Profit The Books

I found the book to be well thought out. It definitely gives you a lot to consider up front went building a Team and could save you considerable time and headaches later.

Can I tell you how many SELF HELP, BUSINESS SPECIFIC, HOW-TO types of books on my shelves need dusting? and then arrived Dirk Zellers newest ACE; The Champion Real Estate Team. WOW! Emphatically I encourage other highly motivated,"out of the box thinkers", entrepreunerial spirits and WINNERS to grab this book and devour it, cover to cover! Well written,articulate and direct; I am so glad that my GUT instinct on this one was right. Dirk's 20 plus years of heavily trodden roads to Real Estate Success is not just depicted in stories; rather here is a real,meaty, hands on STEP by STEP instructions for team building success. I have personally spent the bulk of this year building my team, this is the "icing on the cake" that I needed; I am eager to begin implementing much of what he has taught. I have been "planting seeds" for two years now with modest seedlings; I expect 2008 will begin a strong harvest and I am so excited. THANKS Dirk!

Thanks so much for this book! It has really helped me get my team back up and running after taking a break in management. I learned from the first page to change some of the things I had been doing and have used it as a workbook in setting up systems and my business plan for the new year as I re-grow my team.

Dirk Zeller is one of the few who really understands the business of real estate and what it takes to be a top agent. This book follows on from his greatest work "The Champion Real Estate Agent" and outlines a blue print for and how to build a team - not just any team. A Champion team. His writing style is clear, incisive and he pulls no punches and tells it - like it is. Lots of great advice from someone who has been in the trenches and knows what it takes and needed to be great at this business. A great read and I look forward to implementing what he has written. Zeller has provided the blue print - the point is to now go and make it happen everyday.

I was so impressed with this book I ordered one for my Broker. It is clearly written, factual and has a real plan that I believe can help you develop a Great real estate team. This is for Brokers and agents - oh by the way there is also a book titled the Champion Real Estate Agent. It is equally helpful and should be on every real estate person's reading list.The Champion Real Estate Agent

I very much enjoyed Dr. Bakan's book. It was truly thought-provoking, and jelled a number of thoughts and ideas I had had in the past about the how and why of corporations. I have started up a company of my own in the past, and plan to do so again in the future. After having read Dr. Bakan's book as well as "Big Vision, Small Business" by Jaimie Walters, I have definitely changed my mind about HOW to set it up and run it!. I think this should be read by anybody and everybody in corporate and government roles today...As Dr. Bakan says, it isn't the cure-all, but it may nudge a few people to work towards the appropriate solution!

I think this should be required reading for all citizens.

Exposes (without ideological idealism) the facts about corporations. Most people have vague misgivings about corporations, but don't have much of an idea of why. This book helps to clarify and explain what we instinctively feel.

I got a kick out of the psychological assessment of the corporation, a legal person without moral conscience, as a psychopath.

corporations rule the world. if you don't agree you are living in a dream world. extremely importaint topic. A must read.

I highly recomend this book for anyone that is even remotely interested in globilization and the corporate world. It shows just how much of our daily lives are influenced and even controlled by corporations. It makes you realize that no matter what they say, a corporation really does only look out for itself, and any advertisements that claim that corporations help communities and people and save the environment out of their own good will have absolutely no truth to them. It also makes you realize how far a corporation will go to save a few dollars, knowingly putting lives at risk in the process.
The book is also very well written, with plenty of explinations, so you don't need a background in economics to understand it.
In short, I totally recomend this book to anyone that wants to know the truth about the corporation. It will make you sick to realize what lengths they will go to in order to exploit everyone and everything.

For me, this wasn't one of those 'couldn't put it down' books. Just the opposite in fact. A quarter or a half a chapter was about all I could take at one time. And I dreaded going back to it, which I did, and will continue to do for years to come. Maybe I'm just a soft-hearted wimp, a daydreaming fool who believes in the innate decency of mankind. Maybe that's why at times this book brought tears of shame, and pity, and rage, to my eyes. But please read this book. Do whatever it takes: beg, borrow, or buy, but please read this book.....!

