Marketing Books

Think fast, be creative, and know how to come up with your own speed bumps in life that get people to stop and pay attention. Kathy Aaronson reminds us of that "kid courage" that got us what we wanted as children. Are you applying it to your life today?

While many of the strategies that Aaronson describes in her book are targeted to the sales/marketing professional, anyone who is truly serious about attaining career satisfaction will benefit from her wisdom and insight.

This book is a fast, enjoyable read, and definitely delivers on its promise to make "success easier than failure."

I discovered this book from a review in the Orlando Sentinel, which pointed out that it "provides valuable insight into dealing with rejection and building positive business relationships." I like that it gives lots of examples, includes case studies and checklists so you not only understand this, but also can put it into action.
Here's what it includes:

Part One: Bringing Out the Value Within.

1. Finding Worth, Providing Value.

Checklist: What Is Value?

Nothing Happens Until You Sell Yourself.

2. Slowing Down the Traffic.

Creating Prospects.

The Five-Touch Technique.

3. Why We Buy, and How.

The Four Universal Types of Customers.

Building Loyalty with Every Sale.

Part Two: Turning Cold Calls into Warm Relationships.

4. Communicating with All the People, All the Time.

Six Possible Responses to Your Approach.

5. The Well-Polished Presenter.

The 24-Hour Professional.

Packaging Counts.

6. Storytelling Selling.

New Ideas: How to Show, Tell, and Sell.

A Seven-Point Presentation Structure for Selling Anything.

Rules for Storytelling Selling.

Part Three: Giving Something Extra.

7. An Apple for the Road.

Ten "Something Extra" Ideas.

Replenish--So You'll Have Something Extra to Give.

8. An Apple for the Teacher.

How to Find a Mentor.

How to Keep a Mentor.

9. It's All about the People.

How to Choose a Career You'll Love.

Career Security through Thick and Thin.

Epilogue: The Most Important People.

Appendix: The Golden Apple Action Plan.

Kathy Aaronson's strategies for breaking through and building receptivity with all types of people changed the way I do marketing. This book is a fun read, filled with good tips for anyone with an idea to convey and services to sell.

Check this book out. It works on many levels: an inspiratonal story, a sales primer and a humorous slice of how business works. Highly recommended

The book is a WINNER and a welcome relief to a Neanderthal party giver such as myself. When I think what I put my son through two years ago for his high school graduation, I cringe inwardly and ask the heavens for forgiveness. But life is made for second chances and my daughter is graduating from high school in a couple of months (June 2001).

My communications with my strong-willed seventeen-year-old daughter can become, even with the best of intentions, an unfortunate "tug of war." By following the authors' advice in the section titled "Don't Forget the Guest of Honor," this book has already paid great dividends. Within fifteen minutes of asking my daughter the questions suggested by Ginger and Mary in this section, I had a clear and concise idea of the type and size of celebration she would enjoy and, miraculously, not a single frustrated word was said between us. My daughter seemed genuinely pleased with the thoughtfulness of my questions as well as some of my ideas. The fact that the questions and ideas came from "Graduation: Celebrate with Style!" shall remain my secret - I plan to take full credit for everything and bask in my daughter's good feelings. Using the SOUND, SENSIBLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD ADVICE given by Ginger and Mary in "Graduation: Celebrate with Style!" I am confident that my daughter's graduation celebration will be memorable and appreciated by the guest of honor

One warning to readers - do not read the book before going to bed. I got so excited thinking of ideas for my daughter's graduation celebration that I had a hard time falling asleep.

I found this book very helpful for many special event parties! The ideas, tips and guidelines are useful for all social gatherings. I am using it now for a wedding celebration. The book is also a GREAT gift to give other parents.

A wonderful guide for throwing "just the right" graduation party. A book full of ideas that will make that special day "shine"!

This book will help you customize your party to your graduates and yuor specific needs, lots of good ideas,quick and easy to read.

This book gave me lots of great ideas! I'm actually excited about planning my party now, instead of being anxious. It answered lots of questions in an easy-to-read format. Thanks, Mary & Ginger!

