Book Reviews

This article concludes our three-part review of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. As mentioned before, Gladwell is a journalist, not an employee of an ad agency or member of a large corporate marketing department. But, the ideas presented in The Tipping Point are extremely relevant to the small business owner looking for an edge over her competition.

Gladwell’s third factor influencing a tipping point is The Power of Context. The idea that the environment surrounding us heavily influences emotions and individual behavior is at the heart of this section of the book. A key theme for small business owners then is the importance of the details in their business.

Of all the different premises put forth in this book, this one is perhaps the most disturbing to our traditional ideas of what makes humans behave as they do. Gladwell demonstrates that in many insta...

This article continues our three-part review of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. Gladwell is a journalist, not a marketer in a large corporation or a small business owner. What can he offer to the small business marketer? Plenty. He’s written a book that’s an idea catalyst for marketers willing to open their minds enough to see how the mini case-studies inside are relevant to the human condition that we all market to, regardless of our industry.

The Stickiness Factor is the second of Gladwell’s three dynamics that can cause a Tipping Point. For the small business owner, how sticky your message is can make all the difference in your marketing.

Gladwell investigates two different televisions shows--Sesame Street and Blues Clues--and how each created an environment that could rivet youngsters to a show that actually helped them learn something from the TV. Gla...

Most small business owners are in the service business. Well, unlike many of the marketing books aimed at product marketers, Harry Beckwith writes immensely powerful guide books for people who need to market their service business.

In an earlier article we reviewed Beckwith’s second book: The Invisible Touch. This first book, Selling the Invisible, is sub-titled: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing. Sound practical? Sort of like a book you would toss in your rucksack before you go out on a long hike in unfamiliar territory? That’s exactly the type of book this is.

This is a great read to stick in your car or briefcase for the next few weeks and read in ten minute bursts. If you are out shopping and find yourself logjammed in a long queue at the return counter or stuck in a parking lot of the mall pull out Beckwith and get re-energized as a market...

Bookstores dedicated to Christian themes are easy to find, proving a blessing for millions of religious book lovers the world over. Conversely, the general bookstores may not offer students of Christianity a wide and exhaustive choice of books on the same subject. Bookstores dedicated to selling Christian books provide a wide variety of authoritative and research books great and small on different subjects and for all age groups. The buyers may be nuns, priests, pastors, teachers in institutions dedicated to the teaching of Christianity – or even the layperson.

Christian bookstores offer rare and bulky reference books on the history of the church, biblical and pastoral studies, cults, the occult, spiritual knowledge, philosophy, prophecy, end times, theologies, classics, Christian living, commentaries, spiritual warfare, evangelism, songs and carols, biographies of saints, and m...

Books became the dominant repositories of human knowledge with the advent of the printing press. Even with the advent of computers with huge storage spaces, books continue to hold a position of dominance. Despite the ever-growing popularity of computers and the online publication of the books, the old charm of reading a novel reclining in the comfort of the bed or chair still holds a powerful sway over the readers everywhere. This explains the continued existence, popularity and even proliferation of bookstores in the face of strong competition from computers.

There are thousands of bookstores, with millions of titles on all subjects, scattered over the world. Bookstores can be found even in remote corners and rural areas of the world.

Some bookstores are general in nature, stocking thousands of books on every imaginable subject or topic. Big and multinational companies ar...

Adult book stores cater to some of the needs of adults, meaning they pamper the basic instincts of sex and - in some cases - sleaze. The reality is that adult books comprise a niche market of great fascination not only to young men and women, but also to adolescents and old persons alike.

Ask an adult book store owner and he will tell you that he sells books on healthy sex for normal persons and not just for “sexual delinquents” or “dirty old men”. Besides books on sex, these adult bookstores also sell gifts, novelties, toys, videos, DVDs, used and new magazines and other sex related material for fun and entertainment. These bookstores also cater to the needs of gays, lesbians and homosexuals, and so on. Most of these adult bookstores remain open 24 hours, while some take two hours’ break for the necessary “clean-ups”. To further whet the appetite of their customers some of thes...

An earthquake traps Bree, Carl, and Andy beneath their three story office building. Buried in the rubble and struggling with their injuries, the three Christians take another look at life. After spending the night in the hospital, all three are not only miraculously healed, but spiritually gifted.

Bree finds herself able to see into people’s hearts. Carl’s feet carry him to those in need. And shy Andy can’t stop talking about the blessings of the Lord. The three of them combine their gifts and embark on a weekend of spreading God’s love and inviting people to come unto Christ. They touch hearts and lives.

