Business Books

Financial Times Guide To Business Networking - Heather Townsend

The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking

By Heather Townsend

Business Book Review 4.5 Stars

Networking has changed in the last five years with the development of social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and the big strength of the Financial Times Guide to Business Networking – How To Use The Power Of Online and Offline Networking For Business Success by Heather Townsend is the concept of joined-up networking.

No BS Marketing To The Affluent Dan Kennedy

“No BS Marketing To The Affluent: No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide To Getting Rich” by Dan Kennedy

Business Book Review – 4.5 Stars

Buy this book.

“No BS Marketing To The Affluent” is that good.

You may not agree with everything Dan Kennedy writes… and you may not like the world it presents but it’s time to face up to some bitter truths.

The Obvious Truth

The rich have most of the money.

And if you want to be rich too, it’s much easier getting a share of their cash by providing something special than it is to prise a few coins out of many more poor people.

Common sense right?

The Decisive Moment / How We Decide Jonah Lehrer Review

The Decisive Moment / How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

I read this book as "The Decisive Moment: How The Brain Makes Up Its Mind" but in the United States it is called "How We Decide" (based on the Amazon reviews and the look inside feature)

Regardless of title it is a fascinating book which looks at how the emotional and the logical brains work individually or  together to help you to make decisions at work and in your personal life.

It also helps to explain how the people around you also make decisions.

Irresistible Offer Mark Joyner

The Irresistible Offer by Mark Joyner

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"The Irresistible Offer: How To Sell Your Product Or Service In Three Seconds Or Less" by Mark Joyner is regularly referred to in my blogs because it focuses on the very centre of business.

What you give and what you want in return.

Mark Joyner makes an irresistible offer because you can get the book for free as a PDF - see The Irresistible Offer (affiliate link)- but interestingly it's not The Irresistible Offer, in the sense intended by the book.

The offer is the basic concept that any commercial transaction is based on although Mark Joyner has lifted up his concept to focus on your identifying offer.

Triggers Joe Sugarman Review

Triggers by Joe Sugarman

Review Rating - 4.5 Stars

Triggers is a terrific book by Joe Sugarman, one of the leading direct marketers in the world who uses these very factors to make a fortune in direct response mail order advertising.

In fact I wish that I had read it years ago.

The sub-title of Triggers explains the purpose -  "30 Sales Tools You Can Use To Control The Mind of your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade".

(Update - April 2011 I have just heard about a free mp3 interview of Joe Sugarman taking about Triggers - Triggers mp3 - affiliate link - over 4 hours of amazing tips)

Guerrilla Retailing Elly Valas Orvel Ray Wilson Jay Levinson

Guerrilla Retailing by Jay Conrad Levinson, Elly Valas and Orvel Ray Wilson

Business Book Review - 4.5 Stars

This specialist book in the Guerrilla Marketing book series promises "Unconventional Ways To Make Big Profits From Your Retail Business" and I thought it delivered exactly that.

While Jay Levinson,s name goes first on the book cover as the creator and owner of the Guerrilla Marketing brand, I know from previous books that most, if not all the writing has been done by the other two authors.

Close The Deal Sam Deep & Lyle Sussman Review

Close The Deal by Sam Deep & Lyle Sussman

 

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"Close The Deal: Smart Moves For Selling" is a very interesting and practical guide to sales training written in the form of 120 checklists for sales success.

Checklists may be the wrong word as the book is really a series of list based articles:

The Bottom Line Alan Warner

The Bottom Line by Alan Warner

 

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"The Bottom Line: Practical Financial Knowledge For Managers" by Alan Warner is a remarkable book in that it dresses up finance for non-financial manager training into a romantic novel.

The One Minute Apology Blanchard McBride

The One Minute Apology by Ken Blanchard and Margaret McBride

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

Sometimes a simple but important idea is best communicated by a story and that's exactly what Ken Blanchard and Margaret McBride do in "The One Minute Apology: A Powerful Way To Make Things Better".

I like this book a lot but then I like people to have the courage to admit that they are wrong or they made a mistake.

