Economics Books

Anyone looking for a quick education on franchise opportunities should take a few hours and read Joe's book. Extremely informative and worthwhile!

This is an excellent book and a must read for anyone considering going into franchising. This book helped me eliminate many concepts which I initially thought were good. But after reading this book, I learned what great franchise companies are all about. I finally bought into one and am very happy.

Definitely a must read BEFORE you buy a franchise! This book provides food for thought and makes you truly think long and hard about the whole franchising business.

This book was easy to read, but made it clear the process of being approved for a franchise and looking for an appropriate franchise. THe book put the process into perspective and helped me from becoming overwhelm with the amount of information.

I have read four or five books on purchasing a franchise and this is clearly the worst. The books from Nolo are the best and the Better Business Bureau are second. This book is mostly hype about how great the franchise experience can be with pep talks and nonsense about how you are good enough to be in the 1 percent of successful franchise buyers. The information is neither objective nor balanced. I encourage people to always look at who the writers are to see if the source can be trusted. In this case it is consultants who make their money training people who sell franchises, helping people franchise their existing business and selling coaching services to existing franchisees. They have no vested interest in discouraging you from buying a franchise. Spend your money on a different book. I am suspicious of the other rave reviews, it looks like a marketing campaign to me. It is hard for me to believe real people found value in this book.

What a great resource. For a small biz like myself, it gives simple, concrete "growth" advice and direction. It should be in new print...not relegated to the used marketplace. With so much fodder out there, this stands way above the pack!

I keep referring to Parker's book over and over again. Even someone who has been marketing via the Net for several years will find this text a cogent, insightful and organized source of help. I can't imagine my Web-based efforts without its guidance.

Most books published this long ago look incredibly dated by now. This one isn't. Everything in it still rings true, and it's a shame more websites don't heed this man's advice.

I've been marketing and selling on the internet since 1995. There is one specific idea in this book that IF you actually use it, you will almost certainly triple your business. (No kidding) I definitely wish I would have had this book 5 years ago. However, I have it now and the fundamentals are superb. Parker takes you through the strategies that bring people to your web site and develop a web site that gets people to come back again and again.

I absolutely love this book and strongly suggest you pick it up. ...Isn't it worth it to gain some powerful, usable and workable strategies that will make you 1000 times the investment?! It's a no-brainer!

Kevin Hogan...

I bought the book because I saw a lot of great reviews about it on amazon.com. But after reading the book, it's really disappointing because the book is just very shallow about web marketing... It's also very repetitive and all it says is very general, it doesn't really cover much on strategic web marketing. A lot of the articles on the many web marketing sites or newsletters out there are much more helpful than that book. It doesn't tell much except for mentioning repeatedly how good content, customers registration and email newsletters are important for relationship marketing... It doesn't provide any resource at all for the readers to create good content, to build a customer email database or to launch an effective promotion or marketing campaign, i don't recommend this book at all.

I am always looking for what I think is the best sales book to recommend. This is the book for B2B sales this year. A very high sales performer, Bill Stinnett has really hit the mark with this book. If you coupled the strategies and methods of Stinnett with the strategies and tactics used by Bill Freese, (Question Based Selling) you could build the ultimate sales machine in your company. I am just blown away at the thoroughness, quality of process and thought that has gone into this book. When I asked Bill for a review copy he arranged to call me to find out where I was coming from and what I did with the reviews. This gentleman dots the i's and crosses the t's.

Buy it, read it, and keep it on your read often, do not lend bookshelf. Of course if you are content with the status quo, this book will only make you realize how much more there is out there. I am really pumped by Stinnett!

If you want to improve your sales and connect better with your customers, buy this book! Each chapter is full of "aha!" insights that will enhance your understanding of your customer's needs.

Stinnett is an apostle of the "diagnostic approach" to selling, in which the seller undertakes a process of discovery to identify what results the customer is trying to achieve. The focus is always on the customer--his motive, the urgency of reaching the objective, the consequences of doing nothing and remaining where he is, the expected payback from attaining the objective, the resources the customer has available to devote to the effort, and the risks he will face in moving in a new direction. These "Action Drivers," Stinnett explains, govern and control just about every buying decision. If a sale falls through, chances are that one of these "Action Drivers" was missing.

