Industry Books

I liked this book. I have to admit to not finishing most business books I start. This one got me all the way to the end.

The author takes us through 20 lessons on effectiveness. From individual results, to staff, to organizational results and your impact on customers.

A book filled with interesting ideas and concepts that I put to use right away.

I actually bought this book as a Christmas present for my husband but I ended up reading it too. This book is chock full of those "I knew that but now I will make a point to do that" ideas regarding everything from time management to managing people.
Written with a clear and direct voice, this book is guaranteed to provide at least a new perspective to some of your business challenges and even some advice to take into your personal life.
My husband has already implemented some of the time management techniques and is noticing a big pay off in that area. Learning how to set up systems that are most efficient for how he works is also a huge take away he has gotten from this book.
For me, the value I have gotten is to give more thought to what is working and what can be improved in my small business. So easy to get into the rut of doing everything the same way because that's how it's always been done.
Excellent, fast reading book that I would recommend to managers at any level and business owners.

Wow! This was a tremendous read. Accelerate provides valuable tactics on how to help successful leaders get even better! I bought copies for my entire staff. I'm sure they will get out of it as much as I did!

As a book coach and author (POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd), the first place I look to evaluate whether a book will be worth reading is the Table of Contents. Is the author saying anything new? Are the chapter titles compelling? If I see something intriguing, I flip to three different sections of the book and read a few pages at random. Is the author introducing tangible, fresh ideas? Sharing real-life examples that show how these techniques work in everyday situations? Does the author pleasantly surprise you with thought-provoking quotes or funny anecdotes?

Accelerate passes this test with flying colors. Buy it and take it on a plane with you on your next business trip or keep it in your briefcase to read at lunch. The author doesn't waste time on abstract theories -- he provides practical insights you can use immediately at work AND at home to fast-forward desired results. Read it and reap!

When I read a book, I like to use 'post-it' notes to mark key sections and passages but within the first chapter of Mr. Coughlin' new book, I stopped using them; the entire book is a 'post-it' note!

Also, the subtitle is a bit misleading, the 20 practical lessons are actually filled with numerous mini-lessons; more like 2000 practical lessons.

This is a solid and useful book that is an easy read. I've recommended it to several others.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful....not only because I'm in it, (brother used me in one of his shoots for Village Voice campaign)...but, buying this book is a great way to see innovation and artistry normally slated for galleries...

Warren is the best there is when it comes to reviewing the current Ad scene. However there are some factaul errors in the book. i.e. He talks about the breakthrough work that PKL did for Smirnof vodka in the sixties... It was'nt for Smirnof, it was for Wolfschmidt Vodka. Even more important was the work PKL did to launch the first Xerox dry copier, with the famous "Monkey" commercial.
However, the most dramatic ommision was that there was absolutely no mention of Jack Tinker Associates, the InterPublic think tank that kick started Mary Wells into Wells Green Inc.
Otherwise, a great book.
Warren, email me, Ive lost your phone number.
George Parker

Hardly anyone outside the industry itself has a high opinion of advertising, and I'm probably no different -- most of the time. However, I've long appreciated the occasional high degree of originality and wit of which ad writers and artists have shown themselves capable, especially since the late 1950s. This fat volume brings all of them together, beginning with Volkwagen's groundbreaking "Think Small" campaign. There are chapters on the influence of European copywriting on American ads, the development of a new "visual language," the rise of backhanded "oddvertising," the growth of advertising as a reflection of (and finally an agent of) social change, and the advent of guerilla anti-advertising, each of them an entertaining and instructive mix of graphics and text. There's even a separate chapter on the ups and downs of the famous and long-running "Got Milk?" campaign. This gorgeous book will keep you studying the artwork and reading the discussions far into the night.

This isn't just a book for ad students and insiders, though I imagine they'd love it. I'm not an ad junkie myself, but I happen to love this book because it's a very different and interesting coffee table book, that you can spend hours looking at. The ads featured in the book are amazing - funny, clever, intriguing, sometimes works of art in themselves. And the captions explain what's going on, all that sly thinking and logic behind the ads. I find it's the kind of book that really gets people talking. But be forewarned - it's a huge book, so make sure you have a strong coffee table!

As the proud author, just wanted to share w/readers some of the recent press reviews for Advertising Today:
"An amazing book," says Esquire magazine; a 4-star rating from Maxim magazine; Village Voice says "media archaelogists will pore over it for decades to come"; praised on ABC World News; on her radio show, Joan Rivers called it "fabulous" & the hot new coffee table book; J. Walter Thompson pres. Bob Jeffrey says, "Never has a book captured the heart and soul of advertising as much as Advertising Today."

This is a great reference book on both early origins on distilling in America and the Beam family - who comprise a large branch of the founding families of Bourbon distilling and still have many members working at various distilleries throughout Kentucky. A entertaining read and great reference for anyone who is interested in bourbon.

