Products Books

Rick Ott's Creating Demand is an easy to read marketing book
written for new and seasoned entrepreneurs. This book is not about your marketing, it's the motor that drives your marketing.

My favorite part of this book is where Rick talks about how people are influenced by others when they make decisions. He gives really practical examples in the book about how to connect with people where they are. A great book if you don't know marketing very well. If you do know marketing, Rick Ott says things you have heard, but makes them stand out with clear examples you may not have thought about.

Creating Demand is an excellent book for marketing almost any product or concept. Ott's ideas are clearly expressed and powerfully presented. I checked this book out of the library first, but by the time I reached page 10 and had 12 pages of notes, I knew I needed to buy it! I highly recommend this book, even to someone who doesn't work in marketing for a living. If you have a product, concept, idea, or talent to sell, read this book!

This is an ideal book for anyone who wants to grow their business FASTER

I was so delighted to learn that this book is back in print. It's a classic on the psychology and practicalities of motivating human beings to buy. I refer to this again and again in my writing on marketing. Run and buy it today!

Bought this as a gift and he loved it. A great collection of info and photos on the one and only Big Daddy. Great shots of him througout his life and career, up and down, (my favorite shot was of him sleeping on the side of the road beside his car on his way to a show). Lots of photos of his wild cars. Great book for all his fans.

This is a great book, a must have for Big Daddy fans and hot rodders alike. A great compainion to "Rat Fink: The Art of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. I love the hard cover because I hope to have this book to show my kids someday. Ed Roth lives forever through his fans.

For me, a guy, who lived and breathed the hot rod, surf and music scene of the 60's, this book brings back a necessary component of the time. Relive and remember the essence of the time through Ed Roth who's artwork and cars seemed to be on the tip of everyone's tongue. We all knew the "Rat Fink" and we all knew "Big Daddy". Now he lives forever in this definitive work.

This book is a great collection with everything that you want to see and know about the "Big Daddy".
I bought one for a friend and I'll buy for me too.

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a real renaissance man of the 1960s: creator of Rat Fink, builder of creative custom cars, and a Mormon beatnick who refused to fit in anyone's mold. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Time, Cars, and Art is an engaging and informative biography that charts his rise to fame in general and his skills building custom cars in particular, and comes from an author who met Ed in the mid-1970s and regularly covered his exploits. Nearly 300 photos - many new to this collection-charts his creations and his art, and will appeal to any who know his name.

I may not have been McCartney's target audience here; I buy knockoffs of things all the time. Or should I say, bought. I always figured that you simply couldn't protect intellectual property if there was a cheap way of someone stealing it and making a profit, and furthermore, why should I pay a huge premium for the real thing just to have some brand name on it?

But reading this book was a great experience for me; Sarah personalizes exactly who and how it hurts for me to purchase knockoffs of nearly any product. She talks about exactly what pushes our brand buttons and tries to show us that the things pushing our brand buttons are often worth paying extra for (to buy the real thing). She also makes the point that though counterfeits and knockoffs are a cheap way of buying instant chic - we can try the newest styles at bargain bin prices - they not only compromise us morally but in many cases don't really satisfy the things that we are initially attracted to in the styles or designs. They can be cheaply made or of low-quality fabric, neither of which is really satisfying to wear, and in addition, many of the people who'd think you were cool for wearing something so stylish would know that you had a knockoff by the poor workmanship.

One of the most convincing points for me is the argument that the more of everything we buy, knockoffs and fakes, the more we have to work to pay for these items, and the less time we as individuals have to develop and enjoy our own creativity, and the experiences involved in making our own interesting clothing/ clothing combinations and exploring our creativity in other ways. She makes the point that the trade in knockoffs going on at stores contributes to all of us looking alike in a lot of ways, and that true creativity in design is becoming less common as people realize they can make money off other people's ideas without ever coming up with anything new themselves.

I don't want us all to look and dress alike, and so this was especially thought-provoking to think that maybe there is another model for thinking about what to buy. Well-made, interesting designs from smaller craftspeople can be less expensive than branded items but still of very high quality, and everybody and their mother won't be wearing anything similar. Do-it-yourself and items from small vendors are becoming the new chic in my eyes. I can feel morally good about the choice to spurn items that steal intellectually from others while supporting small businesses and artists, and the kind of cutting-edge creativity that makes the world a more interesting and satisfying place.