In the first half of the "Think Like Your Customer," Stinnett analyzes how buyers evaluate their options and assess risk. Weeks after reading the book, I still open it up and turn to the chart on page 49, where Stinnett lists the eight major types of value your customer may be attempting to derive from a relationship with you and your company. They are:

Economic Value (increasing revenue, reducing costs, better utilization of assets)
Emotional Value (need for recognition and security)
Simplicity Value (making the easy choice and reducing headaches)
Relational Value (repaying loyalty and commitment; avoiding potential conflict)
Political and Image Value (looking good to others)
Guidance or Advice Value (access to expert advice)
Quality Value (reducing product defects; better service)
Time Value (shorten time to market; free up time for other things)

Stinnett points out for each of these denominations of value, there is a corresponding denomination of risk. Since value and risk are two sides of the same coin, a seller can increase the perceived value of his offering--and overcome prospects' perennial objections about price, by focusing carefully on the customer's concerns and reducing risk in the areas of value that are important to that particular customer.

In the second half of the book, Stinnett dissects the anatomy of the customer's buying process. Instead of focusing our attention on how we sell, Stinnett says we should concentrate on how the customer buys and--more importantly--what affirmative steps we can take to help the buyer move through each stage of the buying process that the buyer needs to traverse in order to buy from us.

Nothing in "Think Like Your Customer" is startlingly new; rather, Stinnett teaches how we can turn our thinking inside out and look at a transaction from the perspective of the buyer.

This book is well organized and highly readable; the reasoning is persuasive, and the advice is immensely practical. Immediately after reading "Think Like Your Customer," I began to conduct conversations with my clients using the tools and skills Stinnett provides. The difference in the quality of the communication was nothing short of amazing. Buy this book and profit from its wisdom!

When I read books on persuasion, I'm looking for effective tools. One of the reasons I like this book is that it has valuable information I don't remember seeing elsewhere.

The chapter on what customers really want is worth far more than the price of the book. It identifies the factors that must exist for a customer to buy from us. And it teaches how to weave key questions about these factors into our informal conversation with the customer.

Another example: The book teaches how to learn what specific results a customer really wants and how to tie that to our product or service. The specific "result" a customer wants may differ greatly from the generic benefits we assume our product or service's features provide.

I've found that using Stinnett's tools to focus even more on how the customer thinks increases sales and the number of satisfied customers.

Bill Stinnett concludes the Introduction to this book with a remarkable statement: "Now let me be clear: I don't take credit for any of these truths [culled from a variety of other sources]. I didn't make them up. They have been there all along, waiting to be observed. My life's work has been to recognize them and organize them in an effort to advance my own career and yours." Stinnett refers to popular sales methodologies which include Strategic Selling®, Solution Selling®, and SPIN Selling®. Whatever the given methodology, its ultimate outcome is an increase in revenue which, Stinnett duly acknowledges, can be accomplished in three ways: maximizing sales velocity, increasing average "deal size" or the "wallet" share, and increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Throughout Stinnett's narrative, his emphasis is on presenting and then explaining "a winning strategy" (actually an aggregate of several strategies) to increase his reader's understanding of how and why customers buy. The chapter titles for Part 1, "Why Customers Buy," correctly indicate how practical his approach is: What Customers Think About, What Customers Really Want, How Customers Perceive Value and Risk, The Cause and Effect of Business Value, and The Value of Customer Relationships. It should be noted that, along the way, Stinnett also offers excellent advice with regard to all manner of "how not to's" and "why nots" when formulating and then implementing what should be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective game plan to increase revenue.

To me, some of the most valuable material in the book is presented in Chapter 8 as Stinnett explains how to reverse-engineer the buying process. That is, in Stephen Covey's words, "begin with the end in mind." This is a process by which to identify what must happen before a given customer is ready to buy. Previously in Chapter 2, Stinnett introduced what he calls his "Customer Results Model" which involves a process that begins with fully understanding the prospective buyer's current situation. I agree with Stinnett that there is no inherent value (as perceived by customers) in the solution offered by a given product or service unless it will achieve the prospective buyer's desired outcomes or results. As the former CEO of Home Depot once observed, people don't buy a quarter-inch drill; they buy quarter-inch holes. In this context, the quarter-inch drill fills a gap between a current, often an urgent need and filling it.