What a great book! I loved it and couldn't put it down. I feel like I was right there with Pacult as he traveled around with Booker Noe. I am not a bourbon drinker, but this book made me wish I had a little bit to sip as I was reading it. Alas I finished reading the book before I could purchase some bourbon.

I read American Still Life this Summer. It reads like a Michener novel. I prefer reading non-fiction but most non-fiction is boring and tedious. So I was pleased when I had a chance to read this book. It's a strong testament to our American founders and to the Beams, American icons, who 'took the pain' out of the daily struggles. Great Read!

This book captures a truly unique American product, and a family that was integral to the creation of the industry. As I write this review, Booker Noe's death was just recently announced. The personalities of the larger than life characters like Booker are wonderfully captured within the narrative. Even if you're not a fan of bourbon (philistine!), you'll come away with a great appreciation for the definitive American spirit (both the drink and the people).

This book kept me enthralled for an entire weekend. A great look at a family that created an entire industry with a distinctly American product, Bourbon.

As the story of a facinating family, the author gently takes you through the many generations of the Beams without getting you lost in a morass of detail. You remain excited waiting for the next turn in their fortunes, and you get a wonderful look at the many personalities involved in building the Bourbon industry over time in the process.

When I think about the book from a business standpoint, Paul Pacult succeeded in conveying the patience and the passion these people have for their product, and how they manage to maintain that passion, literally over generations. In a world of managing quarter to quarter, the Beams are a refreshing change.

A very-well written, facinating look at a piece of Americana. I heartily recommend it.

"As Seen On TV" is a fond look back at those Kitschy products and their even tackier commercials for products as diverse as the Chia Pet to K-Tel records. These products would make household names out of people like Ron Poeil, Billy Mays, and Susan Powter as they pushed products to enhance yourself, your cooking, or your home. These 50 products, most of which are still on the market today and still being seen on TV were the forerunners of the dreaded infomercial which made their way into our homes back in the 1984 when the FCC loosened regulations on TV advertising. You'll chuckle as you read about these products, many of which you probably haven't thought about in years.

The book is arranged by product type including Kitchen Marvels, Fashion and Beauty Wonders, Fabulous Fitness, Entertainment Breakthroughs, Home Improvement Miracles, and Get Rich Quick. A history of each products is provided along with details about its use, inventor, and other interesting facts as well as photos. Ron Popeil is certainly the godfather of these products who got the ball rolling with the Veg-O-Matic, actually invented by his father. Popeil's list of products is long and often notorious and includes things such as GLH Formula #9 spray for balding men, as well as the Pocket Fisherman. The book includes a lengthy interview with Popeil as well.

Other items in the Kitchen gadget category include the legendary Ginsu knives...and who doesn't fondly remember those commercials where they sawed through knives and aluminum cans? Then there is a modern classic as former boxer turned pitchman, George foreman introduced the grill bearing his name.

There's the Blue Blocker glasses, Hairagami, Thigh Master, Matthew lesko's books on free Government money, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, The Clapper, and Life Call Alert in which Edith Fore uttered those words that would become grafted into American lexicon, "I've Fallen...AND I CAN'T GET UP!!!" But perhaps my all-time favorite for pure cheesiness would be Mr. Microphone. Who can forget the goof in the convertible telling the girl walking on the street, "Hey Good Lookin', We'll be back to pick you up later!" It was the epitome of tackiness back then and would probably get him arrested today.

Oh...and the book is informative as well. I never knew that the K-Tel in K-Tel records stood for Kevis Television named after its founder Phillip Kevis. A true pop culture treasure trove!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

If you recognize this catch phrase from the Mr. Microphone ad, you'll love this book. Indeed any child of the '70s or '80s can appreciate the nostalgia and humor of the infomercial era, which is vividly and humorously captured in "As Seen on TV". It's all here, from Abtronic to Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute. If you have any doubt about whether your money would be well spent on this gem, then to paraphrase Ron Popeil: "Just forget it and GET IT!"

What a fun book! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever gotten caught up watching infomercials or home shopping channels. It's fascinating to read about products that became hugely popular, even though in some cases, you look at them now and say "what were they thinking?".

It was especially fun for me because... as I turned each page, I had to wonder if the next product was one I've bought. LOL
Yes, I have succumbed to the "power of the pitch" and bought into the hype. And yes, I have purchased a few of the items in this book (George Foreman Grill, Steamer, etc... and I LIKE the Dr. Ho's Muscle Massage System!) but I'll never admit to how many.

Anyone who has heard "and that's not all" will enjoy the fact that a section with that title is included AFTER the index.

I only gave this book 4 stars because I wanted more products to be in it! It was so fun to read, I wanted more of it.

This book read itself!

I bought this trip to entertain myself for a long drive home from Wisconsin to Florda. (Don't worry- I was the passanger, not the driver. Gusee I should've used the word 'ride' but I'm too lazy to backspace!)

I think the ultimate compliment to a book is when your constantly interupting other people around you to read the next wonderful thing you've read. I lost my voice from this book.

