Marketing Books

There are now more than 1 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. The fundraising industry provides one in every ten jobs and is one of the
fastest-growing segments of the economy. In Successful Fundraising, nationally recognized expert Joan Flanagan gives readers the information they need to capture a
fair share of available fundraising dollars. Community volunteers and professional fundraisers alike will find helpful tips and advice on time-proven fundraising
techniques and the most profitable new ways to successfully raise money.

Are you looking to raise $1,000-or $1,000,000-for a particular cause, group, or charity? Successful Fundraising by Joan Flanagan will arm you with the information you
need to capture your organization's fair share of available fundraising dollars.

Whether you are a community volunteer or a professional fundraiser, expert Joan Flanagan offers helpful tips and advice cm gaining access to funds, building
relationships with donors, raising more money in a shorter period of time, and developing a more productive fundraising organization.

Packed with real-litc examples from the author's extensive fundraising experience, this essential handbook is complete with planning guidelines, sample worksheets and
timetables, and all-new information on using the Internet, F-mail, websites, and on-line auctions as fundraising tools. It also includes expanded sections that cover
working with celebrities to raise funds and winning corporate dollars. All the tools you need to plan, create, and execute a successful fundraising effort are included in
this comprehensive guide.

Successful Fundraising is a great resource for non-profit agencies! It is very easy to read, straightforward, and actually a fun read too! Joan gives great examples and stories to illustrate her points.

I recently had the opportunity to attend one of Joan's courses - and she is just as wonderful and helpful in person. She presents the daunting tasks of fundraising in simple language, common sense and humor.

This book should be the "bible" of every non-profit fundraiser!

This book provides the reader with time tested ideas on how to raise dependable money from a variety of sources. I really liked this book a lot. I don't know that I can say I like it quite as much as Fundraising for Social Change (ISBN: 0787984558), Fundraising Basics (ISBN: 0763734462), or Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits (ISBN: 1413300944). But it comes close. This book is very well written and well organized.

In Chapter 1 at Figure 1.3 we are introduced to the Individual Donor Development (IDD) diagram that includes the following eight levels (level 1 at the bottom and level 8 at the top):

1. Individual prospects - potential donations
2. Clients - fees for service
3. Customers - product sales
4. Guests - special events
5. Annual donors and members - direct mail, email, the Internet, phone calls
6. Pledgers and frequent donors - credit card and payroll deductions
7. Major donors - person-to-person requests, clubs, memorials, and honorary gifts
8. Planned-gift donors - bequests, insurance, and life income plans

The author has written her book around the IDD diagram. As a result, this book flows very well. It has a wonderful introduction, a good start, and moves logically to the end. After reading this book you should have a good grasp of fundamental principles of fundraising. You should be able to design a sound written fundraising plan. And you should be confident to move forward by implementing the plan you have written. A wonderful book I have read that will coach you in your attempt to write a good fundraising plan is "The Fundraising Planner" (ISBN: 0787944351).

Are you wondering if your NPO is on the right track regarding its fundraising efforts? If so, take a look at pages 19 and 20 in this book where you will find the author's Fundraising Strategy Planning worksheet. After plugging and chugging info into this worksheet you will know how your organizaton is doing and how it can improve. Also, for an overview of the fundraising process in general examine page 21. It's also where the author explains her book and what it is about.

There is no mention of capital campaigns in this book. And prospect research and how to do it is not covered very well. But other books do a good job on these topics. See "Capital Campaigns" (ISBN: 0763730505) regarding CC's. And see "Fundraising Basics" referred to above, and "Building a Strong Foundation" (ISBN: 0871012499) regarding prospect research. I haven't read it, but there is a book devoted to prospect research. See "Prospect Research" (ISBN: 0763751030).

I noticed a few times in the book the following concept: The tried-and-true fundraising system that still works the best is to (1) give your own donation, (2) then ask people you know for money face-to-face, and (3) then send a personal Thank-You note. If you read this book you will get the information you need in order to raise money. It will provide you with the know-how to do it. First, build a broad base of small donors, and then build a longterm relationship with the best ones. It's really just that simple. 5 stars!

