Advertising Books

If you are an enterpreneur and you want to know how to price your product, don't look any further this is the book you are looking for. The chapter about costs has an MBA level and it will give you a lot of good ideas of how to improve your busines operation.

I updated from the 2nd edition I bought years ago. I'm glad to see the focus on value-based pricing. I was a little disappointed that it gets a bit repetitive on calculating price changes and it would be useful to see more examples on calculating the initial price when you really don't have much data to go on.

This book is one of the best in pricing. It is used as a textbook in business schools and highly recommended by consultants.
Unfortunately, it took 10 days to arrive using standard shipping.

I have spent over 30 years in computer software sales, pricing, and terms and conditions. This book resonates with me, specifically with it's emphasis on sustained company profitability rather than get rich quick pricing. It's comprehensive, not specialized to any specific product set or industry, and nothing I read failed to make sense to me, based on my experience.

If you are interested in this topic, there is no better work I know of to give you both practical and good theoretical advice.

This is the reference book of many of the best MBA courses in US, and when I started the reading, I realised why. It's written in a very easy way, and covers all the topics on pricing: strategy of pricing, segmentation, unbundling products and finally emotional pricing.

I have never readen any princing book before. At first, I thougt it would be hard to read, difficult to understand and almost all full of mathematics. This book is not so. In fact, the authors try to explain all the topics by words, not by numbers.

Actually, princing managers tipically try to find diverse formulae to apply to price their items. Nevertheless, this book teaches you that it is one of the ways, but pricing a product is much more than using a formulae...it is strategy and psicology as well!!!

Sam Rocks!

I saw Sam speak at Mark Victor Hansen's Mega Speaking Event and I can tell you, she knows how to captivate an audience. Sam has a genuine style that comes across as sincere, professional, and experienced.

If you've never seen her speak, you're missing out. Sam delivers on content, humor, and info that each of us wants. She helps people re-evaluate their thinking in order to connect in a personal way with your audience by re-creating statements for personal branding.

Sam will teach you how to be creative in away that's practical. Pop is not about hype, it's about bringing your message to your people in a way that is unique and powerful at the same time.

I found that POP is for anyone who wants an edge over the competition because it's not about cheesy tactics to woo people, it's more about reaching people with the essence of who you are and transforming it in a punchy way in order to attract people to what you are selling/marketing.

I recommend it because it's valuable for people wanting to cut to the chase and grab the gems.

Need something different, something special to kick your business into overdrive? You'll find it in POP. When Sam Horn says you can stand out in any crowd, believe her! Rather than just talking about it, Sam Horn shows you how to make your own business "pop."

Like a cookbook, POP is filled with recipes to inspire your imagination with fresh ideas and fun exercises. Start anywhere. Keep going until you arrive at your own unique inspiration.

Way out of the ordinary . . . step out of the mundane and become extraordinary! Innovate with Sam Horn! This book can help you get there.

Five Stars and then some!

This is an amazing book! Sam shares with her readers new ways to grab our audience's interest and attention. She really does know how to help people get noticed in a crowd. This book has shown me how to positively inspire others to read my book, LifeChimes: A Collection of Simple TruthsLifeChimes: A Collection of Simple Truths, when they are looking for simple ways to stop zapping their energy. Because of Sam Horn's book, my work as an author and a motivational speaker has been made so much easier. Thanks Sam!

I'm an advertising copywriter. The one thing I have to do every day is to come up with fresh ideas for myself and my clients. I have to keep learning and growing. And I want my messages to stand out from the crowd. I'm pretty good at that. But, after reading this book, I'm better!

If you love words, you'll love this book. You'll learn how to create slogans and elevator pitches and messages of all kinds. You'll learn how to make them powerful and how to make people remember you, your brand, or business or whatever you want them to remember.

You may already be a good writer. But you'll be a better writer, a writer who sells, if you follow the advice in this book.

Above all, your message will make you stand out from the crowd.

The thing is, not much does stand out from the crowd. Most slogans are the same. Most messages are the same or similar. So, if you're different, you'll be more successful.

This is an excellent book. Get a copy now --- unless you're one of my competitors.

An awesome book for jazzing up your writing and speaking. Sam Horn crams so many ideas for creating buzz and imprinting your message and brand in the minds of listeners and readers that I found myself making checklists as I ran through the draft of my last book trying to find places I could use her principles and ideas. It's not all about marketing either. She has great ideas on the use of stories and quotes in your writing, how to create memorable content using lists and alliteration, and plenty of other techniques to make your writing come alive.

It's easy and fun to read as Sam is very clearly one of her own best students. Her writing is tight and wonderfully informative with no filler. The ideas are things nearly anyone that has to communicate (verbally or in writing) can use right away.

I felt a little bit self conscious rating this 5 stars: every other reviewer thus far has given it 5 stars as well. But 5 stars it is! I'd say that's a pretty clear message about the strength of the material.

It's the best marketing lesson you can buy for $15.

Excellent book. Have read two other sales books and this is my favorite. Gives information beyond the basics and doesnt rely on just saying motivational statments, gives real world advice. If you read and implement the ideas you are guarenteed to be more productive. 1st choice.

This is one of the best Sales books I have read! Simply outstanding - the go-to guide for complex sales. We use it routinely at our company to close business.

Solution Selling is the first book that exposed me to the world of complex, intangible and solution (vs. product) selling.

I had wanted to title this review as "The Idiot's Guide to Selling Solutions" BUT found that even though the instructions in the book literally takes a novice in sales through the process of selling complex solutions in a very straightforward manner, there STILL needs to be some thinking required by the sales person to profit from the knowledge within.

Solution Selling is the comprehensive guide for novice to learn the ropes, and a good reference book for seasoned sales pros as well. It is also a useful tool for sales managers to manage the pipelines of their teams too!

Great approach to selling, but must focuses on long sale cycle and does not pertain to all selling

Over the decades I've had the chance to work with the author at an early high tech company where he led the internal sales training classes. Later he become a consultant training some of today's largest high tech sales organizations in the world. Mike's always had tough, high standards. His ability to create a repeatable process to selling intangible products to complex organizations has led many of his pupils to excel. Many of them are now SVPs of Sales or CEOs and would be names you recognize.

But, as another reviewer says, you have to use the methodology. Reading the book is just the start.

I can't take it anymore, I'm only on pg 73, this guy is driving me up the wall.

he keeps confusing product design (egg) and branding (chicken) as the samething and their not. what comes first, type of problem, the chicken or the egg.. (I can hear Adamson saying it the samething dummy)

This book, is his resume, he has to be looking for work

on pg 71 he makes a reference to VCR, u can't even buy one, much less use one....so why bring that up....i'm guessing, he pushed his old note.

if your still confused after reading the book, hire his agency so they can pick your pocket clean...brand-broke

the reason I didn't give it one star, u might think i'm some nut
I bet $20 he used his friends to pump the 4.5 rating

update:
finished the book and tossed it in the garbage can

BrandSimple is a refreshingly easy read that boils the essence of brands and branding down to, well, their simplest but most important basics. Anyone involved in business management of any kind should read this book.

Adamson reminds us throughout the book that a brand is a very different thing than branding and that marketers cannot be great at branding without first creating a great brand.

The best brands are different. They promise something different and unique and deliver on that promise every time. They also find a way to simplify their brand message so that just about everyone instantly "gets it" and that the "it" resonates and seems obvious after the fact. Getting to that simplicity can require a lot of hard work and thinking, but making it seem so simple, obvious and intuitive is the key.

As Managing Director of Landor Associates, Allen Adamson peppers the book with real-world examples from his work at Landor and from his previous positions. His case studies show how the best brands work tirelessly to emerge with a simple promise and a simple message that is easily communicated in just a few words.

The real examples are brief yet clearly show the challenges and ultimate solutions from brands like Compaq, Visa, Apple, Aquafina, Baby Einstein, BlackBerry, JetBlue, Timberland, Pixar and many more. He uses these brands to show that often a simple insight that makes your product different is the real power in building a great brand -- as long as that difference is important and relevant to your potential customers.

The book is written at an easy reading level so that any business manager will be able to readily breeze through it without tons of technical branding terminology and grasp the important concepts. This in turn will inspire them to reevaluate and transform their own brands. The book is straight-forward, simple and highly insightful and useful.


On my "Professional Marketer Investment Scale";
($-Poor investment, $$$$$-Great investment)

Rating: $$$$$

- If you're starting an ad agency, marketing business, or developing your own brand you NEED to read this. I know while reading personally, I had to stop and breathe every 2 pages and take notes because it was packed with so many thought provoking truths.

- Every page has something important or special. Usually books like these are written with a lot of Filler in between chapters just to make the book longer. However BrandSimple avoids this, and stays clear, simple, and informative throughout the end.

- I'm keeping this one, If I ever hire employees for my Ad Agency this book will be a mandatory read.

- Also, Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples is a Must read as well.

This book provides insight about how to make your brand stick. With all the marketing noise that we as business people have to penetrate through, it is necessary to differentiate your product. This book details the process of creating a relevant brand in our global market. I recommend this book to anyone who has a business at any level from a home based business to a start up. It is written in a simple style and is highly informative with stories and interviews to highlight the key points. Learn how to establish your brand idea and align your signals for a profitable return.

I've just finished reading BrandSimple and wanted to thank Allen for writing this book.

We are at a stage in the life of our company in which we are using branding & positioning to go head-to-head with companies that are much bigger than us and BrandSimple has saved us from making many mistakes that would have cost us dearly in both the short & long term.

Beware though, that this book has been written in a compelling manner which is true to its mantra (i.e. keeping things simple) and will make the reading of other most other marketing books much more difficult.

I have found that most books about marketing are about someone's one success in the past and just discuss the barriers they had to break to make their winning strategy work...they tend to be egocentric. I have wanted a book that really lines out the steps to take to create people loyal to a brand. I am not looking for a magic step-by-step I know everything takes time, but this book is doing a great job explaining practical things to do to create a loyal following. I got turned on to this book by their blog which is amazing...check it out at http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/

Ben and Jackie have written a great book about how to harness the power of your happy and loyal customers to build relationships with new customers. Their authentic ideas allow brands to build trust with customers.

Dr. Karen Mishra
Author, "Trust is Everything: Become the leader others will follow"

I have the original hard cover book and absolutely love it, it is my bible. So I bought this new one to share it. Looks updated but still has all the good stuff in it. This book has amazing ideas and examples that really work when you put them to use.

This book provides all the research needed to help you easily find customer evangelists! It's a great book, I highly recommend it.

This book is a perfect companion for wannabe-evangelists, or simply to understand the mechanisms behind some kind of "marketing" efforts (such as Dallas Mavericks' or O'Reilly Media's) that can be unclear at first.
I suggest it, a great purchase!

In this uniquely informative volume, Barletta answers three separate but related questions: What makes women a worthwhile market? Why market differently to women? and How do we get beyond gender generalities to actionable tactics? In her Introduction, she lists "Eight Myths of Marketing to Women" which, during the course of her book's narrative, she convincingly repudiates. For example, #5: With women, marketing is all about relationships. "While it's true that women put more emphasis on relationships -- personal and corporate -- than men do, their purchase decisions and response to communications are affected by far more than `relationships.' From word meaning to word-of-mouth referrals, product priorities to Internet usage patterns, women differ from men in many, many marketing dimensions. And, to overlook their complexities would be to undermine the effectiveness of your company's programs." According to Barletta, there are four components of the women's market: earning power ("What's in her wallet?"), high-net worth women ("the ultimate asset-holders"), consumer spending power (the "household chief purchasing officer"), and women in business ("controlling the company checkbook").

A majority of consumers in the U.S. are women. Research indicates that online spending will increase 26% this year to $96 billion. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy and women influence 95% and make 85% of all consumer buying decisions; moreover, the majority of corporate purchasing agents and managers are women. Female entrepreneurs account for 70% of new business start-ups. If you are still unconvinced of the upside potential of marketing to women, consider these facts:

* Between 1970 and 1990, the number of women living alone doubled from 7.3 million to 15.3 million and this pattern has continued.

* At least 55% of those online each day are women.

* By the year 2010, women will control 60% of wealth in the U.S.

* College students were responsible for $210 billion in sales in 2002 and 58% of them were female.

* Women purchase more than 50% of the cars and own more than 46% of the homes in the U.S.

* More than half of all business travelers are women.

In Part II of her book, Barletta introduces and then explains what she calls the GenderTrends™Marketing Model, a systematic and simple tool to help her readers understand, reach, and increase their share of the world's largest market -- women. The model is designed to achieve three objectives:

1. "Structure the complexities of the gender differences into an organized view of female [in italics] gender culture."

2. "Show you how gender culture interacts with each of the 12 [in italics] marketing elements [end italics] in the marketing mix."

3. "Apply the resulting insights to the four stages of the consumer's [in italics] purchase path." FYI, the four are activation through market entry, nomination of purchase options to consider, investigation and decision with regard to nominees, and finally, succession (i.e. repeat business and, hopefully, evangelistic loyalty).

Few books fully deliver on the promises stated or implied in their subtitle. Barletta's book is the commendable exception. She offers a wealth of information and an abundance of wisdom which will help decision-makers in literally any organization (regardless of size or nature) to understand, reach, and increase their share of "the world's largest market segment." This book provides just about everything you need to do precisely that. What are you waiting for?

This book could change the way you think about marketing.For some reason when i think marketing i think men, not any more. This book has some valuable insights into who spends the cash and what on, and most importantly how to get your hands on some of that money.

The book was somewhat useful, but her unprofessional pinching, whenever she could fit it in, littering her otherwise helpful work with jabs against males, left me nauseated after every reading.

Following are just a few examples:

page 23 "You realize what this means--rather than women being "Adam's rib," men are actually the derivative model!"

page 26 "Men have no such luck (or no such constraint, depending on how you look at it)..."

page 63 "Married women have a chronic condition (if you'll excuse the analogy)"

page 122 "[Women] don't buy into the competitive "game" that prevails when men are expressing divergent opinions, and because women are less likely to interrupt, hold the floor, or insist on their opinions, they simply won't volunteer as much information."

page 135 "Although I'm sure it's not true in every category, I think it's safe to say that in most categories, women are more pragmatic than men. With less interest in the one-upsmanship of novelty, less interest in the inner workings of tech-mech products, and more time pressures than men, women just want products to work easily and reliably."

page 185 "After the meeting, she said to him, 'I was interested to note that you're meeting and greeting--just not with any of the women.' His response? 'Oh, were there women there?' She laughed and said, 'Sure there were. There were 15 or 20 of them.' Apparently, something in his internal software was registering the women in the room as 'background noise.'"

page 199 "Women are marksmen, not cowboys." (women are markspeople, if anything; not marksmen; but how is that a comparison anyway? marksmen and cowboys, marksmen and cowboys.)

page 193 "A guy will talk about how good he is as a way of proving he can do a great job: 'Half of my clients are worth over a million dollars,' he'll say. Or, 'I doubled his return in six months.' They talk about achievements, drop names, and let you know where they stand in the company hierarchy. I call these 'credibility displays,' because they remind me a little of a peacock who's very proud of his tail feathers. Don't get me wrong--this is the right thing to do in male gender culture." (please tell me I'm the only man who finds this patronizing)

Do read the book though, if you can stomach all the carp. It will prove enlightening every few dozen pages.

As a consumer group, women represent an enormous opportunity, but chances are your company is missing out on them. Author Martha Barletta says most marketers fail to capitalize on this lucrative market. They don't realize its potential or understand fundamental gender differences. As a result, their marketing fails to communicate with women, let alone persuade them. Barletta, a consultant specializing in marketing to women consumers, offers a book heavy on theory and long on detail. Except for a few examples of how ads are executed, the book lacks case studies that would bring these theories to life. Still, Barletta provides good advice on practical applications of these ideas about gender culture. She sheds light on the myths and realities of marketing to women, and provides essays by female experts in the field. What a pity that it all reads like a textbook. Given that, we target this rather educational tome as more appropriate for people who study marketing than for people who do marketing, although thoughtful marketers might still want to take a look

First off, I'm a guy. I found this book had a lot of information that I never knew before. I asked a few women I knew and was suprised that their responses were identical to the information in the book. For example what they liked to see in advertisements and what they said their aspirations were, were identical to what was said in the book. Some of it made no sense to me but it made perfect sense to the women I asked.

I have to say I'm disappointed with the minor male bashing in the book. Some of her male point of views are a bit extreme, for example: "Men, on the other hand, are more likely to hold the view that people are important, but no more important or interesting than current events or new ideas in computer animation, or something more material like cars or cameras." I value my relationships and found this a bit extreme. Do all women think this?

I took off one star for her point of view on men, but other than that this is a good book. If you are marketing to women, this book will give you insight on the subject.

Competition is fierce and having the best marketing department or newest product is not good enough. All successful Sales professionals possess skills that set them apart from their competitors and effective writing should be at the top of their skill set. In her new book, Power Sales Writing, Sue provides the tools that will inspire the reader to develop or enhance their writing effectiveness and ultimately set them apart from the competition. Power Sales Writing has a prominent position on my bookshelf - a must read!

Share this book with everyone in your organization that has any sales contact and increase their their effectiveness. Sue cuts to the heart of good writting skills. Her book is easy to read and offers countless tips on letter writting, e-mails and better communication.

Sue is a nationally recognized speaker who captivates her audience with pithy observations, high energy and charm. She has successfully translated that into a terrific guide that will be helpful to new salespeople as well as pros. My favorite part is how she points out the pompous phrases that are often used instead of everyday common sense language.

I must say I am little disappointed. I would not tell someone not to buy this book but I would not tell someone to buy it. The book does deliver what it says on the cover. I am not so sure how powerful it is. It is about writing style and how to make it better, easier and faster. I am still trying to decide if I learned anything from this book that is of great value. I am sure I will reference this book in the future and for $10.00; hay what the hell. I have bought computer books for ten times that amount that I hated. If you have difficulty writing and getting your ideas on to paper maybe this book is for you. It is short and it is very readable. I would classify this as an average book. And sorry Sue since my name is not on this I just pounded it out on the keyboard and let the letters fall where they may.

With all of the advances the age of technology has brought us, there have also been a few setbacks. One of those setbacks comes in the form of a lack of professionalism in writing. The email era has all but eliminated professionalism in business communications. POWER SALES WRITING by Sue Hershkowitz-Coore seeks to restore some of that lost professionalism. What we have here, however, is not just about improving the level of professionalism in email, but is applicable to all realms of business writing.

The author begins by introducing four questions that are basic components of all business writing. The professional writer should always begin their prewriting with these four basic questions. Doing so will insure the writer always achieves the desired result. There is an incredible amount of information on such a wide variety of writing tips, such as proofing, when and how to use buffers, and legal culpability in business communications.

The book seems to be aimed at a general audience (anyone who conducts business communication) as well as a specific audience, (copywriters). The content here is beneficial for both audiences and, I believe, meets reader expectations of either group. The last half of the book does slant more towards the professional copywriter, but can still be applied to general business communications.

In the last half of the book we find direction on sales letters. Here, the focus is on such things as sales letter characteristics, the power of testimony and using stimuli words (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) to appeal to various learning styles.

The final section really helps the reader to challenge him or herself from writing habits found less than admirable. This is somewhat of a melding together and condensed version of Richard Bayan's "Words That Sell" and Strunk's "Elements of Style". Of particular note, I found on the final page of text, a technique I have used for years. That is making a list of the ten most important things learned from the book, picking a couple to focus on for a month, then moving to the next two. The problem here is, for me, it was difficult holding my list down to ten items.

This is a critical edition for professional copywriters. It is beneficial for all professionals who must use written communication. I found the book exceptionally well written. Hershkowitz-Coore's obvious skill as a writer makes the book very easy to comprehend.

Advanced Selling Strategies: The Proven System of Sales Ideas, Methods, and Techniques Used by Top Salespeople is far and away the one book I would recommend to anyone involved in sales or interested in learning more about the sales profession. I always recommend this book to everyone who asks me how they can become better at sales and anyone who wants to make more money and to take control of their lives.

This hard cover book is available for what? $0.35 used here on Amazon. If you can't invest $0.35 in your life and career you are hopeless. Buy this book, study it and put it into practice. You career and your finances will take off.

What else can I say, I lOVE this book. Dog-eared and underlined it holds a prominent place in my professional library.

This is one of the most in-depth and well written books on the entire sales process I have ever read. Brian Tracy knows what he is talking about.

The chapters cover all aspects of sales,

1). The Psychology Of Selling
2). The Development Of Personal Power
3). Personal Strategic Planning For the Sales Professional
4). The Heart Of The Sale
5). The Profession Of Selling
6). Motivating People To Buy
7). Influencing The Buying Decision
8). Prospecting: Filling Your Sales Pipeline
9). How To Make Powerful Presentations
10). Closing The Sale: The Endgame Of Selling

If you read and understand this book and then use what Brian is teaching you, you will have a much better chance at being successful in the sales world.

two other sales book I highly recommend you also read are Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale and How to Master the Art of Selling

I recommend this book to any person who is interested on reaching difficult customers and closing important deals. Brian Tracy brings with simplicity and profound knowledge a path which facilitates the prospecting stage and brings more confidence to the closing stage.