I bought this book because I know Sarah's writing as Auntie Pamela from the Lush Times catalogue (Lush.com), and I love her fun and down-to-earth voice. This book was a satisfying read and gave me some philosophical things to chew on as well as some solid information about marketing, business, the trade in knockoffs, and what exactly is driving me to buy. Highly recommended.

This is an absolute must read. Honest and well written, this book gives a unique inside into the world of brands and fakes. This should be on everybody's must read list.

This book was a great read. What was the most fascinating to me was reading about other cultures. Sarah McCartney, you can tell, put a lot of time and research into this work, and it really shines with each chapter. Never one to buy fakes myself, this book gave me even more reasons not to do so. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned themselves when buying real or fake luxury goods.

I read this book with a great deal of interest; the scale of knockoffs is both amazing and alarming, and Sarah McCartney's analysis is insightful without being preachy. Books on esoteric subjects are not always a good read, but this one is, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in economics or fashion, humanities or capitalism.

For those of us who wonder why on earth anyone would buy cheaply-made Gucci knockoffs - much less who would actually go to the trouble of creating one - this book is a revelation. Ms. McCartney goes beyond the obvious motivations of greed and envy to present us the cause and effect of a not-quite-Louis-Vuitton fashion world. It's an interesting, well-paced book that I heartily recommend.

Business changes and influences are happening faster and faster, requiring the successful company to be more responsive and anticipatory than ever. For a guide which teaches managers and owners how to predict demand and handle it correctly, Getting It Right The First Time: How Innovative Companies Anticipate Demand is essential. Examples of real-life lucrative successes and missed opportunities alike offer lessons for all, and John Katsaros and Peter Christy have gathered a representative sampling of these case histories to work into a general company plan for marketing and advancement. Recommended for any entrepreneur interested in innovation.

This book was written for me. I have lived through the technology area of the 70's, 80's and 90's. Yes, I'm over 50 years old. Technology marketing and launching new products today is very different from my previous 30 years of experience. The markets today require focus, research and insight of the market dynamics. "Getting It Right the First Time" is for individuals and organizations who want to make their dreams become a reality. John Katsaros and Peter Christy's knowledge and insight comes from their experience. Their book has had a tremendous and positive impact on our organization. Dean Westbrook, Mount Angel, Oregon

John and Peter have brought a wealth of personal experience to the problem of bringing innovative products to market. Millions of dollars chase new ideas that have no hope of success.

Entrepreneurs, product planners and managers, business strategists will all be well served by the insight and by following the guidance inside this book.

If you've got a great idea for a revolutionary product - read this book.

Well-organized, clearly written and very enjoyable. Most importantly, this book lays out the basic, but absolutely critical things you must take care of if you are going to start any venture and provide excellent insight into solving the special problems that come with venturing into emerging hi-tech markets. Highly recommended.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written and didn't take too long to finish. I loved the little story about the entrepreneur who made a bundle cleaning hard drives. I recommend entrepreneurs/business strategists read this book. I suspect it will keep them on track in their pursuit of being successful.

The authors' message is that entrepreneurs should use market research to improve and refine their business strategy. They point out that it is crucial to business success to consider how large a product's market is and how fast that market is growing BEFORE spending time and money to actually develop the product. It's a waste of time and money to create a product for a small market that is not going to grow.

The authors are advocates of planning and avoiding trial and error. They believe in knowing what they are getting into, documenting a plan in writing, and then implementing the plan that logically will be successful. They go a step further than this, however. They also suggest that the market researcher enlist the help of experts who are interviewed during the marketing research.

The funny thing about this book is that most successful companies already do what the authors preach. The ones that don't were the Internet companies that went bust 5 or 6 years ago, and the millions of entrepreneurs that account for failed businesses year in and year out.

I would have liked this book better if it had been written by someone who did not have a background in Silicon Valley. Maybe someone from the automotive industry or financial services industry would have been great? But we are stuck with some computer guys. The book is still worth the read.

