Sales Books

I was asked to read the book for an advanced advertising class at the Ross School of Business (Michigan). I was skeptical because I couldn't find it nearly anywhere. However, after reading it it has changed the way I look at advertising. If you are looking for a book that lays out all of the rules in a simple formula, this isn't that book. However, it is the type of book that infuses you with the knowledge needed through short stories and small nuggets of information. By the end your frame of reference has shifted, and you are better off for it. It is a short read and has some funny parts as well (including where the title came from).

The specific vendor was good. It came quickly and was it great condition.

While I can't add much more to what other reviewers have said, I wanted to add a few thoughts. This is a well written, witty and wonderful book. The author is highly respected in the advertising world.

This is a book about getting ideas, being creative. Yes, it's about advertising. And if you're in the advertising business, you may appreciate it more than other people. While Phil says it's not about advertising, it is.

But I got a ton of ideas from this book. I'm always chasing ideas and ways to get creative. It's my whole world. So I found this book one that I will keep in my office and refer to often.

Highly recommended.

And I've read A LOT. This one, however, goes behind the scenes on how a product lets the consumer know it's here by a "memorable" campaign, not the the 24/7 onslaught of pop-ups or product placement or posters-in-public-bathrooms that we have been experiencing of late. It's enough to make a person wistful for the good ol' days of advertising. I'm NOT in the business, but I can still remember each and every ad Dusenberry mentioned. (And I can still recite: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun! :-) ) At the same time, I can't remember a single ad that aired last night during "Desperate Housewives." Newcomers may blow off the meanderings of a mere high-school graduate who "did good" in advertising, but from this consumer's viewpoint, Dusenberry GOT it, and that's an insight I'll cherish.

What an amazing book. I loved it! I'm in the advertising industry so I expected the book to be relevant to my career - but the book offers so much more to anyone from a small business owner to a CEO of a large corporation. Everyone would appreciate reading this book. The focus is on insight rather than clever ideas. The pages are full of witty stories of tried and true (and not so successful) experiences of a legendary ad man. I highly recommend this book.

I was sent this book for free but I must admit that initially I didn't really feel too excited about either the author or the topic owing to my aversion to the Madison Ave advertising industry in general. When I did open it I was expecting to read about how great the advertising industry was and how Dusenberry was the cheerleader for it. Not so.

Dusenberry actually steps back a level and talks about life managing the creative and marketing strategy behind some of the world's best-known brands such as Pepsi and Dupont. This book isn't so much about advertising and marketing as it is about the "ah hah!" moment that leads to insight into a product or service that then forms the platform upon which a successful campaign is built. In other words, years of marketing effort can be driven by a fleeting moment in time and Dusenberry talks about how these fleeting moments come to be.

Dusenberry doesn't talk about Madison Avenue really nor does he pretend to be anything other than the creative filter for BBDO through which the good ideas get through. He tries to instill a sense of wonder and engagement in the reader to bring out the best and wildest ideas that might help to launch a new product or service. Although he didn't say as much, I suspect his ideas and insights are as valid for a 1-person startup company as for a 10,000-person conglomerate.

If you're a marketer or advertiser, internet or not, you'll really enjoy this book. I would also recommend it to budding entrepreneurs who are looking for some enlightenment and guidance on trusting their instincts about launching their product or service.

One of my favorites book to articulate discussion with C-Level executives and get advance and closed your deal. Indispensable.

The tools laid out in Mark Kuta's "Think Like a CEO" will provide you with the analysis you will need to cover most of the cases you find yourself in front of. These are the financial metrics that you should know like the back of your hand. Remember that with these metrics you will be focusing on what your C-Level prospect worries about every single day.
By reading this book, when you meet with the C-level executive, you can get the conversation to revolve around his specific challenges.
As Mark Kuta says, learn to talk like "It looks like your penetration strategy has yielded solid results. How are you dealing with the challenges of your top line increasing 36 percent year over, while gross margins tighten?", instead of dealing with generalities.

