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Welcome to the media page for Launch!

In his new book Launch, marketing expert Michael Stelzner reveals a formula that made him a millionaire in the Great Recession. He calls it the Elevation Principle: great content plus other people minus marketing messages equals growth.

Hey there!

You've got deadlines, we want to help you meet them. All the resources you need are here.

Defy Gravity.

Michael Stelzner
Author of Launch and founder of Social Media Examiner

Book Factoids (top)

  • Book website: http://www.elevationprinciple.com (please link to this in articles)
  • Title: Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition
  • Formats: 255 pages, 6" x 9", hardcover: $24.95; also available in Kindle, Nook and iBook formats
  • Author: Michael A. Stelzner
  • Publication date: Amazon and ebook release: June 6, 2011. U.S. and Canada bookstore release: June 21, 2011. International release: July 21, 2011.
  • ISBN: 111802723X and 978-1118027233
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
  • Sample chapter: Click here for chapter one and the table of contents (PDF)

Business Journalists: Fast Facts about Social Media Examiner (top)

  • Michael Stelzner launched Social Media Examiner in October 2009 from his Southern California office. He had zero previous experience with social media.

  • Start-up costs: $4,000 for design and website development.

  • Within two weeks of its launch, Social Media Examiner joined the ranks of Technorati's Top 100 Small Business Blogs and remains in the Top 10.

  • 80,000+ email subscribers receive Social Media Examiner updates 6 days a week.
  • The site receives more than 700,000 page views each month.

  • Social Media Examiner is in the top 1200 of all websites in America. [Alexa]

  • Advertising Age ranks Social Media Examiner among the Top 20 marketing blogs.

  • Social Media Examiner is commercial-free and does not display advertising.
  • Publishes annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report (a statistical guide showing how marketers use social media marketing). 100% free; no registration required.

  • Operates on the “Elevation Principle” business model: Give away digestible how-to content that creates a loyal, well-fed business community.

  • Revenue driver: online professional development conferences. Sales to date from summits exceed $3M.

  • Takes Apple's Genius Bar concept to more than 44,000 on Facebook: Three social media experts answer questions in real-time, around the clock.

  • Social Media Success Summits began in 2009; attracting sellout crowds in 2010 and again in 2011. SME now produces three annual online conferences: Social Media Success Summit, Facebook Success Summit, and Blogging Success Summit.

  • 6,000+ marketers and small business owners have attended Social Media Examiner's summits including employees from: Albertsons, Allstate, Ashley Furniture, Autodesk, Bruegger's, Cardinal Health, Carnegie Mellon University, Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Comcast, ConAgra Foods, Constant Contact, Creative Memories, Disney, Dole Food Company, Dow Chemical, DuPont, EMC, Four Seasons Hotels, Fuddruckers, General Mills, Henkel, Hewlett-Packard, Honda, Hostess Brands, IEEE, Intuit, John Wiley & Sons, Junior Achievement, Kraft Foods, LexisNexis, London Convention Centre, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Monster Cable, Party City, Princeton Theological Seminary, Ritz-Carlton, Rust-Oleum, SanDisk, SAP, Siemens, Stonyfield Farm, Teradata, Thomson Reuters, 3M, T-Mobile, Tyco, U.S. Army, Verizon Wireless, Visa, Warner Music Group, Wells Fargo, Yahoo!, and Yale University.

  • Mike perfected the “Elevation Principle” as a marketing method for his copywriting business in 2002. More than 85,000 people have registered to receive How to Write a White Paper - A White Paper on White Papers, the free 10-page PDF that helped rocket his fledging business to success.

  • June 2011, Mike shares the nuts and bolts of the “Elevation Principle” in his second book, published by Wiley. Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition shows how any business in any niche (gardening, yoga, electricians, cancer survivors, etc.) can become the next Social Media Examiner.

Pictures With Captions (top)

Here you will find book cover images, illustrations from the book (along with relevant captions) and photographs of Michael.

Book Covers:


Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/Book-Thumb.png
Click here for large version


Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/cover-flat.png
Larger versionPrint/CMYK TIF version

Illustrations With Captions:



Caption: The elevation principle says that great content combined with other people and without marketing messages will help your business rapidly grow.
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/Elevationprinciple.png
Click for larger image.



Caption: With this new form of marketing you rapidly grow by giving gifts free of marketing messages while your competitors struggle to survive.
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/old-vs-new.png
Click for larger image.



Caption: Primary fuel is the content you regularly produce to keep your buiness moving forward.
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/primaryfuel.png
Click for larger image.



Caption: Nuclear fuel is special content that attracts many people and quickly grows your business
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/nuclearfuel.png
Click for larger image.