I found this book VERY helpful. In fact, I was so fascinated with it, I couldn't put it down. It was like a good novel. I immediately changed some of my thank you letters and re-did my Corporate request for funding letter. I will continue to use it's suggestions. The book is well written and not full of 'filler info', but very solid recommendations that one can put to use right away.

This is an excellent textbook and reference book on fundraising for non-profits. I recently joined the board of a non-profit and knew nothing about fundraising, but this book got me up to speed very quickly. The author treats you like a reasonably intelligent person, in contrast to some other primers that are too cutesy, and she writes in plain English and avoids jargon. It's packed with information, web sites, references, real-world examples, and recommendations. And it's up-to-date. If you're working for or with a non-profit, you need this book.

This guide to fundraising for non profits covers the newest strategy and grand writing plans that are needed in the future.

Just as money is the life-blood of governments and private enterprise corporations, so it is essential to carrying out the mandates of non-profit organizations as well. Now in a fully updated and significantly expanded second edition, Effective Fundraising For Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work" by Ilona Bray draws upon her years of experience and expertise serving a variety of nonprofit agencies in every managerial capacity from development director and staff attorney to department manager and advisory council member to create a 496-page compendium of superbly organized and presented information, jargon-free advice, case examples, and illustrative comments from more than forty experienced and successful fund raisers who work in the non-profit sector. An ideal guide, readers will learn how to work with individual donors, plan special fund raising events, successfully compete in the solicitation of grants from foundations and corporations, obtain and exploit media coverage, utilize the Internet as a fundraising tool, start side businesses to create additional revenue streams, develop effective print materials (brochures, newsletters, annual reports), and a great deal more. Of special note are the eleven appendices offering fundraising worksheets for everything from sample cost analysis to press release templates. "Effective Fundraising For Nonprofits" should be a core reference work and a part of every community library and non-profit agency collection, and is an especially recommended study for non-specialist general readers having a responsibility to raise funds for their particular non-profit group.

Highly recommend reading this book. It has great real-life examples and useful tips. Very easy to read and follow. I love how it allows you to be creative and realistic at the same time.

This truly is one of the very few books that covers almost anything a start-up business person would need. My one complaint is that there is not really a "one-of-a-kind" chapter focusing on working with individual clients, but if you're looking for an outline on EVERYTHING to cover before diving headfirst into the fashion business, look no further. Two thumbs up.

Francis Harder covers so much information, its hard to pick out what was the most informative. A definite must read if you have started your business already or are getting ready to.

If you are looking for tons of information involved in the world of fashion business, this is a great book. It's kind of long, but for the most part it gets to the point of things and it offers great suggestions and a way of doing things. I found the charts and diagrams and spreadsheets in the book to be most helpful. The help you get a leg up on things so that you don't have to create your own. It's worth the read if your thinking about starting your own fashion business!

I got this book today and I am delighted. the book tells you exactly how to set up your own line and how to sell it in details. this book is just exactly what I need. I also have some other books for starting fashion business but I'd say this book is the best and it is more focussed on the business side of fashion.

This book is a life saver! If you have ANY questions about starting your own line...BUY THIS BOOK! It covers everything from A to Z but with precise detail. The appendixes show great examples of different forms and documents that you would need in order to be successful. Most of the other fashion books are too basic and lacking in detail, but this book definitely delivers. It beats all my other fashion books hands down. (This is my first Amazon review- I normally read 'em but never write 'em but this book is worth it!)

This book presents a common man approach to the potental positive side of the use of credit cards. Curtis Arnold has researched and presented this unique approach not to entise one to use credit cards but rather to insure that the user receives their full benefits. Certainly, there are concerns with the improper use of credit cards, but the misuse, or lack of understanding of the consequences of using multiiple credit cards with out a strong payment approach can be quite damaging. One can compare, the usual attitlude as the denial of misuse as one of sure credit failure of one's credit rating. Our credit ratings today can determine our job opportunities as well as general every day standard of living. As a former school counselor, I highly recommend that all schools have this book in their school curriculum.