But what happens when the gifts vanish? Once again, they find themselves ‘plain, ordinary Christians’. They struggle briefly with life without their gifts before resolving to continue on with His work. Having seen the work they can do with the help of the Holy Ghost, the ...

This article is based on the following book:
The Brand Called You:
"The Ultimate Brand-Building and Business Development Handbook to Transform Anyone Into an Indispensable Personal Brand"
By Peter Montoya
Published by Personal Branding Press 2003
ISBN 0967450659
278 pages

What does it mean to consider yourself a brand? When Ralph Lifshitz wanted to become a famous fashion designer, he didn't start by working 24 hours a day designing clothes. The first thing he did was to change his name to Ralph Lauren. Branding seeks to create a better perception. Not a better product. So your role is to make the changes necessary to create a better perception. The principles for creating a "Personal Brand" are spelled out in great detail in "The Brand Called You." In this book, you will understand, too, that it's not enough "to understand the principles." What ...

D.J. Stephens has authored two fiction books to date, and though I have only reviewed Bearkiller so far, I am certain that readers will see the author’s name on their bookstore shelves beside novels like She Who Remembers, Antelope, and Follow The River.

In only 232 pages, Mr. Stephens combines elements of reincarnation and time travel with action, adventures and romance. There are also threads of spirit visions and other mystical aspects of the Blackfoot Nation. Bearkiller could be considered a historical fiction in that the author seems to have a real understanding for Native Indian culture and hunting techniques of both today, and those used 200 years ago. This skill is certainly enhanced by the fact that Mr. Stephen’s is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, spent time in the military, and actually conceived of the book during an outdoor excursion. I believe this combination was a...

Colorful art on the hardcover novel To Save The World is also encased in protective slipcover that is printed with the same image. This fantasy adventure is easy-to-read with a nice sized font that increases the appeal to the younger audience. The author, Heather Hayashi, uses a style that is loaded with strong female characters and explores deeper understanding of human relationships.

Three powerful and strangely gifted Earth-women are brought to Arhka where the very bonds of their relationships are tested. Arkha, similar to Earth, is a world of small landmasses and oceans along with two main larger continents where four known intelligent beings co-exist… but not in peace.

Stephanie, her mother Elise, and her best-friend Eris travel between worlds and are forced into prejudiced wars that threaten the existence of two humanoid species on Arkha. Two distantly related humano...

We met John and Abby Reynolds in A Time to Dance, when they struggled to come together after 21 years of marriage. Kingsbury brings them to us again in A Time to Embrace, a novel of pain and faith.

Everything seems to be back on track for the couple after their near-divorce scare. But one fateful night, a night when a few seconds make a lifetime of difference, changes everything. Abby and John must struggle to come together, and to come to the Lord.

As John struggles with a newly imperfect body, he also struggles with his faith. Like any human, he can’t help but ask, Why me? Why this? Why now? He wrestles with his pride and his anger. And yet, out of the ashes of his life comes forgiveness that witnesses strongly for his town.

At the same time, Abby fights her own battles. With John’s life changed, she strives to appear strong, to give him somewhere to ...

Comic book stores are literally everywhere – every city has at least one. The most obvious way to find them is to check your local yellow pages or city directory. You can also buy comic book magazines that detail where you’ll find rare comic books in your area. These magazines discuss comic book prices and the latest collectors’ trends, so they’re worth the few dollars you pay for them.

If there are no local comic stores in your general geographic area, you will find lots of comic book shops and stores on the World Wide Web that may give you a listing of the stores in or around your area. These sites will usually ask for your zip code to determine where you are located, and then they will generate a list of comic book stores within that general area.

Reliable comic book shops now operate over the Internet to reach people in far away places and people who don’t have the tim...

In the second book in the Second Chance series, When Dreams Cross, Terri Blackstock creates another romantic world for her readers to enjoy. Responsible for building the theme park mentioned in Never Again Goodbye, Andi Sherman must select a cartoon to give her park some character. Unknowlingly, she picks Khaki Kangaroo, brainchild of her ex-boyfriend Justin Pierce.

Justin and Andi’s parting was anything but amicable in the past, and their business relationship doesn’t appear much stronger. They reluctantly agree to the partnership, in the interest of both companies, but find themselves butting heads every step of the way. Each maintains a controlling, domineering attitude, and neither is apt to forgive readily – for current mistakes or transgressions made long ago.

As if Andi’s plate weren’t full enough, she must struggle with public opinion against her park...

We never want to recommend you limit yourself as a small business owner or marketer to reading just one book on small business marketing. Why straightjacket your mind? No single author, no matter how great, can cover everything. There are just too many good ideas out roaming the planet.