Why this is important to a C-Level executive? Most all CEO's watch the sales numbers closely. The fact of the matter is, many Wall Street analysts look for growth on the "top line" as much as they do on the bottom line. Reading this book already helped me make a sale, by learning to look at the sale from the standpoint of the executive of the company I was dealing with.

Thoughtfully constructed. A surprisingly value added read. A book to refer to, profit by, and read again.

This book helped me to land a major account recently and I'm getting better traction with current prospects. Mark has done a wonderful job of helping the reader understand the profit engine of any business and using this knowledge to build a powerfully effective sales strategy by aligning it with the CEO's profit strategy.

I've read hundreds of business books and this is one of the best I've ever read for helping a sales professional get inside the mind of a big company CEO. Mark Kuta's premise is that managers at all levels of a company are dilegently working to implement the various strategies, tactics and plans that collectively promulgate the overall profit strategy of the CEO. And if you can understand the business "language" involved in this collective company process, you will posses the ability to successfully sell at any level in a company, including the "C" suite.

One of the key tools Mark Kuta uses is his Value Proposition, which he shows the reader how to develop from the perspective of the target company's CEO. Once developed, the Value Proposition can be used at any level in the company and still be effective because it will resonate with the company's internal messages generated by the CEO and senior management to its employees.

If the reader does not know how to read a company's financial statements, no problem. Mark takes the reader step-by-step through the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, focusing on only the most important things to learn. The reader will come away with the 5 most important things to know from each of the three statements as well as how to use them together to develop a powerful sales strategy and value proposition.

I am a Business Coach and I am always reading books to learn and acquire the necessary tools to coach my clients. After reading about 1/4 of the book I was amazed of how much I had learned already. I understood the financial basics in order to assess how a business is doing. Great tool for my business and also to recommend to all my clients.

This book will challenge you to look at men who have been instumental politically and educationally in America. You may not close the book liking them all and probably won't agree with everything they said or did, but you will go away with more knowledge and understanding of their positions.

Gates is a master of his craft; his writing is original, insightful and is of the whole cloth-- weaving visual images with literary allusions and references to the person that render all of what we might rightly know of a visible self. The portraits are intellectually rich and intellectually satisfying. His rendition of the crack in Jesse Jackson's reaction to Colin Powell-- which only comes out in private, is absolutely magical and priceless for the emotional nuance it conveys (in a loving and hilarious style). Like an exquisite and rare gourmet meal for the mind, one wants these profiles never to end for the knowledge and reality that they impart.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. masterfully profiles eight black men in this collection of his New Yorker essays. He writes in a bluesy, artistic style and has the ability to get quotes from these men that any other journalist would fail to do. The men intimately discuss the tragedies and successes of their lives. The stories of these men details their ascent and depicts the world around them. Gates daringly portrays O.J. Simpson and the infamous trial and Louis Farrakhan, the outspoken leader of the nation of Islam. The other men profiled are James Baldwin, Albert Murray, Bill T. Jones, Colin Powell, Harry Belafonte, and Anatole Broyard. Each of their lives have distinct differences, but it is also interesting to find the areas where they overlap.

The portraits of Powell and Farrakhan stand out the most to me as Gates sheds light on the stories behind the men that we rarely see. I recommend this book for its intriguing stories, dynamic language, and true concepts of what it means to be a black man in America.

Henry Louis Gates must have some magical ability to transcribe someone's personality onto the printed page. I was amazed at the variety of personalities Gates wrote about and how accurately Gates seemed to portray them. My favorites were Anatole Broyard and Colin Powell, but every essay is compelling. Perhaps what I enjoyed most is that Gates had the bravery to write about controversial subjects (like Louis Farrakhan and O.J. Simpson, though an entire essay was not dedicated to the latter). I recommend this book highly. Fans of this book would also enjoy Cornel West's Race Matters.

