Cash Mobs, Promotion, and Your Book

There's something new on the online horizon. So far it's being used effectively by small retailers, but I see no reason why it couldn't also be used by authors to sell books, or manufacturers to sell particular products and, though so far it has been a flashmob phenomenon, why couldn't it be adapted to online fan pages?

What is it?

It's called cash mobbing, but checks and credit cards are accepted.

It was started by buy-local advocates in the retailing industry. It uses any kind of media including the Web and traditional media to get loyal folks to support a local business on a specific day, sometimes at a specific time. They are encouraged to come spend a minimal amount of money out of loyalty (with, perhaps, a little self interest stirred into the mix), and people do. They come. They come to be supportive, to feel part of the crowd, because it's an event, because it's a fad.

Time magazine reports it was started in 2011 by Chris Smith who read that Groupon methods of increasing business using mass discounts might backfire because retailers or service providers couldn't sustain the discounts and remain profitable. And he liked the term "cash mob." The idea was to get people interested and he did. Time reporter Katy Steinmetz says, "100 of Smith's fellow citizens [in Buffalo, NY] each spent around $10 at a wine shop with local media in tow. He's been hosting cash mobs ever since." 

Then Andrew Samtoy tried it in Cleveland. And he is using @Cashmobs moniker on Twitter to promote these events. He is also incorporated as Cash Mobs, Inc. You could use his service—or do it on your own, but do think of your own name. Samtoy apparently has a stranglehold on "Cashmobs."  Yours could be the name of your book or store plus the word "mobs." Of course, if you go the do-it-yourself route,you'd need do your own promotion (which you'd probably need to do some of in any case!)

Do use the second edition of The Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) to give you tons of ideas of how to attract the crowds. Let's combine a couple of mottoes. "Just Do It and They Will Come."

Online or in person.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog: