Business Book Summaries

The Spirit of Success by Norman Drummond

The Spirit of Success by author Norman Drummond uses common sense to reveal the secrets to achieve the real spirit of success. Indeed, success is what drives people in their working lives, but people can neglect their real purpose and meaning in the pursuit of material rewards. Finally comes a book which helps you to get back on track, and realize the answers to three essential questions that Drummond poses to the reader: “Who are you?” , “What might you yet become and do with your life?” and “Why are you living and working in the way that you are?”

The book has a reader-friendly style, with anecdotes and quotations from a number of people whom Drummond has worked with in the past thirty years. Moreover, the easy step-by-step guides, the useful tips, and exercises, will surely help you to find out how to work with your heart as well as your head. More than that, you will discover the things in life which makes you feel complete, creative and motivated. This is a revolutionary guide which will change how you work—and live, and will help you achieve the true spirit of success.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, personal development, The Spirit of Success, Norman Drummond

You've had one thousand of the finest, most eye-catching business cards printed. Now, what do you do with them?

Networking with business cards is one of the most cost effective means of marketing your business–and yourself.

Get those business cards out!

Don't leave them sitting in the box, they do you no good there. Get them into the hands of your prospects! If you think of your business card as a mini-billboard for your company, you'll realize that you need people to see it in order for it to be effective. Here are a few ideas to get you started…

1. Keep them in your pocket, purse, briefcase, and wallet, on your desk, and at the reception area of your office.

Leave some in your car. Always have them on hand so you can introduce yourself to new people when the moment is right. They should be a necessary part of your routine before you leaving home every day. When checking for your wallet and keys, check for a stack of business cards too. Keep replenishing your supply.

2. Store your cards in a nice holder so they don't get bent.

Keeping your business cards in a stylish case makes for a better presentation when you give your cards out. Business card cases come in all shapes sizes and materials. Choose one that fits your personality!

Likewise, treat others' cards well when you accept them. For example, spend a few moments reading the card closely before you put it away. You won't impress the person by mishandling their business card. If your contact information should change, have new cards printed immediately. Writing in your new email address or phone number leaves a bad impression.

3. Place your business cards on bulletin boards at local restaurants, supermarkets, libraries, and your children's schools.

At your place of business, have a bulletin board where others can post their cards in return for passing out your cards to others. If you see a fishbowl offering a drawing for a prize, throw your business card in. Somebody important might see it and contact you.

4. Include business cards with all of your correspondence, including bills you pay.

You never know who might open the mail that day. If Realtors can sell houses this way, why can't you generate business the same way? If you ship products, for example, include a card with every package. Send business cards with all thank you notes and letters you send out. Include your contact information in your email signature as well. It serves as an electronic business card.

5. Use them as scrap paper when you need to jot down a note

Instead of a napkin, use the back of your business card to write in your cell phone number. "This is my direct line," you might say, making the prospect feel important and giving him or her a reason to keep your card.

6. Give people a reason to hold on to your card

Include something unique on the back of it–a calendar, a list of your services, important measurements, or anything relevant to your industry. You could also print a coupon on it, and ask them to return the card with their order, so again they have a reason to keep your card. For more ideas of what to include, please see "Power Words for Business Cards".

7. As a business owner or manager, have business cards printed for all staff members, right down to the lowest ranking person.

The novelty of the cards for those who usually don't have them will entice employees to hand them out. At the same time, you'll make them feel appreciated. Your employees are part of your network, so use their networks to generate business for your company.

8. Use your business cards to introduce yourself to prospects you meet at networking functions, in the park or at your children's soccer games.

However, don't be pushy. Make sure the time is appropriate. One way to do this is to ask for the other person's card. He or she will likely ask you for your card in return. Another idea is to hand out two or three cards at a time–one for the person you meet, and extras for him or her to hand out to referrals. (Offering to do the same would be the polite thing to do here.) When you go to the doctor or dentist, present your card to the receptionist to announce your presence.

Leaving your business cards to sit in a box or a drawer collecting dust defeats the purpose of having them. They are inexpensive enough to print by the thousands, so hand them out liberally. It's a cost-effective way to market yourself and your business. Be creative and you will soon have more business than you can handle!

Do your business cards work as hard as you do to gain new clients/customers? To network effectively, you need cards that will grab attention and spur curiousity. With breakthrough online technology, you can design your business cards online and choose from thousands of free business card backgrounds. Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, marketing, business strategy

I had an interesting discussion the other day with the love of my life, the apple of my eye, the woman that inspires me… (that is all true, and also just in case she is reading this. I’m sure you all understand!) We were talking about the idea that many salesman out there are simply out to make as much as they can, then look for the next hustle. She felt that salesmen, for the most part, lack some integrity and purpose. They don’t care what they’re selling or who they are selling to. They are only interested in the bottom line – ‘how much can I make?’ To an extent, that is the popular opinion. I’ve thought about this some more. I’ve thought about the different sales occupations I’m familiar with, and the different types of salesmen I know personally.

