Investing Books

This book is all the books combined into one. It is very understandable and engaging.

Full disclosure: I'm a big Drucker fan

This book will need to sit on your bookshelf. It's a nice compilation of work Drucker has written over his many years. I've got this on my re-read list so basically every once in a while when I need business inspiration I walk over to the shelf and go through his sage advice.

This is one of the best management books I've ever read. Despite the articles being written 10 - 20 years ago, they are still relevant. Drucker uses good examples to illustrate his points, and avoids the word "synergy."

If the name of Peter Drucker sounds familiar, it should: he's inspired managers with his works for nearly half a century, with his articles in Harvard Business Review - gathered here for the first time under one cover and offering his best works to audiences of business learners. From how to remain productive throughout your work life and choose careers which are lasting to learning how and when to make changes, Classic Drucker is a compendium of business wisdom which should be in every business library collection.

I found the chapter on self-management alone to be worth the price of the book.

Koch and DeSalvo have complied a comprehensive investment guide for the average person. Even those with financial experience who need information in a concise and user-friendly manner will benefit from owning this book. I am not ashamed to own "Idiot's" guides, simply because I have my own area of specialty, and do not have the time or will to specialize in every area in which I have a passing need or interest. This is where this book comes in, because most people don't have time to get a degree in finance or an investment license just to make their money grow.

This book covers the basics like investment risk tolerance, investment needs, and then covers ways to make more money available to invest. The authors point out that saving money is a form of tax-free investment. Then the authors discuss stocks, mutual funds, home ownership, saving for college, and reducing taxes. Finally they explore more risky investments like options and futures, as well as providing tips for online investing. The book has a few glossy pages, numerous charts and tables, and a glossary.

Overall, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I knew nothing about investing until recently, and after I got my Series 7 license, I realized that this book had provided me with a strong background with which to begin studying. Honestly, after working with many financial planners, I think this book is probably more useful than many financial planners out there. While it won't make you an expert, it will provide the basic essential information the average beginning investor needs. Read this, and then move on to more advanced books, but all the while, start investing and making money.

This book is perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about creating prosperity and building financial security. It's very educational, easy to understand, and has already helped me a lot. I'm telling all my friends about it and highly recommend it to anyone.

This book had so much more than I thought it would. I expected it to just explained investings like the stock market. But it explained everything from stocks, bonds, commodities futures and options, CD's, mutual funds, IRA's, mortgages, all types of insurance, creditcards, taxes and so much more. It gave sound strategies for all of these. It also explained simple things that you think you know but don't realy do. Like just saving money is a form of tax free investment. And so many other down to earth and sound advise that realy works. I'll always keep this book near by for reference. I strongly recomend this book to anyone who is trying to streach and invest his money.

I work in finace but really had no inderstanding of investments until i read this book. I found it very easy to follow and able to comprehend. Someone with a little finacial background probably would have been able to grasp it even better. Before you buy a single stock, bond, or mutual fund i highly recomend this book. I must say on the negative side that to truly understand finace you will need further reading, but this is a mandatory first book, and if all that is desired is a basic understanding of finace you could use this as your guide. I reccomend further reading though, for anyone working in finace or who plans on doing alot of investing.

This book is a great place for the beginning investor. In fact, it oughta be required reading for anyone about to get married. It gives the basics on everything from retirements accounts (of all types) to buying a home, to creating your own financial plan, even advice on divorce. Just about any basic information on finances that a person would need can be found here. Someone looking for something a little deeper might do well to skim the book to glean usable info and then to find something a little more specific.

As a side note, if you've read this title, skip reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Savvy Investing," as these two books are essentially the same.

Casey shares with us critical, practical, actionable and powerful insights that lead to increased profits, performance and productivity as well as long-term healthy growth of an enterprise.

Having been a successful business owner, I have experienced first hand numerous benefits associated with having engaged employees as well have also experienced the losses and destruction that occurs when employees become disengaged.