There's not too much to tell in this review. You've simply got to read it for yourself. It is so much more than just a list of goofy things sold via infomercials and TV ads. We get interviews, product history, trivia and much, much more.

We also get the lowdown on what was legit and what wasn't.

So the next time your using the flow-bee and screw up so badly your running to the store for some GLH (if you don't know what that sentence just meant, buy the book)... think of this book. It'll help ya.

And if you're just looking for some easy entertaing reading... this is it folks!

Did folks buy this stuff? They sure did, by the millions according to Harry and Stall. Some of these products would really be hard to parody, the Chai Ceramic Pet that grows vegetation, the Turbi Twist, a hair towel with an elastic loop (with the predictable AS SEEN ON TV on the box) the Copper Tongue Scraper, PROVEN EFFECTIVE was the bold statement on its packaging but it really does look just like a piece of bent metal! Each product has a spread with photos, copy and several colored panels (more on these later) containing background material and other trivia. I liked the Product panels best with their Description, Availability, Claimed Innovation, Upside and the Downside, just read the Downside to each product and really get the truth.

The six basic chapters are Kitchen Marvels, Fashion and Beauty, Fabulous Fitness, Entertainment Breakthroughs, Home Improvement Miracles, and finally Get Rich Quick, between these chapters are some interesting features, pages 122 and 123 cover the rise of the home shopping channels where you will be amazed to find that QVC have studio tours (yours for only [x ammount of dollars]). Ron Popiel, the founder of Ronco, has four pages explaining the background to the infomercial techniques he uses to shift the goods. Incidentally the Ronco story is covered in 'But, Wait! There's More!' by Timothy Samuelson, lots of product photos, vintage ads and packaging and a fairly accurate history of the Popiel family. Ever wonder what happened to yesterday's celebrities, check out pages 74 to 79 to see the Top 100 infomercial-land stars from Allen (Debbie) to Zappa (Dweezel) you'll be surprised who's listed, well, perhaps not. 'As Seen On TV' is a fascinating and fun book covering a subject that most of us would hardly think twice about.

But, wait! There is more! DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL! Buy this book and get absolutely FREE hundreds of words that only come out in daylight! The book's designer (unfortunately) decided to use pink panels, on many of the product pages, with text in light blue. Big mistake, because it is very hard to read in a normal domestic lighting environment and the type used for the headlines on these panels is hard to read even in daylight!

I was impressed from the beginning with the content of this book. It has been a great help in my recent graduate projects. This is one I will keep on the shelf for reference.

This book is simply the best book on post-production audio out there. I have over a decade of experience mixing live sound and some formal training in post production, but Rose gets to the real nuts and bolts of the day-to-day sweetening of sound that I was able to apply his ideas the same day I read a chapter on EQ. I have read so many books on sound where authors get into all the details, but fail to give hands on practical advice. Rose has two unique things going for him in this book: the included CD that gives A/B comparisons of various audio sweetening and processing techniques and the cookbook format at the end of each chapter. Try any one of these "recipes" and you will instantly get results and be able to solve various problems and massively improve your soundtrack.
He gets technical in spots going into the physics of sound, studio design, and other minutia but the non-geeks you can usually skip these sections and side-bars. For those who just want to fix things they can jump to the end of each chapter and use the cookbook/troubleshooting sections. I can't recommend this book enough. If you are serious about filmmaking, you can't be without this book.

Audio Postproduction for Digital Video
By Jay Rose
Review by Pi Ware

Don't listen to the title. It's bigger than the title. The "Digital Video" part of Audio Postproduction for Digital Video restricts the scope of this classic Jay Rose text. Rose's book goes far beyond DV, in fact, it starts with an explanation of what sound is on the molecular level and then takes you not just through audio postproduction for TV, but to techniques specific to movie production, techniques that are entirely independent of the format you originate on. Audio Postproduction for Digital Video is top-notch. It's an excellent, text-book quality manual, a soup-to-nuts guide on how to deal with sound in postproduction.

Jay Rose never gives you solutions that are applicable only to specific Digital Audio Workstations, he arms you with knowledge you can use in any platform or program. The book is an education in sound and, together with the numerous photos and diagrams (and Rose's good sense of humor), it's a liberation from the dry prose of most manuals on postproduction.

Rose teaches you from the ground up what sound is, what good sound is, and how to make bad sound better. He doesn't just stop at good writing, however, he illustrates important points with an audio CD included in the back of the book. Together with the CD, the text guides you through importing audio into the computer, editing dialogue, Do It Yourself Foley and ADR, working with filters, noise reduction techniques, pitch and time changes, the sound mix, and even, if you're so inclined, designing, constructing and wiring your own postproduction audio facility.

Though postproduction changes with every new advance in technology, Audio Postproduction for Digital Video stays current by focusing on strategy, not software. Rose avoids giving specific keystroke instructions in specific programs, but instead explains common solutions to common problems using common tools. As he says in his introduction, "You should be able to use these pages for a long time."

