Positive Power of Principled Profit
Volume 2, Numer 10—June 2005

Positive Power Spotlight: Carl R. Sams II Photography: Charity Creates a Bestseller

If ever a business owner embodied the case for using business to better the world, and significantly bettering your business in the process, it would be Carl Sams II, of Carl R. Sams II Photography.

Together with his wife, Jean Stoick, Sams used a strong charity connection to create a runaway bestseller out of what could have otherwise been a complete flop.

Full-color hardback picture books featuring photography are rarely big sellers--and it's even more rare when unknown authors with shallow pockets publish the book themselves.

But that's exactly what happened. Sams and Stoick had put all their spare capital into a 20,000-copy print run of "Stranger in the Woods," featuring their photographs of white-tailed deer. Money for promotion and marketing simply wasn't in the budget.

By donating a portion of the proceeds to two environmental organizations and one that supports children with life-threatening diseases, the couple were able to get massive publicity in their own state of Michigan, and in about six weeks, the entire print run was gone.

With that track record, they could start to get the book out through distribution channels--insisting at all levels that their channel partners continue the charity tradition. Media, world-of-mouth, and sales continued--reaching the astonishing level of 1.1 million copies, spending 32 weeks (every winter, over five years) on the New York Times bestseller list including a number one spot, and wining seven awards. Sams is very proud that he got both "Stranger" and the sequel, "Lost in the Woods," on the bestseller list at the same time,in January 2005.

By comparison, many self-publishers never even sell 2000 copies, so this is a true accomplishment.

The author/publishers have donated over $50,000 to the three charities, and have created several spinoffs beyond the second book: a teacher guide, a CD, and a movie, among others.

And the charity component keeps expanding, too. Sams and Stoick have performed in schools and nursing homes, organized a festival in memory of a Make-a-Wish child, donated 5000 copies to Head Start, and used one of the Michigan US Senators to donate a copy to every elementary school in the state, via the various State Senators' offices. They even helped a group of second-graders organize a press conference.

Learn more at www.strangerinthewoods.com

Another Recommended Book: "Winners Never Cheat: A Self-Made Billionaire Speaks Out on Honesty and Generosity" by Jon M. Huntsman (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, 2005)

Beyond the content of this good little book, two things are significant: first, the author made his fortune in petrochemicals--not always known as a clean or ethical business--yet he succeeded by putting integrity first. He even cites a buyout deal where the terms were settled, the market shifted dramatically in the six months before the papers were signed, and the division he was selling could have been sold for four times the $54 million he'd agreed on. The buyer offered to split the difference; Huntsman made a lifelong friend by keeping the original price.

Read this book as well for the difference between law and ethics, what adults can learn from the ethics code of 6-year-olds, and Abraham Lincoln's view of the proper role of lawyers...as mediators.

Follow this link to buy from an independent Booksense seller:

http://www.booksense.com/index.jsp?affiliateId=FrugalFun

or this link to buy from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131863665/ref=nosim/globalartstravel (paperback)