Programmatic Advertising: The Successful Transformation to Automated, Data-Driven Marketing in Real-Time, by Oliver Busch

This book has the honour of being the most expensive e-book I’ve ever purchased.

US$73.85.

Ouch.

I had just heard that Programmatic Advertising was about to explode in New Zealand and I wanted a definitive introduction, and this book promised to be it.

In the free preview I could see that every chapter had 2 or 3 different authors for a total of 45 authors.

That must be where the cost of the book adds up!

But actually, on the very last page it says that the authors waived their fees, and the proceeds are going to a charity called the Children’s Shelter Foundation.

Anyway, the book delivered what it promised.

Interestingly, this book doesn’t provide a concise definition, of what Programmatic Advertising actually is, so I’ve put my own together from a variety of sources.

What is “Programmatic Advertising”?

  • Programmatic Advertising is a way to deliver digital advertising to the right person, at the right time in the right place
  • It is the algorithmic purchase and sale of advertising space in real time, using a vast network of hi-speed machines and software to automate the buying, placement, and optimisation of media inventory via a bidding system
  • Therefore, advertisers are able to tailor a specific message to a specific person to maximise the opportunity to convert exposure to an ad into an action that the advertiser wants the person to take

Continue reading “Programmatic Advertising: The Successful Transformation to Automated, Data-Driven Marketing in Real-Time, by Oliver Busch”

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark

I have an interest in Artificial Intelligence for 4 reasons:

  1. I’m interested in when the first AI might be created
    • Expert opinion ranges from years, to decades, to a century from now
  2. What impact it will have on human jobs
    • You may have noticed that every few months you’ll see the headline in the media “The robots are taking our jobs!”
    • Some jobs we welcome robots to take (dangerous, menial, physical), and others we think are ours to keep
  3. How an AI will treat humanity once it becomes self-aware
    • Will it remove us from the surface of the earth (a popular idea in many movies)?
    • Or usher us into a period of leisure and prosperity?
  4. I’m fascinated with the idea of the AI rebuilding itself by re-writing it’s own code
    • Perhaps releasing a new improved version of itself every day, or every minute
    • Very quickly we will have no idea what it’s thinking and no understanding of its code

We humans have a fear of the unknown and we simply don’t know what the future will bring when it comes to computers being smarter than humans.

Continue reading “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark”

What 87 of the Best Business Books in the World Have to Teach You

I read a lot of business books.

It all started when I had an interest in doing an MBA course.

I came across a website by Josh Kaufman who said “don’t bother spending $100k+ on an MBA, you can learn everything you need to know from my list of 99 business books”.

I read through his list (at a rate of 1.5 business books per week) and just kept going!

I’ve now read over 200 business books since August 2008.

For a few dollars we get to reach into the minds of the greatest business people and steal their ideas, what a privilege!

I highlight my favourite parts from these books and turn these business book summaries into articles for my website.

A few years ago I compiled 67 summaries from my favourite business books into an ebook, and just this week I updated this ebook with an additional 20 summaries, bringing the total to 87.

I’ve called it “What 87 of the Best Business Books in the World Have to Teach You”. Continue reading “What 87 of the Best Business Books in the World Have to Teach You”

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built, by Duncan Clark

I am somewhat addicted to AliExpress app on my phone. Just about every week we’ll have a tiny package arrive all the way from China. It feels like receiving a mystery gift every time because it’s been 4 weeks since I ordered the item so I’m not sure what’s inside.

The items are of such high quality, so cheap and the free shipping is irresistible.

I’ve known about Alibaba for a few years but hadn’t made a purchase until AliExpress.

There were 3 big surprises in the book:

  1. Alibaba wasn’t the “overnight success” that I thought it was
    • In fact, it’s 20 years old
  2. China is big. Really big.
    • Yes, we all know that China has more than 1.2 Billion people but I little human brains have trouble processing the shear scale of a number that big
    • Alibaba sends out 30 million packages per day
  3. Jack Ma built one of the first websites for China, and co-founded one of the first China-based companies that built websites for clients in 1995

My notes on “Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built” by Duncan Clark. Continue reading “Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built, by Duncan Clark”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Have you ever read a book and felt it rewiring your brain?

This is one of those books.

(This is actually the first of a pair of books. The sequel is called Homo Deus which looks at the future).

My whole adult life I’ve had a conflict between my Christian beliefs and my interest in science when it comes to the origin of humanity (and all life on this planet). This book nudged me one step closer to the explanations provided by science.

This book tackles the big questions:

  • Was the universe and humanity created by God?
  • Or, have humans, and all life on this planet, evolved over millions/billions of years? And if so, what is the evidence?
  • What is the purpose of humanity?
  • Why is all life driven to survive and thrive?
  • Were religions created by people to help us co-operate better?

I found a summary much better than one I could have written by James Clear on his blog: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, summary written by James Clear.

So I have copied James Clear’s notes below, but first, here are 5 ideas that really stood out to me. Continue reading “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari”

Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss

I’ve been a fan of Tim Ferris since the beginning when his first book 4-Hour Work Week caused me to quit my job. I own every book he’s written.

This book is a collection of his favourite moments from the 100’s of pod-cast interviews he’s done with “Billionaires, Icons and World-Class Performers”.

It’s also crammed full of recommendations for documentries and books, so after reading this book instead of my reading list being reduced by one, it has increased by 10.

The book is in 3 parts: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise.

Here are my favourite bits of “Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers” by Timothy Ferriss. Continue reading “Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss”

Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman

I absolutely loved this book.

I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it.

My Feynman was so full of mischief and curiosity about the world.

He saw the world as a series of puzzles and he felt driven to solving them.

When he became curious about something or wanted to learn about something, or how to do something, he dove straight in and became an expert via experimentation.

This book was recommended several times inside a collection of interview transcripts with many of the worlds greatest minds. It just kept popping up again and again.

It’s not normally a book I would choose. It’s a collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman who was born in 1918 and died in 1988.

I found this list of about 200 Feynman stories in the book useful for finding my 11 favourites. Continue reading “Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman”

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly

Such a great book!

I enjoyed this book for 3 reasons:

  1. Lists are awesome
    • And in this book, Kevin Kelly made a lot. I’ve included my favourites below
  2. Stories about the future are awesome
    • 2 or 3 times in this book, Kevin Kelly would paint this picture of a typical day-in-his-life set in the future. What happened on that day seems amazing, but realistic. They were a bit too long to include in my notes, so you’ll have to read the book yourself
  3. I’m excited about robots taking our jobs!
    • Some people are not. Some people are scared of their jobs being taken by robots. Not just mechanical jobs, but jobs that until only recently, we thought were safe from robots: doctors and lawyers and accountants for example

But you don’t have to be afraid. All you need to do is remember that technology is additive. Email hasn’t replaced the postal service. Internet news hasn’t replaced physical newspapers. Digital hasn’t replaced paper.