Anyone considering directing a short or feature, anyone who wants to be even nominally involved in the sound design of their film, and, of course, anyone interested in working in audio postproduction, would do extremely well to pick up a copy of this classic Jay Rose text.

This book in fantastic. The author's voice and style make this not only easy to read but a joy to read as well. There are little tips and tidbits in each chapter that will make a good audio guy great and a great audio guy better. I recommend this book to anyone in the audio post world.

I decided to buy this book because I had used the forum on the DV.com website for information before, and Jay Rose's comments there had proven to be spot-on and well-informed.
This book contains a thorough examination of all the factors which contribute to the quality of post-production audio. The level of information includes the spectrum from basic to advanced, but through Mr. Rose's clear explanations the advanced information should not go over the heads of the reader.

This is a tremendous book laying out a systematic approach for better customer service. Predicated on the idea that customers want your product to "just work" and that they DON'T want a "relationship" with you, it challenges many of the customer service practices in most companies. The authors lay out a process with a number of steps:
- Challenge demand for service don't just cope with it. Act smarter so that the amount of support your customers need goes down
- Eliminate "dumb" contacts and stupid repeated contacts through better processes and information
- Create engaging self-service so people can help themselves
- Be Proactive, don't wait for trouble
- Make it easy to contact you, not difficult
- Fix ownership of problems so that you can fix them, not just blame on them on the customer service group
- Listen to your customers and learn from what they tell you
- Delight your customers when they do need help
The authors lay out a cure for the remote, impersonal organization where no-one in management ever talks to real customers. Any organization that has customer service "issues" could benefit from this book.
I would also recommend Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience for more on customer service and Smart Enough Systems: How to Deliver Competitive Advantage by Automating Hidden Decisions (my own book) for more on how to build the kind of systems you need.

This isn't your typical customer service book nor one that is full of theories. The discussions stimulate ideas and teach how you can improve or enhance your own service and support offerings. Most of the companies referenced in the book are identified, making it even more relatable.

The book is loaded with tools and techniques that can be used in your own business, no matter how small or large. Everything is clearly stated, organized so each chapter effectively ties to the next and is easily understood. The authors made the stories enjoyable to read and filled the book with realistic, do-able ideas. The diagrams, charts, figures, examples, step by step directions, statistics and more, make this book a useful tool and well worth the investment. The benefit from applying even a few of the ideas in this book will be realized by having highly satisfied customers.

Bill and David nailed this one - it is a superb, well-written book. Written from real world experiences with realistic and reasonable solutions for delivering great service and support makes this book an excellent value. Every call center and help desk professional, as well those who work in any form of customer relations, should have a copy of this book. This book offers a roadmap to follow to realize the best service possible.

I think reviewer "SamFan" misses a key point: eliminate the NEED for customer service by doing things right to begin with.
Not only cheaper for the corp, but more satisfying to the customer.

If you believe, as I do, that earning the trust of your customers is the most direct route to long-term success for a business, then this is the book for you. This is probably the single best "how to" book on earning customer trust that I've ever read - and I have read most of them, and written several of them myself, with my co-author and business partner Martha Rogers (our latest and greatest: Rules to Break and Laws to FollowRules to Break and Laws to Follow: How Your Business Can Beat the Crisis of Short-Termism (Microsoft Executive Leadership Series)).

So congratulations to Bill Price and David Jaffe for such a sweeping, carefully delineated guidebook for business people just trying to do the right thing for customers. Jaffe is a customer experience consultant operating out of Australia, and Price is the ex-VP of Global Customer Service for Amazon, which says a lot about their perspective, because Amazon (as everyone reading this review should know) is one of the world's true icons of great customer service. In the game of business, in other words, Price is not just a good coach, but a veteran player with a winning record.

Price and Jaffe concentrate primarily on how best to operate call centers, interactive voice response (IVR) units, Web sites, and other mechanisms for facilitating interactions with customers. The guiding principle for all customer interactions should be to reassure customers, empower them, and serve them well. The final objective, of course, is to ensure that customers find it as easy as possible to buy from you. But, as the authors persuasively demonstrate, no one is going to buy from you if they don't trust you and have confidence in your service. And customers will only develop that trust if they judge that their interactions with you were efficient and customer-oriented.

Now I judge the merit of a business book in terms of how many comments I've underlined or highlighted, and how many page corners I've turned down during the course of reading it. By these criteria, The Best Service is No Service earns five stars from me.

For instance, I LOVE the "bad examples" that permeate the book. They're so much fun to read, and it's such a gas just chuckling at how stupid so many businesses can be in real life. The bank that automatically routes calls from its best customers to sales associates, forcing them to sit through new product pitches before they have access to the simplest IVR tasks like transferring money, for instance, while "ordinary" customers get to breeze through the IVR and do what they want quickly and efficiently (p. 71), or the IT company that, in an amateurish effort to be totally honest with customers, offered them (kid you not) 30,000 phone numbers to choose from worldwide (p. 134).