Heck, in my own career, I myself personally have been both engaged and disengaged. Believe me, engagement is far better. In the book, Casey nails it, showing us what leads to disengagement. But then he also goes onto show us how to increase engagement in a very practical way.

In my mind, this book is not just a nice to read but a MUST read.

This is the best practical book on engaging leadership that I have read so far.

Wish to introduce engaging leadership in your organization? Give your leaders this book as a guide.

The book starts with making the business case for engaging leadership (the why).
Then guides you step by step, with practical advice, tests and checklists, toward becoming an engaging leader (the how to).

"Discretionary effort is the difference between how well people actually perform and how well they are capable of performing." When genuine interest is invested in people it is far easier to tap the discretionary effort that is harbored. An engaged leader knows this.

Somewhere along the corporate path, far too many leaders and managers lose sight of the importance of individuals' motivations for working and contributing. Most of us have worked for disengaged leaders or managers who never asked what motivated us. This book presents in a very simple manner a how-to to motivate people to give their best by engaging in their interests, motivations and passions at work.

I intend to keep Casey's book at work as a handbook to reinforce the keys of engagement. A great read.

Casey Wilson challenges the old school world of leadership and management to embrace a progressive new school approach - investment in engaging today's work force to its fullest potential. The profound research demonstrates the impact of engaging leadership. Wilson bridges the gap between theory and action. Managers and leaders at all levels should have this resource at their fingertips.

Excellent Book!

This is a "must-read" book for every person already in a management position and every person just starting out in management. Following this book the business world will become a much better place for management, employees and customers.

This book offers real world examples of how to engage and motive people in the workplace. The practice tools and exercises in this book will hold your attention; this book explains in plain English exactly what needs to be done to succeed as a motivating leader.

The Cornerstones of Engaging Leadership is well written, easy to read, and makes perfect sense. I look forward to reading more books from Mr. Casey Wilson.

Jason's book, Creating Urgency (in a non-urgent housing market) is a THE must ready book for anyone involved in sales and marketing homes today! It is simple, straightforward and will truly help you discover more about your customers needs, allowing you to truly help them and make sales! As a quick read, it means you can master it quickly and apply the steps to creating urgency, immediately. Go buy the book and discover this for yourself. If you take away nothing other then his 2 most important philosophies, you will be getting more then your moneys worth!

This book is a must read for anyone in sales. I have recommended it to all of the brokers in my office. Creating Urgency is a joy to read but, more importantly, provides powerful tools for any salesman.

A timely and relevant message that's enjoyable to read and easy to apply. Most importantly, Jason reminds us that we are individually responsible for creating our own competitive advantage, which becomes even more urgent in down markets.

I've also heard Jason speak... i highly recommend checking out the book. It offers specific details and suggestions rather than vague ideals. Good stuff.

Jason Forrest provides powerful insight into the relationship between the salesperson and buyer. He walks the reader through stages of the buying process and explains how we can create an essential emotional impact.

I love that Jason gets right to the point with fresh ideas and entertaining stories. It is so easy to implement his ideas and see results immediately! The book is short and to the point and I often refer back to it.

"Creating Urgency" is for anyone that desires to increase their sales and sell more confidently. After implementing Jason's ideas, I have personally seen and continue to see great results in my sales, confidence, relationships, team building, and leadership. This is not a book you will read and forget about-it is absolutely timeless. "Creating Urgency," initially written for the housing market, is absolutely applicable to any genre of sales.

Ron Geskey is an advertising industry insider with experience at Leo Burnett and D'Arcy. As a web marketing professional, I can appreciate the range in focus, from Internet-based PPC and rich media to the more traditional areas of tv, radio, newspaper, magazine and outdoor. Should be appreciated by marketing directors at small and medium businesses, boutique agencies, and entrepreneurs alike--anyone buying media and dealing with media rates.

"David & Goliath" provides an essential primer for the small business owner on the important topics of marketing and media buying.

