Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World

Rating:
Summary: One of The Most Complete Marketing Books I"ve Read
Review: "Grassroots Marketing" is a great book for small business owners who want to improve their company's marketing and do so inexpensively. The book surveys nearly every marketing method known to man.

Horowitz says that the average U.S. adult is exposed to about 2,000 messages each day. So, entrepreneurs really need to make their message stand out from the crowd. Further, Horowitz argues that the average small business, individual, or organization needs to market very inexpensively.

Horowitz summarizes marketing as 1) Identifying your target market; 2) getting the right information and message to your market; and 3) Convincing the target customer to do business with your company.

Horowitz discusses:

- Choosing a company name and how it impacts marketing
- Designing logos
- Writing press releases
- Writing professional articles to market your business
- Using Yellow Page ads effectively
- Direct mail and when its effective and when its not
- Bumper stickers and billboards
- Radio and TV advertising via free publicity
- Internet marketing and getting listed on search engines
- Affiliate marketing
- Telemarketing
- Personal sales and mulitlevel marketing
- Word-of-mouth referrals and networking to get them
- Branding and creating 'buzz'

The chapter about effective copyrighting is especially strong. Horowitz expands the basic AIDA formula (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) into ten points of effective copywriting.

The strength of the chapter on writing effective copy isn't surprising, given that Horowitz is a professional copywriter who helps companies develop advertising. Horowitz also helps entrepreneurs plan marketing and publicity campaigns.

"Grassroots Marketing" gives many resources throughout. Not every marketing method discussed in "Grassroots Marketing" will be appropriate for your company. For example, while a plumber will benefit greatly from a Yellow Page Ad (Horowitz says that people tend to consult the Yellow Pages during emergencies among other occasions), other entrepreneurs will benefit more from direct mail. And, while Horowitz says that balloons with logos are best used to draw people to events, financial advisors will probably not want to place their business logo on balloons.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company."

Rating:
Summary: You Will Not Get Swallowed By The Snake
Review: (The headline here is a reference to Chapter 8. I just wanted Shel to know I really did read the book!)

I used to think there were two or three books worth reading about small business marketing and advertising (my own included, of course) but we now must add this latest gift of support to struggling entrepreneurs. This one is a foundation stone, so don't begin your business building without it. You've been warned.

(Michael Corbett, Author, "The 33 Ruthless Rules of Local Advertising")

Rating:
Summary: Grassroots Marketing - Getting Noticed in a Noisy World
Review: Friend and colleague Shel Horowitz recently took the plunge with his latest marketing guideline masterpiece, "Grassroots Marketing - Getting Noticed in a Noisy World" (Chelsea Green Publishing, (...) - he even gave me an autographed review copy, but that is not why I'm posting this review. Shel's latest book, a complete and comprehensive update of his classic "Marketing without Megabucks," is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to understand how marketing, promotion and public relations can be done - on your own - without costing a lot of money. This book offers a great collection of insight, ideas and examples - and if I was still teaching Marketing 101 at UNLV or PR Practicum at MTSU, I'd use this as one of the required-reading textbooks - it's that good.

I've written 8 published books on PR and marketing - I know how hard it can be to capture and translate the sophisticated concepts that make promotion work, while demystifying them so any competent businessperson can put them to work. Shel has done this with a grace and style that make me frankly envious.

If you want to understand how you can market and promote your book, your business, yourself, you should buy and read this book by Shel Horowitz.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a MUST!
Review: I am not usually one to get all gushy and promotional about a book (unless it's mine!) but I've just finished Grassroots Marketing and I think anyone who is trying to market or promote themselves or their work, in any way, MUST have this book!

Regardless of your budget (the books starts at a $10 marketing budget and works up) this books has ideas, links, how-to, and tip that had me highlighting almost every page. I've read a dozen books on marketing in the last year and this was, by far, the best.

In fact, I wish I'd read it first as it would have saved me buying and reading all the others.

I don't think that there are two consecutive pages that I haven't highlighted, lol!

Perry P. Perkins
Author
"Just Past Oysterville"