I'm not a professional fundraiser, but I plan to become involved in nonprofits, and this book was great! I know of some nonprofits that get all of their money from corporate donations and then complain about not having enough money. This isn't the way to do it, according to Ms. Flanagan. In order to be a successful fundraiser, you need to ask, ask, ask, and you need to provide many different ways for different people to give. Flanagan goes into many aspects of the game, including how to send follow up letters, when to ask, how often to ask, and different ways of making it easy to get big gifts. I especially liked the way she talks about the psychology of rich people and poor people, and how both tend to give in different ways. She tells us never to make decisions for givers--just ask, present them with the different options, and let them decide. Great advice.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get involved with charity. The marginal profit from the first day will probably cover the cost of this book many times over.

I felt this book was reasonably priced and offered a wide array of helpful fundraising advice -- especially for the small to mid-sized nonprofit. It covers a lot of the basics in a writing style that is pleasant to read.

David Morrell opens The Successful Novelist with the most important question a writer will ever answer. "Why Do You Want to be a Writer?" He pushes the reader to go deep into his/her emotional state to answer the question. The rest of the book is filled with examples from Morrell's life that illustrate the importance of knowing the emotional reason a writer writes. Interweaved is practical writing advice and look inside the mind of the man who created Rambo. The Successful Novelist also delves into the writing world, the publishing industry, and the movie industry. Whether you've just written your first novel or your thirtieth novel, you're likely to find something inspiring, informative, and entertaining in the pages of The Successful Novelist.

No matter if you are an aspiring writer or an avid reader, this is a peek into how one author creates his stories.
Although I have no aspirations to be a writer, I am an avid reader and often wonder how one of my favorite authors creates the stories I love.
Mr. Morrell provides a end to end view of both the creative and business aspects of writing.
If you are an aspiring writer Mr. Morrell will help you avoid the pitfalls of your chosen profession.

I purchased the "Successful Novelist". In short: a great book. I also purchased another book from the same author David Morrell. This book is "Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing" and guess what: it is exactly the same book as "Successful Novelist", but for the title.
Amazon has decided to provide a full refund including the shipment costs. Thank you Amazon.

An instructional writing book...by an actual successful novelist. While David Morrell may be best-known for writing "First Blood" and the subsequent Rambo novelizations, "The Successful Novelist" puts him on the map as a world-class professor of writing as he turns the edict "Those who can't do, teach" on its head. He used to teach in the University of Iowa English Department that was located below the Iowa Writer's Workshop offices. However, his instruction here is contrary to that of most college creative writing workshops, in that he adresses writers of all genres (not just "literary" writers). For that reason, this book will be of particular interest to thriller, science fiction, horror, and other genre writers looking for instruction outside of the university structure.

"The Successful Novelist" is an update edition of Morrell's first writing book, Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft with an added chapter on marketing. If you enjoy "The Successful Novelist," you should also check out Stephen King's On Writing and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style to round out your writing "home study" course.

This is a great book on the craft of writing. I believe it is, however, a previously published book under the title "Lessons of a Lifetime of Writing" by David Morrell. For those who have read that book, this is a duplication.

For those who have not already read this book, do yourself a favor and buy it. The reviews under the previous title are excellent and informative.

http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Lifetime-Writing-Novelist-Looks/dp/1582971439/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204579021&sr=1-1

David is a unique person to share his experience. A former college professor, he knows how to teach. As a brilliant novelist, he knows how to tell stories that entertain. This book accomplishes both of those goals.

I've read many books on writing and, in my opinion, this one ranks up there with Stephen King's "On Writing and the books by Noah Lukeman. This book will certainly compliment any writer's collection of informative books. More than that, the stories that David shares are extremely interesting and entertaining. As I read them, I could vividly imagine myself going through them with my works and one day, aided by David's sage advice, I'm sure I shall.

If you've not already purchased this book under the previous title. Buy it now!

This book is a must for anyone starting and/or managing a telephone sales call center. It gives you every piece of advice that is necessary to succeed. The information in this book was key to the success that I have had starting and operating an Inside Sales Department for a large manufacturer. Following the guidelines and information in this book I was able to take $30 million dollars worth of existing mature business and grow it by 15% during the first 18 months. In my opinion this book should be the bible for any telephone sales manager...it's value is priceless!!! Mr. Van Vechten is certainly an expert in his field.

