Today, I read about an intriguing website called GoodShop in the First Unitarian Church of Portland newsletter. GoodShop is a brilliantly simple yet valuable idea. Instead of going directly to your favorite shopping websites like Amazon, Expedia, and Zappos (and hundreds more), you access them via the GoodShop shopping page. Then, you type in the charity you want to support and click on the link that takes you directly to the ecommerce business. When you purchase a donation of 1% to 7% of the total purchase price goes to the cause you selected. (If you know a charity looking for money, tell them to register at GoodShop and let their supporters know. It's a great way to raise money.)
I was impressed with the excellent press that GoodShop and its affiliated website GoodSearch has garnered. Their press room does something that all businesses which land good press should do to leverage the incredible residual value of publicity. Rather than just having links to their press, GoodShop and GoodSearch highlight a few of the most interesting sentences from each story. Even if you don't click to any of the media websites, the excerpts provide outstanding credibilty for GoodShop and GoodSearch and make you want to support them. And, once you've made this decision, the clever folks at GoodShop and GoodSearch have figured out some easy ways for anybody to spread their buzz which would apply to many other businesses as well.