Guerilla Retailing has helpful information on all aspects of a retail business from paint colors to display to hiring staff. It was also a very easy, quick read.

A word to the Big Boys - look out - it's the ones you don't see coming that get you. Your big budget marketing plans won't save you now. It's a whole new world out there, thinks to the unconventional advice from the Guerrilla Marketing success team.

Guerilla Retailing gives entrepreneurial retailers a delicious unfair advantage. It's the advantage of time, energy and imagination: the Guerrilla Retailer's greatest assets...if they know how to use them. Get your copy, keep your to-do list handy, and prepare to thrive.

Guerrilla Retailing is your instruction manual for retail success. The Big Boys won't know what hit them.

If you're a retailer, you need this book! It covers everything you need to compete with chains and big-box stores. Some of the topics include how to differentiate your business, affordable marketing tactics and sales promotions, ways to improve the customer experience and how to hire, train and motivate employees. I was impressed by how detailed and specific it is. It's filled with real-world examples and practical ideas. Buy this book and get ready for your sales to soar!

Most of the information is common sense, so common that in business we forget to do these simple but vital things. The book is required reading for our employees.

A terrific, comprehensive manual for anyone who sells anything! Whether you hawk hot dogs on a corner or sell diamonds to debutants, this book has everything you need to know about the art and science of retailing. I got some great, inexpensive promotional ideas and learned how to find and keep the best people for our restaurant.

The Handbook of Program Management is a significant and useful contribution to the increasingly important field of program management. It treats the subject from an appropriate perspective, yet is concise, clearly written, and easy to follow.

It is all fairly common to consider programs mainly as "really big projects." While this is not actually incorrect, it does miss the point that most programs are complex systems of interconnected projects. They fail or succeed based on the coordination of the projects, each led by a separate project manager. Due to their size and importance, programs also have complicated, often labyrinthine networks of sponsors and managers. Because of all of this, programs are very much about people. James understands this, and provides a great deal of useful advice on leadership, organization, and (especially) stakeholder management.

The book takes you step-by-step through the basics of setting up the structure necessary for a robust program environment. Where needed, examples and pointers are included, with tips and scenarios throughout the chapters, and the essence of each chapter is boiled down to a useful list of "Keystone" principles at its close.

I've read the book from cover to cover and it's a excellent pragmatic book that explains how to manage both small and large programs. I can easily see myself using this as a reference for many years to come especially when I find myself trying to figure out how to handle one of the many of situations the author describes in his book.

The chapter on attributes of an effective Program Manager was really helpful to me as I was in the process of assigning one of my staff as a Program Manager. When I read the simple to understand attributes it really helped me to focus in on who on my staff could do the role. Additionally, it was an excellent guide for my selected Program Manager to use to understand what my expectations of him was.

The chapter that covered stakeholder management was another excellent chapter that I have sense asked all of my Program AND Project managers to read. I did this because it's an excellent chapter on helping the Program and Project Managers to understand what stakeholders REALLY expect of them. Additionally he goes over the types of stakeholders that you can run into and simple yet effective methods to work effective with them. For example he talks about the meddling stakeholder which all Program and Project managers run into. Here he guides you though why they might be meddling, such as they recently got burned by a prior project or there is a distrust with the organization. In these situations he recommends on involving them through many tasks and details. They want to meddle great jump in the mud, roll up your sleeves and help, otherwise step back and let those truly involved in the project get the work done while properly informing all stakeholders.
Over all this book is a really good and easy read.

I expect to be referencing for many years to come!

The book is a very useful and pragmatic approach to Program Management. He provides real world examples and guidance for improving your skills. He also does a great job addressing the leadership skills required to be a successful program manager. A highly recommended read for program managers and those aspiring to be one!

This book was published in 2008, so the information in it reflects the current state of program management. In his forward, Dr. Brown states that his book will provide "a framework of structured, organized common sense". He observes that it requires "leadership and integrity to repeatedly execute successfully".

He then goes on to provide examples of project characteristics that indicate if there are problems with an organizations program environment. The examples he provides are both clear to understand and described in a way to understand the root issue. He then goes on to provide insight into attributes of an effective program manager, stakeholder management, program process strategy, program execution, communication and risk management. His book is written clearly, with practical examples and with actionable recommendations.