Neuromarketing Patrick Renvoise Christopher Morin

Neuromarketing by Patrick Renvoise and Christopher Morin
 
Book Review - 4.5 Stars

Neuromarketing is marketing using the latest neuroscience research on how the human brain works and makes decisions.

In "Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customer's Brain", Patrick Renvoise and Christopher Morin have written an extremely interesting and thought-provoking book on how you can take advantage of the way the brain is structured.

You may have heard that people make decisions emotionally and buy rationally.

Art Of Profitability Adrian Slywotzky Review

The Art of Profitability by Adrian Slywotzky

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

In "The Art of Profitability" Adrian Slywotzky reveals that there are twenty three different business models which can be used to generate profit.

It really is an eye opener to have these business models revealed since it is easy to fall into the "you buy (or make), you sell and make a bit of profit" trap.

Managing Customer Value Bradley Gale Review

Managing Customer Value by Bradley Gale

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

The full title of this excellent book by Bradley T. Gale is "Managing Customer Value: Creating Quality and Service That Customers Can See" and it is a landmark in the development of the concept of customer value as a way to operationalise differentiation strategies.

While Michael Porter argued that the only ways to gain a competitive advantage were a cost advantage (in effect coming from the supply side) and differentiation advantage (from the demand side) he didn't provide many practical tools for understanding the customer purchase decision and how companies could differentiate themselves.

Mind Control Marketing Mark Joyner Review

Mind Control Marketing by Mark Joyner
Review - 4.5 Stars
 

Mark Joyner has written an extremely interesting book, "Mind Control Marketing", or more formally "MindControlMarketing.com: How Everyday People Are Using Forbidden Mind Control Psychology and Ruthless Military Tactics To Make Millions Online".

Mind Control Marketing was his first published bestseller (Mark had previously written very popular Internet marketing ebooks) and it was an instant hit.

Simplified Strategic Planning Review - Bradford Duncan & Tarcy

Simplified Strategic Planning by Robert Bradford, Peter Duncan and Brian Tarcy

Review - 4.5 Stars

The full title of this book is "Simplified Strategic Planning: A No Nonsense Guide For Busy People Who Want Results Fast" and it is written by Robert W. Bradford and L. Peter Duncan with Brian Tarcy.

It captures the approach of the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning and is a very good guide for any medium sized business which feels lost when thinking about business strategy.

Tested Advertising Methods John Caples Review

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

Review - 4.5 Stars

I have just finished reading "Tested Advertising Methods : Fifth Edition" by John Caples and revised by Fred E. Hahn.

No wonder it is considered a direct response marketing classic.

Apart from a little too much repetition, I think it is a terrific book.

Competing On Value Hanan & Karp Review

Competing On Value by Mack Hanan and Peter Karp

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"Competing on Value" by Mack Hanan and Peter Karp is a terrific book that was published back in 1991. I wish I could remember who recommended it to me.

Is Competing On Value a sales book? Yes.

Is it a pricing book? Yes.

Is it a marketing book? Maybe.

The concept of economic customer value is now well established in some of the more specialised sectors of marketing and pricing but when "Competing On Value" was published, I believe that the concept of fixing your price on the value (or gain) your customer made from buying was very new.

Book Yourself Solid Michael Port Review

Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"Book Yourself Solid" by Michael Port is a great book and really forced me to think hard about my book review rating policy.

When I started reviewing these business books I decided that a 5 star rating had to really mean something as a great book that had stood the test of time. It is intended to show the books that I go back to time after time.

While I loved "Booked Yourself Solid" when I read it and believe that it is a classic, I have only known about Michael Port and his ideas for a short time.

Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times Review

Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times by Jay Conrad Levinson

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"Guerrilla Marketing During Tough Times" by Jay Conrad Levinson is highly relevant in the uncertainty the world currently faces as the credit crunch bites in October 2008.

There seems little doubt that the world is about to go into a recession and if the worst case predictions are right, it will be deep and long.

Guerrilla Marketing Revolution Paul Hanley

The Guerrilla Marketing Revolution by Jay Conrad Levinson and Paul Hanley

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"The Guerrilla Marketing Revolution: Precision Persuasion Of The Unconscious Mind" by Paul Hanley and Jay Conrad Levinson is a terrific book which really does take a new approach to marketing.

