Green Industry Support

Into the final hours

2005-11-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

Here we are, just a few hours to go and it seems everyone is hunkered down waiting. No new emails this morning, no additional page views overnight. And, the benchmark statistic of the auction -still no bids. I have yet to hear back from one company that has contacted me regarding this auction so I'm still holding out hope that they will place an actual bid. Or, if any of you watchers want to delurk and get a fabulous deal on a marketer, please do so.

I feel this will be the longest 3 hours of my life!

Mercenary Citizen Marketer auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5635423940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Auction update from the Mercenary Marketer

2005-11-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for all of your emails. I do however think it is time to stop playing "Name that PAC." If or when I get permission to divulge who this organization is, I will do so. Until then, filling my inbox with the names of every PAC in the world is not solving anything. And Jacob- I still have not verified if the Porn Star Anti-defamation Society is an actual PAC but I can safely say they are also a no. Thank you for the early morning giggle.

The watchlist for the auction is now over 40. To me, that is of more significance than the 200+ page views. It amazes me that there are 40 people who are interested in how this auction ends. From the emails I have received, several watchers are waiting for me to fall on my face with this endeavor. As far as my business goes, however, there will be no failure in this endeavor. Even my existing customers are interested in expanding into a more consumer based WOM type of marketing now that they have seen how well it works. Additionally, I have had a delightful time getting to know my supporters and my detracters and it has been interesting to see the variety of perspectives out in Internetland.

Again, many thanks to all who have contacted me and by all means keep the emails coming- Organicallygreen@cox-internet.com or click contact the seller on the auction link below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5635423940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

More Q&A from the Mercenary Marketer

2005-11-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

Back again with the latest questions that are stuffing my inbox.

Q: The PAC you mentioned- it's not MoveOn.org is it?

A: No my Neocon friend, it's not MoveOn.org. And for my liberal friends- it's not the NRA either.

Q: Why do you continue to call yourself the mercenary marketer? Isn't that insulting?

A: I continue to call myself that because of the wonderful search engines that brought each of you here. With so many other articles regarding citizen marketers and citizen marketing, mercenary marketer is a bit more specific and ensures those who are following my posts can find me.

Q: Why is it so important that someone bid on your auction?

A: My biggest concern is that by accepting the offers I have received via email instead of using the conventional bidding process on eBay, I would be violating eBay's terms. That is why I have yet to accept any of the email offers I've received and why I am pushing so hard to get my contacts to actually post a bid.
Yes, there would be the "nyah nyah" factor, but I'm not looking to do this to get back at naysayers. I began this quest to see if this type of offer would sell. The additional publicity with this run of the auction has been both a blessing and a curse. I now have 6 companies looking to use my marketing services that I likely would not have reached without the hype surrounding this auction. But, these same companies are hesitant to publicly bid on the auction for fear of reprisals. I also fear other serious bidders have been repelled by this same publicity.

This has been an interesting lesson in the far reaching effects of citizen marketing. I have gotten far more insight into this type of marketing than I ever did when I was merely a contributor. And I feel I am a better marketer for it.

Back tomorrow!

Welcome everyone! Greetings from the mercenary marketer

2005-11-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to everyone who is following the saga that has become the "Mercenary Citizen Marketer" eBay auction. My name is Nikki and I am the owner of Green Industry Support, a marketing and strategy firm that focuses on helping small to mid-sized businesses in the green industry set themselves apart and get ahead of the competition in what is likely the most oversaturated industry in the US.
Since most of the questions I'm getting on my auction pertain to the hype surrounding the auction and not the particulars of the auction, I am going to take this opportunity to answer them here instead of answering them individually through eBay.

Q: Who are the companies that have contacted you about marketing for them?

A: At this time, I am still trying to persuade these companies to come forward and have at least one of them put in a bid on the auction. Since negotiations are still underway, I don't want to out these companies- for the time being they prefer to remain anonymous. However, there are 32 watchers on the auction so I'm still holding out hope that these are companies with a legitimate interest in my services and not just a bunch of looky-loos that are trying to be first to announce that the auction was unsuccessful. To put the guessers at ease, none of the following have contacted me for a service quote: NAMBLA, KKK, American Nazi Party, any casino, any terrorist organization, puppykillers.com or any organization that encourages bigotry, hatred, pornography, animal cruelty or damaging the environment. One organization that contacted me is a political entity but it is a PAC not one of the major parties.

