipping is free. It costs you nothing.

To get your free t-shirt, either post a comment or email me letting me know how you plan to help promote Funny Employee Awards. Here are some ideas:

• Write a blog post about Funny Employee Awards.
• Wear the t-shirt in your FaceBook, MySpace, etc. profile for the entire months of November and December.
• Send an email blast to your friends and colleagues about Funny Employee Awards.
• Add a link to Funny Employee Awards in your email signature.
• Get a celebrity to wear the shirt and send in the photo.
• Spread the news about our site in forums, blog post comments, and other link building opportunities.
• Wear the t-shirt at a high-profile event, photo shoot, or media appearance.
• Create a viral video promoting the site.
• Any other good and creative ideas.

Post your idea in the comments section below or email your idea. Be sure to specify your shirt size and preferred color (they're not yet printed, so ask for any color). And make sure I know how to get in touch with you if you're picked as a winner.

I'll pick 10 or more winners. Hey, I'll even consider long-sleeve shirts, hoodies, or jackets if your idea is REALLY good. Just help me get the word out!

Celebrate the Living

“We celebrate the lives of the dead / It's like a man's best party only happens when he dies.” – Body in a Box, City and Colour

The reaper makes frequent visits to the critical care unit at Moses Cone Hospital. Yesterday, his presence cast a heavy shadow over Mom’s room. And even though he managed to break the spirit of the most optimistic of well-wishers, his intended passenger had no plans to leave just yet.

You can imagine my surprise when I walked in to see Mom sitting upright in a chair by the bed, laughing and telling jokes. “So you’re back from the dead again,” I asked. She just looked up and said, “You can’t get rid of a good mule.”

*****

Mom knew a thing or two about mules. She grew up as the daughter of a sharecropper in Person County, NC. Her sisters, Phyliss, Brenda, and Joan worked the tobacco fields alongside her brothers Robert, Paul, and Ricky. They didn’t own the land, or the tools, or the mules that pulled the plow. But they worked it all to survive.

Faming tobacco is excruciating work. There’s the planting, the hoeing, the worming, the plucking, the tying, the curing… And breathing that red dust all day as the hot Carolina sun beats you down. It was backbreaking work. I got a small taste working Uncle Neil’s fields as a kid. But that was just a weekend job for me. This was a year-round reality for Mom and her siblings.

Grandpa’s plan was a simple one: more kids meant more hands to work more acres. But more kids also meant more mouths to feed. And when they yearly harvest came in, and the landowner was paid for the land, and the tools, and the animals, there was little left over for the family. It was a losing proposition.

Mom saw marrying my Dad as a way out of the tobacco fields for good. Little did she know that her hardest labor was yet to come.

Mom’s brothers and sisters have been through some trials. But make no mistake – they embody the word “tough.” Ironically, the same hard work that would contribute to many of their health problems later on was the same hard work that gave them the resolve to make it through.

*****

So there’s Momma sitting in the chair, chatting away. “We’re going walking down the hall tomorrow. And when I get out of here, we’re all going down to see Robert in Texas.”

It seemed impossible just hours ago.

Heart attack? Stroke? Pneumonia? Spinal fusion? That was yesterday.

Today the sun came up over Moses Cone, and with it a reason to celebrate.