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Indie Groundbreaking Book: Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green

An Approach That Puts Values Above Value

by Jim Barnes

There’s a “green” trend sweeping the nation, but can it really apply to the aggressively competitive world of marketing? Especially in these trying economic times, it’s hard to imagine the “Golden Rule” of putting people first and treating them fairly can help one succeed in business. And with all the cost-cutting that’s going on, can a business really afford to put values above value and worry about the environmental well-being of our planet?

According to authors Shel Horowitz and Jay Conrad Levinson, that is exactly what businesses need to do in order to succeed. These veteran marketers claim that the old model of intrusive advertising and marketing not only costs too much, but it no longer works. Their new book contends that what you can do instead is both more powerful and a whole lot cheaper.

Says Levinson in his introduction, “The whole purpose of this book: to prove that successful Green guerrilla marketing can contribute to your financial well-being and the well-being of our entire planet, now and in the future.”



Jay Conrad Levinson launched the Guerrilla Marketing series of books in 1984 and it became the best-selling marketing series in history. Shel Horowitz wrote the award-winning Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First in 2003, and this new partnership and publishing deal with John Wiley & Sons, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet brings these two marketing visionaries together to provide a tool for meeting the challenges of today. With Green guerrilla marketing, businesses can help stop the deteriorating state of the environment and beautify our planet – while also beautifying their own bottom lines.

Says Horowitz in his introduction, “It turns out that when we create companies based in core values of Green awareness and high standards of ethics, cooperation, and service, our marketing actually works better — and costs much less. With examples of not only what to do right but also how not to do wrong, ranging from solopreneurs to Fortune 100 companies, the book will help you increase and leverage your Green commitment, reach new markets, and slash your marketing costs.

Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green will help you know how…

Making your business really, truly Green may actually slash costs *and* provide a powerful “hot button” leverage point for your marketing—but faking a Green commitment (“greenwashing”) could destroy what you’ve worked so hard to build

Using the relationships you already have, you can create powerful partnerships that bring you directly in front of new and key audiences, at little or no cost—even competitors can be part of your success!

When you treat the prospect as intelligent, base your business on ethics, and actually anticipate those prospects’ needs, your growth can be exponential—but if you use old-style interruption-oriented marketing that insults your prospects, you’re writing a recipe for failure

The conversations you create and the experiences people have with you (in the real world, on social media, and elsewhere) are more important than any amount of traditional branding or advertising

“Yes, you want to build trust through your integrity—and you also want to build profits. Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green shows how to leverage both character and competence into profitable business ventures…Yes, you want your business to be as eco-friendly as possible. And you want to use that eco-friendliness to create swarms of eager customers, all but beating down your door for the privilege of doing business with you.” — From the Foreword by Stephen M.R. Covey, bestselling author of The Speed of Trust
“The idea that ethics and Green principles not only have a place in business, but are actually success tools, hasn't gotten wide currency; I hope this book changes that,” say Shel Horowitz. “When people realize that most people want to do the right thing, that ‘nice guys’ (either gender) finish FIRST, and that if they approach things properly, the marketplace will reward their environmental social commitment, they get really excited. I think this book has the potential to change the whole way our society thinks about business — and we're already getting fabulous feedback.”



“One of the most important chapters in the book is about how Green, ethical businesses can develop win-win partnerships that bring you into new markets at little or no expense, and another explores a host of effective low-cost/no-cost marketing methods that are more easily available to ethical and Green businesses. Another is the large chapter on Marketing Green, which shows businesses not only how to make their businesses greener, but how to position that commitment for maximum marketing advantage — without having to worry about accusations of ‘greenwashing.’ A third key chapter looks at really big-picture approaches to environmental and social issues; by thinking holistically, it often turns out that a 70% or 80% improvement in energy efficiency may cost the same as or less than a 10% improvement.”

An excerpt from the book:

WHY RESPONSIBLE COMPANIES PERFORM BETTER

It makes total sense that socially responsible investments do better. Consider these factors:

Clean-hands companies don’t have to pay expensive lawsuit settlements around pollution, safety violations, or discrimination.

When customers fall in love with the way a company does business, they start recruiting other customers. They actually become that firm’s unpaid sales force, and that leads to greater profits through reduced marketing expenditures. (We’ll talk more about this later.)

Ethical and eco-friendly companies are much more likely to build a lasting business, and build it more easily.

When customers believe that you have their best interests at heart, they come back again and again.

Joint ventures are much easier to organize, because the other partners expect that they’ll be treated ethically and respected for what they bring to the table.

The high value of goodwill will be factored into the sale price if the business is sold.

If you tell only the truth, you don’t have to worry about being caught in an embarrassing and profit-killing lie.

And the number one reason . . .

You never have to worry about seeing your picture on the front page — with you in handcuffs.

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Previous Indie Groundbreaking Books:

Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude, 26 Solutions for Life’s Little Challenges
by Michele Wahlder, MS, LPC, PCC.

Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing your Resources, and Taking Smart Action
by Rich Horwath

Notes On Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft
by Lauren Braun Costello and Russell Reich

Give Peace A Deadline: What Ordinary People Can Do To Cause World Peace in Five Years
by Nathan Otto & Amber Lupton

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