Those industries have changed and adapted but they haven’t gone.

It’s the same with robots and artificial intelligence. They can augment and supplement our experience, our work, our contribution, our lives. Not replace.

If you read nothing else from my summary, just read the “Here are the Seven Stages of Robot Replacement“.

Anyway, as always, I urge you to get your own copy because my favourite parts may be different to your own.

In the meantime, here are my notes on “The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future” by Kevin Kelly. Continue reading “The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly”

Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance

This is one of the best business books I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot)!

There are 3 reasons why I liked it so much:

  1. It mashes together several interests of mine:
    • Technology
    • Entrepreneuriship/start-up companies
    • The future of our planet
    • Electric cars, autonomous vehicles, and the future of transportation
    • Solar power
    • and space travel
  2. It is superbly written
    • (by Ashlee Vance, a business columnist who has written for many major publications)
    • Vance steps back and forth between present day and the past with flashbacks that bring real depth and understanding of Elon Musk’s story, his background, his motivations and his relentless drive
  3. It fills me with hope
    • It’s the same reason I love TED videos too, because they fill me with hope about the future of the human race
    • Musk has found a way to make things the planet needs (electric cars powered with solar power as an alternative to burning fosil fuels, a plan for colonising another planet incase we screw this one up), and making billions of dollars in the process that he feeds into his next idea
    • That a person can have several epic ideas as a kid and see them come real in his own lifetime thanks to his own hard work (I hope my kids have the same experience)

Continue reading “Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance”

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

It was only recently that I developed an an interest in politics. It was during my 2016 campaign in which I sought election onto the Tauranga City Council. I was not elected but that has not extinguished my new found fascination with politics, both local, national and international.

I came across a TED Talk in which Chris Anderson interviewed Jonathan Haidt on why Trump was elected into office. I found what he had to say very interesting and I sought out this book to find out more.

I loved the book. It really does do a great job at explaining why people vote the way they do.

One section that really stood out to me was in Chapter Four which talked about how being accountable to an audience increases “evenhanded consideration of alternative points of view”. I saw myself in this because I’ve found that having my audience on my mind when I read business books helps me concentrate, and again when I read through a large volume of council documents during my election campaign, I read them with an open mind because I intended to share my summaries of them with the public.

Another thing I’ll say about Haidt is that he writes amazing chapter summaries. Continue reading “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt”

Three Cities: Seeking Hope in the Anthropocene by Rod Oram

rod-oram-three-cities“Orthodox is obsolete; conventional is kaput. We thought we knew how we make economics, politics, technology and nature work for us. But increasingly, they are failing to run by the rules and systems we’ve honed over recent decades. Boom-bust economies, fractured and destructive politics and a deeply degraded ecosystem are just some of the symptoms.”

“Pioneers around the world are seeking new values, systems and technologies. Thus equipped we might achieve the unprecedented, speed, scale and complexity of change we need to meet the immense challenges of the twenty-first century.”

“In this BWB Text acclaimed business journalist Rod Oram travels to Beijing, London and Chicago to meet some of these pioneers and report on their setbacks and progress. Because if 10 billion people are going to live well on this planet in 2050, we’re going to have to fundamentally change the way we do things.” Continue reading “Three Cities: Seeking Hope in the Anthropocene by Rod Oram”

Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail

exponential-organizationsOne day I stumbled came across Ismail’s 45 minute talk at Singularity University about Exponential Organizations and was fascinated by everything I heard. I just had to read the book.

And wow, this book was awesome.

Not only is it crammed full of optimism about the future, it gives us tips on how to position our businesses (large and small), to take advantage of the opportunities.

And it carries a warning.


Those businesses that do not evolve, will not survive.

I encourage you to buy this book and read it in full, but in the meantime, here are my notes on Exponential Organizations: Why new organizations are ten times better, faster, and cheaper than yours (and what to do about it) by Salim Ismail, Michael S. Malone, Yuri van Geest.

Introduction

  • An Exponential Organization is one whose impact (or output) is disproportionally large – at least 10 x larger – compared to it’s peers because of the use of new organizational techniques that leverage accelerating technologies.

Continue reading “Exponential Organizations by Salim Ismail”

Ask by Ryan Levesque

Ask-by-Ryan-Levesque
The basic idea of this book is very simple: You are just guessing what your customers actually want, right now and in the future. So perhaps it’s time you asked them what they want.

According to Levesque, the way to check is to put them through a series of surveys.

Their answers to these survey questions will enable you to put your customers into groups.

When you have those groups, you can better tailor your product/service packages to these groups.

Sounds pretty reasonable? Pretty simple?

That’s because it is.

Levesque does describe these surveys in moderate-to-light detail, and does provide a few examples of the emails that you can adapt for your own purpose.

But, I’m sorry to say, it doesn’t provide the formula that I expected from reading the title of the book. And worse, it pushes you to buy Levesque’s survey software. It’s just not easy to set up the system he proposes without it. Continue reading “Ask by Ryan Levesque”

Launch by Jeff Walker

launch-jeff-walkerI’ve been reading about, and experimenting with, selling digital products for a couple of years (ebooks, e-courses, video courses etc), so when I came across this book I was pretty excited!

I expected this book to teach me how to:

  • Create and build up an email list
  • Generate ideas of what digital products I could create to sell to them
  • Test those ideas on small samples of my email list to find which one gets traction
  • Create a digital product
  • Write a series of emails that builds anticipation and trust
  • Make millions


But I was wrong.

It didn’t teach me those things. Continue reading “Launch by Jeff Walker”

The 4-Hour Work Week (Timothy Ferris): What I Learned The Second Time Through

Lately, at times, I’ve been feeling that I’m running on a hamster wheel.

Do you know that feeling?

hamster-on-wheel

Almost 7 years ago I read the 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss and quit my job almost immediately. I’ve been running my own business ever since.

The problem is, I thought I was on a hamster wheel when I had a job working for someone else, but now I realise that I’m just running on a different hamster wheel by running my own business!

Recently, I was nudged by a friend of mine to re-read the book, which I did.

Much of it was very familiar because so many of the principles I put into action at the time, but here’s a section on goals that stood out to me this time. Continue reading “The 4-Hour Work Week (Timothy Ferris): What I Learned The Second Time Through”

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler

bold-how-to-go-bigHere are my notes on the book “Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World” by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler.

(This is a kind of sequel to another book by these authors called Abundance. Here’s my summary of Abundance)

Fueling my brain with a daily TED talk for 5 years now (and watching/reading no main-stream news) has meant I’ve got a very positive view of the future and supreme confidence in the potential for humanity to band together to solve our planets biggest problems.

This book has that same positivity but puts an entrepreneurial spin on it. What opportunities does the future hold for entrepreneurs who can see these changes coming and prepare for them?

As one of the first headlines in this book states: “The world’s biggest problems = biggest business opportunities”.

Here’s a collection of my favourite bits from this book. Continue reading “Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler”

Money, Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins

money-master-the-gameHere are my notes on the book “Money Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom” by Tony Robbins.

There are 3 things you need to know about this book:

  1. This book is huge
    • Most business books take me 4 hours to get through, this one took me 12
    • I read it on my Kindle, so at times I thought it would never end (whereas, with a hardcopy book, you can feel with your fingers how far through you are)
  2. Tony repeats points over and over

    • This can be a bit annoying at times. But that’s just his teaching style. He knows that for the important bits to stick in your head, he needs to repeat them.
  3. His writing style is not crisp and concise like most business authors
    • His writing is like a conversation in your head between you and him. It’s like he’s talking to you personally

Having said that, this was a very good book. I’ve broken it into 4 parts: Continue reading “Money, Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins”

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek

read_newI’m a big fan of Simon Sinek’s TED talks. (In fact, I watched the rehearsal for his latest one live on stage in Vancouver in March of this year).

I was surprised to find that this book was about drugs.

Not the ones that might come to mind when I use that word, but the kind of drugs that our own brains secrete into our nervous system.

One of the big lessons for me was about how large corporations think that internal competition is healthy and necessary for innovation. They are wrong. That kind of competition is damaging and disrupts the “Circle of Safety” that Simon talks about in this book.

Another one nicely reinforced the direction my life is going in at the moment – that is, my mission is to bring people together at inspiring events.

His thoughts on how video conferencing can never replace a business trip was very interesting.

Let’s take a look. Continue reading “Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek”

Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier by Ari Meisel

Here are my notes on “Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier” by Ari Meisel.Screen-Shot-2015-04-18-at-3.15.28-PM-533x423

I thought I knew a lot about productivity and efficiency, so I haven’t picked up books like this lately.

I’m glad I did though, because even a few tips can make a big difference on your time management and impact.

The biggest lesson for me about this book was about email.

I’ve felt guilty about how addicted I am to email, but this book gave me tips about how I continue to use my email inbox as my to-do list, but with some cunning twists on how to improve the timing of what appears in there.

You’ll find out more about that shortly.

In the meantime, here’s a collection of my favourite bits from this book. Continue reading “Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier by Ari Meisel”

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

Here are my notes on the book “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose” by Tony Hsieh51oR41Z4zoL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos, which is now wholly owned by Amazon and sells a wide range of items online, but made it’s start selling shoes online.

It’s the classic start-up story many of us dream of: a couple of friends get together and quit their jobs on the back on a single idea, they make it through the good times and bad times and desperate times to somehow scale it up to a billion dollar company within 10 years.

Here’s a collection of my favourite quotes from the book: Continue reading “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh”

Flash Foresight: See The Invisible To Do The Impossible by Daniel Burrus

Here are my notes on “Flash Foresight: See the Invisible to Do the Impossible” by Daniel Burrus.Flash-Foresight-Book

I learnt a lot from this book. The 2 biggest lessons for me were:

  1. I’ve heard about the aging population a million times, but this book made me think about it in 2 different ways:
    • It will create an enormous part-time, low-cost workforce with huge business experience
    • There is enormous business opportunity as that generation requires more health care, more medical technology (hearing aids for example)
  2. Technology-driven change doesn’t kill off the old ways of getting things done, it adds on
    • Eg e-news hasn’t killed newspapers, email and digital storage hasn’t killed paperwork

Here’s a collection of my other favourite bits from this book. Continue reading “Flash Foresight: See The Invisible To Do The Impossible by Daniel Burrus”

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

Here are my notes on “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life” by Scott Adamsg-and-Still-Win-Big-Scott-Adams

Scott Adams is the author of the world famous Dilbert comic strip that make fun of life in an office cubicle.

Like his comic strip, this book is certainly amusing. He is a great story teller in super-short-form comics in which he has only a few panels, and in this long-form book in which he has hundreds of pages.

He has led an interesting life, and tells those stories and the lessons he learnt, but even more interestingly, he shares several counter-intuitive ideas that I’d like to share with you today. Continue reading “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams”

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

Here are my notes on the book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World” by Gary Vaynerchuk1002029_10151895114248227_228094411_n-1

For me, I got 3 things out of this book:

  1. I got a simple introduction into the major social media platforms all in one place
  2. I got a simple explanation of how they all work and, more importantly, how they are different from each other
  3. I got dozens of examples of best practice and many examples of poor usage

    • To be honest, I found this part a bit confusing at times – it was hard to tell the difference between examples Gary liked and those he didn’t!

Continue reading “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk”

The Power of Less: The 6 Essential Productivity Principles That Will Change Your Life by Leo Babauta

power-of-less-e1394503989145I’m no stranger to productivity books, this is about the 7th one I’ve read over the last 5 years.

It’s amazing how the little tips and changes you pick-up from books like this one, become so important and valuable, but just slip away over time, one by one.

So this was a fantastic refresher.

Here, I’ve recorded the parts of the book that were particularly useful to me.

I encourage you to read the book yourself in your entirety because you are bound to find different sections more relevant to you.

My notes on The Power of Less: The 6 Essential Productivity Principles That Will Change Your Life by Leo Babauta Continue reading “The Power of Less: The 6 Essential Productivity Principles That Will Change Your Life by Leo Babauta”

Value-Based Fees: How to Charge, and Get, What You’re Worth by Alan Weiss

517VifzS24L._SX396_BO1,204,203,200_This book has changed the way I do business. It’s that good. I also know much more about value-based pricing and I am able to provide advice to friends/clients/acquaintences who still stuck in the work-for-an-hour-get-paid-for-an-hour trap.

Here, I’ve recorded the parts of the book that were particularly useful to me. I encourage you to read the book yourself in your entirety because you are bound to find different sections more relevant to you.