Credit card debt is something many Americans fear -- and justifiably so. "How You Can Profit From Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line" is a practical, effective, informative, and 'user friendly' guide to using the creator of debt to become the obliteration of debt and a boon for personal and professional financial success. A guide to credit management and the responsible use of credit cards to increase credit rating and even to make money, "How You Can Profit From Credit Cards" should be considered essential reading for anyone first starting with one or more credit cards and wanting to avoid the pitfalls of excessive and unnecessary debt.

I was particularly impressed with the mountainous amount of information written in such a friendly, easy-to-read format. Curtis has done a wonderful job explaining the ins and outs of credit cards and how you can actually make a profit using them.

I've known Curtis for several years and can personally attest to his desire to help people understand the credit industry: credit cards, credit reports, credit scores, and more. I thought I knew a lot about credit cards, yet I was amazed beginning in Chapter One at Curtis' unique perspective and exemplary advice.

Everyone should learn the information in this book. Parents would do well to give copies to their children. It's that important!

Being an avid reader and contributor of the forums for a couple years at cardratings.com I had to purchase the book and was pleased with the great material found within. It took the best of what I've learned and explains it all in a well organized manner. I point family and friends to it now, cause it explains it all much better than I can. With the help of the forums I overcome a $12000 credit debt in 2 years and over the time built a score close to 800. I enjoy having my cards earn me money instead of having debt and having the upper hand now that I know how the credit world works.

Thanks for your help, Curtis.

Love the tips that Arnold shares! He talks about he and his wife getting over $1,000 cash back last year and saving thousands in finance charges. Great stuff- a must read for every card holder.

A must read for any activists. Easy to understand and yet effective.

This is the how-to book I wish I had written. It's perfect for activists, charities, government agencies, even PTAs! No one can sell an idea or cause better than the person who believes in it--this book gives you the basics and more on how to get your campaign or event in the news.

The most difficult task for any activist or organization is getting noticed. With an influx of so many news agencies and mediums it's hard getting noticed by reporters and editors.

This book shows you how to make your cause 'interesting' to those who matter in getting your message across: the Media.

You'll learn how to do several things like give speeches, create an identity, use props & mascots and more.

Although it could have probablly included more in-depth detail and 'how-to' it was certainly worth the investment.

Bottom Line: Worthwhile addition for any activist or their organization. Invaluable for the person in charge of making causes and campaigns noticed!

Outstanding on all fronts. No jargon - all facts. Salzman shares his secrets and tells you how to figure out making your work into news. In this image-crazed age, this book is a must.

Gearing up a new issues education/activist organization, I read this invaluable tome. Then I called its author (Jason Salzman) to find proteges of his whom I might hire on the East Coast. After talking with him over a couple weeks, I hired him and have tremendously benefitted from his experience, wisdom and creativity. Not often we can hire the guy "who wrote the book." If you can't hire him yourself (try though), his book lays out the science and art of garnering media for you to tout your cause.

Leaders have to be competent, or the whole thing won't work. "Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business Or Nonprofit" is a crash course in leadership skills for those who want to learn everything they need to know about company management. With nearly one hundred pieces of invaluable advice, as well as an index and bibliography, "Mastering the Management Buckets" is an excellent choice for prospective leaders and for community library business collections.

I'm often daunted by how much there is to master in running a nonprofit organisation. What should I be an expert in? What niche publications should I be reading? What training do I need?

The thing I love about John's book is that if I didn't read anything else, but just mastered each of the 20 buckets he talks about, then I'd be in the top few percentile of my game. I can't think of anything of substance that is missing from the book, it covers such a wide range of practical topics. But it somehow covers them in enough depth to be really helpful.