John Kirk SENCO Products, Inc.

I thought the potential reader would be interested in where the content for the guide came from. Simple... readers and organizations like yours. All of the concepts are fully tested and I truly don't know of anyone else who took this approach. And, although I come to the table with bias... I think you who have helped with the work deserve five stars.

This book is must for any Inside Sales Manager. The information and guidelines in this book helped me to start a new Inside Sales Department with a large manufacturing company. It made it possible to grow $20 million in mature existing business by 15% in just 18 months. Quite a return for such a small investment. Lee Van Vechten provides direction for a telephone sales manager in all areas as it relates to starting and managing an Inside Sales Department. It is simply stated a step by step guide to success regardless of your level of experience. This book has became my "bible"!!!

John Kirk Senco Products, Inc.

After 23 years of selling over the phone, from computer systems software to specialty surgical instruments, I have finally found a guide that covers all the bases for pro-active, outbound telesales. The author's narrative is concise, easy to read, and has practical easy to follow applications for his methodology. What is astonishing is his thorough understanding of selling over the phone, this is not a customization of field sales adapted for telephone sales.

When our company decided to implement telemarketing into the mix, the managment team basically thought it would be a no brainer. Pick up the phone, offer your product, and instantly increase sales. Were we ever wrong. After numerous employees revolving through the door, customer relations going sour from badly trained help, and thousands of dollars later, we regrouped and looked for help! This is such a practical guide with a very simple message; "do it and it will work". Our turn-over has decreased tremedously by following the hiring,training,and compensation advice. Customer survey's have risen 7 positive points in our favor and the bottom line.... sales are up 35% in the 1st quarter! Every business can profitably benefit from telemarketing and I highly recommend this book so you can make sound and proven business decisions that can impact your profit margin almost immediatley.

This book includes many case studies of public relations problems. It includes the story of how Proctor & Gamble discovered that one of its competitors was spreading rumors about P&G being in league with Satan, because of its man in the moon logo. How bizarre is that! I guess the guys at Amway never heard of the "Thou shalt not bear false witness" thing.

Talespin: Public Relations Disasters - Inside Stories & Lessons Learned is an anthology of true public relations gaffes - from the brouhaha that ensues when two sports mascots get into an all-to-real physical altercation on the field, to the infamous Ford vehicle/Firestone tire defects considered responsible for the loss of dozens of lives. Each incident is retraced, analyzed carefully in plain terms, with a summary of lessons learned about how to deal with public relations crises, keep a positive image, avoid slander and libel, and respond appropriately when bad things happen. An absolute "must-read" for any PR professional, packed with tips, tricks, and techniques on what to do or not do. Learning from one's mistakes is important, but it is far less costly to learn from other people's mistakes - Talespin allows the business owner or PR professional to do exactly that!

Talespin: Public Relations Disasters - Inside Stories & Lessons Learned is an anthology of true public relations gaffes - from the brouhaha that ensues when two sports mascots get into an all-to-real physical altercation on the field, to the infamous Ford vehicle/Firestone tire defects considered responsible for the loss of dozens of lives. Each incident is retraced, analyzed carefully in plain terms, with a summary of lessons learned about how to deal with public relations crises, keep a positive image, avoid slander and libel, and respond appropriately when bad things happen. An absolute "must-read" for any PR professional, packed with tips, tricks, and techniques on what to do or not do. Learning from one's mistakes is important, but it is far less costly to learn from other people's mistakes - Talespin allows the business owner or PR professional to do exactly that!

Talespin: Public Relations Disasters - Inside Stories & Lessons Learned is an anthology of true public relations gaffes - from the brouhaha that ensues when two sports mascots get into an all-to-real physical altercation on the field, to the infamous Ford vehicle/Firestone tire defects considered responsible for the loss of dozens of lives. Each incident is retraced, analyzed carefully in plain terms, with a summary of lessons learned about how to deal with public relations crises, keep a positive image, avoid slander and libel, and respond appropriately when bad things happen. An absolute "must-read" for any PR professional, packed with tips, tricks, and techniques on what to do or not do. Learning from one's mistakes is important, but it is far less costly to learn from other people's mistakes - Talespin allows the business owner or PR professional to do exactly that!