Geskey is certainly a media maven: the book is well thought-out and each chapter might well stand alone as a reference tool on each topic. The Problems & Exercises at the end of each chapter are clearly designed to reinforce the main lessons of the chapter and learners who take the time to work on them definitely stand to gain a thorough grounding in media and marketing.

Of particular note are the discussions in later chapters: Chapter 9 for the advantages & disadvantages of various media-buying processes ... Chapter 10's Internet strategies and the need for a professional-looking Web page ... fun Creative Media ideas (Chapter 11): blogs, newsletters, podcasts and greeting cards ... how'barter' and 'media remnants' work in Chapter 12 ... and finally, Chapter 14 ("Hello Goliath!") -- an effective wrap-up and reminder for ESOV and the importance of Share of Voice and Quality of Voice.

Readers should not overlook the Appendix chock full of even more marketing tools: Worksheets for figuring sales objectives, tools for conducting a SWOT Analysis, and ideas for determining customer target markets, creating marketing objectives, determining primary market areas and thinking about communication strategies and budget considerations.

Overall, "David vs. Goliath: Guerilla Media Buying for Small Business" might well stand alone as a classroom text for small business owners seeking to implement marketing plans. In future, an updated edition of the book might include more discussion about 'buzz' or word-of-mouth marketing strategies, a bibliography containing citation information about the media and research studies contained in the book and a Glossary of Terms to help the reader refer to essential media definitions and marketing tools.

David vs. Goliath: Guerilla Media Buying for Small Business, A New Way to Win

This was a great and innovative book. Best of all, by filling out the worksheets after each chapter and at the end of the book, it results in a well thought out action plan to raise Share of Voice in your marketing area. Highly recommended and worth the time!

In a highly competitive marketplace, small business owners can often be overwhelmed with the difficult task of making consumers aware of their product. With so many huge business conglomerates dominating the market place, it can seem almost impossible for a small business to efficiently reach their target customers. In his book, David vs. Goliath: Guerilla Media Buying for Small Business, A New Way to Win, author Ronald Geskey shows that small businesses can not only succeed against the Goliaths, but can thrive in the dog eat dog world of big business.

Geskey explains that a key to growing a successful business is to use an innovative, well researched technique known as increasing your share of voice and your quality of voice. Through a step by step method, readers will learn how to make each advertising dollar work harder for them. By dramatically increasing your effective share of voice without increasing your budget in your market area, you can increase top of mind awareness of your product. This will then lead to increased sales and market share.

Not only does the author provide an in depth analysis and understanding of marketing and media, helpful methods and tools are provided to make the most of your advertising dollar. As Ronald Geskey states, "The key is to eliminate advertising spending waste."

Budgets are often wasted when the wrong type of communication is used for the job (e.g., direct mail vs. publicity) or the wrong media are used to reach the wrong target in the wrong place at the wrong time-- negotiated at the wrong price without value added and media investment safeguards.

When was the last time you read a book or an article about how to actually negotiate a media buy to get the most bang for your buck? Maybe never? Geskey's book provides clear steps on how to negotiate traditional and non traditional media buys to get substantially more media exposure for the budget.

Because successful communications with the consumer are critical to the success of a small business, the author discusses and provides an analysis of the many benefits and pitfalls of different marketing communications forms and various advertising media. Advertising media discussed include television, print, radio, internet, direct mail as well over 60 non traditional media approaches.

With well illustrated diagrams and exercises at the end of each chapter, the author provides the necessary tools and skills for you to make your small business a long term success. I plan to implement the strategies for my own business endeavors. I highly recommend the book to current business owners as well as to those planning to start a small business.

Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services

As owner and manager of a bookstore, I know that small business has always felt the challenge of how to become a "player" in the marketplace. Knowing our business purpose did not guarantee our ability to effectively market our business.

Had David vs. Goliath been available years ago it would have likely transformed my marketing of the business and its success. It also would have helped remove my ever present fear of the competition.

The book provides the tools to take the small business owner through the process of analyzing the business and business practices to the development of an innovative marketing strategy and plan to build sales and profit.