But the real heart of the book, and its true benefit for the reader, is its numerous checklists of things to do and not to do when operating an interaction center. At page 155, for example, the authors talk about providing the right choices for customers at every point, including (among other things):

* At the web site, phone numbers on every page, "talk to someone" or "chat" buttons, and "contact us" buttons that make it easy to send emails, stating how quickly they will be replied to
* For phone IVR menus or trees, Web site alternatives clearly mentioned, options to leave a number for call back, ability to hit 0 at any point to reach an operator
* Emails that go out with a phone number provided, along with links to the pages on the site that actually help to explain the issue
* Branch operations that have phones for calling the contact center directly, self-service desks for information, and Web PCs for direct self-service online

Or consider his list of simple usability criteria (p. 91):

* Short menus on IVRs, just to make selection easy
* Consistency across IVRs and Web sites, allowing customers to know where things are and make their selections more easily
* Correct uses of silence on IVRs and white space on Web sites, so customers don't always feel crowded or rushed
* Multiple support levels for the user, meaning that IVRs, for instance, should kick into a more detailed level when the user has a problem, and Web sites should be designed to help users recover from mistakes or problems
* Standard navigation features, meaning ability to repeat IVR menus at any point or drop bread crumbs during your Web search.

There really wasn't much I didn't like about this book. I wish they had been able to name more of the companies they singled out as examples (most of the bad examples don't actually name the companies involved). And I suppose in some places the authors could have got to their point faster. They're not the most economical writers, in their use of words. But these are very minor drawbacks, as I still found myself drawn in to the ongoing story they tell, and the very smart and succinct lessons they convey.

The fact is that interacting with masses of customers, individually, is a complicated and difficult business service that most companies have only begun wrestling with in the last decade or so, because the Worldwide Web has finally forced them to. There are a handful of businesses that did a sterling job - prior to the Web's arrival - of using their call centers to inspire confidence and trust in their customers (USAA, for example, cited at p. 139). But for the vast majority of companies, prior to the rise of the Web, call centers were mostly treated as just one more cost of doing business.

"Customer interaction," in other words, is now one of the dominant forms of "service" offered by most companies, but it is still a brand new discipline for most business people, with lots of unknown complications and unappreciated benefits. So if you want to better understand the implications of managing the customer experience when it comes to your own company and your own customers, then this book by Price and Jaffe is far and away the best, most comprehensive and practical education you can buy today.

I loved this book. It is well organized and written. It starts out with a diagram that represents a picture of how the best customer service is no (or little) customer service. And then it uses eight chapters of text to explain why the best service is no (or little) service. Each chapter ends with a good summary of what was covered in the chapter. And after each chapter summary there is a list of survey questions that help the reader apply what they have read to their real-world situation. Very well done!

The book also includes wonderful appendix material: a Best Service Survey, a glossary and a blibliography. All in all, this book redefines traditional notions of what a small business needs to do to be successful. By reading this book you will be reminded that good customer service is critical to the success of small business. However, there is no need (nor is it ideal) to over supply customer service. Too much customer service can negatively impact on a company's profit margin because of the extra cost of payroll expense needed. And too much customer service can also be an opportunity to hurt customer relations (and relationships) rather than improve them.

The ultimate message included in this book is that small business will be most successful if they only provide customer service that is essential to doing business. Too much is not good and too little is likewise not good. Just keep the customers happy while keeping yourself happy and your business will be successful. 5 stars!

PS. The author has provided Search Inside material to Amazon that includes the Table of Contents for this book. I think the chapter titles explain a lot of what is covered in this book. Read those chapter titles along with my review to get the most out of it.

Book Report is a very useful guide that I turned to again and again while crafting my book proposal. I was impressed by the author's ability to not only cover the nuts and bolts of writing a proposal, but also to succinctly convey what makes a quality proposal. Particularly useful were the parenthetical tips the author inserted throughout samples in the appendix. With Mark Shaw's style and ability to anticipate writers' questions and omissions, I felt like I had a mentor by my side leading me through what had been a daunting process.

Book Report is a very useful guide that I turned to again and again while crafting my book proposal. I was impressed by the author's ability to not only cover the nuts and bolts of writing a proposal, but also to succinctly convey what makes a quality proposal. Particularly useful were the parenthetical tips inserted throughout samples in the appendix. With Mark Shaw's style and ability to anticipate writers' questions and omissions, I felt like I had a mentor by my side leading me through what had been a daunting process. I can finally say, "I did it."

This book has been very helpful to me in preparing a proposal for potential agents. The ten points to help write a manuscript were also useful, however I already knew most of them. It's REAL strength was in outlining and detailing the process for writing, fine tuning and submitting a proposal, and tips on HOW to present it to agents. It isn't enough to write the next great American novel - if you can't get an agent to look at it on the strength of your outline and synopsis it's just going to gather dust on a shelf. That is the true worth of this book, it was more helpful to me in preparing and sending my proposal than any other publication or person before or since.