Author Gerry McCusker recites a litany of public relations mistakes made by major corporations worldwide. Each mistake is encapsulated in a short chapter, only two to four pages, followed by a "Lessons Learnt" summary that serves as practical advice to PR people. Unfortunately, this choppy format makes the book read more like an encyclopedia or a depository of yarns from years of index cards rather than a cohesive work. It is organized only by an arbitrary alphabetical listing, and the jargon used ("journo," "bods," "squillions") may not translate well with U.S. audiences. However, the book has two big redeeming factors. First, it provides a global view of how major PR firms, such as Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton, and other corporations operate outside the U.S., often apparently at much lower standards than they use domestically. Secondly, the PR mistakes in this litany drive home the importance of basic common sense. They show how individuals can foster or destroy corporate good will. We can imagine PR professionals flipping through these war stories for entertainment and for warnings about disasters to avoid.

For those who know nothing about the web but would like to take their business online, this is a good book to read before hiring a professional. It will help you to determine if the person or firm knows what they're doing.

For anyone who has launched a website and is struggling to understand what's not working, this would be a good book.

All of the information is available on the web for free, but the author's done a nice job of packaging it and making it understandable for the novice. He's also addresses issues that are not tied to particular platforms (e.g. blogs), so the book won't be completely out of date as trends and technology continue to change.

If you have a few years of experience working with websites, the book may not be as helpful. Generally, though, it's always nice to read other people's take on what works and what doesn't. We are reminded of the solid basics and we always learn something new.

This book is well written and is packed with useful and practical information. It will get you well ahead of "the curve" on becoming successful online.

Well written,insightful and definitely worth the investment !
You can tell the Author has more hands-on experience than the average
Professor/Teacher who dwell on abstractions and vague concepts.
I just wish I had found this book first to save time and money...

I have gone through a host of books on the topic of web presence. This one, by far, made the most sense... It does not overburden the reader with a lot of technical mambo-jumbo; it focuses on what it truly means for the business. During the last two weeks, I have already gained more exposure; traffic increased threefold; and sales are up... Can you spell ROI?

This is an easy to read book with great information. There are lots of great tips. Anybody who reads this will get great value.

As a small business owner, I have experienced a wide range of success and failure using print media for advertising. If I'd had this book from the beginning, I could have saved literally tens of thousands in advertising costs and probably made more profit at the same time.

If you run a business that is driven by new customers, or if you want to expand your business and increase your customer base, The Unfair Advantage will help you grow your business by making the most of your advertising dollars. Thank you Claude Whitacre!

I read Claude's book. Then I reread about 1/2 of it and rewrote my yellow pages ad(deadline was in 2 days). Yes Claude even talks about yellow pages, billboards, direct mail, and other advertising many small businesses do as well as newspaper, radio, and TV. Claude believes advertising is an investment that should bring immediate measurable returns, not an expense. His real world expertise as a small businessman is a welcome change from books full of $64 words by professors or how to advertise if you have a $10,000,000 budget. He also shows businesses that have multiple products how selling to existing customers can be easier than getting new ones, and how to do it inexpensively. My only criticism is his view of radio and TV, as it seems most of his experience is in print. Broadcast doesn't really work like print, in my opinion. But for a small business looking to increase sales for not a lot of money, or even reducing their advertising expenditures by making what they do more effective, this is a must read.

This book is great and really easy to read. In no time at all you will learn how to create profitable ads. If it weren't for the knowledge bestowed on me by Claude Whitacre, my advertising dollars would be wasted. Before you buy another ad, read this book! My direct mail rep even read it and exclaimed how she "saw the light". Look for her review soon!

Claude Whitacre is brilliant! He shows you step-by-step how to construct a print ad that will make you money on the first run. There is no reason why a small business can't make money on all their advertising if they use the "little jewels" that Claude lays out in this book. It's a must for any small business owner!

I have been told by Ad Reps that your ad needs to be seen 7-13 times before people will respond. I've also heard from Reps that the job of their ad is to get people to the door, and nothing more. I finally got tired of listening to all that noise, and decided I wanted to learn how to write and design ads that worked.

By ads that work, I mean ads that more than pay for themselves. Ads that generate a return on the investment. Until I ran across Claude and his book, I didn't know how my small business could advertise effectively.