I had never even heard of share of voice, and certainly never thought of any linkage to sales or share of market. And even though I bought media, I now know how uninformed and naive I was, wasting a lot of money (resulting in lost sales and profit) without even knowing it.

The author also shows how we can make the internet work for us. He cuts through the confusion of selecting and buying the media at the right price place, and time.

Each chapter is filled with "secrets" which most owners of small businesses are unaware, at least I was.David vs. Goliath: Guerilla Media Buying for Small Business, A New Way to Win Every small business owner needs this insightful book!

Bonnie Schmitz
Bookstore Owner

This book combines a thorough summary on metrics and a handy format so it makes for a handy brush up before project and client meetings. The range of approaches covered have made it very useful for me in my work as a consultant.

Dr. Bob Frost is unique in his ability to clarify metrics and the associated factors and environment necessary to generate effective cultural change in organizations. This book hits the mark with his "Multiple Perspectives" approach.
Use this book carefully... it could change your organization!

In as simple and few words as necessary, Dr Bob Frost has articulated some important essentials of performance measurement. Firstly, that you most definitely need to think about measuring organisational performance holistically, crafting and using measures that help tell the story of the organisation's performance, not just local performance.

Secondly, that you can't get far unless you have a clear framework of results that makes it clear what aspects of performance are most worth measuring.

And thirdly, that it's very important you're clear about what successful performance measurement looks like, and what flawed performance measurement looks like too.

It's not particularly a step-by-step how-to book, but a valuable book to spend the 1 hour or less it takes to read and digest.

In Designing Metrics, Dr. Bob Frost has captured the essence of performance measurement. His book is concise and does not get mired down in descriptions and stories as so many business books do. It is short and to the point with specific models and uses resulting in an efficient and helpful tool. If you believe in the old adage that " what gets measured gets done", this is the perfect book to develop clear concise performance measures. Designing Metrics not only explains various performance measurements, but is also a guide for when to use which model.

Without a doubt Bob Frost has again crafted an excellent lay practitioner level book for the masses. His easy to read and understand writing style takes the fear out of performance measurement that is so often found in the in the "big" measurment books by Kaplan, Norton, and others. He cuts rights to the chase and gives the reader the essential information in a one hour sized chunk that won't put you to sleep.

I have used Bob's two other books (Crafting Strategy and Measuring Performance) as preread material in the corporate and university settings where I have taught to great success. I will be adding this jewel to my syllabus in the future.

Whether you are a salesperson or company, your prospects are changing. Finding and connecting with prospects is more difficult today than ever before. And once you do connect with a prospect, the chances are they know far more about the issues they want or need to address and the potential solutions to those issues than the prospects you've dealt with in the past.

It used to be salespeople were the dispensers of knowledge and solutions. Not too long ago most psopects needed salespeople to help them analyze their needs and to then propose viable solutions to those needs.

No longer.

Everyday more and more of our prospects are turning to the ever growing number of resources on the internet to research their problems and issues, their wants and needs. With the explosion of websites, artilce sites, blogs, forums, webinars, and other resources immediatley avaiable to anyone willing to take a few minutes to do a keyword search, salespeople are no longer the lynchpin of knowledge and solution.

Salespeople are increasingly engaging prospects at a later and later stage of the purchasing process--often so late in the process that their only task is to give a price since the prospect has already diagnosed the issue, researched the various solutions, determined the most appropriate solution for their situation, and now only need a potential product or service provider to quote a price.

This movement away from using salespeople early in their purchasing process creates a huge problem for companies and salespeople--how to recognize and capture a prospect early in their solution search.

Steven Woods in Digital Body Language: Deciphering Customer Intentions in an Online World (2009: New Year Publishing) argues that just as it used to be critical for a salesperson to be able to read a prospect's body language in order to be able to successfully move them to make a positive decision to purchase, it is now equally critical--and possible--to read a prospect's "digital" body language via their use and movements through the company's internet resources.