I really enjoyed this book. Gates is a great writer and has a great ability to capture personalities on paper. I recommend this for anyone who thinks there is one type of black man.

My mom gave this to me filled in before I got married. I am passing it along to my own daughters with information about me. Classic pictures and great journaling pages.

This is a wonderful book. My mother purchased it 10 years ago and on October 5th, 2004 presented it to me and my husband in celebration of our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was a very special and beautiful surprise. Something that will be cherished and treasured forever. In it she captured all the emotions she has experienced throughout our lives.... fantastic.

My mother is now working on my brother's book, 'To My Son, With Love: A Mother's Memory Book' also by Donna Green.

My mother sent me this book for my 21st birthday. She and my grandmother had filled it with their memories, hopes, and dreams covering a span of 70 years. I learned things I had never thought to ask, and I treasure the stories they shared with me. I cried for a long time after I received this gift as it touched me so deeply.

This is a wonderful book for my daughter. She is just learning to read words but loves the pictures. When she is older, I know she will thank her mother for this beautifully illustrated work of love. As a little girl, my aunt always bought me a book like this on my birthday. I inscribed this for her. A real treat.

My mother bought this book, filled it in and gave it to me for Christmas one year. I went into my bedroom, closed the door, and did not come out until 3 hours later - I cried the entire time. I loved reading about my mother's mom and things they used to do together. But even more, I loved reading about the different emotions my mom had during the different stages of my life. That was the best gift I have EVER received.

Ruth Stevens' Trade Show and Event Marketing has proven to be a very useful book with many good ideas. As a Marketing representative who has worked in both the Tech Industry and for Consumer Products companies I have had the opportunity to attend a wide variety of trade shows, ranging from annual Comdex and CES shows in Las Vegas, to ECRM, NACS, and GMDC shows around the country. When you are dealing with such high costs and logistical problems at these shows you can tend to feel overwhelmed. But authors like Ruth Stevens have helped to pave the way, making our paths to trade show success a little more pleasant, by way of communicating a thoughtful approach to difficult problems. Good work!
Review by: Adam Platts, Northridge

Completely comprehensive on every aspect of trade shows and event marketing. Whether you are part of show management or an exhibitor this book is a solid reference. Even if you are seasoned at trade show and event marketing - you will learn something from this book.

Not until I dug into the case histories did I realize how truly valuable this book is. These punchy examples drive home point after point with clarity that makes all other how-to books I've read on this subject pale by comparison. "Put Ruth in Your Booth" could be its subtitle.

Ruth has hit all the right buttons in this book. As a trade show consultant, too many of my clients focus on the display and event on the show floor, neglecting the pre-show and post-show part of the medium. When you take Ruth's well-documented book literally and plan, promote, you will indeed profit. Especially with proper post-show lead development. I am sending copies of this one to my best clients and prospects.

If you are in marketing and you exhibit at trade shows, this book may change your behavior forever. Not only does it provide in-depth information about what trade shows can do and how they operate, but it also explains the financial structure you should put in place to determine whether participating in a trade show is worth your while financially. That may be bad news for corporate marketers who prefer to unpack their booth, buy the coffee and flowers, and hand out literature.
But if you want to turn a trade show appearance into a truly special corporate event, author Ruth Stevens has a game plan for you. Her book includes sample budgets, case studies, expense spread sheets, lead generation forms, checklists, survey ideas and a great appendix listing sources of additional information. It explains everything you need to know about the opportunities that trade shows offer and how you can use them to advance your marketing goals. We highly recommend this book to marketing managers of business-to-business companies who want to start getting solid returns from special events.

This book packs an extraordinary amount of information into one volume. What's more, the profusion of diagrams and photographs makes it visually appealing.

One section elaborates on types of grass or other ground cover, sodding and other preparations, etc. The correct usage of various garden tools is also included.