For the most part, it would seem that the majority of salesmen initially get in with any product or service that is an easy sell, or high on commissions. However, if you look past that, you see something interesting happen. The majority of salesmen don’t last too long. Maybe after a year or two they made a decent amount of money and now want to try something else. Maybe they got burnt out. Maybe it just wasn’t for them. As you look at those who have been in the industry longer and have had increasing success over the years, (these are the models we’re interested in, after all) you will find that these are people who have learned some common truths in the world of business. Truths that are vital for your business to not only survive, but to thrive.

Going after the elusive dollar will bring excitement in the beginning. But in the long term, it leads nowhere. It’s similar to the myth about the toaster never popping if you watch it. In a sense, you can’t get what you want – success and money, in this case – by focusing on it. Success and wealth are byproducts of a much larger, much more important task:

Stop trying to sell and start trying to SERVE. Identify what people really want and need, and aim to provide it for them. Your focus should be to HELP PEOPLE. This is the real nature of marketing. Do this and you won’t have to sell. Customers will beat a path to your door.

Please do not overlook that statement, or take it likely. If your business is not performing as well as you want, do NOT focus on how to generate more sales. Rather, you need to look at the whole picture. Are you marketing something people want and need? Is your approach one of trying to help the customer? Do they feel you’re trying to help them?

Under-promise and over-deliver. Your duty as a marketer, as a business person, is to serve others. It’s as simple as getting out of the mentality of ‘pushing products’ and asking yourself ‘what service, what benefit to I provide?’ Then applying that thinking throughout your business. It may cause you to re-evaluate your situation. It may not.

If you want to be someone who lasts in business…if you want to be an icon that people will look to for advice and inspiration down the line…if you want to leave a legacy, then you’re going to have to start by serving others.

To Your Success

About Author: Adel M Refai is an online marketer, a marketing coach, and a fundraising consultant whose passion is teaching others how to market their businesses for profit; teaching the importance of combining a system with the correct mindset for success. Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, sales, marketing

This book is one of the most useful business management books out there, because it tackles an important and urgent problem in business leadership today: the lack of it. The book is able to fully discuss the leadership pipeline model and makes it easy for the reader to adapt it for any company set-up. In addition, it is able to develop each of the six leadership passages, so that readers can easily understand the passages.

Another great thing about the book is that it provides a clear framework, tools, and language for professionals to implement it in their companies and even manage their own professional development. In addition, it shows charts and other images that help the reader understand the concepts better. Moreover, it presents signs and diagnostic steps that are valuable and practical when developing the leadership potential in your company.

However, the book sometimes expound too much on certain ideas that may cause the reader to become more confused. Also, it tends to repeat some ideas in certain chapters. Despite these drawbacks, the book does provide readers with a convincing method for building the company’s leadership pipeline, assessing and analyzing weakness, competence, and performance at each passage, and planning the leadership development. I highly recommend this book for all companies that are looking to implement an effective leadership program as part of strengthening their business management.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, management, leadership, The Leadership Pipeline, Ram Charan

People-Focused Knowledge Management: How Effective Decision-Making Leads to Corporate Success

By: Karl Wiig

The book tackles an important aspect of today’s business economy- how to handle the area of people knowledge. It is able to present a comprehensive approach to discussing people and enterprise dynamics of knowledge management. All the management theories, mental models, and premises explained in the book are supported by research that makes it a more believable and trustworthy source of information.

Although some of the ideas in the book are somewhat repetitive and the explanations are lengthy, the ideas are still clearly explained. The great thing about the book is that it presents charts and figures that enhance and in some cases, simplify the ideas presented by the author. In addition, there is a glossary of business terms for people who are unfamiliar with the jargons and appendices at the end of the book that further develops some of the ideas. All these make it easy for the reader to understand the ideas discussed in the book.

The book is truly impressive, because it is easy to see that if implemented properly, understanding how people work will allow enterprises to successfully become effective and gain competitive advantage. The book is highly recommended for people and enterprises who seek to utilize their people to stay on top of a constantly changing business world.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, management, People-Focused Knowledge Management, Karl Wiig

One of the most distressing things to anyone in marketing, publicity, promotion or advertising is the perception to think they are all the same, and that they are all sales. They each have different goals, techniques, products and outcomes. Although it may be desirable to be using all elements of marketing, publicity and promotion as essential tools in your business kit, there will be times that these disciplines and tools are sequential not overlapping.

Marketing is about product placement and positioning. Marketing activities are not always sales, as it is everything that leads to the sales, as well as at times, the actual sales. Marketing defines who you are and contributes to the perception and management of your brand.