My notes on Value-Based Fees: How to Charge – and Get – What You’re Worth by Alan Weiss Continue reading “Value-Based Fees: How to Charge, and Get, What You’re Worth by Alan Weiss”

Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

remote-officeFrom this book I’ve just pulled out sections that were of particular interest to me.

I don’t have a huge amount of notes because I worked from home for 3.5 years and in a co-working space for the last 14 months so I’m very much aware of the pros and cons of not working in a traditional office.

For the bigger picture on the office vs remote worker movement, I encourage you to read the book in it’s entirety.

My notes on Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson Continue reading “Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson”

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout

51b7BzdnqLL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_This book is very old now: 1994, but much of the advice is still pretty good.

It’s a very easy read – each of the 22 chapters are only a couple of pages each. It’s not available on Kindle which is annoying but there are a few pdf versions floating around.

I found the notes of Chris Anuman which were better than mine so that’s what you’ll see below.

I also came across a very interesting series of articles arguing that these laws are overturned in the present day that’s worth a look at.

My notes (Chris Anuman’s notes actually) on The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout Continue reading “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout”

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler

This book was pretty darn amazing.51wCZoVxdSL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

I’m already a pretty optimistic guy but this book backed up that optimism with facts and reasoning. Fantastic stuff.

My favourite quote was “In today’s hyperlinked world, solving problems anywhere, solves problems everywhere.”

Let’s start with the table of contents because you might spot areas that interest you that you might like to know more about (I do encourage you to get this book, it’s only $15 on Kindle).

After that I’m just going to share my favourite parts of the book.

My notes on Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler. Continue reading “Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler”

Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff

My notes on Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff.

Buy this book now from Amazon

Chapter 1: The Method

The process using the acronym STRONG:

  • Setting the frame
  • Telling the story
  • Revealing the intrigue
  • Offering the prize
  • Nailing the hookpoint
  • Getting a decision

Continue reading “Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff”

Startup Communities – Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your City by Brad Feld

My notes on “Startup Communities – Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your City” by Brad Feld15822571

Give Before You Get

  • Boulder is an incredibly inclusive community. Although there is some competition between companies, especially over talent, the community is defined by a strong sense of collaboration and philosophy of “giving before you get.”
  • If you contribute, you are rewarded, often in unexpected ways.
  • At the same time especially since it’s a small community it’s particularly intolerant of bad actors. If you aren’t sincere, constructive, and collaborative, the community behaves accordingly


Continue reading “Startup Communities – Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your City by Brad Feld”

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

My notes on Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.Blank white book w/path

Lots of interesting stories in this book, but I’m just going to talk about 2 that really struck a chord with me.

The Cost To Avoid Guilt? Just $3

Economists in an Israeli study in day care centres started imposing a fine of $3 if any parent was more than ten minutes late picking up their kids.

The number of late pick-ups doubled.

The incentive had plainly backfired.

Continue reading “Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner”

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

My notes on “The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses” by Eric Ries

I’ve only made notes on the sections I found most interesting, so to get the full benefit of this book I urge you to read a copy for yourself Continue reading “The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries”

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz

téléchargerMy notes on “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” by Mike Michalowicz

This book had excellent structure, but I’ve only made notes on the sections I found most interesting, so you might find these notes jump around a bit.

Launching Businesses

  • I loved entrepreneurialism. I could talk about business all day, read every magazine, attend every seminar, and still my thirst would not be quenched. It took me a few years to figure out what was sitting right under my nose the entire time: That I loved launching businesses.
  • Once I came to the realization that it is the birthing and maturing of a business that I love, I knew the path my future would follow.

Continue reading “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz”

Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

My notes on “Made to Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath

S.U.C.C.E.S.s: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible Stories41hMTwhl6IL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

Simplicity

  • Not dumbed down or sound bites
  • Find the core fo the idea
  • “The curse of knowledge” if you say 3 things you say nothing
  • Simple = core + compact, forced prioritisation
  • To make a profund idea compact use flags – “tap the existing terrain of your audience”
  • Schema’s are a collection of generic properties of a concept or category
  • Higher level schemas are composed of other schemas. Analogies are great
  • The goal is to write a proverb

How To Make Millions With Your Ideas by Dan S. Kennedy

My notes on “How To Make Millions With Your Ideas” by Dan S. Kennedy5188mtDB8rL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_
  • To win with premium prices, clobber competitors with service
  • Call every customer after the job is completed to verify satisfaction
  • Offer strong guarantees
  • Get crazy publicity & word of mouth with free product to local companies (works if you own a cafe anyway)
  • Stake out a market leader position from the start – define a new niche
  • Break even on the first sale / product to get a mailing list together. Sell to that group long term
  • Repackage the same core product / service in heaps of different ways, different formats, different prices, to different target markets

The Unwritten Laws of Business by J. King and James G. Skakoon

My notes on “The Unwritten Laws of Business” by J. King & James G. Skakoon. 2007511pX2EDVHL._AC_UL320_SR214,320_

Good advice for employees who want to get the most out of their current role.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

My notes on “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie

3 Fundamental Techniques in Handling People51RWA6BmIWL._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_

  1. Don’t crisicise, condemn or complain
    • Instead, try to understand them, why they do what they do
    • The most important human desire: A feeling of importance
  2. Give honest and sincere appreciation
    • Find out their good points
    • Try to see everything from the other person point of view
  3. Arouse in the other person on eager want

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

My notes on “Purple Cow” by Seth GodinpurpleCow

  • Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product. If it isn’t remarkable, its invisible
  • The Advertising Age
    • Before: Word-of-Mouth
    • During: Ever increasing consumer prosperity, and endless consumer desire. Simple formula: Advertise on TV & mass media = increased sales
    • After: Word-of-Mouth with new networks at rocket speed

Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

My notes on “Anything You Want” by Derek SiversDerekSivers-AnythingYouWant-318x450

My personal philosophy’s

  1. Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself
  2. Making a company is a great way to improve the world while improving yourself
  3. When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design your perfect world
  4. Never do anything just for the money
  5. Don’t purse business just for your own gain. Only answer the calls for help
  6. Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what’s not working

  1. Your business plan is moot. You don’t know what people really want until you start doing it
  2. Starting with no money is an advantage. You don’t need money to start helping people
  3. You can’t please everyone, so proudly exclude people
  4. Make yourself unnecessary to the running of your business
  5. The real point of doing anything is to be happy, so do only what makes you happy Continue reading “Anything You Want by Derek Sivers”

Game-based Marketing by Gabe Zichermann

My notes on “Game-based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges and Contests” by Gabe Zichermann & Joselin Linder.51yFzzNljwL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_

Games are all around us

  • “The Subway Game” is passive – most people don’t realise there is a game on, the players stand close to the train doors, block other players with their body language and compete for a seat. Breaking the rules using aggression is not allowed.
  • Variations: The Bar Game – get to the bar and order drinks for your friends the fastest. The Supermarket Game – identify which queue is likely to move the quickest
  • They are big business. Games such as Frequent Flier Miles earn more revenue for airlines than flying people around


Continue reading “Game-based Marketing by Gabe Zichermann”

Real- Meerman ScottTime Marketing and PR by David

My notes on “Real-Time Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott.