Now that project management methodologies have reached a level of understanding and maturity to provide companies with project managers that are highly effective, the focus needs to shift to the world of program management. Managing portfolios of projects across multiple business lines is extremely challenging and the processes to support these efforts are just emerging. This book is an excellent starting point to benefit from Dr. Brown's research and incorporate some new best practices into your Program management processes.

It is obvious to me that the author spent a lot of time thinking about this book before he started writing it. I bought this book to use as a reference while studying for the PgMP exam and found it to be very helpful for providing another perspective beyond the PMI standard and the exam preparation book that I bought.

For me, the ordering of topics is very logical and the writing is very clear. Where examples are necessary, examples are provided. Where topics are a bit more obscure, Mr. Brown takes the time to provide explanations to help you understand. I really can't find any major faults with this book.

Causey is what anthropologists should be. His book is grounded, full of humanity, insightful, surprising, poetic, compassionate and a lovely read. He beautifully describes and explains something profound of a people through times of tremendous social and economic change. An extremely informative and humanistic look at a Sumatran cultural group in the midst of global pressures.

A first rate work and a wonderful read. This book was delightful to read. Right from the beginning of the book, I was drawn in. It's clear this is a scholarly work, well researched and carefully detailed. As a reader of more casual literature, I was agreeably surprised at the superior writing style of the author. I thoroughly enjoyed the experiences and anecdotes throughout the whole book. Anyone who enjoys reading about other cultures and other places would definitely enjoy reading this book. I stayed up to 1:00 am one night reading it. I look forward with real anticipation to future works from this author.

Like most working stiffs, I save up for a big vacation to some far away land and when it finally happens I get shuffled around from one tourist spot to the next. The culture presents itself for purchase and I buy.

"Hard Bargaining in Sumatra" isn't just a book by an affable scholar. It immediately took me into the home of a very different family, sat me on a 'fancy mat' and amused me with a narrative by the author to his Toba Batak friends. He told a story for their entertainment that might easily have described my own hapless first experience in an exotic culture. The family's reaction and the unfolding details of their work in the woodcarving-for-tourists trade was a pleasure to read.

I was continuously surprised at how clearly Causey expressed complicated, seldom-analyzed notions of place and identity. The relationship between tourist and vacation spot is alive and dynamic in a way I'd never imagined. The author's struggle to learn the skills of the woodcarver gave extra dimension to my understanding of this traditional craft. The friendship between the student/researcher and the teacher/subject made the dynamics of the familial roles and societal obligations disarmingly vivid and personal. The book enriched my understanding of a distant culture to a degree I could never have achieved by hopping a plane and wandering their marketplaces. When I saw a Toba Batak carving at an art museum a few weeks later, I had a wealth of feelings and observations that would never have occurred to me before. For me, reading this book was like the best kind of vacation. I learned a lot, felt a connection to the people and culture, and enjoyed the process.

"What happens when the homeland of one group is also claimed as the vacationland of another group?"

This question put by the author rather succinctly sums up a major theme of the book, and perhaps should be a guiding thought for all of us who ever take a vacation...anywhere.
Whether we are taking a "package" vacation or just winging it in a new location, we have an impact not only on the place we visit, the feeling of the place, the services it provides, and perhaps most importantly, the ART of the place. Souvenirs...mementos...folk art...all these tokens and totems that come from our vacation spot are evolving to meet our desires.

The author handles this idea and others in a very human and sensitive way, inviting us into his experience in Sumatra, Indonesia and filling our minds with the sense of the place: its smells, visuals, sounds, landscape and its people. It is easy to lose oneself in this book as if it were a novel or the travelogue, yet it tackles some very difficult issues without sounding preachy or judgmental. I have always been interested in, and sensitive to the general "sense" of a place. I can be easily spooked by the quality of light or the sight of long shadows in the afternoon. I found Dr. Causey to be a kindred spirit, as he has addressed this feeling (because it is at heart a "feeling") very poetically in his writing about Lake Toba.

