ceo – Page 7 – President of Outskirts Press

Applying for Apple Developer Certification

Good news regarding our enrollment in the Apple Development certification fiasco that I’ve been blogging about over the past several posts. I finally spoke with a new human being at Apple. Apparently there were two hiccups in our enrollment.

1. The online enrollment form asked for the name under which our Apps would be published, so we entered Outskirts Press. However, our Articles of Incorporation lists our company name as Outskirts Press, Inc. That missing “Inc” was unacceptable, according to Apple.

2. The online enrollment form asked for our company address, which we entered as our current address. However, our Articles of Incorporation lists our company address as it was 8 years ago (you know… when the papers were filed). Even though we’d move due to growth, that different address was unacceptable according to Apple.

Are both these hiccups ridiculous? Of course they are. But — and this seems to be a unique perspective for a customer to have in this day and age– Apple is entitled to run its business any way that it wants; and from their point of view, I can see the need to require an exact match between official documentation and online data input — otherwise, they have no means of verifying that someone is who they say they are online.

So, at their request, I re-enrolled from the beginning again, matching the exact information on our forms. Does that make our address inaccurate? Yes; but the nice advisor I spoke with assured me I could correct it once the enrollment was approved. She also said she would expedite my certification. We’ll keep you posted on what that means…

ceo, marketing

Apple developer program – continued – part 4

A few weeks ago I started discussing our process of enrolling Outskirts Press into the Apple Developer Certification program so we could start offering “apps” to our authors (and so we could provide our own Outskirts Press apps for marketing purposes).

The posts detailed the first few steps involved in enrolling in the program, and ended with us waiting…. and waiting… for Apple approval. In the meantime, we’ve re-faxed the documents they requested several more times, contacted their support forms online, and tried emailing them. In one such online correspondence we even sunk so low as to plead with them to have an actual human being contact us (up until then, their responses had all been automated versions of the “find the answer yourself on our FAQ” variety.)

Finally, we tried enrolling again from scratch. This resulted in them providing us with a new enrollment number, and then requesting the documentation again. Once again, we faxed them our Articles of Incorporation, along with our corporate phone number and our Enrollment ID number, all as requested.

Finally, I received an email from an actual human being which helped me understand what has been causing this delay (we started this process over a month ago, and all my previous research led me to believe it wouldn’t take any longer than a week). What his email said, and my reply, will be the subject of the next post(s)…

ceo, publicity

Cause marketing via social networking

In my last posting I discussed how the royalties from our Facebook Anthology are going to go toward a charitable donation. We leveraged our Facebook Fan base to submit the content for the anthology and also determine the charity itself. This is an example of how social networking can play a dominant role in cause marketing. We published a book, we grew our fan base, new authors got published for free, and a charity will receive the royalties. That’s the definition of win-win-win.

But how can you use social media in a cause marketing endeavor if you don’t publish books? Well, there are many examples across the Internet, and I can provide an example of what we’re doing at Outskirts Press. It’s still “in progress” (much like our Facebook Anthology is/was), but I guess that’s one of the “perks” of reading my blog: getting a sneak peek on behind-the scenes efforts while they’re still underway.

My wife Jeanine, who is the Chief Operating Officer at Outskirts Press, is competing in an upcoming Danskin Triathlon. Danskin accepts pledges for athletes, the proceeds for which are split between TeamSurvivor and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Here are details about the Pledge Program: http://www.danskintriathlon.net/pledge_program.html

As the triathlon gets closer, and as Jeanine needs more motivation to get through her training schedule, we will post the pledge information across our various networks in the hopes that some members of our growing, and passionate, social community will want to socially participate in the fight against breast cancer. To “associate” your pledge with a specific athlete during the online pledge, please enter the name of the athlete exactly: Jeanine Sampson

Here’s to helping a great cause!

branding, ceo, publicity, self publishing a book, Social Networking Sites

Cause marketing, philanthropy, and charitable donations from book royalties

In past postings I have discussed Outskirts Press’ donations to organizations like Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish Foundation, the Education & Literacy Foundation, and others. And in the last posting I discussed more specifically our specific donations to the Colorado Humanities, and the publication of their Anthology, the royalties from which go in support of Colorado Humanities and the Center for the Book.

And this brings us to another way in which Outskirts Press seeks opportunities to give back to the community. Outside of purely philanthropic pursuits, or cause marketing tactics, donating the royalties of a book can serve two purposes: good will and good marketing. In our case, we will donate the royalties of book sales that come from the sale of our first Facebook Anthology, which is a collection of short stories, poems, and excerpts from our many Facebook Fans. We have been collecting contributions and submissions to the anthology since the first of the year on our Facebook page.

Then, on January 1oth we invited all our Facebook fans and blog readers to vote on the title of the book. Then, on January 12th, we opened the voting to determine the Charity that would receive the royalties. I still don’t know who “won.” It was our hope that by giving writers the opportunity to get published for free AND give to a worthwhile cause at the same time, interest in our Facebook Anthology would be high. That philosophy turned out to be correct. Our Facebook fan base shot past 1,000 fans almost literally overnight and continues to build.

Good deeds can become good marketing, or even, in this case, good marketing can turn into good deeds. We thank all our Facebook fans for their support. And I’m sure the “winning” charity will thank them as well.

branding, ceo, publicity

Cause marketing and corporate sponsorships

Over the past two years Outskirts Press has donated $15,000 to the Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book. They hold two annual literary contests: The Student Literary Awards, and the Colorado Book Awards, both sponsored by Outskirts Press.