One of this book's several reader-friendly devices is the isolation of key points presented in bold face. This facilitates and accelerates frequent review of those points later. For example:

"It's a lot easier to sell somebody something if it's positioned as a way to help them achieve a goal or an objective that they already want to achieve." (Page 15)

" Far more critical than what is valuable and important to your customer is why it is valuable and important to them." (Page 65)

"A deep, meaningful, high-trust relationship with a client who has no business disparity [i.e. compelling need], no motive to take action, or no means to take action even if they did have a motive, equals no sale. It's just a relationship." (Page 105)

"It's not what we do in our sales process, but what the customer does in their buying process, that really matters." (Page 135)

"We should spend 80 percent of our time and effort on the 20 percent of our opportunities that carry a strong urgency, motive, and consequence, because these are the deals that can close." (Page 179)

None of Stinnett's key points is a head-snappy revelation, nor does he make that claim. However, all of them - preferably reviewed in the sequence in which they are presented - offer valuable reminders of where the proper focus and emphasis should be during a high-probability customer's purchase process.

There are dozens of excellent books on the art and science of sales, and this is one of the best.

Well-done!

This is one of the best books on selling I'd read in years. In the software world, hard-sell is dead. Try consultative selling the Bill Stinnet way. I used some of the ideas in the book eg., mapping out the buying process and offering it as as part of an important visual information to the gatekeeper to reach the decision maker - and it works! I have used the concept of getting the buyer to think about destination "C" with us rather than trying to be too focused on the offer in "B". There is also a section on how to qualify a prospect with ideas that are worth committing to memory. A combination of Bill's ideas and my experience has turned many of my well qualified prospects into paying customers today.

If you are a career saleperson then this one is definitely for you.

It's good to hear that employing a clear, open business policy can boost the bottom line and upgrade management. With all the recent corporate scandals, a management approach based on "what you see is what you get" is refreshing - and it works. Transparent management can increase employee morale, retention and productivity. Transparent leaders are better at their jobs and make a difference in people's lives. Using case studies and self-assessment surveys, authors Barbara and Elizabeth Pagano help potential leaders evaluate and hone their honesty and their leadership styles. The case studies in this easy to read, if slightly repetitive, volume help convey the authors' key points, which center on honesty, awareness and open communications. We recommend this value-enriched book to aspiring leaders, managers and executives who may be surprised to learn that transparent leadership is one of those intangibles that can produce concrete results.

I really enjoy the stories in The Transparency Edge. It is a great reminder that we can choose to be better leaders in everything we do, everyday. Leadership concepts are hard to grasp generally. And illustrating these with personal experiences make these issues come alive for readers. The Paganos' conversational style also makes reading easy. I recommend this to those who are starting/doing 360 feedback. Such a feedback process can be rather disconcerting, as my first-time coachees have confirmed, and it is helpful to have a resource like Transparency Edge to act as a guide for reflection and new actions.

This book does a great job of breaking up credibility into a few tangible categories and listing specific examples of how to apply the right touch to each of them -- being open without overdoing it, offering praise without coming across as insincere, etc. I was impressed front to back on the way that the authors dissected each dimension, provided insightful anecdotes, and supported them with metrics.

The biggest thing I didn't like is that it uses the "motherhood and apple pie" approach to convincing you of the value of most dimensions. There's sort of an implicit assumption that everything the book says sounds good, and therefore you must do it, resulting in... profit? If they'd not only pointed out studies that showed how many people were bad at certain things but were also more consistent in showing how each of their dimensions contribute to productivity of staff, profitability of the company, or some other company-specific metric, it would've been nice. I'm not saying that I necessarily disagree with them; rather that I don't like seeing people espouse behavior changes just because they "feel right."

Additionally, it's pretty clear they run a high-level executive consulting business. At times, it seemed too CEO / senior-VP focused, with the assumption that not only do you have reports, but that your reports have tiers of reports. Finally, the number of times that they mention the specific services they provided and specific role they played made it feel less like a self-help book and more like an advertisement for them.

Still, a good book and to be recommended, but I'd take it with a grain of salt at times. It triggered a little bit of cynicism more than once, though I'm sure that they'd be willing to work with me on that :-)

This book has a magical combination of real life stories interwoven with principles and facts based on research. Not an easy mix to achieve. Hats off to these authors!
Evonne Weinhaus,
Co-author of Stop Struggling With Your Teen
& Stop Struggling With Your Child

As someone who has inhabited a pretty competitive corner of corporate America for over 20 years, I can honestly say this book was like a lifeline.