Marketing activities and products can include networking, advertising, speaking, identifying leads, one-on one meetings, proposal generation and closing. Marketing will have a say in all the ways that your market perceives your brand, including how you look and what you say to your market.

Publicity is about press and other media including magazines, newspapers, trade and financial papers, television, radio, internet blogs, viral word or mouth recognition, newsletters and webzines. The goal is to generate non-fee based recognition. The outcome of publicity is attention, visibility, market share recognition and emotional connection with your brand.

Publicity is gained through the hiring and activities of a Publicist. Techniques include integrating core messages and corporate goals, and introducing them to the media through high interest stories for their readers. Products used in publicity include press releases, feature stories, and interacting with marketing in circulating attention getting direct mail such as postcards and newsletters.

Promotion is a huge umbrella that can include all of the above, as well as radio, street teams, mailers, posters, booth and trade show participation, parties, events, charitable activities, sponsorships, product endorsements and tie-ins, product production and branded merchandise or activities around brands and branded merchandise.

Advertising is a product. Advertising is most likely used in Marketing and Promotion, as it is fee based.

The Hudsucker Proxy, starring Tim Robbins and Paul Newman may help you envision the role of each. After the suicide of the founder, business college school grad and new mail clerk, Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) is made puppet president to make sure board members maintain company control when the stock goes public in thirty days. The promotion causes stock prices to dive, but things abruptly turn around when young Barnes invents a national sensation—the hula hoop. How Tim Robbins and Paul Newman turn a circle sketched on a pad into a frenzy driven nation-wide sensation will clearly demonstrate the roles of marketing, publicity, promotion and sales.

Key words: the roles of marketing, publicity, promotion and sales, publicity and promotion, advertising and product placement, product placement and positioning, branding your firm, marketing a firm, marketing activities and products, press releases and feature stories, promoting a firm, sales and marketing, market share recognition.

About Author: Leslie McKerns, owner of Florida based PR, marketing and strategic business development firm, McKerns Development, offers more free how to articles, top ten marketing tips, checklists and 5 packages for PR, press and media relations, marketing and strategic business development at http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, marketing, promotion

This book by Bob Griffiths and Chris Kaday is a useful book for anyone who is about to embark on a serious goal planning. The unique title Grow Your Own Carrot certainly helps, because it makes the whole process fun and easy to follow.

Each chapter provides clear explanations so it is easier for the reader to understand the concepts and ideas. The key questions and exercises in each chapter show a practical approach to each step and make the GROW process seem more attainable. In addition, each chapter tackles both internal and external obstacles that may affect a person’s goal planning journey.

 The authors were also able to take on a direct yet uncomplicated approach to presenting each concept and developing it in such a way that the reader is more motivated to believe and follow it. Although, the book may sometimes take on a too simplistic approach to the accomplishing a goal, it is  still something that can be appreciated by both students and professionals who are all looking for a guide that will help them achieve their goals.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, personal development, Grow Your Own Carrot, Bob Griffiths, Chris Kaday  

Coastal Vacations is a powerhouse business opportunity. However (as with most things) there is a right way and a wrong way to work the business. Taking the time to discover what works and what doesn't is the key for both short term and long term Coastal Vacations success.  

 

You must stand out and apart from everyone else working the business. Chances are high your prospects have already heard about Coastal Vacations and have spoken to other Coastal Vacations directors. You need to offer something in terms of real solid value to allow the prospect to be comfortable with you and to also know you know what you are doing.  

 

Realize today's prospects are smarter. They are looking for someone to work with that has a system in place and that is qualified to show them what actually works. If you come across as unsure of yourself and you can't offer a rational set of business building points, most prospects will never take you seriously.  

 

Do not get caught up in "he said" or "she said" games. Decide to work your Coastal Vacations business based on sound business principals. Offer true value to your prospects and they will want to become your clients.  

 

Learn how to properly exude confidence and posture yourself as someone who knows the Coastal Vacations business opportunity well and that can help your prospects make money in the program. Of course you really do have to know what you are doing for this to be effective.  

Educate yourself about the sales process. Your local book store is jam-packed with many great books on the subject. Set aside time each week to absorb as much knowledge as possible. Take a pad and pen in to the store and sit down with several books and write down things that make sense to you. And then apply them in your Coastal Vacations business.  

Stop trying to "wing it" or talk prospects into buying a Coastal Vacations package. We aren't selling used cars here! That's not what the Coastal opportunity is about. The value is certainly there in the product. The compensation plan speaks for itself. Prospects can easily recognize both. They are looking for something from you that lets them know you know what you are doing and that you can help them make money.  

Understand that every prospect essentially has the same thing in common. They all want to make money doing something they enjoy and can actually see themselves having success with. It's a lot like playing a chess game. Once you realize, embrace, and understand the psychology of what is happening and what you need to do to be effective, then it's simply a matter of applying yourself to get the desired result.