There are many humourous vignettes within the book, as well as many parables and lessons.
It in indeed educational, and educational on a new level-it reaches right into the spaces between ideas and brings into being a hybrid way of looking. It is accessible, informative and heartfelt.
I would recommend this book to anyone - it can be read for sheer pleasure. But if you are planning to travel, and would like to get some ideas on developing a very diplomatic and culturally sensitive approach to your new destination, this is most certainly the book for you.
I nominate Dr. Causey for Goodwill Ambassador!

This book is a true rarity--a work of serious scholarship, written in a user-friendly, personal, poetic, eminently-readable style. You'd almost be fooled into thinking you were reading a romantic travel narrative, one of those popular memoirs à la "Under the Tuscan Sun" where a naive American goes off and has a life-transforming experience while in a foreign land. But as Dr. Causey relates his tales of the months spent with the Toba Batak in their remote, beautiful homeland in northern Sumatra, learning something about their culture, something about woodcarving, and a LOT about shopping, he also unfolds a series of subtle, complex observations about aesthetics, about colonialism and acquisition, and about the role of tourists / collectors in a market economy and their effect as both destroyers and saviors of traditional culture. Absolutely fascinating stuff, and certainly not just for students of anthropology--this is a book that should be read by art historians as well as by economists, as well as by anyone who simply enjoys a well-written tale of a beautiful place that they've never been...

I particularly admire "Hard Bargaining" for the lack of any tang of cultural superiority on Dr. Causey's part--he never assumes that he knows more than the people he's observing, or that since he has a Ph.D., his observations must be considered correct. He went there; he lived, he learned, he shopped; and he thought about it, hard, and critically, comparing the Toba Batak culture to our own, and letting the reader make the judgement calls, not the anthropologist. Very well done!

I am a technical recruiter, and some of the sales prinicipals that he outlines in his book are truly thought provoking. I would recomend this book to anybody who works in high tech that needs to hone their sales skills.

I am a big fan of this this series and I have ordered this book. I cannot wait to receive it so I can read it. After I read it I will give a detailed review.

This book was a great read! As I read it I learned things I didn't understand about the selling process. Having read a few of the books in this series I have become even more excited about starting my own business selling into the pet care industry.

In just 7 steps, you can achieve sales success. For example, the first step in compassion. What people in sales talk about compassion as being part of the process? Interesting prospective. This book will help you achieve better sales.

We all sell. Now, buy this book for less than $20, and improve your sales in seconds. Regardless of what you sell, and even if you are not a salesperson, you have to read the simple suggestions in this book. The Make it Big with Yuvi series has done it again. Great book.

What an important book for the contemporary marktplace! The author gives the reader incredibly canny insights into the confusing world of interactive marketing--both the "30,000-foot," strategic view and the hands-on, everyday tactics that get the job done. And all of this is presented in a friendly, easy-to-read style with a minimum of jargon and buzzwords. This book is worth many times the cover price. It's about time someone wrote this book.

A must for all new and veteran marketing professionals.

First, read the last four paragraphs. Then read the book. Use a marker liberally. This is a person with strong opinions and he is usually right. He is a marketer's marketer who never strays far from the fact that we all have to sell something to survive. He complies a lot of current internet thinking and best practices with a substantial heaping of his own background. He adds a sprinkling of the future with an eye on what's working now. Worth the price of admisssion, but start with the end.

A must read for anyone who either makes or influences marketing decisions. Being a part of an organization that serves both small and medium sized businesses that need integrated marketing solutions, this book is the outline for success. As an avid reader, all too often I see either "Joe Bob's theory on marketing success" or somebody plagiarizing one of the Porter bibles; either way, they're not usable by the average guy. Ryan's book has concise, easy to implement solutions that can be scaled. In today's marketplace where most businesses have between 2 and 10 employee's and make well under a million a year in revenue, business owners need roadmaps that are easy to follow and implementable with the staff that is on hand. Ryan does this well.

Not only would I consider this a must read, I'd say it's one to pick up again and again.

Christopher Ryan has hit a homerun with his book High Performance Interactive Marketing. His book provides the reader with a host of real-time, practical advice on how to improve the performance of your business.