A section on annuals includes an informative table of plant kinds, what type of soil each is best suited for, the extent of shade that it can tolerate, the tallness to which the plant will grow under favorable conditions, etc. It tells the gardener which plants can be started indoors, and types of pests and how to deal with them. There is a similar section and table on perennials. This informs the reader about such things as mulching, planting from pots, and what season of the year a given perennial can successfully be planted. Practical information is given on such diverse topics as the spacing and depth requirements for the planting of seed, the protection of young plants from desiccation or frost, soil types and soil pH, etc.

There is also a section of choosing and maintaining shrubs and trees. There is a description of many kinds of trees, and their suitability under different conditions. The entries include some exotics, such as bamboo "shrubs". Instructions are given on how to prune shrubs and trees, and how to identify and overcome their insect pest problems.

An intriguing section is provided on the developing and maintenance of specialized gardens. These include rose gardens, rock gardens, and even water gardens.

I was very pleased with my purchase. The book was in excellent condition and you could not even tell it had been used. The best part was I purchased it for half the price of a new copy.

This book is a treasure. It's full of tons of pictures of all kinds of flowers and plants and grasses. Besides the pictures, the info is all right there, under the picture, telling the ease of growing along with where the plant grows best and when and how to plant it. There are pages with pictures of pests, ways to plant different things and on and on. I've given it for a gift to more than one person who's moved to a new place and needed to find out what was growing in their yard or what to plant. They've all loved it.

I just bought this book at Genuardi's (Philadelphia, PA area super market) for $19.99 new, so that means there is a new publishing, for those who are looking and can't find a used one. I love the book.

I bought a copy of this book in 1996 and have found it invaluable in choosing plants for landscaping my yard. I'm not that great with choosing plants for my yard and getting them to grow. This book has changed all that. The plants they recommend for my area grow and flourish. The descriptions, as far as height, width, durability, etc have not failed me yet.

I get compliments on my yard from all of my neighbors.What was once a barren and neglected yard has turned into a very beautiful, flourishing landscaped home in just a little over a year.

Friends who come to my home and see this book and find out this is the book that guided me through my landscaping efforts want a copy. Unfortunately, this book is out of print. PLEASE bring this book back. IT'S THE BEST!

She did it again! Carolyn Schneider's book is a "gift" for shoppers, people who want to sell items and for just browsing. I cannot begin to express my joy in having this wonderful source of information. I travel a great deal both in the US and abroad and this book is just a font of information. Thanks to Carolyn Schneider for a great book.

The reason this book is getting "FIVE STARS" from everyone is because it takes a DIFFERENT approach. It is specific. She names national thrift store "chains," ie the Discover Shops, Goodwill etc. and lists other outlets all over the U.S. and in other countries. Covering this much geography, is a FIRST that I have ever found. For those of us that travel, this is a Godsend. She even has a section on "Bargains on the Internet." There is a section on "resources" (other books, and addresses to write for info.etc.)Then, there's a section for the "trade" with bargains on display pieces etc. For those of us that have collections, these display pieces are a "must" and they're expensive. This is the first resource I've seen to get these at bargain prices.This book is a GREAT source of information for the bargain shopper.

I came across this book while I was recently browsing in a book store and then looked in the computer. This book provides wonderful information for smart shoppers worldwide. I cannot begin to express my joy in finding such a great book. I have visited a number of the stores in different places. Not only did I find many great "buys" but each store was so interesting. I would like to thank the author for the time and effort put forth in this book. Great idea!

I LOVE TO SHOP! I LOVE TO SAVE MONEY! THIS BOOK IS THE ANSWER TO MY PRAYERS! I FOUND SOME INTERESTING STORES TO SHOP IN AND ALSO WAS ABLE TO CONSIGN ITEMS, SUCH AS PAINTINGS I HAD IN MY CLOSET, MY CHILDREN'S ICE SKATES,BIKES AND CLOTHING. I HOPE EVERYONE WHO LOVES TO SHOP AND LOVES TO SAVE MONEY BUYS THIS BOOK!

