Jay Levinson & Seth Godin - Guerrilla Marketing Handbook 4 Stars
"The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook" by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin is a very practical marketing book packed with good advice on using marketing tools or to use Jay's phrase, the Guerrilla Marketing weapons.
It is very different from the main "Guerrilla Marketing" book now in its 4th edition (see my 5 star review of this outstanding book) aimed at small businesses who don't have big marketing budgets to waste.
The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook can be used as a standalone book but I believe that you will get more benefit from understanding the thinking that lies behind Guerrilla Marketing and has made it such phenomenal success. I think I have read that in total over 16 million Guerrilla Marketing books have now been sold.
This is the kind of book that you pick up and read when you are about to start a new campaign. It doesn't matter whether you want a new direct mail letter, a telemarketing campaign or a Yellow Pages advert. You just go to the relevant pages and find top notch practical tips on how to make sure that you design a winner.
It is split into main sections and then subsections:
- Advertising - newspapers & magazines, remnant space and per enquiry, classified ads, yellow pages, radio and TV advertising, infomercials, billboards and signs and even some tips on saving money by using bartering.
- Mini-media - business cards, brochures, videos, posters, newsletters, circulars, gift certificates and order forms.
- Target media - post cards, inserts, direct mail, catalogues.
- Promotions - contests, jingles and slogans, point of purchase items, gifts and trade shows.
- Telephone selling.
- Non-media - pricing, business names, distribution, logos, affinity marketing, word of mouth, speed and service.
It's an impressive list but did you notice what was missing?
There is nothing about email marketing, websites, blogs, webinars or teleseminars and that's because unlike the main Guerrilla Marketing book, it hasn't been updated since it was published in 1994.
That cost it 0.5 of a star but you can get specialist books about online marketing (for example see my review of the "Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars" by Mitch Meyerson.)
It is an omission but the information on offer remains valid for these other importance marketing weapons. While the Internet and email are important, there are few bricks and mortar businesses that don't rely on traditional marketing tools, although Guerrillas will use them in non traditional ways.
The book nearly lost another half star until I came to my senses.
In each section, the book provides some suggested specialist service providers with names, addresses and telephone numbers. It's not hard to guess that most of these lists are now useless. But then I realised that it was a plus point before. The book in 1994 gained by including these sources but it shouldn't lose in 2007 just because they are now out of date.
It's not a book to read from start to finish. I read a lot of business books because I enjoy them but this book doesn't work like that. I tried because it was a recommended book for my Guerrilla Marketing Certification course.
It's too practical and dry but it's ideal to pick up and remind yourself exactly what you should do with a particular marketing tool.
Order this book from Amazon UK or USA
Have you read and used The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook? Do you agree with my review?
If you are interested in Guerrilla Marketing and want to keep bang up-to-date with all the developments in marketing a small business, then the best resource that I have found is the Guerrilla Marketing Association.
This is Jay Conrad Levinson's membership site and a subscription is chargeable but for new members there is a 30 day FREE trial period for you to review the site. You get access to a massive resource of past recordings and the Guerrilla Marketing Association is highly recommended.
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