“How to instantly engage your market, connect with customers and create products that grow your business now.”8157405

What’s Expected In The Corporate World:

  • Wait, to make certain
  • Work from checklists dictated by one-year and even five-year business plans
  • Measure results quarterly
  • Execute based on a long-term “new product launch” mentality
  • Organise around multi-month marketing and communications campaigns
  • Ger permission from your superior
  • Run decision by your staff
  • Bring in the experts, the agencies, and the lawyers
  • Conduct extensive research
  • Carefully evaluate all the alternatives
  • Aim for perfection before public release
  • Respond to customers on your time frame
  • Engage with media, analysts, and commentators only when convenient and comfortable for you


Continue reading “Real- Meerman ScottTime Marketing and PR by David”

Hit The Ground Running: A Manual For New Leaders by Jason Jennings

My notes on “Hit The Ground Running: A Manual For New Leaders” by Jason Jenningsihwx.9f22449c-7a23-4641-a068-194083827ab9.200.175

  •  The number one cause of business failure isn’t poor cash-flow or pricing it’s copying a competitors strategy
  • Shareholders are best served by looking after consumers, retailers, employees, suppliers and community first. A different perspective from what you’d hear from Wall St
  • “Profit is not the reason for the existence of a company, profit is a well deserved by-product of doing what’s right. Looking for profit? Do more good things”
  • When you are the new CEO: unless people are presented powerful and undeniable evidence to believe that you are different (better) than your predecessors, they’ll either wink and whisper “here we go again” or adopt a deadly wait-and-see attitude
  • Productivity: it’s not the hours you put in or your level of effort, it’s about achieving what you set out to do. “Activities are not the same as Results”
  • “If you do a good job, people want you. Not for what you were trained to do but for your ability to get the job done.”
  • “People don’t quit companies, they quit bosses. The best boss is a mentor, one you trust.”
  • “Don’t confuse a decision made after listening to lots of people with a compromise decision. Usually when you get to a compromise you’ve lost something. Seek input, carefully consider everything you’ve heard and then make a call. Don’t try to please everyone.”
  • The new CEO of a private hospital started by giving a flower, newspaper and his business card out every morning with a note to call him on his extension for a quick resolution to any problem during their stay
  • “If you’re trying to climb one mountain and you find you can’t reach the summit, you don’t abandon mountain climbing, you change the goal and go for another summit. Who cares which mountain you climb? The view is great from every mountain top.”
  • “The plan isn’t nearly as important as the planning” – Keith Rattie
  • “One boss I had didn’t have thirty years of experience he had five years experience”

Continue reading “Hit The Ground Running: A Manual For New Leaders by Jason Jennings”

Poke The Box by Seth Godin

My notes on “Poke The Box” by Seth Godinsethpokethebox copy

Kinds of capital

What can you invest? What can your company invest?

  • Financial capital – Money in the bank that can be put to work on a project or investment
  • Network capital – People you know, connections you can make, retailers and systems you can plug into
  • Intellectual capital – Smarts. Software systems, Access to people with insight
  • Physical capital – Plant and machinery and tools and trucks
  • Prestige capital – Your reputation
  • Instigation capital – The desire to move forward. The ability and guts to say yes. This is the most important capital of our new economy


Continue reading “Poke The Box by Seth Godin”

Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead

My notes on “Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation” by Sally Hogsheadfascinate

Fascination Scale

  • Avoidance
    • You’ll take steps to avoid TV commercials
  • Disinterest
    • You might leave the room during a commercial break to grab a bite
  • Neutrality
    • You don’t really care if you watch the commercial or not. You’re not going to take steps to avoid it, or to watch it
  • Mild Affinity

    • If a commercial happens to pique your curiosity, you’ll watch. Otherwise, eh, whatever
  • Interest
    • Commercials entertain, at least the good ones
  • Engagement
    • You actively enjoy commercials. During Super Bowl, you pay more attention to the commercials than the game
  • Immersion
    • You go out of your way to watch commercials, even going online to search them out
  • Preoccupation
  • Obsession
  • Compulsion

Continue reading “Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead”

Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business by Erik Qualman

My notes on “Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business” by Erik Qualmantélécharger (1)

The story about bacon salt

  • Bacon Salt was an idea that was born out of the minds of two Seattle buddies, Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow, who over a few beers jokingly posed the question – “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a powder that made everything taste like bacon?”
  • They found over 35,000 people that mentioned bacon in their MySpace profile. They began reaching out to these people to gauge their interest in Bacon Salt, and not only did they find interest, they started receiving orders when they didn’t even have a product yet.
  • It went viral.
  • The spice that made everything taste like bacon incredibly sold 600,000 bottles in 18 months. “We didn’t even have a product at the beginning; instead, we bought cheap spice bottles, printed out Bacon Salt logos and scotch them onto the bottles.”
  • Lesson: People are passionate about what they like. Each passion is a niche that can turn into a business.


Continue reading “Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business by Erik Qualman”

Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan

My notes on “Social Media 101” by Chris BroganScreen-Shot-2015-04-29-at-10.43.45-AM

In this book Chris talks about how he doesn’t use the word “expert” but uses the word “advisor” instead.

So I extracted 4 pieces of advice from what I read. Here they are:

(Should you read the book yourself you are sure to extract different advice for yourself).

1. Chris’s Advice About Writing

What is the customer, consumer, user and/or partner thinking?

  • What’s in it for me?
  • How does this impact me?
  • Do I have to do something?
  • What’s this going to cost me?


Continue reading “Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan”

Social Media Marketing for Dummies by Shiv Singh

My notes on “Social Media Marketing for Dummies” by Shiv Singh.51xOpIA89AL._SX397_BO1,204,203,200_

My additions are in italics.

Can sponsored conversations in social media be authentic?

