How my publisher got $5,000 of goodwill with $100

July 16 21 Comments latest by linda

It’s about that time where we start getting tons of invitations to weddings, birthday parties, and family reunions. Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed my friends mentioning how expensive these are. For example, one of my friends will end up paying about $1,000 to attend her friend’s wedding, with airfare, hotel, and gift. And we spent an average of $859 on Christmas gifts last year (that means you spend an average of $71 each month on Christmas gifts…did you factor that in when you guessed how much you spend in an average week?).

So last week, it occurred to me that there’s a way to cut down on the out-of-pocket expenses for some of these events. I was in New York meeting my publisher and had a GREAT time.

In fact, if I had to put a monetary number on it, I’d say my experience was worth the equivalent of $5,000 in my book advance. Why?

1. When my editor saw me looking at the books on the bookshelf, she said, “Take whatever books you want! In fact, just let us know and we’ll ship them to you.” This isn’t the case at all publishers: My friend, who published a book at another publisher, told me that his publisher offered 30% off their books. The fact that they were so willing to give me free books was such a remarkable attitude. So remarkable that I’m telling thousands of people about it today.

2. I got my photo taken, and I accidentally left a pair of jeans at the publisher. When I sent an email to one of my editors, she sent this back:

You did indeed leave your jeans here and I just got them from downstairs. If you want to swing by, I can leave them at our reception desk for you. Or, if someone (either someone in the apt. or a doorman) is around [where you’re staying], I can messenger them there. Or, if you prefer not to drag them home with you, I can just FedEx them back to you in SF.

This is top-notch service from a publisher, or anyone for that matter. She didn’t have to go above and beyond, but she did. It might cost $100 to ship those jeans and a few books, but it’s worth many times more to the recipient.

There are ways to apply this to your own life. If you’re trying to build a business relationship with someone, send them a book. It costs $15 (even cheaper than lunch! Which you should do, too) and is one of the easiest ways to show that you’re thinking about someone else.

If you can’t afford a $100 gift for your friend’s wedding, send something home-made or dig up old photos from high school.

At PBwiki, beyond some of the other perks we offer, we recently rolled out a new perk: If you want to have lunch with someone at the company, we’ll pay for it. It might cost $20 or $30, but the value of letting us all meet others in the company is much, much higher than that.

I’m curious if you’ve found ways of saving money but offering something of higher value. Do you have any examples? Share them in the forums.

Interested in having me speak at your company, university, or organization? Check out my speaking page.

(11 votes, average: 3.73 out of 5)

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21 Comments latest by linda

“But I earn $300/year from switching banks!”

July 3 33 Comments latest by Robin Majumdar

A little comment exchange on yesterday’s post about not switching banks to get an extra 0.25% interest:

Mike:

I’m one of those rate-chasers, so [with $40k in emergency savings], I’ve consistently been earning anywhere between 0.65-0.85% higher than my operating money market account… That’s an extra $300/year in interest, which is definitely worth changing banks every 4-6 months for me.

My response:

Mike: If you were smart enough to sock away $40k in an emergency fund (which is really impressive, btw), I bet you’re smart enough to spend your time doing something better than earning $300 year — something that will sustainably let you earn much more. You’re only earning $0.82/day doing that!

How about spending the same time optimizing your asset allocation? That step alone is probably worth thousands per year. Or starting a side business? Have you considered reading 5 new books about personal finance, entrepreneurship, psychology, whatever? Or even spending those few hours with your family? I don’t know what you value, but in my eyes, any of those things would produce more value than $300/year…especially for someone who’s so far ahead of everyone else, like you are.

This is just my 2 cents…~1/40th of what you earned today (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Reminder: If it’s more convenient, you can get my blog posts sent to your email inbox.

(25 votes, average: 2.36 out of 5)

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33 Comments latest by Robin Majumdar

Stupid account requires $10,000 for $25 bonus, and I mock them

July 2 15 Comments latest by Juan Perez

Stupid marketing gimmick alert!

My friend Ian sent this to me today: A Capital One Account that gives you a $25 bonus…if you have $10,000 in it. (Plus, $10,000 minimum required to get the high interest.)

Wow!! Amazing!! Thank you Capital One!!

Listen up. If your bank account’s best incentive is $25 for locking up $10,000, your bank sucks. Not only could that money be invested, the very fact that this bank is trying to trick you into giving you high interest only if you keep $10,000 — if you don’t keep that amount in your account, your interest drops to 2.5% — shows you what kind of bank they are: A Big, Worthless Bank.

In fact, even the fact that they offer this exposes Capital One’s sad attempt at matching great online banks like ING and Emigrant Direct, who offer around 3% with no minimum balances. Pathetic.

Two things to be aware of:
1. If your bank offers you some fantastic rate but has a catch (minimum rate, first 6 months, etc), ignore the offer and ignore the bank
2. Don’t be a moronic rate jumper, who says, “ZOMG! HSBC/ETrade/Capital One is offering 3.25% compared to 3%! I better switch!!” Run the numbers and you’ll realize that, even on a balance of $5,000, that’s about $1 more per month. Find a great bank with no catches, that offers you great customer service, and stick with it — even if another bank offers a .25% higher interest rate.

You may want to read How I set up my financial accounts or check out the savings account I use, ING (great interest rate, simple website, no tricks/gimmicks).

(4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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15 Comments latest by Juan Perez

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