I wish I had come across this earlier - but since I'm still relatively young, there's hope for me yet that I'll have time to integrate the good common sense that John outlines! The book is easy to read in its style, bite-sized and practical in its format, and one of the very best books I've come across for nonprofit leaders.

After starting to read this book my reaction was WOW! I've never seen so many practical ideas for leaders in one book. John Pearson draws on a vast array of sources that he came across over his long career including time he spent with Peter Drucker. The book describes 20 critical competencies are broad and include topics you don't usually find in books on leadership such as systems, board, budget, operations and crisis.

The competencies are what Pearson calls "management buckets." Some people will like this description, others may be tempted to dismiss the bucket metaphor as lite. That would be a mistake. The book is jam-packed with substantive ideas and insights. I was glad to see that Pearson covers the "hard" issues such as being results oriented to the "soft" issues such as caring for employees. I'm recommending this book to leaders as one to take their leadership team through. It will surely stimulate a list of actions that will benefit their team and organization.

The book does have a lot of references to Christianity because John is a Christian and he has primarily worked for and with Christian organizations. If you work for a Christian organization, this is a must read. If not, or if you are not a Christian, you will still benefit from the ideas and practices described in the book. Because social sector organizations rely so much on volunteers they have learned much about motivating them and for-profit organizations can learn a lot from effective social sector leaders such as Pearson.

I also want to point out that the book is well-organized into short sections so it's ideal for most leaders who prefer bite-sized readings. Too many books these days fail to include end notes and I was glad to see that Pearson provided extensive endnotes that will allow readers to dig even deeper into the many sources he drew upon to write the book.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this book!

Only John Pearson could pour the insights gleaned from twenty five years in chief executive roles at three different associations into twenty management buckets: six buckets focused on The Cause, seven buckets for The Community, and seven buckets for The Corporation. The language of The Cause is purpose driven. The language of the Community is warm affirmation. The language of The Corporation focuses on operations, systems and fiduciary responsibilities.
Chapter by chapter each of Pearson's twenty buckets gets filled with "strategic balls" that leaders can utilize to enhance their management of each bucket theme. The chapters are filled with anecdotes about real life experiences in the workplace.
My favorite is The Hoopla! Bucket. Spring-boarding from Dennis Bakke's Joy at Work, Pearson articulates a value proposition for Hoopla as a way to relieve stress and build team spirit in the workplace. This is a critical concept for the great number of nonprofit organizations that have squeezed the pennies so tightly that they have made their workplaces blatantly undesirable and unhealthy.
Mastering the Management Buckets is a straightforward refresher course in critical competencies critical for successful leadership in organizations of all kinds. The book serves it up straight, consistent with Pearson's persona as a straight shooting leader, a man of integrity and a follower of Jesus. If you're looking for ways to enhance your management skills, built on a Biblical platform that views leadership as a spiritual exercise, this book is for you.

Mastering the Management Buckets provides invaluable guidelines, profound insight, and clear direction. There's more solid, practical advice for managers and leaders than can be received in many of the books I've read in my forty-years of ministry. I'm a visual guy. So the illustrations of the 20 buckets concept really rivots my attention. This book is a hands-on resource, it transforms my leadership thinking. I only wish I had this resource in my hands ten years ago!

This is the most enlightening book I have read in years! As a Baby Boomer, I have been struggling with trying to understand the younger folks I have working for me. Even some of my younger managers leave me scratching my head wondering if everyone has gone insane! Now I get it. It's not me,is the great generational divide and this book has brought me much clarity and understanding. We, the Boomers, are still in charge, and until I am ready to retire, the knowledge in this book will help me to keep my sanity.

At my company and in my department, the tension between managers and their reports seem to be primarily due to generational differences. This book explains so clearly not only what the differences are, but why members of different generations behave differently and have varied expectations in the workplace.

As someone from Generation X, I was thrilled to find that this book was written by someone from my generation. Marston has clearly experienced the same types of conflicts in the workplace that I do, and he uses many examples to illustrate the sources of conflict.

