Business Ethics Pledge, September 2009
This update is long overdue, and I apologize for the delay. I've put
it on my to-do list so many times and somehow, it doesn't rise to the
top. Today, I'm making it a priority.
*Overall Update and Evaluation*
The Pledge was launched as a ten-year campaign in the summer of 2004,
so we're at the halfway mark as far as time. The goal was to help
create a climate where future Enron-type scandals would become
politically unthinkable. The method was to gather 25,000 signatures on
the Business Ethics Pledge and see if that would be enough to create a
tipping point in society.
The good news: as I see it, society is in fact beginning to come
around. Public outrage over government buyouts of failed companies
with mammoth executive salaries, over the crumbling house of cards
that was our economy, and over companies that run roughshod over the
needs of stakeholders have made it clear that things have to change.
Business schools now include a strong ethics component, and survey
after survey shows that today's business students are far more
motivated by social and environmental good than by untrammeled
self-interest. And many companies, including some of the largest
players in the economy, have made public commitments to social and
environmental responsibility, and release annual or more frequent
reports charting their progress.
Do I have the hubris to think that the Pledge campaign has done all
that? No. The Pledge is a right-time, right-place small piece of the
puzzle. Developments on a much larger scale, among them growing
awareness of climate change issues (thank you, Al Gore), the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act that forced greater oversight onto U.S.
corporations in the aftermath of the Enron/WorldCom batch of scandals,
and of course, the global financial meltdown all combined to change
the consciousness around the appropriate role of business in society.
Does that mean the Pledge had no role? It's hard to quantify, but I
think the Pledge actually is having a significant impact. You and I
are creating a climate where business owners and managers are taking
responsibility for our actions--not merely to comply with some law but
because it's both the right thing to do and the profitable thing to
do. By taking pride in our commitment to business ethics, we move the
bar a little bit on acceptable behavior for business. By spreading
word about the Pledge in our website logos, articles, letters, radio
appearances, speeches, customer newsletters, social media networks,
and other venues, we not only open the way for others to follow suit,
but we also demonstrate our social responsibility commitment in a way
that resonates with customers. To paraphrase Gandhi, we are becoming
the change we want to see in the world. And the world is responding,
positively.
In my own business, my commitment to business ethics in general, and
the Pledge in particular, has opened up many wonderful doors. I hope
it has for you as well (and if it hasn't, note the benefits that have
accrued to me, outlined below, and think about how being more public
in support of the Pledge may lead you to similar good things).
In my case, my whole client portfolio has shifted toward many more
longer-term, stable clients who want to work with me over a period of
several months--several of them specifically citing the ethics work as
the reason they chose to work with me. Yes, of course, I'll still get
people coming in for me to just write a quick press release or web
page, but the dominant trend has shifted toward those who want to work
together long-term. My speaking career has paid me well to bring the
message that ethics is a success tool to new audiences. And the ethics
work is directly responsible for attracting a publisher for my next
book (more about that in a moment).
As to the actual number of signers: considering that the campaign can
be expected to grow faster as more people hear about it, and the
target was 25,000 signers, I kind of expected that by this point, we'd
be roughly one-third of the way there. We're far short of that, but
the strong positive response that has occurred, and the social shift I
described earlier, make me believe that if we did reach 25,000, it is
quite possible that the ultimate goal--making unethical business
practices unacceptable--could actually be accomplished.
Of course, we won't know until we get there. And the more you can
encourage others to sign, the faster that will happen. Please tell a
few people.
*What Kinds of Businesses Have Signed the Pledge?*
An amazing variety, from more than 30 countries on six continents. A
little sampling:
A life coach trainer in South Africa
A Baptist church in Kansas
A coffee roaster in Massachusetts who does 100% organic fair trade
coffee and cocoa
A radio talk show host and Congressional candidate in Michigan
The owner of an ethically based directory of home improvement
contractors in the UK
From Virginia, the director of a trade association for independent
writers and editors
The director of a corporate branding agency in India
An Economic Planning Executive Manager in Brazil
A national organization of youth-owned business, headquartered in
Washington, DC
A natural soap company in Missouri
Bunches of financial services professionals, virtual assistants,
prominent business authors, Green entrepreneurs and more, from as
close as someone I met at my local Chamber of Commerce meeting to as
far as Alaska, Israel, and even New Zealand
*Coverage of the Pledge*
Not a complete list but a few highlights:
Pledge signer Enviro-Friendly.com, seller of water pumps and tanks,
devotes an entire page to the Pledge at
http://www.enviro-friendly.
Tom O'Brien of JointWinWin.com posted about the Pledge to the Warrior
Forum, one of the premier discussion venues for Internet marketers.
Ethics writer Lauren Bloom covered the Pledge in her blog.
Willie Crawford, a super-success in Internet marketing circles, noted
the Pledge on his blog.
*A Little Miracle: The Book Contract that Came Out of This Work*
It's all about relationships. One day a few years ago, I opened up my
e-mail and found a third-party order from one of my resellers for my
$8.50 e-book on having fun cheaply. I recognized my customer as an
Internet marketing superstar--one whom I knew paid attention to
ethics. So I enclosed a note with the order, offering to send him a
copy of my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That
Puts People First, as my gift, because I thought it was a book that
would resonate with him.
He accepted my offer, loved the book (as I knew he would), and asked
me to send him an essay, which was published in one of his books. We
went on to collaborate on a few other projects--and then one day, out
of the blue, he offered to give me his contact at John Wiley & Sons. I
waited about a quarter of a second before responding that I would love
that. And of course, I sent Wiley a proposal.