It seems to have become a traditional method of marketing. You present yourself as the new improved version and then you knock the old version but don't really deliver anything new.

The Guerrilla Marketing Revolution Is Different - It Really Delivers

Startup Guide To Guerrilla Marketing Book Review

Startup Guide To Guerrilla Marketing by Jay and Jeannie Levinson

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

One of the most recent additions to the Guerrilla Marketing series of books is the "Startup Guide to Guerrilla Marketing: A Simple Battle Plan for First-Time Marketers" by Jay and Jeannie Levinson.

That's right.

For the first time Jay Levinson has collaborated with his wife Jeannie to write a practical, how to guide to Guerrilla Marketing.

I loved the latest edition of "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson and whilst I like the idea of the more focused Guerrilla books (e.g. Guerrilla Publicity, Guerrilla Negotiating) I was sceptical about whether the world needed another general Guerrilla Marketing book.

I thought I'd give it a try and I'm glad that I did.

The Chic Entrepreneur Elizabeth Gordon Review

The Chic Entrepreneur by Elizabeth Gordon and Leanna Adams

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

I don't realise just how male dominated our society is until someone (usually a woman) hits me over the head and makes me challenge my views of the accepted norm. Elizabeth Gordon and Leanna Adams have done that with their excellent book "The Chic Entrepreneur".

Who Are Elizabeth Gordon and Leanna Adams?

Duct Tape Marketing John Jantsch Review

Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

John Jantsch is the author of the Duct Tape Marketing blog, widely regarded as one of the best small business blogs on the Internet and in 2006 published his book "Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide" which is excellent.

Duct Tape Marketing - Not The Book I Expected

When I read that John Jantsch had been a certified E-Myth consultant I was expecting a book that showed definite links back to the E Myth marketing concepts and especially to the psychographic profiling I found so interesting in Michael Gerber's book "E Myth Mastery" and which also features in the E Myth Mastery program.

I was to be disappointed by the fact that psychographics was mentioned in passing but I wasn't disappointed by the "Duct Tape Marketing" book in general. 

I think it is a terrific marketing book for small business owners.

299 Steps To Website Heaven Nikki Pilkington

299 Steps To Website Heaven by Nikki Pilkington

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

Nikki Pilkington's "299 Steps To Website Heaven" is an excellent introduction to the mysterious world of search engine optimisation and Internet marketing which is well written, interesting, practical and easy to read.

Update - Ebook now available for free from my Online Profits blog - thanks Nikki.

Nikki has managed to find 299 different tips to improve the effectiveness of your website with the focus mainly on moving you up the search engine rankings.

Turning Your Business Around by Mark Blayney

Turning Your Business Around by Mark Blayney

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

"Turning Your Business Around: How To Spot The Warning Signs And Keep Your Business Healthy" by Mark Blayney has been re-titled "Turning A Business Around" in the second edition but I'm reviewing my original purchase from 2002.

This is a very, very good book if you ever find yourself in the stressful situation of owning or managing a business in financial distress.

In the preface Mark Blayney sets two main purposes for the book:

1. To act as a fire extinguisher for a business already in a crisis
    
2. To act as a smoke detector to help identify the early warning signs while there is time to correct the problems.

The book does very well in meeting these objectives.

Ultimate Sales Letter Dan Kennedy

The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy

Book Review - 4.5 Stars

Some months ago I promised a review of my much thumbed copy of "The Ultimate Sales Letter: Boost Your Sales With Powerful Sales Letters" by notoriously plain talking world class copywriter Dan Kennedy.

When I look at my copy it shows all the signs of use, spine cracked, various lines in the book underlined in different colours, sections asterisked and comments in the margin.

"The Ultimate Sales Letter" is a book I go back to when I am preparing to write a sales letter because it is a) very good and b) very well organised.

Dan Kennedy has identified 28 steps in the process of preparing the ultimate sales letter but he is preparing you to send mail which will be sent to tens of thousands of prospective customers rather than your top 100 to 200 local prospects.