Yes, the trick is to be completely transparent that they are sponsored

Disney partnered with SavvyAuntie, an online community focused on aunts without kids. Melanie Notkin, who runs SavvyAuntie, tweeted about Disney’s Pinocchio movie in March 2008 to coincide with its Disney anniversary release. She tweeted about t themes in the movie, often in question form, encouraging others to respond. Her 8000 followers on Twitter knew that she was doing this for Disney (every tweet about Pinocchio had a special tag), but because the tweets were appropriate for the audience, entertaining, and authentic, the campaign was a success.

Continue reading “Social Media Marketing for Dummies by Shiv Singh”

The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani

the-zen-of-socialMy notes on “The Zen of Social Media Marketing” by Shama Hyder Kabani

Facebook

Facebook is like a coffee shop. Everyone is there for his or her own reasons, but it is a great place to strike up a conversation.

People from all walks of life use Facebook. They aren’t there to buy stuff. They are there, first and foremost, to express themselves. After self-expression comes their need to connect with others.


Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days by Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager

My notes on “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days” by Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager

What is your competitive advantage? Is it enough?61o1gFxYuZL._AC_UL320_SR256,320_

  • Write down every reason you can think of to do business with your company. Now do the same for your top competitors. Scratch off the common ones. Are the remaining reasons good enough to be your competitive advantage? Do you need more?
  • Asking your customers why they do business with you will provide you with your competitive advantages


Continue reading “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days by Jay Conrad Levinson and Al Lautenslager”

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How to drive your career and create a remarkable future By Seth Godin

My notes on “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How to drive your career and create a remarkable future” by Seth Godintélécharger (2)

The law of the Mechanical Turk

  • The law: “Any project, if broken down into sufficiently small, predictable parts, can be accomplished for awfully close to free.”
  • Eg Jimmy Wales led the tiny team at Wikipedia that destroyed the greatest reference book of all time. And almost all of them worked for free.
  • The Encyclopaedia Britannica was started in 1770 and is maintained by a staff of more than a hundred full-time editors. Over the last 250 years, it has probably cost more than a hundred million dollars to build and edit.

  • Wikipedia, on the other hand, is many times bigger, far more popular, and significantly more up-to-date, and it was built for almost free. No single person could have done this. No team of a thousand, in fact. But by breaking the development or articles into millions of one-sentence or one-paragraph projects, Wikipedia too advantage of the law of the Mechanical Turk. Instead of relying on a handful of well-paid people calling themselves professionals. Wikipedia thrives by using the loosely coordinated work of millions of knowledgeable people, each happy to contribute a tiny slice of the whole.
  • The internet has turned white-collar work into something akin to building a pyramid in Egypt. No one could build the entire thing, but anyone can haul one brick into place.

Continue reading “Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How to drive your career and create a remarkable future By Seth Godin”

Marketing Without Money – How 20 Top Australian Entrepreneurs Crack Markets With Their Minds by John C Lyons and Edward de Bono

My notes on “Marketing Without Money – How 20 Top Australian Entrepreneurs Crack Markets With Their Minds” by John C Lyons and Edward de Bono:BUSMAR3

How narrow is your product offering?

  • “Don’t try to be all things. Be famous for just one thing. We are doing a very simple thing. We are facilitator only, taking people to the top of the bridge. Our job is to enable our customers to make heroes of themselves. – Paul Cave, BridgeClimb

How narrow is your target market?

  • Frequently it is better to define what you do in terms of what you do not do, being quite harsh on your choice of markets and the products and services you deliver. Seldom is failure attributable to too narrow a focus.


Continue reading “Marketing Without Money – How 20 Top Australian Entrepreneurs Crack Markets With Their Minds by John C Lyons and Edward de Bono”

Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths For Winning At Business Without Losing Your Self by Alan M. Webber

My notes on “Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths For Winning At Business Without Losing Your Self” – by Alan M. Webber.51Ei+GQ7PnL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_

What business are you in?

  • If you’re a journalist and you think you’re in the news business, chances are good you’re going to go out of business. News today is a commodity. But there’s a good market for the opinion business or event he funny business (eg Jon Stewart whom recently finished forth in the voting for America’s most trusted source of… news). None of them are in the news business; they’re successful because they are in the ideas-behind-the-news business.
  • Learn to see with fresh eyes so you can differentiate your business from the competition.

  • Change the way your business sees the market and the way your customers see your business.
  • How? Start by asking a different question. Not “what is our product or service?” but “What does our product or service stand for?”
  • Eg a supermarket chain could stand for healthier life for customers who are willing to pay more for organic food.
  • Eg2 a coffee shop could stand for neighbourliness for the people in its surrounding community who use it as an informal gathering place

Continue reading “Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths For Winning At Business Without Losing Your Self by Alan M. Webber”

The Knack – How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn To Handle Whatever Comes Up by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham

My notes on “The Knack – How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn To Handle Whatever Comes Up” by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham4891811

Why are you better off starting a business from scratch rather than buying one?

  • It’s harder to learn a business if you haven’t been with it from the start
  • You miss out on all the trial-and-error education that happens in the early stages
  • You don’t understand key relationships in the business
  • You don’t know what to do in emergencies
  • You make mistakes that are much costlier than they would have been back when the company was smaller and struggling to get off the ground


Continue reading “The Knack – How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn To Handle Whatever Comes Up by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham”

Crowdsourcing: How the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business by Jeff Howe

31Ab-eLDZAL._AC_UL320_SR208,320_My notes on “Crowdsourcing: How the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business” by Jeff Howe

8 Very Successful Crowdsourcing Examples

1. Threadless

  • Threadless receives thousands of designs each week
  • The Threadless community of millions votes
  • The company selects nine from the top hundred to print
  • Each design sells out
  • Hardly surprising given the fact Threadless has a fine-tuned sense of consumer demand before they ever send the design to the printer
  • Threadless isn’t really in the T-shirt business. It sells community


Continue reading “Crowdsourcing: How the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business by Jeff Howe”

1001 Ways To Make More Money As A Speaker, Consultant or Trainer by Lilly Walters

My notes on “1001 Ways To Make More Money As A Speaker, Consultant or Trainer” by Lilly Walters:51SDqSEjmEL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

    1. Have business cards sized versions of flyers. They are easier for prospects to keep (flyers get binned)
    2. Goals are dreams with a deadline. Set goals with deadlines today.
    3. Freebies: Add to the bottom of articles, a freebie that people will get if they contact you Eg “To obtain a free copy of “How to xyz”, just [state action here]”
    4. Presentations: Don’t include everything in your presentation handouts. Refer to an item eg “the 10 rules of…”, and ask audience members to pass their business cards up to get a copy, and invite them to write a big “S” on the back if they speaker for a future date