When I self-published Principled Profit, I actually had a couple of
traditional publishers who caught wind of it and were interested in
talking about it. But I wanted to approach them from a period of
strength, and I didn't feel I was there yet. By the time I approached
Wiley, the book had 79 endorsements (it's up to 82, currently),
several major reviews, two foreign-rights resales (in India, where
it's called Ethics In Marketing and Mexico, where it's known as
Mercadiotechnia Basado en las Personas, which translates roughly as
"marketing based in people"), and an Apex Award for the best book in
the PR and advertising industries. But it hadn't had significant sales
through traditional book-industry channels. I felt the time was ripe.
So the proposal I sent off to Wiley was to sell the rights to
Principled Profit and have them republish the book.
While the book was being considered, I came up with the idea to bring
Jay Conrad Levinson into the project. You may not know Jay by name,
but you probably know his work: nearly 60 books under the Guerrilla
Marketing brand since 1984. Jay is a very approachable guy; he had
already endorsed two of my books (Principled Profit as well as the
earlier Grassroots Marketing), and he's been writing for years about
the need for marketers to have a higher agenda, to make a difference
in the world.
And about that time, Wiley said yes to my original proposal, without
Jay. I asked them if they'd mind if I brought him in, as I felt the
project would have wider appeal and more visibility. Their response?
"Wow, now we have TWO powerhouse marketers in ONE book!" Jay was
delighted to be part of it, and has been a strong supporter of the
project.
And so it came to pass. My eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes
Green, co-authored with Jay and published by Wiley, will be out in
early 2010. Almost everything that's in Principled Profit is also in
Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, along with a big chunk of new
material. Stephen M.R. Covey, bestselling author of the amazing book
The Speed of Trust (and son of the man who wrote The 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People), wrote the foreword.
Everybody who's seen it thinks it's terrific; I'm getting really
strong blurbs. I'm especially proud that not only did I negotiate the
entire deal, bring in both Jay and Stephen (with whom I had no prior
relationship), and maintain more than the usual amount of author
control over the content and format, but that this deal originated,
ultimately, because I sent a free copy of a book I'd written on ethics
to an author who'd ordered my $8.50 e-book on having fun cheaply.
The Pledge, of course, is prominently mentioned in the book, and I
hope and expect that thousands of readers will add their names to the
Pledge over the next few years.
*The Existing Book: Apex Award Winner Principled Profit--I Could
Really Use Your Help On This*
Because the new book is based on my existing book Principled Profit,
my contract with Wiley requires me to stop selling Principled Profit
just before the new book comes out.
But I still have about 750 copies of this remarkable book, and I'd
really like to partner with you to get them into the hands of people
who could benefit from the strong message on ethics, right now. People
who shouldn't wait six months for the new book, but who could benefit
right now from the win-win strategies that allow businesses to reach
entirely new audiences and markets at little or no cost...turn your
commitment to ethics into a marketing advantage...adopt the best
practices of both small and large companies to develop a
people-centered business that still do well when times are
tough...even learn some creative ways to actually get paid to do your
own marketing. (For a whole lot more on the priceless information this
book contains, please visit
http://frugalmarketing.com/
Will you partner with me? Here are some ways to help
* I'm currently offering a special deal for non-Pledge signers
involving a $5 discount off the $17.50 price, plus two free e-books.
You, as a signer of the Business Ethics Pledge, already get a better
price than that: $9.95--but until now, I haven't included the e-books.
Now I will, and you won't even need a coupon. If you don't own the
book yet, please consider buying a copy for yourself. See why it has
won the endorsement of 82 entrepreneurs including such superstars as
Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup empire, Anne Holland,
founder of MarketingSherpa.com, and Robert B. Reich, former U.S.
Secretary of Labor.
* If you already own the book, can you think of one, two, or three
entrepreneurs in your life that would like a copy as a present? The
price of shipping for three copies is the same as shipping for a
single copy. With your signer discount, this makes it an affordable,
impressive, and extremely USEFUL gift. And the holidays are not far
away.
* Please think about organizations, companies, learning programs, and
associations that might be able to use a case of books. Some ways they
might be used:
-To teach practical values-centered, ethical entrepreneurship to
people starting a business
-To educate business students on the importance of an ethical
approach
-As a fundraiser or new ember/membership renewal incentive
-For banks to give their business loan customers, as a tool for
achieving ethical success
Full cases run between 68-72 copies; most of them, in my experience,
have been either 70 or 72. (In fact, I can only remember one case that
was 68.) Since they are already packaged and sealed, I am rounding the
contents to 70 copies per case, and selling one or two cases for just
$6 per book ($420 per case), three or more cases for just $4 a copy
($280 per case), or all ten cases at the ultra-bargain price of $2.50
a book, or $1750 for the approximately 700 books. (all case prices are
plus shipping at actual cost). Only ten cases are available. If you
find a buyer for one or more cases, I'll also give you one copy each
of any or all of my three most recently published books: Principled
Profit, Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, and
Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers OR a half-hour phone
consultation with me on any aspect of marketing or publishing OR make
a $50 donation to the charity of your choice (as long as it's one I
can support).
You can reach me on Twitter at @ShelHorowitz (probably the most
reliable way), e-mail shel AT principledprofit.com, or call me (8 a.m.
to 10 p.m. US Eastern Time) at 413-586-2388.
*Onward and Upward!*
If each person who has signed the Pledge can bring in just three more
people to sign, I am convinced that the culture will sit up and take
notice. The response I'm receiving to my new book makes it clear to me
that a new era has dawned, and we no longer have to be the pioneers
with arrows in our backs. Our call to recognize high standards of
ethics and Green principles for both moral and business success
reasons is on the verge of entering the mainstream. Let's take it
forward.
Thank you for partnering with me on this!
Shel Horowitz
http://www.business-ethics-
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