Using techniques Claude teaches in "The Unfair Advantage", my latest ad became the first one I've ever been able to see pay off in spades. I spent $275 on a 9 inch ad in my local paper (17k circulation) ten days ago, and so far it has pulled in $3,297 in gross sales. What's better yet, every one of those buyers is a new customer. That's what I've been looking for, and Claude helps me create results instead of hopeless frustration.

Easy to read and understand, The Unfair Advantage makes it clear that anyone can get results from ads using the good common sense that Claude provides through years of study and trial and error. Because he is also a small independent business owner, he "gets it" from our point of view.

Claude shows you how to create an irresistible offer and combine it with a headline that "grabs you by the face". He shows examples of ads that have worked, and those that fell flat, and why.

Interestingly, there is a short section written to Ad Reps, and why they should want to learn how to help their clients create winning, profitable ads. If you are a small independent business owner, or sell advertising to small independents for a living, you should buy this book in a heartbeat. I now believe I can make my advertising and marketing efforts pay off, that these efforts will be the best investment of my time at work. And I have Claude to thank for opening my eyes to that opportunity.

I truly enjoyed this book. It helped me to better understand myself and my faith in the Lord. Bravo!

THIS BOOK MAKES YOU STEP BACK AND REALLY LOOK AT YOURSELF. IT HELP ME TO MAKE SOME CHANGES ABOUT THE WAY I EXPRESS MYSELF IN EVERY DAY LIFE.

Excellent reading the book is truly encouraging, easy to understand and gives useful instruction on how to operate in faith. I was able to apply many of the principles immediately and highly reccommend this book it is wonderful!

THIS IS THE MOST INSPIRING BOOK I HAVE READ. IT HELPED ME TO TAKE A LOOK AT LIFE AS A WHOLE. READ THE BOOK.

This book is a must read book for any one who is seeking to have a closer walk with God. It's written in clear everyday language, so that you may understand what is being said. The Bible says that without faith, it's impossible to please God. So if pleasing God is what you are desiring to do, this book will help you to do just that. You will find many words of encouragement along with words of wisdom. And you will be able to get a better understanding of what faith is, and how to effectively walk in it. Utilizing Now Faith, shows us how to utilize the power that we have within, to live a more prosperous, easier, God ordained life.

As an accountant outside of the IP field, I found this to be a good tool to "round out" my business acumen. Enjoyed the presentation of pricing models.

I'm just through a couple of selected chapters, but I am certain that this book will provide me with an amazing outlook. It's very rounded, and includes a vast amount of information about licencing strategy, along with everything else. I suggest looking at the available images for the index (link to it somewhere on this page) and checking them out. Good stuff.

Richard is a very well known authority among those of us who are involved in the technology commercialization industry. As a technology commercialization business coach, I hear regularly that Richard's advice in his books is extremely helpful in the most important areas of their work. You can count on the validity of Richard's information...he's been in the trenches and around technology commercialization for many years.

If you want to be successful in commercializing technology get Richard's books, study them and put his advice and suggestions into practice.

~John L. Jenkins, The Coach
john@yourcoachingedge.com

Dr. Razgaitis has tackled an area that contains the most difficult question facing professionals and intellectual property owners - how to value and price embryonic technology.

In recent years many have attempted to educate us on the subject of valuing intellectual property. Complex financial theories and spread-sheet models emerged, especially during the e-business bubble as some strove to explain the unexplainable valuations of enterprises whose only assets were intangible. Dr. Razgaitis obviously knows and understands the theories, but doesn't let the reader escape into flights of fancy, instead bringing one back to earth gently, sometimes with humor, sometimes with real-life anecdotes.

This book allows the reader to seek information to a depth that he or she wishes. As an example, the Monte Carlo technique is presented in all its complexity for those willing and able to study it. At the same time, mathematically challenged readers can still come away with an understanding of what is going on. The author is skilled in clearly explaining complexities and the many well designed charts and tables greatly assist the reader.

These are just some of the features that set this book apart and give it a strong practical value to all of those who create and exploit technology assets, and to those who advise them. Anyone in those roles should have this book within easy reach.