Rating:
Summary: Practical, Innovative, and Cost-Effective Wisdom
Review: In essence, marketing creates or increases demand for whatever is offered for sale. Most organizations have severely limited resources for marketing. Horowitz offers lots of sound ideas, several of them originally introduced in his previous Marketing Without Megabucks. (Even organizations which have "megabucks" can learn a great deal from Horowitz.) He correctly stresses the importance of (a) identifying precisely who the audience is, (b) getting the right information to them, "being heard" despite all the "noise", and (c) motivating them to do business with you. The material is organized within six Parts: Key Concepts, Print Promotion, Electronic Exposure, Incredible Internet, Phone and Face, and The Growth Curve. Marketing professionals may well view this book as "simplistic" and perhaps in some respects it is. However, few organizations have marketing professionals on staff. Most do the best they can with who and what they have...usually an over-extended owner with a few "extra" dollars to spend. When buying this book for about $20.00, you retain Horowitz as a consultant to help increase demand for what you sell. Take your time working your way through the book. Highlight key passages. Take notes. Go back and re-read sections which seem to speak directly to your immediate needs. Because the book offers more suggestions than you can possibly use, cherry-pick those which are most appropriate, and, which can be acted upon soon, if not immediately. Most important of all, with Horowitz's help, challenge all of your assumptions about your business. Ask tough questions. For example, why do your customers buy from you? What are customer expectations? Unmet needs that you can fill? Who else buys what you sell but not from you? Why not? Price? Convenience? Service? (Do you know?) In all contacts with customers, how effective are your and your associates' people skills? Do customers feel appreciated? How about repeat business?

There's so much "noise" in every marketplace and sometimes it's deafening. So many "voices" competing to be heard. Also lots of "clutter" which makes it more difficult to see...and to be seen. Horowitz understands all this. Much of his book is devoted to attracting favorable attention. Being noticed. Try lots of stuff. Experiment on a limited basis with several different strategies and tactics. Find out what works...and what doesn't. Also find out why. Ask customers what they think. Also ask family members and neighbors. (Ken Blanchard is right: "Feedback is the breakfast food of champions.") Horowitz poses almost all of the questions which must be asked. He also offers answers. Some answers are right for your organization...others are not. Know why. Obviously, I think highly of this book as a single-source, as a basic manual, in which Horowitz provides an abundance of practical and cost-effective marketing ideas, carefully explained and generously illustrated. In the final chapter, he sums up his perspective on successful marketing. Then in the "Resources" section which follows, he provides additional information which may also be of interest.

I offer only one caveat: Even if Horowitz were a full-time employee in your organization and devoted all of his attention to your marketing needs, working with a budget of (let's say) $20-million, he would not be successful unless your organization (a) offers quality products and/or services at a fair price, (b) is totally committed to serving the needs of customers, and (c) also takes very good care of its own people. "Grassroots marketing" principles really don't work very well with weeds.

Rating:
Summary: Selling the Sizzle without Burning the Steak
Review: Leave it to someone who writes about the virtue of frugality to produce a book that, by design, is a bargain. Shel Horowitz is a publicist extraordinaire, and "Grassroots Marketing" is head and shoulders above the crowd in its genre because it contains timeless information that is both creative and economically practical. Whether you are an entrepreneur, an independent publisher or a media magnate, your efforts in securing publicity must address economic sensibility or at some point you will likely experience failure. This is a terrific book. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The difference between economic success & financial failure
Review: Simply put, Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed In A Noisy World by Shel Horowitz could be the difference between economic success and financial failure for any start-up entrepreneurial enterprise or small business endeavor in today's highly competitive marketplace, regardless of the product or service being offered. Grassroots Marketing covers virtually all aspects and facets of publicity, promotion and marketing including print, radio/television, Internet, telephone, email, postal, fax, and face-to-face formats. This absolutely practical, immensely valuable cornucopia of tips, tricks and techniques for marketing with limited funds is a "must" for the self-employed, the small business operator, non-profit organization directors, and anyone else with a product, service, or cause to bring to the public's attention.

Rating:
Summary: 39 Books for the Price of One
Review: The main reason to buy this book is that Shel Horowitz has distilled the marketing wisdom of dozens of experts who charge up to hundreds of dollars for their books. Not only has Shel done the reading for you, he also interviewed many of these experts, or engaged in correspondence with them. He is a scholar of marketing, summarizing and simplifying with his infectious, upbeat writing style and an unwavering focus on what can be done on the cheap.

The second reason to buy this book is for the copious examples and case histories. Shel provides numerous side-by-side examples of good and poor copy, including news releases, classified ads, e-mail signature files, and even Yellow Pages ads. These side-by-side comparisons teach quickly in a way no amount of explanatory text can match.

My only complaint is the title of the book. It should be "TREEroots Marketing," because if you follow Shel's no-frills advice, you'll soon be towering over the competition.

Rating:
Summary: Marketing Enters the 21st Century
Review: There are a lot of good things about this book but one of the most important is the application of cyberspace to proven marketing techniques. Shel Horowitz brings marketing into the 21st Century.

The book lays a marketing foundation and then goes on to cover print promotion, broadcast media, using the Internet, telemarketing, trade shows, branding and more.

Shel Horowitz is a gifted copywriter and a generous marketer who treats frugality as a game and turned it into a business.

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this volume to authors, publishers and anyone with something to sell. [e-mail].