If you are going to buy one book on sales, this ought to be it. Tracy manages to pack in an amazing amount of material with first rate practical suggestions and excellent, clear writing. Unlike many sales and marketing books, there is almost no self-serving fluff in here, and he covers all the bases.

For my personal preferences, there are two acknowledged masters of sales. The first is Zig Ziglar, the second is Brian Tracy. While I find great value in the works of Jeffrey Gitomer, Frank Rumbauskas, Tim Connor and others, all roads eventually lead back to Zig and Brian (as well as Napoleon Hill...see below).

Tracy's "The Psychology of Selling" is one of the few books I honestly classify as "essential," and I do so without reservation. Like Ziglar, Tracy wants salespeople to see the craft of selling as a series of relationships, not drive-bys. You have to learn how to sell. The biggest challenge is "un-learning" the garbage you've been fed by snake oil peddlers.

The title "Advanced Selling Strategies" is important, because "strategy" is what's often lacking. You have to do your homework. You have to build a relationship. You have to create a sense of buying urgency. You have to know when it is time to close the sale, and when that time comes, you have to know how to do it.

And you have to do this uniquely for EVERY client you sign up. Forget the "Sales Scripts That Close EVERY Sale" books. They're garbage. If you're dealing with a prospect who's not bright enough to spot a script a mile away, that prospect should not become one of your clients.

That said, here are the chapters in "Advanced Selling Strategies."

1). The Psychology Of Selling
2). The Development Of Personal Power
3). Personal Strategic Planning For the Sales Professional
4). The Heart Of The Sale
5). The Profession Of Selling
6). Motivating People To Buy
7). Influencing The Buying Decision
8). Prospecting: Filling Your Sales Pipeline
9). How To Make Powerful Presentations
10). Closing The Sale: The Endgame Of Selling

Those are the "bones" of the book, and trust me...there's plenty of meat on each of them.

If you're serious about sales...serious about being the best, serious about challenging yourself and being an achiever instead of someone who makes excuses for limited achievement...I recommend the following:

1). "The Psychology of Selling" by Brian Tract
2). "Advanced Selling Strategies" by Brian Tracy
3). "Secrets of Closing The Sale" (2003 Updated Edition) by Zig Ziglar
4). "Over The Top: Moving From Survival To Stability, From Stability To Success, From Success To Significance" by Zig Ziglar
5). "The Law Of Success In Sixteen Lessons Complete" by Napoleon Hill

Happy selling!

Fantastic Read, in particular for a novice like myself little or no previous marketing experience. I've my own business for a year now and this book not only showed me where i was going wrong, but it helped me to take stock of where I was and how to effectively market the business.

"When I talk to groups of small business owners at workshops," writes John Jantsch, "I will often make the statement that when you properly target your clients, you will discover that you no longer have to work with jerks." It's all about identifying, defining and focusing on your ideal client. Peter Drucker preached the big picture: focus on your primary customer. Now Jantsch helps you zero in with detailed intentionality.

Buy this book and bring it to your next staff meeting and explain why "marketing is an all-encompassing outlook that must inform every activity of your business."

If you agree that 50 percent of advertising and marketing doesn't work (but no one knows which 50 percent), this book will not only help you--it will change the way you've been thinking about your mission and your customers. Jantsch is no huckster--he's all about marketing integrity. "Copycat Marketing is chock full of problems, but primarily it is a problem because it is dishonest," he warns.

Simply put, this book will help you create marketing that sticks. The goal: "Marketing is getting people who have a specific need or problem to know, like and trust you."

On the journey to find and serve your niche, the author suggests "you'll turn your sales calls into more of an audition." Ideas abound: 1) Offer an astonishing guarantee; 2) Perfect your "Talking Logo," a bit like your elevator speech, only better; 3) Create a Client Profile Tracker (simple idea--but you're probably not doing it); and 4) Call 10 clients and ask them six time-tested questions, including, "What could we do that would thrill you." Written for businesses; it also delivers great value to nonprofit organizations and even churches. It's the perfect next step after reading the Customer Bucket, one of 20 chapters in my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit.