In fact, today marks the deadline for the River & Words Poetry and Art contest, the winners of which are recognized at the Student Literary Awards. And the deadline for the Colorado Book Awards is January 15th. Visit the Colorado Humanities website for more information, to participate, donate, or join.

And just like that we have another example of the gray area between philanthropy and cause marketing. Yes, Outskirts Press’ donations to the Colorado Humanities have been for a good cause, and tax deductable. Yes, as a Colorado-based corporation, we join Colorado Humanities in their mission to inspire the people of Colorado to appreciate their diverse cultural heritage.

And, by sponsoring the events, getting signage at the events, logos on their websites, attending the events, and in all other ways partnering with Colorado Humanities throughout the year, this is a perfect example of cause marketing — a for-profit business collaborating with a non-profit to a mutually beneficial end. These benefits are both obvious ($15,000) and more subtle (numerous mentions throughout our social networks, including suggestions for donations – above).

Such collaborations can sometimes lead to exciting by-products. In this case, for example, last year’s publication of the 2010 Student Literary Awards Anthology – the royalties for which went to the Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book.

And speaking of book royalties going to charitable organizations, that is the topic for my next posting…

branding, ceo, marketing, partnerships, publicity

The difference between “cause marketing” and “philanthropy”

Or, I guess I should really call this posting “The little gray area between cause marketing and philanthropy.”

Cause marketing, basically, refers to a mutually beneficial relationship between a for-profit business and a non-profit organization. The term more broadly encompasses any marketing endeavors involving charitable causes. Philanthropy, on the other hand, simply involves a corporate donation to a non-profit charitable organization (usually tax deductible).

I mention this because in my mind Outskirts Press has always been a philanthropic organization that is also involved in cause marketing. I’m not sure I agree that the two terms are mutually exclusive, or perhaps, if they are, that simply demonstrates a lack of effort by the P.R. department of the philanthropic organization.

For example, you can donate thousands of dollars in books to the Children’s hospital — as Outskirts Press has done in the past through its involvement with the Children’s Literacy and Education Foundation — and that can be both a philanthropic act (a pure corporate donation), and can also fall within the definition of “cause marketing” once you mention the donation on a blog or among your social networks, since ostensibly, your company is marketing the good will among your clients or customers that results from charitable donations.

In our case we would typically write and distribute a press release about the donation. And we would take (and subsequently circulate across our social networks) a photograph of the red wheelbarrow full of books in front of the Children’s Hospital logo.

You see, philanthropy AND cause marketing. I have other examples I’ll discuss next, including our donations to the Colorado Humanities, and our upcoming Facebook Anthology – the royalties for which go to a charitable organization.

ceo, marketing

How self publishing can help your career

On November 3rd I was in Atlanta at the Strategic Self Publishing Conference demonstrating how publishing a book can help one’s professional career. For those interested in such things, you can follow the hash tag #sspb on Twitter for all the details.

There were several other published authors in attendance, all of whom were currently using their own published books as “business cards” for their businesses.

On a different day recently I was interviewed by Executive Report on the same subject matter, how publishing a book can elevate your professional status. It’s a quick 2 minute interview and you can listen to it here.

In my opinion, it’s a no-brainer. If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, you really owe it to yourself and your career to publish a book. It’s a concept that’s quickly taking hold.

In fact, several weeks ago I was interviewed by Cultivating Small Business on this topic as well. This interview was a part of a 60 minute radio show on growing small businesses and I appeared in the studio along with another entrepreneur. These are just samples of the interviews I find myself conducting more and more, and since they shared a common theme with where I appeared in Atlanta last week, I thought I’d mention them.

ceo

Denver Powerbook Finalist

Every year the Denver Business Journal recognizes Denver’s top business newsmakers during their annual PowerBook Luncheon Celebration. This year’s event took place yesterday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Denver. I had learned I was a finalist when I received a letter from the Denver Business Journal on October 5th:

“The results are in and the Denver Business Journal and our gold sponsors, BKD LLP, Colorado Business Bank and Greenberg Traurig, are pleased to congratulate you as one of the Denver area’s top business newsmakers. You have been selected as one of the Top 10 business newsmakers in your category and you will be profiled in the 2010 Denver Business Journal Power Book.”

It’s true that Outskirts Press has received a lot of positive press in 2010. For the 4th year in a row we appeared on the Denver Business Journal’s list of Top 10 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies. We also appeared for the second year in a row on the Inc. 5000, recognizing the fastest-growing private companies nationwide.

Nevertheless, it was quite an honor being recognized among such business stalwarts as Hikmet Ersek from Western Union, John Martie from Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Michael Fries from Liberty Global, John McCarvel from Crocs, Inc., and Jake Jabs from American Furniture Warehouse.

The CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary C. Kelly, gave the Keynote and the Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, added some comments to those in attendance as well. He was also a fellow-finalist. The PowerBook winner in our category went to Udi Bar-on of Udi’s Handcrafted Foods.

As if yesterday wasn’t good enough, I also received the following email from one of our recently published authors:

Brent …

Love you guys. Thank you. I knew nothing about publishing. You folks took me by the hand and with no pressure guided me though my first book. I can now say… “I have been published.” The response I have had is overwhelming. I have already ordered my second book from you. You are a joy to work with.

Thank you.
John

All in all, a great day.