  1. Feedback surveys: Don’t provide a ratings scale, ask questions like:
    • What basic message did you hear that you could use tomorrow? (Purpose)
    • How will you use what you heard today increase your profits and/or productivity? (Practical application)
    • Is there something else about my subject that you would like to know that I did not have time to touch on in this presentation? (New topics)
    • Do you know of others (businesses, associations, etc) that would benefit from the material presented today? Who are they? (Referrals)
    • What is your opinion of my presentation?  (Testimonials – make sure there is a permission check box so you can use the comments)
  2. Discounting: When a client tells you “cut your fee on this talk, and when we might use you in a series”, reply “this programme will cost full price, but I will be glad to add a clause stating ‘If a series contract is signed within one year of this date $xyz will be deducted from the series price’”
  3. Press Releases: Ask “would your viewers like to learn how to…?” or “would your listeners like to know the answer to…?”. Or ask these questions in the follow up phone call
  4. Self Publishing: “The self-publishing manual” by Dan Poynter
  5. Let the market lead: “Find a problem, then look for a solution. Don’t develop a solution, then spend your life searching for a problem for it. Pull through an idea from the market place, don’t push it through from inception towards some intangible market” – Jack Ryan

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

My notes on “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer:télécharger (3)

Which of the following 2 sentences of praise encourages kids to challenge themselves?

  1. “You must be smart at this” (intelligence)
  2. “You must have worked really hard” (effort)

The research revealed that the kids praised for their intelligence chose a puzzle of equal difficulty. Of the kids praised for their effort 90% chose a more difficult puzzle.  When praising intelligence, the kids hear “look smart, don’t risk making mistakes”. The fear of failure actually inhibits learning. Continue reading “How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer”

Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson

My Notes on “Ready, Fire, Aim” by Michael Masterson:41XjfgOsASL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_

When Launching A New Business, What Should Consume Your Time?

  • In launching new businesses, many entrepreneurs do the opposite of spending 80% of their time of their time on selling.
  • They spend most of their time, attention, energy and capital on things such as setting up an office, designing logos, printing business cards, filing forms, writing contracts, and refining the product.

  • They have the impression that they are doing things in a logical order – getting everything just right before they open their doors.
  • In fact, they are wasting valuable resources on secondary and tertiary endeavours.
  • It is enough to have the product and customer service just okay at the outset. Perfecting them can be done a little later, after you have gotten feedback from your customers.
  • Sell as soon as you can – if possible before you have spent a lot of time and money making it perfect.

Continue reading “Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson”

Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful by Bill Glazer

My Notes on “Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful” by Bill Glazer:

Recipe for a 5 Page Sales Letter51-3Sx8fMwL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

  • Page 1: Tell your story, the reason why you’re doing this, and why buyers should buy
  • Page 2: The details, what’s for sale, who you are, how much they’ll save
  • Page 3: Offer free gift “premium”. A deadline. Write directly at them. Hint at coupons coming up on the last page.
  • Page 4: Personal message reminding them how great you are, that they are your preferred customers, and not everyone is getting this offer, but they will later and then all the best stuff will be gone so they better act now. Another hint of the coupons on the last page
  • Page 5: Use P.S. and P.P.S.


Continue reading “Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful by Bill Glazer”

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley and William D Danko

the_millionaire_next_doorWhat can we learn from this book published in 1996? Quite a lot actually.

Can You Answer “Yes” to the Next 7 Questions? If not, you have little chance of becoming a Millionaire:

  1. Do live below your means?
  2. Do you allocate time, energy, and money efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth?
  3. Do you believe financial independence is more important than displaying high social status?
  4. Do you provide economic outpatient care for your adult children?
  5. Are your adult children economically self-sufficient?
  6. Are you proficient in targeting market opportunities?
  7. Have you chosen the right occupation?


Continue reading “The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley and William D Danko”

Toughen Up by Michael Hill – Book Review

I liked it.

The secret to his success is setting goals, and then taking bold steps to achieve them. He’s a very goal oriented man.

  • Goal 1: 7 stores in 7 years. Achieved.
  • Goal 2: 70 stores in the next 7 years. Achieved.
  • Goal 3: 1000 stores by 2024. I think he’ll achieve it.

He’s got balls of solid gold.

He’s loving the recession because it means he can buy up prime US locations for his stores that he never would have been able to afford previously.

Genius. Continue reading “Toughen Up by Michael Hill – Book Review”

Permission Marketing by Seth Godin – Have your customers given YOU permission?

My Notes on “Permission Marketing” by Seth Godin:

My Summary:

Rather than write an advertisement in a feeble attempt to get people to buy (when they have never even heard of you before), simply ask them for permission to send them more information (a free report, a free sample, a list of “common mistakes” in your industry).

And in that information you send them, ask for permission to send them more.

After you build up a relationship in this way over time, then you can start selling.

Continue reading “Permission Marketing by Seth Godin – Have your customers given YOU permission?”

The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun

My Notes on “The Myths of Innovation” by Scott Berkun:berkun-myths-210x315-200x300

Myth #1: The Myth of the Epiphany

  • An epiphany only comes when you’ve put in all the hard work. It’s just the final piece in a 1000 piece puzzle
  • When inventors are asked how they came up with their idea they say “it just came to me”, and have some interesting story about how the idea formed in their head. They don’t say “after 1000 hours of research the idea became obvious”, because it’s boring. Stories about epiphany’s are interesting and exciting and give us hope that we will have one
  • The most useful way to think of epiphany is an occasional bonus of working on tough problems


Continue reading “The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun”

Making Things Happen – Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun

51inoqTDRML._SX379_BO1,204,203,200_My Notes on “Making Things Happen – Mastering Project Management” by Scott Berkun:

The Five States Of Communication

1. Transmitted

When you send an email or leave a voice mail, you are transmitting a piece of information to someone.  This doesn’t mean she has read or heard it, it just means the message has left your hands with the intent to arrive in hers.  With email and the Web, it’s very easy to transmit information, but there is no guarantee anyone is ever going to read it.

Continue reading “Making Things Happen – Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun”

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organisation by Peter F. Drucker, Jim Collins, Phillip Kotler

My Notes on “The five most important questions you will ever ask about your organisation” by Peter F. Drucker, Jim Collins, Phillip Kotler:227565 cover.indd

Every truly great organisation demonstrates the characteristic of preserving the core but stimulating progress.