Caption: Michael Stelzner, the author of Launch, is also the founder of the wildly successful site Social Media Examiner
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/images/sme_logo_brown.jpg
Download: .JPG | .AI


Caption: Michael Stelzner, the author of Launch, is also the founder of the wildly successful site Social Media Examiner
Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/images/sme_logo_white.jpg
Download: .JPG | .AI

Photos of Michael Stelzner:


Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/MichaelStelzner-Street2-tm.jpg
Hi-Res RGB: Click to view
Hi-Res CMYK: Click to view


Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/MichaelStelzner-tm.jpg
Hi-Res RGB: Click to view
Hi-Res CMYK: Click to view


Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/images/MichaelStelzner-Street-tm.jpg
Hi-Res RGB: Click to view
Hi-Res CMYK: Click to view

Videos You Can Embed (top)

Here you movies you can embed in your articles. To get the embed code, simply click on the play button for the video and then click on the 'embed" button that will show up. This will give you the code you can place in your article.

Michael Sharing the Social Media Examiner Growth Story

Michael Introducing the Concepts in the Book

Michael Explaining Different Forms of Content Marketing

Who should read Launch? (top)

Here's who the book was written for:

  • Marketers: Launch was written for any marketer who's been struggling to figure out how to grow a loyal fan base without the hard sell. It's not just a book for social media marketers. Launch is for anyone who wants to get a grasp on how new media has forever changed the way marketing must function. The book was designed to help marketers figure out how to best launch a company, website, product, or service—or how to take an existing company to the next level.

  • Small business owners: Launch was crafted to help small business owners figure out how to respond to an ever changing world without performing the types of activities people hate to do (like selling). The book provides a refreshing alternative to those marketing books that focus on "gaming systems and people." Instead, Launch focuses on how to build lasting relationships that will help grow small businesses into empires.

So, the answer to the question, "Who should read Launch?" is people just like you!

Book Description (top)

If you've been let down by the undelivered promises of marketing, Launch is for you. The book reveals a new way to grow your business. It's one that involves focusing on the needs of others, giving gifts, working with outsiders, and restraining your marketing messages.

These principles are precisely the opposite of traditional marketing. Yet they work. And they are the future. If you follow the formula outlined in this book, you could attract countless customers and prospects, resulting in amazing business growth.

This book will show you how to:

  • Create highly sharable content that meets people's needs
  • Identify and work with outside experts, many of whom will gladly promote your content
  • Attract and retain raving fans that will help your business grow
  • Creatively market and sell to people who will gladly purchase your products and services

Launch isn't like other marketing books. Rather than making keen observations about others who've achieved success, the ideas and principles in this book were developed, refined, and practiced by the author to great success. Pick up a copy for yourself and one for a friend.

Press Release (top)

Modern Day Marketing Creates Modern Day Millionaire
New marketing method detailed in Launch
By Michael A. Stelzner, Founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com

“Any business can defy gravity, especially in this uncertain economy,” says Michael Stelzner about his new book, Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition.

The Southern California businessman is turning marketing on its head with a new concept that has made him a millionaire. Any type of business can align with his process to blast through the paralyzing fear blanketing today's marketplace.

Stelzner sees businesses experiencing three main drags on their bottom line: lack of customer trust, lack of money, and lack of know-how. “With my 'Elevation Principle'” explains Stelzner, “any person in any industry, from start-ups to name-brand corporations, can give away valuable content and make money.”

The author's had wildly successful revenue growth by giving away sought-after information, smack in the middle of the Great Recession. Using his 'Elevation Principle,' Stelzner propelled his online magazine far beyond the competition at an incredibly fast—and lucrative—pace. Only two weeks after its October 2009 launch, Technorati rated his SocialMediaExaminer.com a Top 100 Small Business blog.

Today, more than 94,000 readers subscribe for free. And Stelzner refuses paid advertising on his site.

Amazingly, the entrepreneur started with zero subject matter experience. How, exactly, did Stelzner so quickly build a three million dollar return on a $4,000 start-up investment?

Social media marketing expert Michael Stelzner shares his secrets in the new book, LAUNCH: HOW TO QUICKLY PROPEL YOUR BUSINESS BEYOND THE COMPETITION (June 2011; ISBN: 9781118027233; Hardcover, $24.95). The book contains a proven roadmap for any business, large or small, seeking to launch an effective growth strategy with content marketing. You can instantly download the first chapter (no registration required) at http://www.elevationprinciple.com.

Having faced his own obstacles, Stelzner noticed a truism in the business marketing community, “Marketers like to throw around the word 'content.' But if you look closely, you'll find that very few have mastered the art and science of creating useful, thought-provoking, and viral content to grow their businesses.”

Launch empowers readers with content marketing techniques that produce proven results. In the book, he reveals:

  • o How to defy gravity with the Elevation Principle: Great content plus outside experts minus marketing messages equals growth.

  • Why the infamous 'rule of reciprocity' is a manipulative time bomb—and what makes people happier instead

  • The shelf life of primary and nuclear fuel—and precisely what to do with them

  • How to eliminate the need to pitch and sell—and grow your business faster than ever

  • o Why you should give it all away—including how you do things, your knowledge and your secrets—and why you'll make more money

Stelzner advises readers, “Stop trying to force customers to conform to your desires and instead walk beside them and see what happens. People don't want to be pitched to, marketed to, or herded like cattle. People do want information, answers, access, and recognition—and they want it all for free.”

Launch reveals a new way to grow a business that involves focusing on the needs of others, giving gifts, working with outsiders, and restraining marketing messages.