I've read most of the how-to books and magazines over the past 15 years, and this is the only one to inspire me to stop reading and start writing.
The book lays out 10 basic rules for success, and helps new writers understand they are about to embark on an endeavor that's as much about the publishing business as it is creativity.
Is it useful? Let me say this: It's right next to my keyboard as I'm developing my new novel proposal.

Book Report is a well written concise outline of Shaw's 10 golden rules to successful publishing. I am much more knowledgeable about the legalities of the industry after reading Book Report. I feel inspired, encouraged and confident enough to put pen to paper and tackle that road to successful publication.

This is a wonderful picture of the small Illinois town where my mother was born. It was a treat to see the mention of some of my family members. My great-grandfather was the owner of the Williams Mortuary. This was a treat!!

This accurate and off the beaten path history read like a murder mystery and showed me the various stages in the growth and death of a small town It also showed "what the simple folks did" to get get their booze during the depression era

MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS IN TOWN WHEN THE BOOTLEGGER WAS SHOT AND KNEW HIM. THIS BOOK SHOWS THE TRUE LIFE AND STRUGGLES OF LIFE NOT JUST IN SMALL TOWNS BUT ACROSS AMERICA. EXCELLENT HISTORY LESSON OF SURVIVAL AND WHAT GENERATIONS BEFORE US DID TO GIVE US WHAT WE HAVE.

This is definitely a page turner--rare in nonfiction. Mr. Hallwas combines the suspense of a murder mystery and the facts of a history lesson and makes it all fascinating! I was born in the area and my family's surnames are mentioned throughout the book. Most of my family members have read the book and have SO enjoyed it! In fact it may have solved a generations-old family mystery of a missing relative! A must read for anyone with family roots in small town America!

This book is excellent. Definitely a "can't put down" book. Hard to imagine the quiet, sleepy town of Colchester was once involved with Al Capone, Shoeless Joe Jackson, bombings of homes of law enforcement agents, and murders, bootlegging and crimes of this nature!

This book offers advice on how to transform your organization in real time and is completely transferrable to any industry. I am not a big fan of management theories du juor, and found Break From the Pack to be a refreshing change. You could say the book "Breaks from the Pack"...

One the most formidable challenges most organizations now face is how to differentiate themselves from the competition, especially at a time when customers have more choices and more control of the purchase decision, and when, as Oren Harari observes, "In every industry, a very small number of organizations are fast, fit, healthy, and clearly at the forefront. They are followed by a few pretty good wannabes nipping at their heels. These groups are clearly ahead of `the pack' - that large, undifferentiated bulk of companies of all shapes and sizes that don't stand out and don't draw the kind of positive attention from customers and investors that they'd like."

Harari focuses in this book on how to break away from - and then stay ahead of -- "the pack" and thereby thrive in what will probably continue to be a "Copycat Economy," even as a process of natural selection seems to eliminate faster than ever before those organizations that are unwilling and/or unable to adapt to new (albeit painful) realities in their competitive environment. Throughout Harari's narrative, his emphasis is always on "how" and, when appropriate, he includes a brief explanation to establish a context within which he shares insight and recommended action items.

All of those organizations that succeed in breaking from a given pack understand the power of "a radically compelling value proposition, hard economic logic, and fast efficient execution." Each involves a mix of entrepreneurial spirit, foresight, and discretion as well as prudence. Harari characterizes that mix as "calculated reinvention." With regard to the first, "a radically compelling value proposition," Harari introduces "Curious, Cool and Crazy/Calculated Reinvention Launch Pads" in Part I that can propel almost any organization in six strategic directions. For example, "Dominate or Leave" which makes sense if an organization does not have both domination and profitability. How to know that? Harari points out that no company can "be all and do all" profitably. For sustained competitive advantage (and for breaking from the pack), companies must determine which markets and value propositions they can dominate (be the best at, be the benchmark for innovation, be the ones that set the agenda for the industry), and then avoid or exit those they can't. He also emphasizes the need for metrics for measurement that revolve around profit as well as organic growth rate, customer retention rate, and rate of retention of most valuable employees.

The importance of "hard economic logic" is especially important when M&A activities are involved. In Chapter Ten, "Consolidate for Cool," Harari identifies and then examines eight reasons why M&As fail (Pages 230-237) and eight motives which have made M&A "the number-one `go to' growth strategy for many executives despite the fact that a high percentage (estimates range from 65%-80%) either fail or fall far short of expectations. Many readers will especially appreciate Harari's "6-T Blueprint" for determining whether or not a proposed consolidation meets all six of the criteria specified (Pages 241-246). Obviously, if a proposed consolidation is rejected, it may still make sense to forge a strategic alliance with the given organization. Harari concludes the chapter by sharing some sound advice from a Ben McCleary, a former lead investment banker at Lehman Brothers and currently a partner at Seaview Capital.

"The 6-T is hard to quantify, [McCleary] says, which can open it up to potential abuse or disregard. But, he continues, if you read the 6T Blueprint in the privacy of your office or home, think carefully about your motives and options, look in the mirror, and [begin italics] then [end italics] ask yourself `Is this deal the right thing to do?', then you just might make the right decision that will truly help your organization break from the pack."