I LOVE SHOPPING! I LOVE SHOPPING AND SAVING MONEY! THE ULTIMATE CONSIGNMENT & THRIFT STORE GUIDE IS THE ANSWER TO A SHOPPER'S PRAYERS. I HAVE FOUND SUCH WONDERFUL BARGAINS IN STORES LISTED IN THIS BOOK. I LOVE DESIGNER CLOTHING AS WELL AS VINTAGE CLOTHES. THIS BOOK HAS ENABLED ME TO LOOK CHIC AND SAVE A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY! I EVEN FOUND SOME BEAUTIFUL FURNITURE. THANKS TO MS. SCHNEIDER I LOOK LIKE A MILLION, FEEL LIKE A MILLION AND AM SAVING TOWARDS A MILLION!

Anyone interested in engineering and producing their own recording will find a wealth of information regarding techiniques and implementations for microphone, guitar, bass, keyboards, midi drum kits....including how to develop a "true" mix.

Concepts provided within are ideas you will only hear from someone who has lived it!!

This book is a great resource to help you start your projects armmed with knowledge and understanding of key studio practices.

I have a lot of experience in live sound but just about zilch in recording. This book has helped me in such ways that it has even improved on my live sound by making you think about what you're doing before you do it, ie., micing acoustic instruments or setting up for an 'unplugged' session with vocals to different ways to mic a piano.

I would recomend this book to anyone who want to learn more about recording. Whether at home doing it, or at the pro studio on the other side of the console, this book can answer some questions before you start.

As far as some thinking that this book is dated, not everybody can afford to fork out $1000 or $2000 dollars for a decent digital console/hard disc system. I can't. I still have and use and original TASCAM 488 Portastudio, that came very reasonable by the way, so the sections on portable studios is very helpfull to me.

Overall, I give it five stars. If you want to record at home for fun or for yourself, this is a must read!

If I hadn't just read 'Musician's Guide to Home Recording', another book from Peter McIan and co-author (Larry Wick?), I would have liked this title better. This book just expands on a small portion of 'Musician's Guide'. 'Musician's Guide to Home Recording' contains almost all of the info in this book and a whole lot more. If you gotta pick one over the other, get 'Musician's Guide'. Best advice is to get 'em both, but be sure to read this title first, it makes a good primer for the other.

Man, I've read 'em all and this is the champ home studio guide. I used to think it was McLan's first-"The Musician's Guide to Home Recording", but he's outdone himself on this one. I love it.

If you know nothing or very little about recording, thie is THE book to get. Psychedelic Tunesmith asked the appropriate question: were you thinking of getting another book?

What I particularly like about this book is that McIan writes for an audience with a severly limited budget. There are many magazines and books that write about recording as if their readers have thousands of dollars to spare.
Secondly, McIan teaches recording from a conceptual standpoint. In other words, he teaches from the stance that the idea of recording is an old princple and all technologies are forms of this principle: capture the sound waves on an impressionable medium; to retrieve the archive, reverse the process
There is an emphasis on cassette-tape portable studios but I think that has to do more with when the book was published. Even those working with digital mediums can benefit from this. Besides, years from now, digital mediums will be discussed as a dated, old-fashioned technology.

McIan constantly stresses that you should do the best with what you can get your hands on and that knowledge can often compensate for mediocre equipment. If you only have enough money to buy one book on recording, this is the one to buy.

This book provides a clear rationale and perspective regarding the key issue confronting all organizations today, and that is the effective use of their marketing and sales resources. The authors make effective use of providing an effective context and examples. It is a straight forward and understandable approach to leveraging resources that account for some 30 to 50 percent of corporate costs. A must read for C level executives and all marketing and sales executives.