Digital Body Language is aimed at the marketing function of companies with relatively sophisticated marketing departments engaged in business-to-business complex sales. For Woods, the activities that allow one to read the body language of a company's electronic visitor is very much a pre-sales handoff activity. This, however, doesn't mean that smaller companies, salespeople, and individual professionals can't pick up some good ideas of how to understand where in the buying cycle the visitors to their website, blog, podcast, or other resource are.

Woods argues that by understanding and analyzing where the visitors to the company's website or blog come from, how long they stay, what they engage while they are there, and what they go afterwords can help the marketing department formulate a campaign to eventually move the prospect from investigator who is researching issues and options to being handed off to the sales department for final follow-up and consumating the purchase.

Each movement a prospect makes signals their individual involvement within the purchase, where in the process they are, what type of information the company can follow-up with that will interest them, and when to turn the lead over to sales.

Reading digital body language requires a set of data mined from both your electronic and non-electronic resources, as well as "a marketing team prepared to implement numerous processes that deliver the right communication at the right time to the right prospect." No easy task and one that Woods says requires "the entire organization to make siginficant changes to marketing." Traditional marketing concepts and functions still apply, Woods says, but now take a back seat to understanding and responding to prospect's online behavior.

Digital Body Language is a throught provoking look at how prospects are buying in today's market and how marketing--and ultimately sales--must respond. As more prospects move to self-education, analysis, and solution creation, a new understanding of the prospect must emerge. And since it seems that everyday brings an additional resource that allows prospects more control over their purchases, those companies who learn how to "read" their prospects and engage them with the information they are seeking in a manner they will respond to will be the companies who manage to maintain their margins and grow their business--even in a market where more and more "complex" products and services are moving into the realm of commodities to be bought at the lowest possible price.

Steve's Book was insightful and quite timely. Buyers have changed the way they buy (using the Web) but marketing departments have not changed at all. Steve addresses this disparity with a logical and well thought out model to measure and market in a Web world.

I highly recommend this book for all marketers who have to face a new Web world and all MBA students who have just learned the old model with little application. With Steve's new paradigm you will be able to hit the ground running.

Steve put together the science behind the art of demand gen, marketing and database management as it pertains to marketing and sales. There are topics covered in this book that have not been touched by others. It's timely, accurate, provoking and a must-have handbook for any marketer out there that relies on technology to do their job.

Steven Woods book explains how marketing is playing a role deeper into the buying funnel than ever before what marketers need to think about in order to effectively interpret the digital body language of largely anonymous consumers. This skill is critical to evaluate their information needs and provide them with the appropriate content and offers to help them progress through the buying cycle.

This is especially important during these trying economic times, where as Tony Jarros from SiriusDecisions indicates, people haven't stoppped shopping; they're just not buying. Nurturing these leads is vital to increase velocity through the pipe and ensure that when they are ready to purchase that your product is top-of-mind.

I have also become a fan of Steven's blog of the same name http://digitalbodylanguage.blogspot.com where he offers tips and tricks on how to further apply topics in the book, using Eloqua's product.

I'm not sure if I like the term Digital Body Language, but Steve Woods' book I like very much. It clearly shows how the role of marketing in the complex sale has changed, and gives lots of detailed suggestions on how marketing teams can cope with this change, by using smart demand generation strategies.

This book is required reading for marketers who currently use a marketing automation system such as Eloqua (for a full list of vendors see my blog LeadSloth.com). Or for marketers who plan to use such a system. It provides useful guidelines to improve profiling, lead scoring, and lead nurturing. Also, it shows how to measure marketing ROI more objectively.

Steve Woods is CTO an co-founder of Eloqua, so the book is based on 9 years of practical demand generation experience. However, the book does not mention Eloqua, so you are spared any advertising and you get access to knowledge that is relevant regardless of the marketing software you use.

Digital Body Language is not an easy read, because it's chock-full of information that has never been put in a book before. Steve has added about two dozen case studies, which are brief but provide practical examples that make the book come more alive. All in all, I think this book will soon become a classic in the demand generation space.