With the huge generation of baby boomers all entering the business scene at the same time, I think a lot of us have felt tremendous pressure to conform to what seemed some pretty harsh norms. Being professional and getting ahead was all about being efficient - not taking the time to explain what was going on; being strong, which means never appearing vulnerable; being tough - which means focusing solely on the more easily quantified sales and profit implications of a decision, and shutting out the human factors.

I work in the communications/consulting business and, at every company I've worked for, senior management would get up every year at the annual meeting and say something like - "What sets us apart and gives us our competitive advantage is how we care about our people," and "The most valuable asset in this company goes home every evening." And everyone would just look at each other and roll their eyes, because nobody believed them!

If they cared so much, why didn't they tell us candidly the reasons behind some of their apparently uninformed and careless decisions? Even bad news would be better than all the confusion and speculation in the ranks when no-one knew what was going on. Why did they do all this management training, yet still knowingly tolerate bosses who brutalized their subordinates? Why did they ask for our suggestions - and even ask us to put extra time in volunteering for various corporate task forces - only to break their implied promise of change by ignoring everything we came up, and proceeding with business as usual?

As I moved up into management myself, I understood better what some of the pressures are that push the people in charge into some of these behaviors, and there were times when I found it hard to reconcile my own choices. I saw it as having to make a trade-off between what I thought was the right thing to do (i.e., my responsibility to my personal values), and doing the right thing for the company (i.e, my responsibility as a professional).

What The Transparency Edge does is show beyond a doubt that standing true to your values makes good business sense. Yes, it's harder to do sometimes, and yes, sometimes the benefits are long-term rather than immediate. But leaders have a responsibility to the long-term welfare of the company, which includes maintaining their own and their company's reputation, as well as creating the motivation for people to follow their leadership. Both of those goals are impossible to achieve without personal credibility. And personal credibility is built through conscientiously respecting the nine principles in this book.

Pagano demonstrates that, without question, the reason to behave transparently is not only because it's right, but because it's smart. What a breath of fresh air - it's about time!

This truly was a fantastic book. What I thought would be complicated was made incredibly clear by Mr. Haft. I came away with a greater understanding of investing. I recommend it to everyone - even to those who think they know the market. Mr. Haft knows his stuff.

EXCELLANT BOOK. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO BOTH THE NOVICE AND ADVANCED INVESTOR.HAFT CLEARLY EXPLAINS NOT ONLY TIMELESS INVESTMENT STRATEGIES,BUT SOME ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES THAT ARE "OUT OF THE BOX"THINKING. A SOLID READ, AJOB WELL DONE,YOU WONT BE DISAPOINTED.

As the President of a nationwide finance company I have read countless books on "Investing".........This book is not only a very easy and entertaining read but opened my eyes to some very new and lucrative ideas that I will no doubt take advantage of in my financial planning.

Haft writes in a style that is not only informative but amusing and keeps me totally awake and alert while reading him. His thoughts and concepts and better yet explanations as to why the prudent investor should avoid mutual funds and get better returns by just following a few basic rules, make me wonder why I have been listening to Brokers for years. I have attended one of his seminars, and the book is even better because it spells out in detail, how I should be investing for both safety and good returns, and I plan to follow his advice very closely in the future. He also gets into the Insurance game and IRA protection in methods I was never aware of.
Great Read. Al S. Laguna Beach Ca.

Easy to read and understand. Especially liked the part on purchasing the different types of Life Insurance. Very educational.

Having worked with Lisa at 2 different companies I can attest that she "practices what she preaches" and operates with stellar professionalism.
Amy Mosher
Director Of Sales Operations at PivotLink and owner of Sales Operations Solutions

Your Career, Your Way is an excellent guidebook for anyone desiring a successful career. It is written in an easy to read format. The book includes numerous exercises and stories of two individuals as an example to develop your own action plan. I highly recommend it - I am going to refer to this book time and again.

This book is a must read for anyone who needs help figuring out their career path. The easy-to-understand self evaluation and career plan templates are simple to implement and follow and help focus your career toward the next step. Using the product positioning stategy for career development is genius and makes sense.