I love the fact that Ryan provides the reader with a plethora of real-world examples that a company (such as mine or my client's) can utilize immediately.

In a book world that is so focused on nice-to-know theories, Ryan delivers on what all companies covet--practical advice that can be used the next day. I especially like his demonstrations of metrics, such as return on marketing investments, as this continues to be the holy grail that most companies seek, but very few find the right formula tied to their specific situation.

I will use this book regularly for my company and highly recommend it to my clients.

I enjoy reading a lot of travel writings. I travel a lot myself and find many travel books are no more interesting than my own life and travels, so I am pleased when I find a book that is about somewhere I haven't been or different cultures, with a funny twist to it.

This book had me laughing. I recommend it.

I loved this book and have read it over and over. I laughed out loud on almost every page. One of the funniest stories was how the maids who initially worked there destoyed all of the vacumn cleaners by not changing the bags because they thought the dirt went through the cord into the wall!!! Talk about culture shock! I have given this book to numerous people who are not necessarily interested in traveling, Tibet or China and they have all loved it!

Much better than all those boring books on Tibet. This one made me laugh out loud! He doesn't really try to tell the sad story of Tibet, as it's about all the crazy antics that went on in this amazing hotel (a Holiday Inn - in Tibet??!!) but as you read it and laugh at the funny stuff, you can't help gain a better understanding of what life is like there. If you want to know more about Tibet or just want a good read that will make you laugh, get this one.

I enjoyed reading this book about a man that gets a job in Tibet at the Holiday Inn which is nothing like the holiday inns here. Had information about the country and some funny parts.

I picked this book up at a sale at my local book store. What a find! I've been to many of the places in the book and have to say that the author is spot on. I even had lunch at the hotel that he worked at during the time he was there.

Its a very funny read. If you've never been to Tibet, the book will still entertain you, and make you want to go! If you HAVE been to Tibet, then you'll enjoy it even more.

Probably the BEST book on network marketing presentations ever written. And, a very easy read. Mike Stokes <> Baton Rouge, LA

This book contains many nice metaphors which you can apply to other areas beyond MLM organizations. Let me use the "Ships" metaphor in a conventional business company.

Consider you already have managers in your staff and are going to open a new venture - the network of supermarkets. There should be at least one talented manager for each supermarket. Some manager will be working properly, their supermarkets will be profitable but they won't yield any further development. Such people are calling "Silver Ships". Now consider people who are even in moderate ranks will act as self-motivating and self-organizing managers, able to infuse their ideas into the public mind, do things with small increments but finish them for sure. Such people are your "Golden Ships", with whom you should share leadership functions. Of course, there may also exist "Empty Ships" into whom you may invest lots of time, energy, other resources, but this would not pay off. You should definitely get rid of the empty ships, because they do not let silver and golden ships stand on their places.

"Silver Ships" are good workers but do not expand your business. If your team will only contain of them, you will be profitable for a while, but your organization will lack flexibleness and won't be able to adapt to the quickly-changing condition of the modern world, and you will collapse sooner or later. "Golden Ships" are full of initiative, they don't need much external propelling force, and preoccupied with organizational flourishing, growth and change.

Did you read in the management literature that it's the manager's business to motivate the employees, to keep their morale high, to make them love their job, and so on? If all of your colleagues are "Empty Ships", your efforts to motivate them won't bring any result and you will quickly loose your own passion. This is not the case with "Silver Ships", who consume your motivation fruitfully, but the level of energy you will spend on them will be less then what they will give to you, and your own motivation won't rise very high. Now imagine what will happen if you give your energy to the "Golden Ships", who already are capable of giving their energy to their mates. You won't need to spend enormous energy to motivate them, and they have already created enough motivation around them, or even turned some "Silver Ships" to "Golden Ships".

The management literature which claims to teach how to motivate the staff won't help you if you are enclosed by the "Empty Ships". Such literature assumes that you always NEED something while your employees do NEVER want to do anything unless you stimulate of motivate them properly. Just get rid of these people and find someone who are motivated by the job and who are capable of motivating you. You may have tough times in your life and may not always have liveliness to motivate even yourself, when you NEED to motivate the staff according to this literature. This is wrong situation. You need to have such subordinates that will motivate you. Such subordinates have ideas and enthusiasm, while you have experience that you might want to share. Imagine how your motivation will will be raising when you are surrounded by the "Golden Ships". Just concentrate your efforts on attracting enough people of this kind around you, and they will be attracting good people around them.