Dr. Razgaitis has achieved an excellent job in illustrating most types of market-practiced methods in the valuation & pricing of tech-based intellectual property. He has done it not just in a coherent manner, but also with a touch of humourous & philosophical elements, which makes the book a surprisingly enjoyable read. Despite the fact that each valuation methods has different, or even diverse, characteristics, Dr. Razgaitis managed to clearly present how each method can be practically applied in various situations, and how these methods can be jointly applied to solve business problems. He has skillfully provided knowledge & guidelines for readers to come up with their own judgement regarding what methods to be applied in various real-world situations, rather than promoting a particular method as the 'silver bullet', like some other authors may attempt to do; this is refreshing & pragmatic as technology valuation is both art & science. The references of the book are also highly valuable, as they provides good pointers to resources that would enable readers to practice the methods.

Authors Mark Hurd and Lars Nyberg have brought a wealth of business management wisdom in this book. As the book is classified under business intelligence and information services, it is likely to be missed by business managers and students of management. The book defines contemporary global company to be one that collaborates effectively across the entire organization, whether worldwide or in one country. The other fascinating theme in the book is how a global business could manage effectively by centralizing goals and democratizing decisions. The best part of the book are the brief case studies from real businesses on how a concept that is explained is put into practice. The amount of wisdom packed in 130 pages makes it an outstanding book on "fact-based management" in practice.

"It's a book of staggering blandness, but in fairness, no more than thousands like it: the CEO's management manual," notes The Register in a review of the book. (...) "A title to send anyone to sleep.".

It goes on to say, "The CEO may become expert at pattern recognition, but staring at the patterns doesn't help with the predictive instincts that often go into making a hit product. That's the essential risk of entrepreneurship, and it's a wildly unpredictable factor. The technocratic management culture of the modern MBA school tries to minimize that risk, and so we have remedies such as "Information Alignment", which tell us nothing. Hurd is very much a product of his time."

We couldn't disagree more. Information leads to knowledge and to insights that allows one to have the "predictive instincts". Data warehousing and data mining can uncover true gold since information and not data is the basis of any wisdom - from personal life to corporate life.

This short book can actually be an eye opener to those who have been sleeping or tend to. As the above review shows, one more reason to read it.

This book is like a clear lamp knifing through the fog of business, saying that what really matters is developing one clear unified concept of your business, declaring who you are and what you do. The key to achieving this "unified truth" is information. Most companies stack information in silos represented by business units, so one part of the company doesn't know what the other parts are doing. Authors Mark Hurd and Lars Nyberg of the NCR global information technology firm make a cogent case that the key to overcoming this shortcoming is to take information out of scattered departments and develop centralized storage facilities for its collection, processing and retrieval. Armed with this base, this "unified truth," employees can become more customer-centric. One caveat, however, is that single view companies face the danger of tunnel vision. Sometimes companies need internal, competing views to be sure they consider the correct perspective. Although this book is an NCR public relations effort, it sets out a key point: if your firm isn't making information its top priority, you're could be falling behind the curve. We highly recommend this book to leaders and future leaders.

For many years, hardware and software vendors have preached the benefits of unifying databases for major companies. In recent years, there has been a strong move to open up those unified databases for more and more people in the company so that better and timelier business decisions can be made. Such an effort can cost a large company hundreds of millions and be an even larger cost in percentage of assets for smaller companies. Before deciding to move ahead, what can a leader expect to gain? What must the leader do, once deciding to go ahead, in order to be sure that the gain is achieved? Those are the helpful subjects of The Value Factor.

I was very pleased to see that this book emphasized the business process of making such a change . . . rather than simply touting the potential benefits. You cannot spend potential benefits, after all.

Within the book, there were lots of examples to show what kind and size of benefits can be achieved . . . and how they are achieved. I found the airline examples to be especially telling in creating fast flexibility to respond within hours to marketplace shifts. The financial services examples were also compelling, as I was reminded of how often such organizations treat us differently depending on what product of service is involved. Seeing these examples, it was also clear how much it helps streamline decision-making if everyone is looking at the same facts in the same way . . . reflecting the total situation.

The book is very brief, which will be welcome to time-weary executives. It would be an excellent choice for a three hour plane flight.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the seemingly endless repetition of the need to break down independent "silos" of operations that do not cooperate with one another and have different data sets.