As for "fast efficient execution," Harari examines the importance of "tornado speed" in an earlier book, Beep! Beep! He and co-author Chip Bell offer some truly valuable insights into major business subjects such as effective leadership, "competing in the terrain of the future," collaborative "flocking" (as opposed to mindless regimentation), strategic uses of speed, flexibility and adaptability, the power of having an "honorable culture, "the "magic" of curiosity and innovation, and the importance of joy (as opposed to pleasure). I especially appreciate the inclusion of several dozen boxed items (e.g. "Birdseed") that supplement (indeed nourish) the narrative. In Break from the Pack, Harari reiterates the importance of speed, agility, and flexibility, and what he calls "strategy on the run"; these are attributes that break-from-the-pack organizations use to capitalize on fleeting market opportunities.

I am among those who agree with Harari's comments about dominance. For example, that two or more organizations can be dominant within the same competitive marketplace (whatever it may be) if - huge "if"--each of them sustains sufficient profit margins, continues to avoid or eliminate waste, and maintains a high retention level of both (profitable) customers and (valued) employees. It takes courage as well as determination to eliminate whatever and whoever weakens performance in any one of them.

Tom Peters has described the business world as "a brawl with no rules" and there is some truth in that but, as Oren Harari explains so brilliantly, there are values as well as strategies and tactics to break away from the pack and that can be a noble achievement because it helps an organization to provide itself and all of its stakeholders with "the joy and reward that come with being on the leading edge."

The modern workplace is a complex jigsaw puzzle with international pieces, quick-change technology and oddly shaped commodities. It's hard to comprehend or complete the global economic enigma, but Oren Harari offers crucial elements of the workplace puzzle. With precision and real-life examples, Harari explains how employees and executives can succeed in a "copycat economy" dominated by imitators, pretenders and pirates. He offers vision and practical tips, though some corporate examples, such as his praise of JetBlue - which is now well-established - seem a little forced or dated in this otherwise timely text. The book can be repetitious in sections, but some points are worth repeating and this analysis is well worth reading. We highly recommend it to executives, investors and mid-level employees.

When reading this book, everything the author says sounds so "common sense", so you're left wondering why so many people behave differently (but luckily they do, otherwise there would be no room for improvement).

Tightly packed with clear analyses and useful advices, "Break from the Pack" will definitely help you if you decide you'll be trying to be different from your competitors.

Everywhere, products and services are being imitated. Whatever an organization is doing and providing today is right now becoming imitated and commoditized, and, therefore, will inevitably require significant change.

To sustain a competitive advantage in this "Copycat Economy," companies must break from the pack by differentiating themselves from their competitors. They must build cool, compelling products and attempt to always stay way ahead of their competitors.

The book, `Break from the Pack', by Oren Harari (The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell), is about how to be the leader of a company that breaks from the pack.

In every industry, says Harari, a very small number of organizations are fast, fit, healthy and clearly at the forefront. These groups are clearly ahead of "the pack". The bad news is that in a global free market, the pack is bigger than ever before! The pack grows, more players join in, constantly checking each other out and mimicking each other's movements. The result is the Copycat Economy, where everyone has access to the same resources and talent, and where imitation is rampant.

According to the author, faced with this plague of imitation, business leaders reflexively resort to actions that plunge their companies further into the Copycat Economy. Some of those actions leaders should avoid are:

1. The Compulsion to Cut Prices: Lowering prices to keep customers from migrating to your competitors decimates a company's margins and trains customers to wait for another round of price cuts before buying. When one competitor copies the other's price-cutting sales promotion, both fall prey to the Copycat Economy.

2. The Compulsion to Get Bigger: The key predictors of corporate success is not the size of a company's tangible assets (its balance sheet), but the size of its intangible assets like its speed in execution and customer care, its culture of constant innovation, and its agility in capitalizing on opportunities. The companies that dominate don't dominate because they got big. They got big because they dominated!

3. The Compulsion to Ask Customers What They Want: Breaking from the pack requires you to lead customers to a place they didn't ask to go and didn't know existed. How many consumers would have assured Howard Schultz (Starbucks) they would stand in line to spend $4 for a cup of coffee in a paper cup?

4. The Compulsion to Use Legal and Political Force to Protect Your Business: If companies rely on legal and political force for competitive advantage, they are doomed. Lawsuit and protectionism strategies drain a company of resources, money, vision, and the urgency to reinvent itself in the face of new technological and competitive realities. A company must proceed "as if" there is no "protection" because, ultimately, there isn't.

5. The Compulsion to Do Anything as Long as You're Doing Something: Many businesspeople respond to the Copycat Economy with manic bursts of action, such as acquisitions, restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing, or new alliances. It doesn't matter whether there's any strategic discipline as long as action happens. "Do whatever it takes to get the numbers Wall Street wants" becomes the message. When a company goes down this track, the inevitable setbacks begin.