Q: If you are auctioning off your ability to blog and market, why don't you have more entries into this blog or your other blogs?

A: When the Church of the Customer broke the story about the auction, I took down most all of the entries in this blog to ensure the comments I had received and the articles I had written were not misinterpreted and mass reproduced as a "guide" to how the marketing would be done for the company that wins the auction. This blog is dedicated to the green industry, a small part of my overall marketing resume and I was concerned that potential bidders would think that I would only be able to market for that particular industry. I do have other blogs but because of the way Blogger is set up and the easy search function available, I dedicated this blog to respond to the articles about the auction. I didn't want to stay anonymous, as was implied by one commentor, I just wanted to control what was put forward in view of my potential customers.

Q: Did you change the closing date for the auction?

A: No, and I have yet to find out what happened there. For an hour or so Monday night, the auction close was listed as Wednesday. I don't know if this was a hiccup on eBay, but the close date for the auction is still Saturday at 8:40 am PST.

I will answer more questions here later today. If there is something you would like to know about the auction, my company or services available feel free to click contact the seller on the auction or comment here.

Spawn of Satan Citizen Marketer- Day 2

2005-11-15T07:51:00.000-08:00

All I can say is wow. I had no idea when I posted the citizen marketer auction that it would be an amazing boost to my other auctions and my business. I've already received 4 offers to do citizen and non-citizen types of marketing for companies- each of these companies having seen the publicity generated by the moral outrage in the blogosphere. The caveat to this is, none of the companies want to bid on the auction because of this publicity. So with the same marketing skills that made me the talk of the 'net, I will try diligently to convince at least one of these companies to stand up to the bullies that are upset that they didn't think of this first and put in a bid.
And, the overflow benefits to the page hit rally that is now at 132, the other auctions I have listed are receiving amazing feedback. I don't know how to thank you Internet.

Still haven't had your Irish raised by the blogosphere's most talked about auction? Click Here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5635423940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Oh my, what power eBay has

2005-11-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

I have been absent for a week due to all the sorting and organizing we have been doing at the resale shop we bought a few months ago. (We bought a building for a new storefront and the previous owner, a resale shop, left everything when he quit the business.)
Well, since I'm always looking for new and creative marketing ideas, I floated a trial balloon on eBay and listed myself as a citizen marketer with my services for sale. The first time I listed the auction, I got a few "What the hell are you doing?" questions but no takers. The auction closed without a bid and I chalked it up to another $.35 I had to write off on my taxes for an unsold auction. I began listing new items from the resale shop on Saturday and decided I would relist the Citizen Marketer auction just for grins. Yikes and egad, I never planned on becoming the evil villian of the Internet. I read the Church of the Customer Blog daily and the tips and guidelines they list have helped me tremendously. That's why I have this and other blogs- to market my business as a business consultant. Imagine my surprise as I sipped my coffee this morning while reading my Bloglines- "The mercenary Citizen Marketer on eBay." Mercenary? I think that might be a bit of a stretch, but a huge smile spread across my face. I jumped to another browser and checked my auction. I had 4 page views last night at bedtime- now I had 48. Mmmmm. At this writing, it's approaching 90 with 22 people watching the auction, which ends Friday. Heeheeheeheehee. Thank you COTCB as well as other sites that picked up the story. I greatly appreciate the undisputed proof that citizen marketing works.
But then the citizen marketers of citizen marketing began their assault. So far, I have been attacked for buying a sweater and science book for my daughter and a chopper (nevermind mine broke) and selling some of the resale shop items, because these items do not "paint a picture of high-quality intellectual prowess." Hmmm. To me it says I have kids and I don't pay retail.
So, I say thank you to eveyone who has looked at the auction and I look forward to Friday. Once again rightous indignation proves to be the most powerful marketing tool available.
To view the auction, click here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5635423940&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Welcome to the Green Industry Support Blog

2005-11-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hiya! My name is Nikki and I am a freelance marketing agent for the lawn and landscape industry. In my years working with the green industry, I have found the same problems affecting company after company. I have started this blog to help small green businesses get on their feet and not fall into the same problems that have befallen so many in the industry.
I'm looking forward to meeting you all and if you have a topic you need help with, just post it as a comment and I'll do my best to cover all of them.

See ya tomorrow with our first topic- How to manage receivables in the winter.