Obviously, there are other volumes of much greater length, depth, scope, and (yes) cost in the business etiquette category than what Valerie Sokolosky offers in this 92-page booklet. And obviously, those in need of more information than she provides should consult one or more of those other sources. However, my guess is that many (if not most) executives will find all they need to know about business etiquette in Sokolosky's booklet. She covers eleven subjects that range from "In the Office" to "International Eitquette." I also appceciate her provision of relevant quotations from a rather diverse group that includes Benjamin Franklin, Letitia Baldridge, Johann W. von Goethe, Peter Drucker, John F. Kennedy, Harvey Mackay, and James Michener.

Much of business etiquette involves common sense, common courtesy, applications of The Golden Rule, etc. However, there are certain dimensions of protocol of which one should be aware. For example, when dining and during meetings. Sokolosky covers the basics. While reading her booklet, it occurred to me that much of her advice is also relevant to the developmnt at the earliest age possible of a child's understanding of and respect for what could be called (for lack of a better term) civilized behavior. The best advice on parenting my wife and I ever received when we began to raise the first of three sons and then a daughter came from one of my uncles. He suggested that we treat our children and then their friends the way we wanted our childrten to treat us and our friends. Say "Please" and "Thank you" whenever appropriate, do not interrupt when another is speaking and listen intently, step forward and introduce yourself by name to strangers, etc.

I highly recommend this booklet to those preparing for a business career or who have only recently embarked on one. I also highly recommend it to parents, grandparents, and other relatives of teenagers. It would be a thoughtful gift and probably not one they would purchase for themselves. Although it may seem naive for me to say so, with all other factors being equal, I think mastery of at least fundamental business etiquette will be the single most decisive competitive advantage in the workplace, both now and in months and years to come.

Creating positive personal impact is one of the five keys to success in my new book "Straight Talk for Success". A mastery of the basic rules of etiquette is an important part of creating positive personal impact.

In "Do It Right" Ms. Sokolosky points out that, "We are living in a time of etiquette ambiguity...Today we're often forced to make it up as we go." She then presents 245 common sense, clearly stated, easy to understand and use tips that will save readers from having to make it up as they go.

Here are some of my favorites:

* When you are given information in confidence. Keep that confidence.
* Respect privacy of a co-worker's cubicle or office. Carry on conversations in your own space.
* One simple rule about office parties and business festivities: No matter what the occasion, it's still business, and moderation works best.
* Communicate with a K.I.S.S. - Keep It Short and Simple!
* We expect praise from our bosses, but we should also give praise for their outstanding efforts. Bosses need recognition too.
* Don't live in a WAM (What About Me) world. Try this: Go a whole day in the office without saying "I", instead say "we". Business is, in fact, not always about you.
* Save terms of endearment for those who are dear. "Honey" is something you spread on toast. A "Hun" is a warrior who followed Attila. A "deer" is an animal in the forest. A "girl' is a female under the age of 12 - not a secretary or assistant.
* A simple ring tone is best for your cell phone. Musical ring tones are annoying, particularly in a business setting.
* Meeting manners: Be present and in the moment. Think your thoughts through before sharing them. Support your ideas with facts. Be open minded to other's opinions. Take only your fair share of meeting time to contribute your ideas. Leave with a commitment to support the decisions made, no matter who presented the ideas.
* Board airplanes quickly. Long conversations and taking your time at the entryway back up traffic in the jetway.
* Carry over the shoulder luggage and back packs in front of you as you make your way down the aisle. Avoid hitting passengers who are already seated.
* Take you reading materials out of our carry on before boarding a plane, rather than fiddling with it in the aisle.
* Sit in your assigned seat.
* Tell people when you see a blouse unbuttoned, a fly open or a piece of lettuce between their teeth. Be sensitive, inconspicuous and gracious. Most of us appreciate being to and able to quickly resolve the situation.
* When you receive an unexpected gift, your only obligation is to be sincere in your thanks at the time, and in a follow up, handwritten thank you note. One gift does not necessarily deserve another.