Not only do I enjoy this book so much that I can't stop talking about it to my friends and co-workers, but I've encouraged my colleagues to make some policy and procedure modifications based on what I've read. I really hope that everyone I work with reads this book because it will help us all to understand each other, and, therefore, work together more productively.

I ordered this book to use as a resource to create a training presentation at my workplace. I had seen Cam Marston in person at a conference in 2005. The layout of the book is fairly good albeit not the end all.

I chose this book as a reading assignment in a management training course precisely because I was having some difficulties motivating my younger employees.

By Marston's definitions, I am just barely a Boomer (almost Gen X myself), but by looking at my own values and having some frank discussions with my younger employees, I can tell you that his observations about how generations see the world and the workplace are dead on, at least for our small sample.

I made a bullet list of the high points of this text and started treating my employees this way. One couldn't take the heat and left. The other three have responded extremely well. In short, it works!

I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Motivating the "What's In It For Me?" Workforce. Manage across the generational divide and increase profits. Cam Marston.2007. ISBN 9780470124147. This is a much needed essential book. The author is a Gen X'er who has made a career from explaining how to get the best from a multi-generational workforce. If you, like me, need to hire and inspire Gen X and Millenia workforces, then you must get this book! It will also help you understand your children! Lessons learned, you do not "suggest" how things should be done, you tell and show, with clear directions.

1. Use clear straightforward language
2. Don't assume anything
3. When an employee gets it right, celebrate!

According to some of his research the Millenia generation is on line to be a Hero generation.

I ordered and read this book without total confidence, since it was written in 1999, and--as we will probably never stop hearing--things have changed considerably since 2001 (not for the better in the prison-industrial complex or in the sphere of social services).

But even 7 years after its publication, it holds up VERY well. And--sadly--the argument is not LESS cogent or the concerns less pressing.

Journalist Joel Dyer creates an informative, critical, and iconoclastic survey of the United States' criminal justice system in The Perpetual Prisoner Machine: How America Profits From Crime. Dyer persuasively argues that contemporary criminal "justice" is disastrously impacted by violent media content, a push for privatization; an increasing dependence of politicians upon public opinion polling and campaign finance. This has all resulted in an explosion in the American prison population. The rapidly increasing numbers of prisoners, parolees and probationers is not the result of increasing crime rates, but because sectors of the American economy and political power structure find mass incarcerations to be profitable. The Perpetual Prisoner Machine is very strongly recommended reading for students of the American criminal justice system, prisoner reform movement supporters, sociologists, cultural anthropologists, and political science students.

Dyer's well-researched expose reveals the inner workings of the nation's prison-industrial complex, the funding of which depends on the maintenance of a respectable, beneficent public image. He explains that real-world crime statistics do not support the war on crime's claimed need for massive increases in prison construction so, to justify the diversion of public funds into prison and jail expansion, politicians are relying on public opinion polls which reflect the pervasive societal effects of media-generated crime anxiety. Law makers, primarily right-wing, have responded to the public's media-hyped fears with reassurances in the form of hard-on-crime adjustments to the sentencing structure and consequent increases in law enforcement and prison spending, all financed by the angst-ridden taxpayers. Voters have been refusing to approve traditional general-obligation bond issues for increasing prison construction, so politicians are shrewdly using Wall Street intermediaries to divert tax revenues from public education and crime-preventive social programs into prison and jail construction by means of lease-revenue or lease-payment bonds, which are tax-exempt, high-interest debt-investment instruments issued without voter approval. These lucrative prison bonds reward the investor class with sizable profits from imprisonment, provide public-debt financing for construction of corporate-owned prisons, and they require taxpayers to repay more money than general-obligation bonds, which require voter approval. As major political campaign contributors, well-funded, right-wing special-interest groups such as police and prison-guard unions, and the NRA, back politicians who agree to promote hard-on-crime sentencing policies such as "three strikes," "mandatory sentencing" and "truth in sentencing," which substantially increase the prison population and sustain the widely held perception of increasing need for prison and police funding. As a result, the number of prisons and police have grown rapidly, and police and prison guard pay has increased substantially. In California, for example, a prison guard is paid more than a tenured college professor in the state's university system which, like those in other states, has been decimated by the diversion of public funds into the prison-industrial complex. By 1994, prison spending had begun to exceed education spending for the first time in America's history. I think Dyer presents a well-articulated argument, backed with well-researched facts and figures, supporting the assertion that the prison-industrial complex is a self-serving, socially and economically destructive part of an officially sanctioned assault on the poor and people of color.