Q&A with Michael Stelzner, author of Launch and founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com

Why did you decide to write Launch?
I honestly want to show business people a different way to succeed without having to sell their souls in this crazy economy. You don't have to have a lot of money or buy any advertising. You don't have to bow at the altar of famous people or engage traditional media. You don't have to have a list. You don't even have to be a good writer. My content model is replicable and scalable. It works for an audience of ten to one thousand to millions.

How should readers use your book?
Follow the step-by-step roadmap I lay out in the book. All of my content strategy secrets are there.

What is the Elevation Principle and why is it useful?
At its core it's all about focusing on the needs of people with content. Here's the simple formula: Great content plus other people minus marketing messages equals growth.

It's useful for the person who wants to quickly catapult a business into the next galaxy from where they are. The number one reason it works is because it establishes you as a trusted resource—which is your biggest marketing obstacle. You'll attract an audience of loyal, raving fans who want to learn from you. Many of those will evangelize your business.



Caption: The elevation principle says that great content combined with other people and without marketing messages will help your business rapidly grow.

How can one start using the Elevation Principle now?
Step one - determine who you want to reach and what they're interested in.
Step two - give them what they want for free.
Step three - grow.

What are some of the book's key takeaways?
Marketers are frustrated; all they have to do is stop selling. Give something away. Create primary and nuclear fuel. Don't expect anything in return—that's when things start happening. Launch is for anyone who wants to grasp how new media has forever changed the way marketing must function in a digital world.

What surprises you the most about the 'Elevation Principle'?
The consistent return on investment. I wasn't prepared for my business to take off at a thousand miles an hour; to get three buy offers in the first eighteen months; and to fend off so many advertisers wanting to spend money at my site.

What's the number one question you get asked the most?
Mike, how do you do all this without advertising? My answer: content surrounded by marketing messages scare people away. If you wouldn't want telemarketers camped out in your living room, why would you be okay with them squatting on your virtual property..

How would you describe yourself?
Giving.

What do you want people to do as a result of buying your book?
I want my readers to follow the model outlined in the book, transform their business, and let me know how it's working for them. I want to see businesses develop thriving communities around topics like gardening, yoga, mechanical engineering, cancer survival . . . you name it . . . just like Social Media Examiner did.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner a popular online magazine that helps businesses answer social media questions with useful 'how to' articles, in-depth case studies, expert interviews, and original research. Michael is author of the books Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition and Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.

The principles that Stelzner teaches are the very concepts that helped him build two highly successful businesses that made him a leading expert in both industries—and a millionaire in the Great Recession. Stelzner's been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and the Huffington Post.

Follow Michael Stelzner on Twitter @mike_stelzner
Visit www.elevationprinciple.com

Author Bio (top)

Short: Michael Stelzner is the founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com, author of the books Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition and Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged, the popular Social Media Marketing Industry Report, and the man behind large summits, such as Social Media Success Summit.

Longer: Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner—a popular online magazine that helps businesses answer social media questions with useful 'how to' articles, in-depth case studies, expert interviews, and original research. He's author of the new book Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition. He also authored the book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and the Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

As an innovative thought leader and experienced marketer, Stelzner has gained the full respect of social media leaders and business marketing experts alike. In less than 18 months, SocialMediaExaminer.com grew from infancy to boasting over 94,000 subscribers and is now the top small business blog in the world according to Technorati. He also pioneered the highly popular Social Media Success Summits, which have sold out for two years in a row-in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The principles that Stelzner teaches are the very concepts that helped him build two highly successful businesses that made him a leading expert in both industries.

Press Coverage (top)

Press Contacts (top)

Press: For interviews, quotes and other inquiries, contact:
Tia Dobi, Media Relations
[email protected]

Bloggers: For interviews, quotes and other inquiries, contact:
Phil Mershon
[email protected]



Michael Stelzner has defied gravity with his “Elevation Principle” to become a self-made millionaire during the Great Recession. For example, in 2009 he launched Social Media Examiner: a free online magazine designed to help entrepreneurs and marketers use social media to generate more business. Within months, Technorati ranked Social Media Examiner as the world's #1 Small Business Blog. Today (less than two years later), Social Media Examiner has more than 94,000 subscribers.


"Launch is your road map to success in an ever-changing world." Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment

"What Stelzner shares here is proven! He's already built a community that propelled his brand not only beyond the competition, but ahead of an entire industry." Brian Solis, author of Engage!

"This isn't a book about marketing; it's about human nature. Understand that and you've unlocked the key to your success." Scott Monty, Head of social media at Ford Motor Company


"Theory is fine, really. But what's even better is how-to action. And that's precisely what you'll find here." Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs and co-author of Content Rules

"If you're looking for a better way to reach the business heights you've only dreamed of, start reading Launch." David Meerman Scott, author of Real-Time Marketing & PR

"I only believe what I've read in Launch because I've watched Michael Stelzner do it himself. It works." Chris Brogan, President, HumanBusinessWorks.com and co-author of Trust Agents

"Mike's teachings absolutely work! This book is a must-read for anyone serious about building a sustainable empire on a solid foundation in today's fast-moving, new media world." Mari Smith, co-author Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day