Ms. Sokolosky also includes over fifty tips on international etiquette - a topic of increasing importance in today's global economy.

Finally, she shares some great quotes. Here are two of my favorites:

* "Unless he manages himself effectively, no amount of ability, skill, experience or knowledge will make an executive effective." Peter Drucker

* "If you make the obvious effort to be accommodating, sympathetic and kind, business will transpire, and deals will be made...and profits and goals realized." Letitia Baldridge

"Do it Right" is a great little book. It covers more than just etiquette. I think it provide essential advice for anyone interested in creating a successful life and career.

Wow, Valerie really knows what she's talking about! This book has really helped me with the techno-etiquette chapter - phone mail, e-mails, mobile phones, PDAs. And, there is an incredible section in the book on observing foreign customs when doing business globally. In this business world, that is so very important. This is definitely The Business Reference Book of the year. - LeAnn Huffman

You will be amazed with the simplicity, yet the strong guidance and message it carries. You don't know what you're missing until you read this book. Must read. Marie Meliksetian: IBM

Do It Right! is so much more than an etiquette book - it really is a powerful management and leadership tool. An easy-to-navigate guide for everyday etiquette in business as well as social settings, Ms. Sokolosky provides keys to building relationships by putting into practice a professional and courteous presence reminiscent of days gone by. This book illustrates that it in the dog-eat-dog world in which business is conducted these days, it is indeed possible to forge business relationships with class, sophistication and style. And Leticia Baldridge's endorsement seals the deal!

This book is short and sweet. It is easy to read and to understand. It gives full details about WBS and it is a real help for PM.

Clear, concise, and to the point.
I would still like to study some effective examples of fully developed WBSs for commercial construction.

I've just bought this book last month while implementing SAP Project system. It is very helpful for me to design suitable WBS in my company.

Of the three books that focus solely on work breakdown structures this is the most complete. The other two are "Nuts and Bolts Series 1--How to Build a Work Breakdown Structure" by Carl L. Pritchard, and "Project Management Institute Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures". The burning question is how do they compare and which is best. For a no-nonsense and pragmatic book the "Nuts and Bolts Series" book wins. It has the distinction of being the first book on the subject, and is one that I used as a reference for the past 4 years. If you are planning to certify as a PMP, your best bet is the PMI Practice Standard, because you're sure to encounter exam questions that are based on that book. However, if you want a comprehensive book that covers every facet of principles and practice, this is the book to get.

What sets this one apart from the other two (all other factors being equal) is the clearer descriptions of the principles, and the checklists. I also like the way that the author goes deeper into details about how to align the WBS to various project types (product-, service- and results-oriented projects), and the more complete life cycle view that this book provides. As an aside, a results-oriented project, previously mentioned, is a project such as organizational change management, which doesn't produce a tangible deliverable in the same manner as, for example, a software development project does.

To put into context the comparison among the three books, I favor this one because of personal preferences. Each merits, in my opinion, equal value, and any of the three will give you the knowledge necessary to develop a work breakdown structure.

A total of 100 pages, which would seem a bit pricey, but in the 100 pages Haugan does a very competent job of covering the subject.

Most of the critical concepts in PM are really pretty basic, and most projects and PM texts fail on understanding and executing on those basic concepts. This book is very clear and succinct on the basics of WBS.

I very much admire Haugan's approach. I expect my copy will be around for a long time, marked-up, with yellow sticky-notes protruding out.

I thought that I was a pretty knowledgable investor until I began reading TEI...The Investor's Bill of Rights led me to the path of how to recover my losses...

I don't need a thousand words to say "Read The Empowered Investor or you are on the way to financial [ruin], period".

This expose' has been smeared by stockbrokers and their employers ever since it was published in 1998. Everything that you have only recently read about [recent "Wall Street" issues] is in TEI.