Item arrived quickly and in great shape. Very professional business relations. I recommend this buyer and this book. I also recommend Amazon as I have never had any problems with them.

These Gift in a Bag books are perfect for small - I am thinking of you - gifts. I highly recommend them all!

Wonderful book! Filled with so many fun recipes. I am a gift giver and I am always looking for new little items to give to my friends and co-workers. I gave one gift in a bag to each of the teachers at my school for Christmas. What wonderful comments. I have even had friends calling over the Holidays asking how I made the rubs. Great teacher gifts from students. I also have soups in a jar and made up several for gift giving. Enjoy and happy gift making!

I made these spice packages as gifts for the Holidays. I loved the fact that labels with usage and helpful hints were included in the booklet. The recipes suggest you mix the spices, but I left that up the recipient, because the layers of various colored and textured spices made for a colorful and interesting presentation. I have gotten rave reviews from recipients and, in fact, they are asking for the ingredient list so they can make there own. I bought the simple cello packages of spices, when possible, from a restaurant supply store, in order to keep down costs. It makes the job easier if you list the spices you will be needing, with approxiately how much you will need, for shopping. I didn't do that & had to go back to the store for more of the ones that were required for many of the packets. I decorated cute papermache boxes and included 6 seasoning packets in each one as a gift. This was a fun and highly appreciated gift for every adult on my gift list.

These Rubs (and also the Dips) make great hostess or buddy gifts - Great way to use those too-small-for-anything-else foodsaver bags without having to use the suction, I can just use the sealer and I have great little packets. Print some nice color sticker labels and stuff them with couple cooking utensils in a dip bowl or oven mitt.

I am a long-time chiropractic patient with chronic shoulder and mid-back problems. I read this book years ago in its original version, but had forgotten how good it was. The new edition is colorful, informative and explains how chiropractic works in a manner that is easy to understand. The exercise portion is very helpful for those of us who "forget" what we are suppose to do. I highly recommend this book...buy it, you won't be disappointed!

I have had trouble trying to understand why my back hurt and why other problems were related to this. After reading Introduction to Chiropractic I truly understand why my spine is so important and why chiropractic care can provide me with significant help for my condition. My doctors have tried to explain things to me but they are either too busy or too technical, this book is easy to read and very understandable. It has completely changed my view of how to approach my health. I now understand much better the reason why I may get sick and what to do. There are so many helpful hints in the book. I highly recommend it.

This book is well written in easy-to-understand language. Not only does the book provide a clear explanation of chiropractic, it explains how the body functions and gives pointers on maintaining good health. I highly recommend it to anybody who wants to understand why their body might be complaining and want to help themselves gain good health and well being. I also recommend it to all health care providers. As one who suffers from osteoarthritis, I find the suggested exercises extremely helpful. I refer to it as "my handy little instruction book" and refer to it often. It would be an excellent gift for everybody you love.

Of the many things we seek in life, good health is probably at the top of most individual's lists. And when we seek health care guidance and advice, we want to be certain that that advise is from an expert source and someone we can count on for delivering sound recommendations.

Dr. Louis Sportelli has captured the essence of a leading non-invasive, non-drug health profession, reducing a complicated and oft misunderstood care paradigm to a simple to understand writing on the benefits of chiropractic care. As we explore new directions in health care, especially us baby-boomers, we are all looking for a solution to our aches and pains, effective diet, nutrition and excerise regimens and a true understanding of the reasons for our changing physiologic function. Reading Introduction to Chiropractic answers these and so many more questions about our bodies and outlines in simple to read text the functions that attribute to good health.

While we are told to rest, take aspirin or other drugs for many of the most incapacitating and debilitating problems associated with the back, neck and extremity pain, Introduction to Chiropractic takes the reader to a new dimension of understanding in explaining why natural health care optimizes the bodies own inner intelligence mechanisms. There's more practical and useful information in this book's 50 easy reading pages about common sense health care than I've read anywhere.

If you've read or heard contrary information about the benefits or usefulness of chiropractic care, this book should put any of those concerns to rest. Thank you, Dr. Sportelli, for taking the time to write this wonderful book explaining the many benefits of chiropractic, a safe, effective and necessary component to obtaining maximum good health!

