Hewlett-Packard has recently published free e-books on the topics of:
- Marketing
- Entrepreneurship
- Innovation & Management
- Productivity
Each e-book is comprised of three articles from small business blogs. My personal favorite is the Marketing book which has good things to say about blogging among other marketing techniques:
- Top Ten Things You Can Do to Get Blogged (TechCrunch)
- Five Reasons for Small Business Owners to Blog (Small Business Trends)
- How the Perfect Marketing Plan Would Work (Duct Tape Marketing)
You may have noticed that the links above are to actual blog posts and not to e-books.
Don’t worry, you can easily:
- download the e-books with the winning entries
- read all the entries in each category
- download free templates to create your own e-books
I linked back to the entries themselves to underscore the great job that HP did in engaging and interacting with bloggers to create these books:
1) They asked bloggers to submit their best articles on the various topics
2) They asked bloggers (and their readers) to vote on the best articles
3) They consolidated the winners into e-books that will be sure to be promoted by all of the bloggers who won, most of those who entered and many of those who stood on the sideline
I love this marketing exchange because it is win:win. All the bloggers, winners, runners-up and bystanders get exposure from this contest as the readers from all the blogs read the entries and vote.
HP gets exposure to all the small business blog readers (i.e. potential customers) during the contest and even after as their e-books are read and distributed and their templates are used.
The potential for increased exposure is huge. As of this moment: SmallBizTrends has 142,000 subscribers; Duct Tape Marketing has 161,000 subscribers; And TechCrunch has a whopping 683,000 subscribers.
Come to think of it – this marketing idea is really a win:win:win
Since all the blog readers get a lot of great information in one place, free e-books and ideas on how to create their own e-books in the future.
So congratulations – claim your winning prizes here!










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1512 days ago
[...] Several entries have to do with communication (why am I not surprised), particularly aiming at clear communication, including Smiles & Thank You’s – The Low Tech Way To Positive Business Connections, A Thought on Slowing Down … While Advancing the Mission, Chip Heath’s sticky communications, and Free E-books for Small Business Owners. [...]
1513 days ago
[...] Liz at Business and Blogging talks about marketing strategies that build connections between people and clear, specific ebook templates on ho… [...]
1516 days ago
[...] Liz at Business and Blogging talks about marketing strategies that build connections between people and clear, specific ebook templates on ho… [...]
1536 days ago
[...] HP vient de publier 4 e-books gratuits destinés aux petites entreprises. Les domaines traités sont: marketing, entrepreunariat, innvotaion et management, productivité. Via Business and Blogging. [...]
1536 days ago
[...] Fuller, at Business and Blogging, has written a very informative post, Free E-books for Small Business Owners!! She describes how Hewlett-Packard put together and published these e-books with great information [...]
Hi Kevin
Yea – there’s lots of good info in the winning blog entries and in the runner ups!
Liz
A lot of great resources there — thanks for sharing the link Liz!
Hi Mary Emma
Glad you liked it – I hope you enjoy the ebooks!
Liz
Very nice post, Liz, with lots of information and creative ideas.