It's not often when a book comes along and hits the often disparate marketing and sales models right in the face. Value Acceleration does just that. It gives you an actionable plan to truly ensure long-term advantages over your competition. The authors cite Peter Drucker and his quote, "Marketing is the company and all else are costs" and reveals how a company can have a firm and competitive marketing/sales process model in place. I particularly liked the authors' focus and understanding that indeed "marketing is the one thing that can't be outsourced."

If you're ready to have a real breakthrough in sales and marketing - this is the only book you'll need to read this year.

Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC
Author of "Calming Upset Customers," and "Professional Selling: Practical Secrets for Successful Sales"

This fairly short book (164 pages) give us something we haven't seen in quite a while: A brand new, groundbreaking idea. Until now, almost every book or article on marketing was really about advertising or some form of promotion. We've wasted a lot of energy during the last 20 years trying to get genuine marketing improvements in our businesses from this very shallow well. This book points out that marketing is 1) really the only non-outsourceable thing that our firms do, and 2) the only thing we don't currently understand very well. It next corrects that lack of understanding with a clear, complete model of marketing--one that connects with most of the other functions of our companies. This book then introduces us to the ways that we can manage this critical function with already well-understood tools. It is a whole new way to look at not just marketing but our entire business. I predict that the ideas presented in this book will be the next big thing in management.

The reason that the book is fairly short is that it does not follow the same mindless formula that every business book published in the last 25 years seems to have. That is, it does not take 300 pages to explain what can be explained in half that, and it does not endlessly repeat the same things over and over, in slightly different but completely transparent ways. In other words, it respects our intelligence and our time. I wish there were more like it.

If you're interested in lean process, how to successfully link marketing and sales activity for an amazing outcome then this is the book for you. The chapter on "Eliminating Your Wasted Effort" is worth the whole price of the book. For every corporate CMO, CEO, VP of Sales - this book is a must read.

This book opens your eyes to what companies need to do to be competitive in the highly competitive economy in which we exist. It provides breakthrough thinking in how to leverage marketing and sales activities. I highly recommend it to anyone responsible for managing marketing or sales within a company, or anyone who aspires to do so.
Steve Waterhouse
Consultant & Author of "The Team Selling Solution"

I received this book as a present, too add to my building library on books on European monarchy's and this book has quickly become one of my favorites. It is massive and I would recommend setting it on a flat surface, coffee or end table would be best I think.
It is filled with photos of random nooks and crannies within Versailles and of course photos and things we are all familiar with, like the Petit Trianon and all the beautiful fountains or gardens. It also includes a few photos that I find almost haunting or eerie, pathways engulfed in fog you almost expect someone to appear in it.
I think this book would be great for any one who loves beautiful photographs or enjoys all things French.

This book was absolutely gorgeous - arrived quickly and the price was right! Good job Amazon - as usual!!

Five stars PLUS! I have a new edition and it is very well bound - no need to worry about it falling apart! If you've ever been to Versailles this book will mist you up! If you're planning a return trip this book will be your bible... It is amazing how inexpensive this book is when you consider the spectacular colour photos.

Truth be told, and I am a hard-core Versailles-o-phile, this book left much to be desired in the history department. What, no reproductions of the Enfants de France? And where's Marie Therese? The binding was superior to what I'd been lead to believe by other reviews. Overall, an adequate addition to a casual collection of the Chateau de Versailles.

What an amazing book, it is nothing short of spectacular. The pictures are vivid and the book quality is of the highest caliber. The other reviewer was correct in noting that the reader has to been careful with this book, the pages are so heavy that it will pull from the binding if you are not careful when positioning the book. I have always had a facination with Versailles and this book really captures the chateaux, it makes you feel like you are stolling the gardens and taking in the sumptuous wonders of the palace. Unlike other books on Versailles this one is complete, it covers everything and in striking detail. I urge anyone with any interest in Versailles to buy this book, even used at 200 U.S., it is a bargain. I assure you you will not be disappointed in this book.