This book is a great resource for individuals hoping to advance their career. It teaches you to own your career path and direction. The book not only offers advice on how to direct your career or change your direction, it also asks the reader to do simple exercises. These interactive activities will lead to a personalized plan of attack to change, start, or embrace your career path. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking to make a change or take the first steps to launch a career. The author Lisa Quast does an excellent job engaging the reader in strategic drills and guidance which is translated into specific action for each reader, regardless as to where they are at with their career.

I read this book when I first got it, but didn't do the exercises. Then, I went back and did them over vacation. (Boy, I wish I'd done them sooner!) The results have been fantastic, and immediate. I know more about myself now. The more you put into the exercises, the more you get out. Now, I get what Lisa Quast means by Your Career, Your Way. It's like suddenly, I'm not at the mercy of my boss or other people's agendas. I'm structuring my job and my career to meet my own needs and help me reach my goals. My confidence is up and my performance at work is being noticed.

very good book with practical advice that any salesperson can apply on a day to day basis.I really appreciated that this book is so down to earth and crystal clear.

This book was recommended to us by a couple of professors at University of Toledo for its section on territory management. I had initially passed the book by, because the title didn't grab me. The book is very good, even for experienced sales reps. I'd recommend it to any sales rep, novice or experienced.

I was a little hesitant about purchasing this book. I feared it would be one more fluffy time management book. But Mr Kahle has clearly walked the salesmans walk which lends great crediblity. I found his point of view and suggestions to be refreshingly candid and hands-on. One of my favorite passages in the book reads:
"You can choose not to do this. You can be like most of the mediocre salespeople in the world. You can allow yourself to become reactive... or you can choose to work far more effetively by implementing the disciplines of thinking about it before you do it, and thinking about it in the right way. It's a free country. It's your choice."

I am very glad I bought the book and will use it as a reference for motivating my team on a regular basis.

I bought the book to gain knowledge to help my sales team be more effective. I was very pleased with the book overall and learned some good tips to help educate my reps. I would recommend this book to any Sale Manager or Salesperson who wants to be more productive with the limited hours we have in each day.

Dave Kahle adapts many now common time management processes for the specific use of salespeople in the field. His underlying assumption is that it is much more difficult for outside salespeople to apply the usual techniques, since their lives are so filled with uncertainty. Plus salespeople tend to be action-oriented, so they don't commonly want to spend time planning or setting up systems. But, Kahle argues, such organization is critical to success in sales. While Kahle claims that most time management principles and tactics "totally miss the unique challenges of the field salesperson," the material he covers in the book sounds very familiar. It echoes many other books about goal setting, problem solving, decision making and effective selling. We find that while this may be a helpful review of fairly common material in the guise of time management, the information is hardly unique - although its focus on salespeople's needs may give it additional value for them.

I am a photographer, and as one, I(at least I think) am great at photography, but terrible on the business side. I provide arbitrary (and some times unecessarily large) discounts, or price some of my services at very low rates.

This book provides very useful information for someone like me. Reminds me that in addition to the "art" aspect, photography is also a business that must be self sustained in order to support me...

Very well written, and inspirational in its own unique way.

I am always a little suspicious of reviews of books, since so many of them are made by friends of the author, but this book is definitely a "must read" for any photographer that is serious about making it in this business, regardless of what sector you are interested in. It definitely is an eye opener on some subjects, and makes you aware of things you never thought of, on others. Regardless of whether you are a working pro now, or thinking about it, buy this book, period! This book pretty much covers it all from a business standpoint. I'm glad I choose this one over all of the others.

If you are in any way interested in striking out on your own as a freelance photographer--or any other kind of independent professional photographer--just buy this book. It's got all the information you will need to get your business up and running. Of course, if your pictures such, this will do nothing to help you, because there is not information about exposure, lighting, etc. It's strictly business, so you might not need to buy this... yet.

I read John's excellent book on business twice and then met him at the ASMP seminar in LA. This is not a how-to take good photos book rather a how-to negotiate effectively and stay in business and MAKE MONEY!
I have applied all his techniques and can promise it increased my income! I learned to price on usage and value.
Highly recommended to professional photographers and starting out photographers that would like to learn the business side of photography.
Jason
www.wallisphoto.com

If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes view at what it takes to be a truly successful commercial photographer, this book offers about the best picture you're going to get. I don't think John leaves one stone unturned in detailing all the facets of the business. Here is a sampling of some of the topics covered:

- Tactical decision making and serving the overall strategy
- Importance of proper equipment
- Being prepared for the unexpected
- Working with employees, contractors, interns, and apprentices
- Pricing and licensing your work to stay in business
- A real cost-of-doing-business approach with a photography-tailored CODB calculator
- Proper bookkeeping and accounting
- All types of insurance needed, and the importance of a COI (certificate of insurance)
- Everything about legal issues including copyright registration, infringements, and contract breaches
- All types of contracts and negotiations with real-life examples, and when to say "no"
- Why you need an accountant and an attorney, and what to ask them
- Great methods for dealing with slow and non-paying clients
- The power of email and professional writing along with the use of proper signatures
- Great advice on proper storage archiving, redundancy, security, and the importance of backing up both onsite and offsite in this new digital age

John also offers ample recommended reading at the end of each chapter, and sites excellent references from other sources throughout the book. There's no question John has been around the block multiple times in this industry. Some of the stories he tells are invaluable lessons and give real insights into the rapport of the business. The book is also up to date with discussions on the new and various methods of tapping into that extra stock revenue using the latest stock portals such as Digital Railroad and PhotoShelter. Through all of this, John does not lose sight of the importance of the human aspect, covering everything from the proper care and feeding of your clients to ongoing education, networking, charity, and giving back. And in case you are wondering, he explains how it is possible to do what you love and still have time for your loved ones.

In summary, a fantastic book, and one that will have a lasting impact on both your business and your personal life. Thanks John for paying it forward.

Bill Wiersma has written a very compelling and insightful book. I know I will be referring back to many marked pages to help me work through some particularly challenging work project scenarios, some of which I used to think were primarily driven by other people's behaviors. But now I can see how my biases contributed to the problem and, at times, the onus was all mine (horrors). Thanks for shedding some very important light on these aspects of emotional intelligence.

The Big Aha deals with a destructive element in relationships and business that is much more prevalent than many of us care to admit. Reading this book was truly an "AHA" moment for me personally. The book helped me gain a whole new perspective on difficult work situations that previously I had assumed were outside of my control. On the contrary, I realized I was part of the problem. I was guilty hands down of what Wiersma identifies as "Telescoping". With this concept now clear in my mind, I realized that in situations where I had to deal with difficult colleagues, I was contributing to the problem by focusing only on facts, behavior and results that confirmed my earlier conclusions, suspicions and prejudgments. By applying the suggestions outlined in Wiersma's book, I have been much more effective in dealing with challenging team situations, subordinates, peers and direct reports. Many thanks to Bill for compiling such an illuminating book. I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to be a more effective leader, team member, friend or spouse.

This is a "what they didn't teach you in MBA school" type of book. Extremely valuable for students learning how to resolve and prevent workplace conflicts, but perhaps the Big AHA is best understood by those that can draw from real life experiences. I found myself saying the next time I recognise this situation I'm going to shift my thinking. Thanks BIG AHA

What is special about Wiersma's book is the thoughtful way that he examines the nature of human conflict, and then the very useful ideas he presents to keep conflict from happening in the first place. Highly readable and worthwhile!

Bill Wiemersa has tackled some of the most destructive tendencies found throughout corporate America. The concept of "telescoping" not only applies in business relationshps, but I found that I also telescope many personal relationships. I predict this book and the concepts found in its pages will guide teachers, students, managers, executives, employees, spouses, siblings, coaches, politicians and ministers for many years to come. Can't wait to read the follow-up to The Big AHA.......

I'll tell you right off that it brought back a lot of memories of my production assistant days. Your descriptions of what one needs to survive in this industry are right on. I'm very grateful to you that it was written in a very clear and concise way with touches of humor and the incorporation of actual experiences. It was a very easy read.

I liked your suggestions for follow up letters. I actually used them twice already. The format is great: direct and concise.

I found it to be helpful and informative

I read the book twice and loved it! It has a wealth of information that anyone in this industry needs. I have already gain further info that will help me achieve the goals I have set for myself. I wasn't looking for it but while I was browsing through the bookstore, when I got to that section, it was the first to jump out at me. This book was a sign that I have been on the right path for the last four years. I thank you.

This book served no purpose other than it's nice contact indices in the back (for which I gave the 1 star). Other than that, it was a waste of money. I wish I had bought it at Borders so that I could have skimmed through it first. Then I could have also just ripped out the index list and taken it home. Shhh! Don't tell anyone.