The best concept I found in this book was about the Madonna and Willie Nelson Effect.

The singer Madonna has been spectacularly successful. What is her secret? Harari says that Madonna reinvents herself by keeping her antennae attuned to the culture, norms and behaviors that groups are currently experimenting with. She is always evolving; she never stands still. Every two years she comes up with a new look, a new way of presenting herself, a new attitude, a new act, and a new design. And every time it is successful. According to Harari, that is the mantra that applies to any business that wants to break from the pack. The essence of the Madonna Effect is, "Don't just respond to your customers; lead them."

In the late 1980s, singer Willie Nelson was asked about how he "knew" that his leadership on "outlaw" music would be so successful. He replied, "Being a good leader is finding a bunch of people going in one direction and jumping in front of them."

I found the Madonna and Willie Nelson Effect the most inspiring passages in this book.

So what kinds of organizations are successful in this copycat economy? Harari says that organizations that break from the pack are curious, cool and crazy.

Curious: If the strategic direction of your organization can be described as daring, bold and adventurous, then you're on the right track.

Cool: What you do, what you make and how you do it all must be perceived and experienced as cool by your employees, customers and investors.

Crazy: "You can't proceed in a calm, rational manner," said Jack Welch to The Wall Street Journal. "You've got to be out on the lunatic fringe." In the world of business, today's lunacy is tomorrow's conventional wisdom.

Harari also stresses the importance of carefully choosing your team. He says that leaders must choose the best people with the greatest talent. In other words, they must enlist champions. Leaders should scour the landscape not for people who can "do the job," but for maniacs who, without being asked to, will transform their jobs on behalf of the team, not their own egos.

Finally, Harari discusses the importance of one's customers. He says that leaders must be able to convey to their employees that the prime purpose of their jobs is to help make customers very, very happy. Peter Drucker always said that the only reason for a company's existence is to create and serve customers!

This is a great book for all leaders struggling in this copycat economy!

Today, it's everyone's role to market and sell. The book will help you with everything from implementing a marketing plan and building strategic alliances to selling virtual construction and design-build methodologies. What an effective and powerful tool for the construction industry and about time!

The pace of change we see today is similar to a constant kick in the pants for anyone marketing construction services. This book will help make that change a little less painful. A must read for anyone who wants a road map for success in the twenty-first century.

"Building Profits in the Construction Industry" is an up-to-date, comprehensive source of information invaluable to all segments of the building business, from contractors, construction managers, and design firms to owners' representatives, and developers.

Though contractors don't always realize it, marketing always has--and will continue to be-- the best way for them to distinguish themselves from their competition. Now, for the first time, everything a building professional needs to know about marketing construction services has been pulled together in one easy-to-follow book. A "must read" for success in the twenty-first century!

The reviewer is the Past-President of the Construction Writers Association, and Publisher of the award-winning construction newsletter "Words from Woody."

Authors Kubal, Miller and SMPS' own Ron Worth have put togetherone of the strongest marketing books to come along in a long, longtime. This is a virtual encyclopedia of how-to marketing, weighting in at 420 pages plus a CD-ROM.

Finally we have a marketing book that recognizes we are in the electronic and digital age and that the internet has changes marketing forever. The summary of Chapter Two on "Virtual Construction" starts out, "Undoubtedly the virtual age is encroaching upon the construction industry. Its effects on how construction is completed will become obvious, and changes to how construction is sold and marketed in the twenty-first century will also occur." while that is an understatement, many firms have not yet realized that the twenty-first century is here and these things are happening all around us.

The CD-Rom, with its listing of internet hyperlinks, is worth the price of the book alone. Using this CD, you can access most of the information about our industry that is available today. The book's chapter on market research will show you just how valuable the internet and the CD can be.

While some of the chapters in the book are targeted to the construction field, most of the book is directly applicable to our entire industry. The chapters on "Creating a Marketing Plan" and "Marketing and Sales Technology and Marketing Materials," while illustrated with examples from the construction industry, are as good a general guide on "how to do it right" as you will find anywhere.

Some of the best of the book can be found in "Marketing Communication Plan" and "Getting Publicity for Your Business." Any firm can gain from reading and implementing the material in these chapters. The list of questions on how to quantify your prospects on page 99 needs to be copied and given to every marketer and principal in every firm in the land. It is a list of the basic questions, the ones not asked or, if they are, the answers are ignored.

I have a couple of bones to pick about the book. One is the title. Why not just call it Marketing Techniques for the Construction Industry? I guess they thought that mentioning 'profits' would get more attention. My problem with the title is that some will buy the book looking for the wrong thing and, more importantly, some will not buy the book when they go looking for good marketing advice.

The other problem I have with the book (and I am being really picky here) is that the authors, from time to time, get too caught up in the widgets and wizardry of technology. The danger here is that the widgets and wizardry change every day. When you mention Palm Pilot III, you are already yesterday's news. The concepts are right, but listing today's technology tools is a mistake.