This is a living document and will be updated as appropriate over time so it remains current.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this movement is to help interested individuals gain an edge that will allow them achieve their full potential or simply improve their current state in life by teaching them proven methods of positive psychology. The principles and concepts of positive psychology are widely recognized to give people a competitive advantage at work, as well as improve their personal life.

There is an unnaturally large imbalance between negativity and positivity in the world today. Contributions to this include the world economy, high levels of unemployment, large national debts, global warming, etc. The goal of this movement is to redress this balance through simple random acts of kindness – in our case one book, one person at a time.

“The Happiness Advantage”, by Shawn Achor, explains how individuals, families and entire organizations can benefit from common sense and time tested habits. He delivers the content in a well referenced, easy to read book that appeals to people from all walks of life. Although the book is focused on the workplace environment, its message is universally applicable.

Mission Statement

Spread The Happiness Advantage through random acts of kindness – one book, one person at a time.

Goals

2013: 

1. Gift 365 copies of "The Happiness Advantage" through random acts of kindness by December 31, 2013.
2. Achieve self-sustainment of the movement by December 31, 2013.
3. First Quarter Goals
   1. Gift one book in every state within the U.S. by March 31, 2013
   2. Hire a writer to review the site content by January 18, 2013
   3. Conduct a website survey by February 8, 2013
   4. Hire a firm by February 28, 2013, to extend current marketing plan through the end of 2013
4. Second Quarter Goals
   1. Execute the second phase of our marketing plan no later than April 01, 2013
   2. Complete functional work on the website no later than June 30, 2013
   3. Establish third quarter goals by June 30, 2013
5. Third Quarter Goals
   1. Establish fourth quarter goals by September 15, 2013
   2. TBD
6. Fourth Quarter Goals
   1. Establish annual 2014 and first quarter 2014 goalsDecember 15, 2013
   2. TBD

2014

1. Gift 730 copies of "The Happiness Advantage"through random acts of kindness from January – December 2014
2. Hire someone to manage book distribution

Organizational Structure

At present, our organizational structure is very simple, with me as the founder at the top of this structure. In addition, I have three core groups of supporters in Virginia Beach, VA, San Diego, CA and in Atlanta, GA helping me by brain storming ideas, giving advice, marketing, adding names to the Name Registry, and generally pitching in when I ask.

The marketing team is comprised of ‘virtual’ workers hired through Freelancer.com, Amazon Mechanical Turk and other online sources. The writing staff was originally hired through Freelancer.com and has since donated their time and talent to review all future written material on the site. The lawyer and accountant are local people I employ when needed.

To keep admin costs in the future to a minimum, I am looking grow the “supporters at large” group over time, and tease volunteers out of that group to support the functions currently paid for (e.g. marketing, writing, accounting, and legal).

Marketing

The initial marketing plan involves establishing the web site, creating an email distribution list to keep supporters informed on our progress, and spread the word of our existence through social networking (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook and personal blogs).

In terms of demographics, we will rely on the personal recommendations of our supporters made to our NAME REGISTRY. We are not targeting a particular race, sex, and age group, socio-economic level, etc. because “The Happiness Advantage” has universal appeal. I’ve seen this book change the lives of students, professionals, stay-at-home moms, children of all ages, etc.

Our initial marketing material consists of business cards, printed front and back, with the content illustrated below. I personally hand them out like candy at Halloween. These cards provide the answer to one single question - “If you were going to meet someone for only 5 minutes in their lifetime, what truly beneficial knowledge would you want to pass on to them?”  The answer is contained within “The Happiness Advantage”.

Once the writing staff have reviewed and updated the content of the web site, we are going to conduct a survey of at least 100 people and ask them to provide feedback on the site content and the Share the Advantage movement website. This data will be provided to a marketing firm hired through Freelancer.com. This firm will also develop our 2013 marketing plan phase II.

Financial

We do have a financial plan and for a modest donation I am willing to discuss it with you in detail.  Otherwise, suffice it to say our $10,000 goal for 2013 will cover all expenses currently anticipated for product distribution, marketing, and administrative overheads this year.

Appendix A:  Website Worklist

Refer to the WEBSITE WORKLIST.

Appendix B: General Background

Someone I really respected once told me that "Perfection was the enemy of good enough." I have never forgotten that, which explains why this web site is not perfect. It was designed to have the basic functionality required to get the movement started, however it requires input from you and our other supporters so it can improve it over time to better support the movement.

Up until the launch of the web site I considered it mine, but once it went live, my perspective changed and I now consider that it belongs to the whole Share the Advantage movement. Certainly I have funded it and put in over 200 developer hours getting it to where it is today, but truly it now belongs to the movement. It’s up to the movement to take ownership over the site and provide requirements and funding to develop the functional support it needs to sustain itself. This is where you come in to the picture, whether as a volunteer, to assist with marketing, or to simply make a much needed and appreciated donation.

I have personally purchased one year of domain name, hosting, etc. to give the movement a decent chance to get started. The rest will now be up to you. I will provide site administrator and developer services totally free of charge for a period of one year unless, of course, you are able to find a replacement for me! As I initially fulfill this role, you will need to be patient because work will have to be done on an ‘as and when available’ basis unless I get others to pitch in and help out. I will, however, aim to be as available as is humanly possible as I genuinely want the Share the Advantage movement to be a huge success.