Henderson, NV – When it comes to shopping for corporate holiday gifts this year, successful business managers can finally kick those trite pen-and-paperweight catalogs to the curb.

Instead, employers now have a more meaningful way to show appreciation for their direct reports. Copies of author/speaker Debra Snider’s career-themed novel, A Merger of Equals, are being offered at special holiday prices, including free shipping.

Set in the business world, the book – hailed as a “can’t-put-it-down story” that’s “densely packed with practical, valuable business advice” – follows the careers and lives of two characters, Jane and Charlie, who are determined to succeed. Surrounded by friends and colleagues, some of whom ease the climb and some of whom decidedly do not, Jane and Charlie defy the constrictions of the status quo to create a new model of professional and personal success. A Merger of Equals tackles universal professional concerns, such as work-life balance and gender issues in the workplace, as it tells its fun, fast-paced and ultimately inspiring story.

Snider’s holiday discounts, below, make A Merger of Equals a gift that’s not only relevant to the career-minded, but cheap.

•    Buy 1 copy for $14.50 (9% off the retail price of $15.95)
•    Buy 5 copies for $65.00 (18% discount)
•    Buy 10 copies for $110.00 (31% discount)

Orders placed on or before December 18, 2009, qualify for the special pricing and free shipping offer. Orders must be placed through the author’s website: www.debrasnider.com.

About A Merger of Equals

A Merger of Equals is a captivating, incisive story set against the backdrop of the business world. It’s told in the first person by its two main characters: Jane is ambitious, brilliant and sure she’s going to meet resistance at every turn; Charlie is successful, hardwired with the rules of the game and determined to make a difference. They meet in a mentoring program at a big-time investment bank. Over the next 10 years, first as colleagues, then as friends, then as partners, Jane and Charlie propel each other up the corporate ladder, learning along the way that quite a few so-called truths about work, life and love are not even close to true and that half a life is no life at all.

The novel has been called “one of the most enlightening and true works of fiction about corporate life and love” and “a stunning, can’t-talk-to-you-now-honey-I’m-reading, book.” People who work in the business world will appreciate its astute insider feel; everyone will appreciate its understanding of human relationships, both personal and professional, its perceptive take on gender issues in the workplace, and its inspiring outlook. From its provocative opening sentence to its touching final pages, A Merger of Equals is an intelligent, insightful story for readers who want a fun, thought-provoking and ultimately stirring read.

About Debra Snider

Debra Snider is a Nevada-based author and speaker. A married mother of two grown children, Snider enjoyed a successful 20-year legal and business career in her native Chicago. She is also the author of Working Easier: A Toolkit for Staff and Board Members of Nonprofit Arts Organizations (Illinois Arts Alliance Foundation, 2005) and The Productive Culture Blueprint For Corporate Law Departments and Their Outside Counsel (American Bar Association Career Resource Center, 2003), as well as numerous articles and essays.

Snider has been a featured speaker in the United States and Europe on topics including strategic productivity, client development, change facilitation, leadership, law department management, time management, and success strategies for professional and business women. She has also consulted on these topics for corporate, legal services and nonprofit clients.

Snider is the featured expert on law, productivity and work-life balance for the “Ask Debra” Q&A on The Corporate Legal Standard, Inc. website, and a double contributor to Heart of a Woman in Business (Sparkle Press, 2008). For more information on her books and her background, please visit her website.

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Godin makes the distinction between selling to strangers and selling to friends, saying that whom you’re targeting makes a huge difference in how you design and deliver your message. Agreed. You do have a much lower “hurdle” in targeting your friends, because they already know you and trust you. Plus, we all like doing business with people we know. But as Godin points out, you probably only have one free pass (in which your friend gives you the benefit of the doubt) to do it right.

I don’t think many people get it right. And I think it’s even harder to sell to your women friends.

I see people messing this up on Twitter and Facebook all the time — the incessant stream of stranger-oriented business propositions and opportunities passing by my eyes each day is mind-boggling. And while I wouldn’t exactly put Twitter followers in the same category as friends (except for a handful, at least in my case), I think that there is an art to it that can work across many platforms.

To Godin’s tips I’d add the following:

• Remember that the relationship comes first. You may be excited, ambitious and ready for rocketing growth, but keep in mind that your female friendships are multi-faceted. You can’t talk business all the time. That’d be boring, and your social invitations will dwindle as a result. Keep on being a great friend, listening and asking questions about what’s happening in her life.
• Instead of an all-out sales pitch when you meet for coffee, plant subtle seeds. If — and only if — an opportunity arises in your conversation to mention something (anything) related to your business, then by all means do so. But limit yourself. If your friend doesn’t turn it around and ask a question related to your business, then leave it for another day. The seeds you’ve sown are likely to sprout when you least expect it.
• If you’re in a business that’s built on selling directly to friends (i.e. Pampered Chef, Arbonne, Avon, etc.), tread carefully. There are boatloads of people who are leery of this business model — myself included. But I also respect that millions of people make a living this way. In my opinion, the trick is to be transparent, first and foremost. If you’re putting together a “makeover party” designed to interest your friends in buying some makeup, please do us all a favor and say so. Don’t tell me you’re “just getting some girls together” and want me to join you. When I find out later that it’s a business thing, I’ll be even less receptive to buying from you than I already was. (Gee, can you tell I’ve had this very experience? But I’m not bitter. I am NOT!)
• Craft your copy with your girlfriends in mind. Say you’re putting together an email for friends and family, letting them in on an unbelievable special offer. I’d recommend a super-honest, even self-deprecatory approach in how you write it. So instead of “Act now on this limited time offer for family & friends!!!!!!”, I’d tone it WAY down and say something like, “Hi, you guys. You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that I sell XYZ Product for a living. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support on this from the beginning. It’s wonderful to know that my friends care about me enough to consider buying from me! Here’s a little promotion I put together just for you guys — but I don’t want you to feel ANY pressure to buy anything. It’s just there for you to use if you were already planning to purchase, okay? Thanks for your time… I love you all and look forward to catching up soon!”

How do you feel about your friends selling to you? How do you handle this delicate balance? What tips could you add to my list? I’d love to hear from you!