A good related book is E-Business Intelligence by Bernard Liautaud of Business Objects.

See what needs to be done . . . and empower those close to the problem to get on with it!

Hurd and Nyberg call on their vast industry knowledge to provide corporate leaders with real-world examples from top companies around the globe where information gathering steers profitable business decisions.

This quick read (only 132 pages) provided me with the confidence I need to drive practices within my organization to get and maintain good information for decision-making purposes.

I was pleased to see leaders at Hurd and Nyberg's level, who really understand the value of a unified corporate vision based on levelheaded information management, are willing to share their insight.

This is a must-read for anyone making key business decisions!

In the arguments about taxation of Internet sales, I am firm in believing that they should be taxed. For some time, I have thought that the only protection that net companies needed was from themselves. Launched without a great deal of forethought, market research or even a viable plan, many of them are now crashing. Business on the Internet is no different that any other business, and since that is the foremost point of this book, it is indeed one that could have made a significant difference if it had been published and read two years ago.
The author, a Professor of Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon, was one of the first professors at a top-ranked school to teach the business uses of the Web. The approach in this book is all business, with Return On Investment (ROI), Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) equations being used to make the points. There is not one word of hype in this entire book. If there is one thing that has been so clearly lacking in the explosion of dot-com companies, it has been this lack of management by equation. Guerrilla marketing and fancy ads will get you noticed, but only a positive balance sheet will keep you alive long enough for it to matter.
The remainder of the book covers the modeling of a business constructed on the web using two that he has created, www.datingexpert.com and www.yesnomaybe.com. Both deal with online dating/meeting services and the models of need, perceived value and potential revenue points are "classic" studies in how to plan and execute a business model based on user-generated information. One of the most valuable pointers which shows how much the author truly manages the sites are the data points about how people find the site. For example, on page 177 there is the caption, "Only 1.3 percent of my Web sites' traffic is due to users guessing the site's address." I did find myself wishing that he had shared more information as to how this data was acquired.
While the business models used on the Web are different in degree from those offline, they are not different in kind. The basic rules of business still apply and as the author repeats so many times, it is what you do offline that matters. Lose sight of the business equations and the points where you add value and your company will be another dot.com Titanic.

Building effective business systems and web applications requires an understanding of not only technology, but also the organization and the processes in which it will be implemented.

Nick Flor, a Professor of Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon's Graduate School of Industrial Administration, argues that to create high-value business web sites requires business as well as technical knowledge. He draws a distinction between a mere web site, which he says, exchanges information and a business web site, which exchanges value - it generates significant revenues and/or drastically pares expenses.

He says three skills are required is proposed for systematically molding the Web to the specific requirements of the specific business.

1. General Business Knowledge.
2. An ability to analyze and diagnose business activities.
3. An ability to design Web treatments to address those activities.

To equip Web entrepreneurs and consultants with these requisite skills, Flor organizes his book into four sections:

1. Web Business 101 - This section covers the first business skill - the big picture. This general business primer includes a discussion of Return on Investment, Net Present Value, Payback, Internal Rate of Return, production, distribution and the effects of competition.
2. Web Business Engineering - Using the knowledge acquired in the first section, the book proposes a methodology that links technical knowledge with business specific knowledge.
3. Case Studies Putting Offline Activities Online
4. Case Studies Applying Web Business Engineering to Online Activities

Stick with the book until you reach the case studies. They add value to the first two sections.

This well-written book sheds important light on web development. By focusing on the author's definition of "value", managers and development teams will avoid aping successful online companies, building instead, systems that address what companies should be doing online based on their offline activities.

Until reading this book I thought I had a good understanding of what it took to design the underlying strategy and processes supporting commercial web sites. After reading this book I clearly saw how wrong I was.

The approach set forth in this incredible book is straightforward and focused solely on business imperatives. I suspect that the author and publisher realized that the title would attract IT professionals and consultants, which accounts for the inclusion of business 101. I almost skipped over this part and am glad I didn't. Even here what I thought I knew about business turned out to be superficial. The education you will receive in Business 101 goes well beyond the basics and I recommend that everyone read this regardless of whether you are an IT professional or have a business background. You might just discover that you've been misapplying common techniques such as NPV, IRR and ROI, or using the results in erroneous ways. In other words, the section titled "Business 101" is much, much more.

