Written in May 2004
“The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino is written for anyone who wants to excel in their life through ethical means. It is true that you can change your life and this short book is an easy and enjoyable read for anyone who wants to make positive progress quickly.
“50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use to Keep Your Customers” by Paul Timm provides great insight as to how anyone can use simple tools to retain customers. Idea number six, which details out a simple formula that can be used to explain to any employee the true cost of a customer walking out the door and not ever returning.
“The Art of Profitability” is a book reminds you of the old “Kung Fu” television series. This is where the master teaches the student various lessons. In the same genre, the old, wise consultant teaches the young businessman that there are many ways to improve profitability. Al “Chain Saw” Dunlap could have used this book. The author is Adrian Slywotzky.
Gary Blair is known as the “Goals Guy” and he has two books worth recommending. The first is “Goal Setting 101” and the second is “Goal Setting Forms.” Both books are primers that just about anyone would benefit from reading and putting to use. These would be excellent gifts for someone graduating from high school or college.
Harvey Mackay is one of my favorite authors and his “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” is truly the only book you’ll ever need on networking. The book is written in a friendly style, offering lessons that might seem obvious but are not used as often as they could be. Actually, there isn’t any book by Mackay that doesn’t belong in your library.
“Moneyball” is a book that is changing the American pastime, baseball. Michael Lewis details a rich story of how one of the poorer teams, the Oakland Athletics, have managed to win so many baseball games. If you ask most baseball executives, managers and players what the goal of their team is, the answer will be “to win the World Series.” Not so the A’s. They have a goal of getting to the playoffs and they know exactly what it will take to get there…how many hits, runs and so forth. Can your business say the same?
Mark Landsbaum owns a marketing communications firm in Southern California and his book “Low-Cost Marketing” keeps the reader focused on the topic by asking, repeatedly “What’s In It For Me?” providing a perspective that we often forget about: that of the customer! That is one way to keep your marketing efforts focused! This is a very useful read for anyone who wants to make sure that their marketing efforts are working.
Every book by Jay Conrad Levinson provides something to learn, but “Guerrilla Marketing for Free” gives dozens of no-cost tactics to promote a business and create profits.
“If Your Life Were a Business Would You Invest in it?” is an adaptation of business principles to life. The 13 step program provides interesting insights to consider as we go through changes in ourselves, our situations at work and home, and life in general.
Reading is a luxury for individuals who are starved for time. Others prefer not to read for various reasons. As an alternative, you can likely purchase these recommended books on audiotape, in ether a cassette or CD format.
Knowledge is power. Keep sharpening your saw. Read, listen, learn, and apply it to what you do.