With a foreword by Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited, and afterword by Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start, this is a must-buy for your team's resource library. For me, the tipping point was the enthusiastic recommendation from another CEO. Jantsch sold my CEO friend and he sold me. That's Duct Tape Marketing.

Don't you hate marketing books that have so much strategy you're not sure where to start? What I love about Duct Tape Marketing is that I came away with a laundry list of tactics that I could employ immediately and see fast results.

I first saw John speak in Cleveland and then had a chance to read his book. It's a quick read. Make sure you have a notepad next to you to take notes for all the things that you'll need to do as a result of reading this book.

This is especially an important book for anyone trying to figure out website and social media strategy. Excellent advice that works. Highly recommend this book.

Novice business owners, like me, will love this book. It lays out the foundation for marketing your business with no expectation of prior marketing experience. Great job, John.

My one gripe, and the reason I gave it 4 of 5, is that the author assumes that you, the business owner, have an established clientele. Start-up owners, like me, who want to kick off the marketing effort to establish a clientele, will have to "act as if" we do and fill in the blank spots with educated guesses.

John, if there's a sequel, please point out where start-ups differ from established small businesses and if we need to do something different to reach the same goal in that particular phase of marketing.

All in all, though, a great read.

This is really an amazing little book - such an easy read (John Jantsch style), yet PACKED with incredibly practical and simple marketing information for small business. I love hearing John's definition for Marketing! How Simple!! That makes marketing less about the product you are selling but more about the personal trust factor involved in the transactions. That permits ANY small business (including a start-up like mine) to compete in the marketplace - without having to compete on price! John's ideas are so effective and I have been putting them into practice since I first read the book 9 months ago (I've read it 3 times since). It's a good primer for the full Duct Tape Marketing coaching program, too! (Believe me, the book is just a teaser of what you get when you sign up for the full coaching program + awesome CDs!!) A great resource for any small business owner!!

Whether you create global advertisements, businesses, or Web sites, you should read this book.

Author Simon Anholt writes about the challenges of creating successful global advertising campaigns. Most companies fail miserably in this department, and he outlines the reasons why. He also provides a model for "smart centralization," which he believes international advertising agencies should follow. This model also makes a great deal of sense for the development and management of global Web sites, which is one reason I enjoyed this book. I also liked how Anholt explained the inherent tension of trying to be both global and local at the same time. Here's an excerpt:

The fundamental challenges of international marketing communications are about preserving the perfect balance between sensitivity to the culture of the brand and sensitivity to the culture of the consumers around the world. If you abandon or relax your grip on the first sensitivity, you end up with fragmentation, loss of identity, and loss of control. Abandon or relax your grip on the second, and you fail to communicate effectively, and fail to build a global brand.

I also liked what he had to say about the importance of translation:

So when the question comes up, why can't we just use English? I always ask this question: do you think that consumers should make the effort to understand us, or should we be making the effort to be understood by them? Are we more interested in being respected, or showing respect?

...indispensable for anyone lured by the mcluhanian concept of the global village. a MUST for those of us who wish to use our powers to do a lot of good. only bummer is the jacket: good idea awfully executed.

This book is common sense in an industry of uncommon confusion. Among many other useful insights the book sheds light on the legacy of international agencies whose neglect of domestic cultures and conventions have led to many campaign failures. This is a must read for any marketing head who has to manage agencies especially if your company is in multiple countries! Read this book before you go ahead with your next campaign.

This book is common sense in an industry of uncommon confusion. Among many other useful insights the book sheds light on the legacy of international agencies whose neglect of domestic cultures and conventions have led to many campaign failures. This is a must read for any marketing head who has to manage agencies especially if your company is in multiple countries! Read this book before you go ahead with your next campaign.

Author Simon Anholt, an international advertising consultant, says that the dangers of globalization can be just as formidable as the opportunities - if you fail to research the culture of your new markets. We've all heard the marketing legends of companies that embarrassed themselves by launching products into foreign markets without checking the translation of their brand names. Anholt retells several of these tales to illustrate the perils that await global firms that don't take culture into account. Meshing advertising and marketing strategy, he presents a systemic approach to cross-border product expansion. We [...] recommend this book not only for its insightful, culturally adaptive marketing methodology, but also for the genuinely entertaining examples that might just make you laugh out loud.