But, if you are ever forced to grab one small business marketing book before you bail out of a plane we recommend you latch onto one of Jay Conrad Levinson’s Guerilla Marketing books. He is a fantastic authority when it comes to marketing ideas for small business chief marketers and small business owners.

Guerilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business is another of those books that we first read over ten years ago; although the first edition of Guerilla Marketing has been out for more than twenty. Clearly, Levinson’s ideas have staying power among small ...

Sorry, small business owners, but it’s time to think about Brand, again.

Thinking about Brand is really thinking about yourself--which is what most of us spend an awful lot of time doing, anyway, right? Your small business brand is the “who” of your company. The more intimately you can understand this ‘who-ness’, the better your chance of success in small business.

Don’t let the title fool you into thinking The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al and Laura Ries is this is some marketing theory book you’ll never read. This is a quick read stuffed full of ideas you can implement to help your business better package its brand. In an earlier article we reviewed Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout. You’ll see the Positioning philosophy threaded through this newer book, but there is enough fresh, practical material here that is worth a Chief Marketer or small b...

Small business owners beware the competitor that has read--and practiced--what Dale Carnegie preached seventy years ago in his innovative work, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

What’s this book doing here? Aren’t we talking about marketing? Absolutely. And since marketing deals with people, what better book to examine than one that helps a Chief Marketer excel in her people skills.

This is a great time to re-evaluate your personal skills as a business professional. Being a powerful Chief Marketer is so much more than creating that penetrating insight into the market. Usually, it involves listening to and working with people all year long.

Dale Carnegie’s book is often overlooked. It is rarely offered as a core coursework in any college or university, but its lessons are infinitely important to a person in business. This is a book that can easily be ...

Undecided if database marketing is right for your small business? Unlike many of the marketing recommendations we make, database marketing really isn’t a good fit for every small business. But…we can suggest a book that can help you decide. That book is by Arthur Hughes--Strategic Database Marketing. We recommend you pick up the Second Edition.

A few years ago Customer Relationship Management or CRM was all the buzz in marketing--and with good reason. Managing customer relations can lead to increased profits for a business. Unfortunately, much of what was written about CRM was from a technical, computer/systems side and focused on very expensive solutions for large corporations. We are fans of Arthur Hughes because he explains the principles behind database marketing in a way a small business owner can understand.

We read the first edition of Strategic Database Ma...

50 GREAT MOTIVATIONAL/INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS

1. You can’t afford the luxury of a negative thought – John Roger and Peter McWilliams

2. Acts of inspiration – Justina Wokoma

3. Hug the monster – David Miln Smith and Sandra Leicester

4. The prophet - Kahlil Gibran

5. One day my soul just opened up – Iyanla Vanzant

6. Soul stories – Gary Zukav

7. The seat of the soul – Gary Zukav

8. Simple abundance – Sarah Ban Breathnach

9. The one minute manager – Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

10. The one minute manager meets the monkey – Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken Jr. and Hal Burrows

11. The greatest secret in the world - Og Mandino

12. The power of now – Eckhart Tolle

13. Getting to yes – Roger Fisher and William Ury

14. Acts of faith – Iyanla Vanzant

15. Faith in the valley – Iyanla Vanzant

...

All Erin ever wanted to do in life was fly. Her close friend and copilot, Mick Hammon, helped her take the steps she needed in her life to achieve those goals. But when Mick is the pilot of a crash that kills 151 people – including himself – Erin must struggle with both her grief and her feelings of guilt. After all, Erin was supposed to be flying that plane.

Enter Addison Lowe, investigator for the NTSB. Addison must find the cause of the crash, determine who or what was at fault. That involves questioning Erin, whose hackles rise when she learns the evidence points to pilot error. As the public closes in on Mick’s family with cruelty and anger, Erin wants to prove that her friend was innocent of wrongdoing. But as the investigation continues, she finds herself attracted to Addison.

Addison has his own demons to handle. His wife died on a passenger plane years before, and...

This is Part II of our review of Vincent’s work, Legendary Brands: Unleashing the Power of Storytelling to Create a Winning Marketing Strategy. Remember, the main thrust of this book is how a brand can interact with a customer’s own story. It’s worth repeating this important quote: “It is how you activate the personal narrative that determines your ultimate connection to the customer.” (p. 96)

The second part is essentially the “how to” portion of the book. Chapter Five, “Investigating Brand Narrative”, offers guidelines on what to do as you go about uncovering the ways in which your customer’s story can interact with your company story. Revisiting again the “Kodak Moment” ad campaign--Kodak didn’t try and tell its customers “You’ll take award winning photos with our film”—that wasn’t what was important to most of their customers. Rather, preserving the great memories of...