This is the best chiropractic book I've ever encountered. This would be an essential resource for anyone considering going to a chiropractor or who has questions about what a chiropractor can do for them.

The language is very easy to understand and is well referenced with links to many other sources of information on-line about back care and chiropractic.

I gave my copy to a chiropractic cynic. He's got his first appointment next week.

The key concept of this book is that every organization could evolve trough several status. There is no a suggested preeferred status. Winning organisations are those which could find the right 'alignment' between market needs and behaviours and the internal organization. The evolution of the organization is only driven by the market change. The book focus on transitions between these different stages, analysing the impact of these changes through the entire Value Chain. Invented Here is a milestone for those people which needs to manage transition also in a turbulent environment. It helps managers to think about the actual company positioning and to build a framework helping to identify market changes and relevant organizational needed impact. Simply great!

The importance of organization design on the success of a business, be it that of a service company or a product supplier, is often underestimated. Strategy alone is not enough.

The great value of this book lies in 3 areas :

i) Use of illustrating failure as well as success - better to learn from someone else's mistakes so that you can, hopefully, avoid them.

ii) Identifying in meaningful terms where to position your organisation for your product/service e.g. if you need a great mass production machine, that is how you should organize; when your customers need more, don't hide from it - just do it well.

iii) The style is refreshingly alive. You feel you can relate to real people solving real problems. Too often, books like this feel like they belong only in libraries - this one offers genuinely practical insight. It's up to you to apply it.

If I have one (minor) criticism, it is the title. Don't let it mislead you. This book is a very helpful guide to many aspects of organizational design and a better title, in my opinion, would be something like:- "Optimizing Your Organization For Your Customers"

A well written book to help you understand how to develop your company's business along the "right path"to deliver higher customer value. The format and language of the book make it a joy to read. The concrete examples from both service and product industries are very useful.

Too many managers look to external consultants to provide the keys to their organization's success. Was it quality circles, TQM, or re-engineering you last tried as a way to rejuventate your struggling organzation? Victor and Boynton suggest you save your money and focus within. Their logical process of analysis and implementation will help your firm on the "right path" to organizational success.

The process demands that firms think clearly and carefully about who they are and what business they are in compared to what their customers really want. This analysis helps a firm determine if it should compete on the basis of novelty, commodity, quality, or precision. The choice made suggests that craft work, mass production, process enhancement, or mass customization provides the best strategy to meet those customer demands. Achieving these strategies can only occur as a firm moves from craft work, through mass production and process enhancement to mass customization via the "right path."

In an engaging combination of personal insight and case examples, the authors lead the reader along the "path." They offer numerous stories of organizations around the world that have followed this "path" to organizational success.

Don't let the reletive brevity of their effort mislead you. The ideas they propose should force the thoughful manager into careful and thoughful consideration of the firm's current structure, products, and processes. If the analysis suggests that changes are warranted, then Victor and Boynton's guidebook along the "right path" will prove well worth the initial investment.

A thoughtful, creative tour de force in a field littered with lightweight, feel-good competitors. Enjoy!

This book reveals how to use knowledge residing in the company to transform organization and manage growth. It presents a model of organizational learning and development with four steps: craft, mass production, process enhancement, and mass customization. It explores the leveraging of four associated types of knowledge and presents a learning system for developing organizational knowledge. Provides important insights the learning organization.

My daughter and I own the Golden Book version of this classic story but we've read so many plays on the story and versions and I have to say THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST. It's done in such a nice simplistic way and the illustrations are charming, we got it from our local library and my daughter asked to read it every night! If you are searching for the best Little Red Hen this is it!

Sturdy pages, brights colors, and great story idea. More pages than an average board book, which is nice. I'm glad I bought this for my daughter.

This is a fabulous edition of the Little Red Hen. The text is crisp and clear, the pictures are simple, clear, and bright, and the board book format is friendly to little hands! My boys ADORE this book. It makes for a great bedtime story, too!

My 17-month old daughter has loved this book for months already. It has a rhythmic text and lively pictures, plus it is about animals, which is always a hit with the toddler set.