I loved the author's approach to value chain analysis, which is straightforward and based on a simple, but effective, notational language. Here, like in every other chapter, I learned techniques that will serve me well in general consulting assignments outside of web business engineering.

The web business engineering methodology itself is one of the leanest, most effective processes that I've ever encountered. I can only describe it as elegant. It's a blueprint for success when success is measured by how well a system is aligned to business strategy and goals. If you follow the method and resist the temptation to take shortcuts you will be rewarded with a system that meets all of your requirements and objectives whatever they may be - and you'll know exactly what the value of that system is to your organization.

A few observations about this book: (1) Give yourself plenty of time to read through this book and work through each example. It took me four times as long as it would for a book of approximate page count and topic complexity. If you're unwilling to make this commitment, perhaps you should pass this book up. (2) I fully agree with the author and a previous reviewer that web systems projects should be managed by business instead of IT. (3) If you're an IT professional get this book and read it from cover to cover - even if you never work on a web project you'll receive an incredible education in business factors and requirements analysis that will serve you well on *any* project. As a fellow IT professional I will assure you that this book will change your outlook.

This book is among the best I've read on any topic or subject and should be required reading for anyone who is assigned to a web project. It's also, in my opinion, one of the most important books published in the past few years.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in creating websites with great business value. As a server-side applications developer, I've been mainly concerned with exploiting the web as a technological medium. This book opened my eyes to the web as an information medium, strategically used to improve a company's bottom line. It truly delivers on its claim -- [serving as] "a bridge from technical understanding to business savvy".

The book is extremely well-organized and has tons of practical knowledge and insight. Furthermore, all the principles are illustrated using easy to follow, real life examples. Excellent throughout -- highly recommended!

The author provides a business-oriented (and technology-free) approach to engineering an on-line presence that is effective and should set the standard for a methodology for how to go about such projects. This is embodied in a framework that is defined by four principles (1) work is a combination of physical and informational activities, (2) informational work is accomplished by propagating content, (3) valuable and innovative content can be found in existing manual methods, and (4) an on-line strategy should be based on off-line advantages. These principles are simple, yet powerful. They are also not as easy to adhere to as they seem, which becomes apparent when you begin mapping activities in subsequent chapters.

There are so many things I like about this book, so I'll stick with the highlights. First, the differences between the way IT/IS and business units approach projects are carefully examined. Understanding these differences will make or break a web project, and as an IT professional I fully agree with the author that IT is the wrong organizational unit to lead and manage web projects. Their role should be relegated to that of support.

Second, the author leads you through the basics of value chain analysis, business factors and financial analysis. This is an excellent refresher for business professionals and is essential reading for IT professionals, especially those who claim to be business analysts. I learned a great deal from the discussion on ROI, NPV and IRR. These are not new knowledge areas for me, but learning about the fallacies and pitfalls inherent in each approach that can trap you or lead you to bad decisions was priceless.

What I learned the most from was the Quick Primer on Diagnosing Problems and Opportunities. As in the rest of the book the author uses case studies to reinforce the concepts and principles. In this case you are led through a mailing cost analysis and some of the results are surprising. For example, after all of the cost drivers are mapped out on a spreadsheet you play with some variables and discover that commonsense properties of the model do not necessarily act in commonsense ways. Doubling productivity (assuming it is possible to coax such a thing from humans) only yielded a 2.5% reduction in costs. Using cheaper labor actually cost more in the particular model. As an aside, the model was not contrived to create these counter-intuitive results - it is a plain vanilla cost model that you would commonly encounter or build. In this chapter you are introduced to a step-by-step process that shows how to effectively perform a cost analysis and find the true drivers that can be changed to reduce or avoid costs.

A caveat about this book: it can be easily read, but is merely interesting unless you take the time to carefully step through each case. If, however, you take your time and work through the problems and trace the value chains--a tedious task--you will find that this book has many chapters that are profound. That's a strong word, but in my opinion an accurate one. I've applied the approach in this book on a real-life project and can attest that it works extraordinarily well - and that's the highest compliment one can pay to an author.