...

TEI is hard to find but it is in most libraries.

When you have read just the first two chapters you will also want to spread the word.

I plan to recover all of my losses with interest and will never trust the securities firms, brokers or their paid for research departments again.

TEI has taught me how to keep my recovered loss.

K. L. Yorlik, Chicago, IL.

WOW! Karoly said it all back in 1998. All about the corruption on Wall Street. The selling of investment research by brokerage firms to any listed company that wanted to move their stock.
He knew that this had been going on for years and that there was no way to stop it...ever.
The faster that investors get to this book the faster they will stop hemmoraging their assets into the financial suicide that the brokerage firms have set up for their customers.
Since the General accounting Office reported that only 0ne percent of all investors know that they can recover their losses, the firms translate that they have a 99% chance of continueing to get away with their fraud.
The Empowered Investor levels the Wall Street playing field for every investor.
Like every other reader I wish that I had read TEI a few years ago when Wall Street had only taken away about one half of my life's savings.
Wall Street has been trashing TEI since its publishing date.
Dearbrn the Publisher caught hell from the securities industry because they provide so many text books and testing material for stockbrokers. TEI is absolutely must reading for the survival of all investors.

I thought that I was a pretty knowledgable investor until I began reading TEI. If I had read TEI only one year ago I would not have lost over $500,000. by thinking that my broker knew more about stocks than I did. His bogus title made me think he was a specially trained securities specialist. What a joke!

The Investor's Bill of Rights led me to the path of how to recover my losses. That's where I am now.

I don't need a thousand words to say "Read The Empowered Investor or you are on the way to financial suicide, period".

This expose' has been smeared by stockbrokers and their employers ever since it was published in 1998. Everything that you have only recently read about Enron, WorldCom and the corruption that is Wall Street, is in TEI.

How I envy those early readers.

TEI is hard to find but it is in most libraries.

When you have read just the first two chapters you will also want to spread the word.

I plan to recover all of my losses with interest and will never trust the securities firms, brokers or their paid for research departments again.

TEI has taught me how to keep my recovered loss.

K. L. Yorlik, Chicago, IL.

December 15, 2000

Robert E. Karoly, Author The Empowered Investor

I purchased The Empowered Investor, in late 1998, just after its initial publication. Unfortunately, I was so busy that my reading time became nonexistent. I continued to follow my broker's advice during the past year and have lost thousands of dollars. That loss made me think about your book again, which I have since read. Without a doubt , had I read The Empowered Investor, when I purchased it, I would not have experienced this serious loss to me and my family. Your book specifically tells investors not to take the actions that I did take and which caused by losses. It is hard for me to tell you this but had I read The Empowered Investor early on, I would not have blindly believed my broker and the firm that he works for. I could have prevented these losses. I want your readers to know how important it is to read your book, before they make their next investment. Every investor, I hope, can benefit from this terrible investment experienced. I now keep your book as a handy reference and use it whenever I hear a broker say one of those "red flag" words or phrases that you warn your readers about. Investors need more books to guard them against the pressures of some unethical stockbrokers. I will not make those mistakes again. Thank you for The Empowered Investor. I now plan to recover my losses through arbitration. Sincerely,

W. Mattek FL

The Empowered Investor candidly reveals every investor's Bill of Rights for the very first time. Investors are shown how to "practice safe investing", how to recognize "rogue" stockbrokers before becoming involved with them. TEI is also a book about how to keep what you have. The mysteries of brokerage firms statements and concealed losses are clearly solved. Investors learn of the attitudes of brokerage firms toward their clients. They will learn the importance of Account Opening Agreements that every investor is required to sign. The research departments myth is unraveled for investors' protection. Just as important, TEI is a guide to self-discovery of accounts which have been abused by stockbrokers. Investors learn how their vulnerability increases in direct proportion to the degree of personal friendship that the broker has achieved with the investor. TEI is a complete guide to recovering losses, also. It is destined to become the ultimate investors' defensive guide to investing.