This book has been a favorite for the last several months. My son liked the repetition and the bright pictures from the start, and as he gets older (he's now 21 months) he also enjoys naming the animals and what they are doing. There is lots in the pictures for a toddler to talk about: planting seeds, cooking, kite flying, napping, and so on. I'm not wild about the artwork in this book, but then again I'm not its target audience--the simplicity seems to work great for young kids.

This is such a great song to sing and the book is a fun accompaniment, as well as the CD.
These types of books are great to bring in the car for some family fun time!

This is such a great book. I've used it with many many preschoolers and children, and the remark I always get is "again, again"...

I bought this book for my nephew and the entire family has enjoyed his singing the pages, he had it memorized in no time and he is only 2 years old!!! I would recommend this book to anyone with young children, not just for their enjoyment but for the entire family.

The younger loves the beautiful pictures and singing along. The older loves looking for all the little details in the pictures. They both love substituting the names of the characters for their own friends' names! Both learned their colors through this book without realizing what they were actually doing. This is one book I don't mind reading over and over.

I remember reading this book back in kindergarten and the first grade. It was the first book I ever learned to read. I loved this book so much that I read it until I had it memorized. It's too bad the original cover is not printed in this edition. I'm going to pass this one down to my cousin, Adam, whose only 4. Hopefully, we can continue the tradition so this will be his first book he ever learns to read.

When it says 'master class' it means that it won't tell you what to think but it will teach you how to think, which is much more enduring and useful. Every planner I know should read this and inwardly digest its perennial wisdom.

Stephen King was one of the two fathers of account planning. Despite many of these papers being over 30 years old, they have never been a more pertinent reminder about how to think about creating powerful brands and communication, and the role that ad agencies can play. It's proof that sometimes when trying to find a path forwards it's useful to look at the past. A must read for anyone in the communications industry.

A Master Class in Brand Planning is an invaluable, long over-due introduction to the writings of Stephen King for all marketers in the United States. King, a pioneer in account planning in the UK, spent his career teaching his colleagues, his clients and countless fans how brands work, how to approach brands and importantly how to sustain brands. The brilliance of this compilation of his work is the addition of contemporary commentaries by today's leading thinkers about advertising, marketing and brands. They make this book as relevant and timely as the latest blog on brands. A must-read for people starting out in the business, people building and selling brands, and people teaching marketing in business schools.

Stephen King's writings, as most reviewers acknowledge, are as relevant and stimulating today as they were when he first published them. Between the lines, however, one can still detect the humor and irreverence which were King hallmarks. Stephen was relentlessly rigorous in his approach to brand planning, but at the same time was disarmingly charming and witty. You'll find these qualities here as well.

In an age when desires for instant insights attract attention to short cuts, Stephen King will give 'real planners' tools that require thoroughness and hard work, but which lead to far richer and more rewarding results over time. Brands he touched in his lifetime, and people he inspired, still reign all over the world!

It's a treasure trove, indeed!

Long live the King!

The flyleaf gets this right: "an unexploited gold mine." Way back in what now seems almost prehistoric in advertising years (the late 60s), Stephen King was revealing the secrets to the way consumers think (and do not think) and illuminating the way advertising agencies and marketers should think (and should not think) about brands. How do we explain the degree to which his perspective and advice have gone unexploited?

This book, based on King's published writings and fine introductions by savvy marketing thinkers, removes all excuses for failing to develop marketing communications that connect consumers and brands. Among the articles included is one of his seminal essays, "What Is A Brand?" That means we no longer have to decipher his words truncated by a poorly scanned pdf that we downloaded (likely without permission) from a website googled on a tip from some King insider who managed to discover him when so many others did not. It's surprising and fortunate that the ideas he posited over 30 years are still utterly relevant and cogent in a business that's changed in unimagined ways in those ensuing decades. Yet so many agencies and advertisers have failed to learn from and apply his insights.

Gratefully the editors of this book make his work -- and that of other brilliant thinkers like Stanley Pollitt -- accessible and timely to anyone willing to dig in. You now have no excuse. Exploit this gold mine.