[Hidden-tech] Business stimulus for HT members ?

[Shel Horowitz]

Riuch wrote:
>First off you have created at least 2 jobs, if you count yourself - 
>and maybe more if you count family members who 'help out' -- In my 
>case, as well as the 2 dozen or so people I've hired or have been 
>consultants on my projects, both my son and daughter have been 
>involved in businesses in a  key area of responsibility -- either 
>their own or others.

True enough.

>
>>I submit that people in my situation need reasonably priced 
>>creative marketing, not a bailout.
>>
>Now you are getting to the point I am making - we need to point the 
>various Gov't entities how they can be of help -- and to each other.
>Please expand more and maybe one of the other HT members can help.

Well, I'm actually someone who provides that to others. I've worked a 
few marketing miracles with little or no cash outlay, and I consult 
with others both on how to do traditional marketing very 
inexpensively and effectively, and also on how to take it to the next 
level with partnerships, marketing of expertise, etc.

I'll share one success story from a client, and one from my own business.

I had an 82-year-old  woman come to me in June of 2008 wanting a 
major publisher. She came to me with a raw, unedited, and 
need-a-lot-of-work MS that she wanted turned into a finished 
published book six months later, in time for a Paramount Pictures 
movie tie-in with a December release. I explained that big publishers 
didn't work that way, but that I could produce her book in time. I 
met the deadline and produced a beautiful book, in both hardback and 
paper, AND got her connected with the director, AND wrote publicity 
materials. Most commercial publishers couldn't have done that 
timeframe, and she certainly couldn't have done it on her own. She 
was interviewed by CBS News and the New York Times, became an 
informal consultant to the movie, and has gone into a third printing 
less than a year since publication. Yes, she could have saved money 
doing it on her own, but she would have had a slap-dash project 
desperately in need of editing, and probably a very poor cover.

My own story began when I filled an order for my $8.50 e-book on how 
to have fun cheaply. I noticed that the person ordering was an 
Internet marketing legend, and when I filled the order, I sent a 
quick note saying that I knew who he was and offering him a gratis 
copy of my book on ethical marketing. That led to an ongoing 
correspondence, an essay from me included in one of his books (no 
pay, but this is one time where paying in exposure actually worked 
out), and eventually, an out-of-the-blue offer to give me his contact 
info at John Wiley and Sons (major NYC publisher). That in turn led 
to a contract offer, and to me bringing in a celebrity co-author, and 
to the bet book I've ever done, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: 
Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet 
(co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson)--it'll be out next year, and I 
just set up a book launch at Broadside in Northampton, January 26, 7 
pm.

Robert Heller wrote:
>Here is a thought: If your business fails, that *increases* the
>joblessness (i.e. you are now unemployed), so while providing *some*
>support for 'micro' business does not 'create' [new] jobs, it does keep
>people employed [at existing jobs].  It is also not that these 'micro'
>businesses are going to suck up large amounts of the available money.
>Also: 'micro' businesses make use of the goods and services offered by
>'small' (and 'large') businesses.  Merely 'giving' a 'small' business
>the cash to hire someone is somewhat useless, unless the new hire has
>something 'productive' to do, and the 'something productive' could in
>fact be selling a good or service to a 'micro' business.  If the
>'micro' business fails, the new hire has less to do and if enough
>'micro' businesses fail, then there is not much point in hiring the new
>hire in the first place, no matter how much cash is tossed at the
>'small' business.  The point of the stimulus is to stimulate business,
>not to create meaningless jobs (eg relabling a 'welfare' check as a
>'pay' check does not really stimulate business), it only really works
>if the new jobs are actual jobs -- eg workers doing *productive* work.
>To some extent, this productive work would only exist if there are
>(healthy) micro businesses around to make use of the goods or services
>provided by the new hire.

True, and similar to Rich's point, above.

>
>Wondering: would 'reasonably priced creative marketing' be a service
>offered by a 'small' business?  I think it might make some sense to
>'grease' the wheel at both ends.  Or at least make sure the grease is
>applied where it can do the most good.

Yes, 'reasonably priced creative marketing' can certainly be offered 
by a small business. Most of the people I know in that space are 
either solopreneurs like me, or very small shops. In fact, I just sat 
in on a committee meeting today where we reviewed five bids for 
graphic arts marketing services (which is not the part that I do--I 
work much more on the text than the graphics, but I have graphics 
people I work with). I believe all but one of the bids were received 
from solopreneurs.
-- 

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