Joel Dyer has done an excellent job of nailing how Congress has abused the issue of crime in America and why we allow it. He's also provided an excellent argument for abandoning the private prison industrial complex and ceasing the attack on urban America and the mentally ill. As someone who works in business and in finance, it bugged my eyeballs when I realized what government is doing, allowing prisoners for profit. I've worked 32 years in a profit driven capacity and doing this with human beings, given what I know about shareholder driven environments, is unconscionable in my mind. To intentionally profit from another's pain and misfortune is heinous. America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the worlds prisoners. We have over 1,000 prisons and 7 million people under penal control (2004). Over half of them non-violent offenders whose crime involves consenting adults (ie: life in prison for introducing a buyer to a seller of home grown pot in Indiana) or petty thievery (ie: stealing vitamins in California).

This is one of the most important books in many years that tells the truth about our prison system. We have over 2,000,000 citizens in prison in the land of the free. Most of these citizens are non-violent and about 15% are mentally ill in need medical care. With the tax dollars that we pay we treat some non-violent prisoners in ways that are just horrible. It is done by politicians who want to get reelected and understand a terrible fact that the uninformed citizens vote for politicians who advocate building more prisons and filling them to overcrowded capacity with more prisoners. Only a small percentage of the citizenship understand the terrible cost to our society with this practice. It is a cost in billions of dollars and much more. It is also a cost in respect, common sense, decency and the goodness of the American people.

On top of this, studies indicate that about 10 -15% of prisoners are completely innocent and had absolutely nothing to do with the crime that they were put in prison for. This is because juries do not understand and respect the bedrock of the system which is "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." The large amount of reasonable doubt that is ignored by juries is shocking to the conscious of any good person.

Raising Money Through Bequests is a very fast, easy read but so informative. It is a step by step approach to raising funds through bequests. I wish I would have had this book 18 years ago when I started development work. I have used some of these steps and will continue to use this as a guide for our ongoing quest in this area of fundraising.

Our group is Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, one of the largest purebred dog rescues in the Midwest. We have been in existence for 11 years and have been able to raise necessary operating expenses over that time. Now we are building for the future.

I needed a road map for our next step - "Raising Money..." came along at exactly the right time. It's a very easy read but a powerful read at the same time. Simply put, I cannot recommend the book enough.

It has started us down the road that we now need to follow. I can't wait to see the implimentation of these concepts with our successful group.

A wonderful A to Z primer on how to use this remarkable tool to our organization's advantage, Mr. Valinsky and Ms. Boyd use short snippets of real world experience and humor to make their points. I especially felt that I could hit the ground running with their common sense approach, plus their easy-to-use templates. I was impressed with the emphasis on cultivating and maintaining relationships in order to succeed in this area. Too often the mechanics are hit hard, while overlooking the importance of seeing the potential donor as a human being with feelings and concerns. Simple maxims such as effective listening pervaded this book through. I highly recommend this book to any organization planning a fundraising effort.

Gave me the basics that I could share with the leaders of my church to help get started in the area of bequests and planned giving.

This book is a very good summary that lays out the opportunity, process, and specifics on how to raise money through bequests.

Our charitable organization is using the process and examples to set up our planned giving (bequest) process.

It is very clear, concise, easy to follow, and provides some great examples!