Don Failla's lessons are time tested and easy to learn and pass on. Network Marketing is about duplication, and these napkin presentations are easy to duplicate. Learn them, teach them, and teach your downline to teach them.

I'd not heard of this book but received it through ... [a] BookClub. It's so easy to read, interesting, and full of greatinformation. If everyone in my organization, or any network marketing / MLM organization got their hands on this book, they would see the "Big Picture" very quickly and they would get started YESTERDAY in this business. You can get through this book in an evening or two and once you start it, you'll be eager to finish and get started!

This book was the very first thing that my incredibly successful sponsor gave to me. A man of few words, he said "Read this and you will understand!" I found the book intrigueing and bulging with possibility on my first read.

Working with a Network Marketing company in Europe, this book and its ideas is now the very basis of how we work. We have been very successful by keeping our strategy and teaching very simple and easy to understand.

I have read a lot of other MLM and Network Marketing books since, many of these adopt a name the best people or an upbeat rah rah approach, but I keep returning to Don Failla because it is so well named ; The Basics.
It could also be named All You will Ever Need to Know!

In my organisation Don's book is now the very first thing I give to my people. Every time I get some fancy idea, I just re-read it myself. The book has the habit of showing you just what you should be doing, no matter how successful you become.

I think its strength comes with dealing in the basics from their original telling which was so close to the wisdom that Don had aquired. The truths and methods do not really date and though it is told with obviously an American audience in mind, the ideas and there re-telling works worlwide.

This book has a permanent place on my desk and is the absolute foundation of re-learning and re-building my working life. I can not imagine it being improved, just re-printed.

Tom Egelhoff has written a practical guide to marketing for businesses in small towns where ever they may be. One does not need a university degree or buckets of money to implement his ideas which are bound to assist any small business person to grow his business. Tom is genuine and sincere about what he has written, much of which is cleary based on his own experiences.

As an Advertising Manager of a small town newspaper based in North Eastern Victoria, Australia, I find Tom's book to be very useful and relevant to small business marketing in my area and I plan to use it frequently to assist my clients with practical marketing advice which value adds to the Advertising advice that I give.

I recomend the book to all small business people, especially those working in smaller communities.

When I needed to learn how to promote the Religion Dept. at the college I work at, this book came through with ideas and wisdom I could understand and implement!

This book is excellent for someone with absolutely NO marketing/promoting experience or educational background. The ideas are sound and, often, not expensive. The best thing is that it is adaptable to any type of group/organization/business.

The format is "friendy." Tom gets his points across in a way that YOU know YOU can do. He gives plenty of useful tips, and when this book is used in conjunction with the Internet, the information at your findertips will astound the reader!

This book is guaranteed to turn even the most unknowledgable person into a whiz at promoting "whatever" it is you need to promote, even Religion Departments!

This book is an inexpensive must-have for new or emerging small businesses. It includes the basics such as sales forecasting, success principles, advertising, promoting, and marketing concepts. Most importantly however, it is written for small businesses in a community setting. It includes several worksheets and explains the necessity of learning about the "Miracle Mile". The content is practical for both the new and experienced business owner.

Tom Egelhoff's book is a fantastic reference for anyone thinking of beginning a business in a small town. I enjoyed the questions Egelhoff posed because it helps the reader to define and focus their marketing plan and to consider ideas they may not have otherwise thought of. The book is easy to read and understand with wonderful suggestions.

Mr. Egelhoff gets to the heart of how to market your business in a "small town" format. However, the information he gives is practical and useful for all scales of business. His book helps to develop the user's business model from defining who you are, identifying who you sell to and how to critique what you've done. Mr. Egelhoff gives practical and specific areas to consider and useful suggestion and areas to avoid. This book is well worth the reading for anyone seriously considering starting their own business.