Peter Drucker told us over 40 years ago “The purpose of a company is to create a customer… The only profit centre is the customer.”

If he was here today he would amend this observation. He would say “The best companies don’t create customers. They create fans.
Continue reading “The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organisation by Peter F. Drucker, Jim Collins, Phillip Kotler”

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne

My Notes on “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W.Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne:51xtlczer7L._SX339_BO1,204,203,200_

Creating Blue Oceans

Rather than compete with Ringling Bros, Cirque du Solei created uncontested new market space that made the competition irrelevant.

Imagine a market universe composed of two sorts of oceans: red oceans and blue oceans. Red oceans represent all the industries in existence today.  This is the know market space. Blue oceans denote all the industries not in existence today.  This is the unknown market space.
Continue reading “Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne”

Brain Rules by John Medina

My Notes on “Brain Rules” by John Medinaby:cover-BR2

Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power

  • Our brains were built for walking 20km a day
  • To improve your thinking skills, move
  • Exercise gets blood to your brain, brining it glucose for energy and oxygen to soak up the toxic electrons that are left over. It also stimulates the protein that keeps neurons connecting.
  • Aerobic exercise just twice a week halves your risk of general dementia. It cuts your risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent


Continue reading “Brain Rules by John Medina”

Tribes – We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin

My Notes on “Tribes – We Need You To Lead Us” by Seth Godin:3828382

The best synonym for leadership is management. That used to fit, but perhaps no longer. Movements have leaders and movements make things happen. Leaders have followers. Managers have employees.  Managers make widgets. Leaders make change.

It takes only two things to turn a group of people into a tribe:

  • A shared interest
  • A way to communicate


Continue reading “Tribes – We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin”

The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg

My Notes on “The Secrets of Consulting” by Gerald M. Weinberg:The secrets

  • The first law of consulting: In spite of what your client may tell you, theirs is always a problem.
  • The second law of consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it’s always a people problem
  • Never promise more than 10% improvement (so the client doesn’t get embarrassed about how crap they were)
  • If you happen to achieve more than 10% improvement, make sure it isn’t noticed
  • Whatever the client is doing, advise something else (because what they have been doing hasn’t worked so far)

  • You’ll never accomplish anything if you care who gets the credit
  • If they don’t hire you, don’t solve their problem
  • The Law of Raspberry Jam: The wider you spread it, the thinner it gets. Alternative: “Influence or affluence; take your choice”. One on one advice is very powerful for initiating change, an email newsletter or a book is weaker at influencing chance. But with the latter, with leverage, you can make a lot of money
  • Most of the time, for most of the world, no matter how hard people work at it, nothing of any significance happens
  • Once you eliminate your number one problem, number two gets a promotion
  • The Hard Law: If you can’t accept failure, you’ll never succeed as a consultant
  • Inverse of the Hard Law: Some people do succeed as consultants, so it must be possible to deal with failure
  • The Harder Law: Helping myself is even harder than helping others

Continue reading “The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg”

SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

My Notes on “SPIN Selling” by Neil Rackham:Spin

The difference between small and large sales

  • Define Small Sale: Is a sale which can normally be completed in a single call and which involves a low dollar value.
  • In selling consumer goods product knowledge makes all the difference.  But in large sales it can prevent success because the customer won’t see enough value to justify so large a decision.
  • Customer hesitation when deciding about a large sales isn’t so much about the product as entering a relationship.  You will have to work with the seller over a period of some months rather than just buy the item and walk out the door.
  • In small sales the customer can afford to take more risks because the consequences of mistakes are relatively small.


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The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes

My Notes on “The Ultimate Sales Machine” by Chet Holmes:Chet holmes

  • You can profoundly improve your company if you absolutely commit one hour a week in which you do nothing else than work on making the business much more effective.
  • We all get good ideas t seminars and from books and business-building gurus. The problem is that most companies do not know how to identify and adapt the best ideas to their businesses. Implementation, not ideas, is the key to real success.
  • To do’s, tasks, and deadlines must be assigned after every meeting. But the key is not to ask for too much to be completed. Make the gains small but constant. If you are having the meeting every week and you are making small incremental gains each and every week, think of the profound transformation you’re going to have in 52 weeks.


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The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More With Less by Richard Koch

My Notes on “The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More With Less” by Richard Koch:good read

  • Conventional wisdom is not to put all your eggs in one basket.  80/20 wisdom is to choose a basket carefully, load all your eggs into it, and then watch it like a hawk.
  • Celebrate exceptional productivity, rather than raise average efforts
  • Look for the short cut, rather than run the full course
  • Be selective, not exhaustive
  • Strive for excellence in few things, rather than good performance in many
  • Delegate or outsource as much as possible in our daily lives and be encouraged rather than penalised by tax systems to do this (use specialists to the maximum instead of doing the work ourselves)

  • Only do the thing we are best at doing and enjoy most
  • In every important sphere, work out where 20% of effort can lead to 80% of returns
  • Creative systems operate away from equilibrium. Cause and effect, input and output, operate in a non-linear way. You do not usually get back what you put in; you may sometimes get very much less and sometimes get very mush more.
  • If you can identify where your firm is getting back more than it is putting in, you can up the stakes and make a killing. Similarly, if you can work out where your firm is getting back much less than it is investing, you can cut your losses.

Continue reading “The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More With Less by Richard Koch”

The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris

My Notes on “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris:work week

Different is better when it is more effective or more fun.  If everyone is defining a problem or solving it one way and the results are sub-par, this is the time to ask, What if I did the opposite. Don’t follow a model that doesn’t work.

Most cold calls don’t get to the intended person for one reason: gatekeepers. Make all your calls from 8-8.30am and 6-6.30pm for a total of one hour to avoid secretaries and book twice as many meetings as senior sales executives who call from 9-5. Twice the results in 1/8 of the time.
Continue reading “The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris”

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber

My Notes on “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber:riiig

In a business that depends on you, on your style, on your personality, on your presence, on your talent and willingness to do the work, if you’re not there customers would go someplace else.

In this case, customers aren’t buying your businesses ability to give them what they want, but your ability to give them what they want.

If your business depends on your, you don’t own a business – you have a job.  And that’s not the purpose of going into business. The purpose of business is to get free of a job so you can create jobs for other people, to expand beyond your existing horizons, to satisfy a need in the marketplace
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Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham

My Notes on “Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got” by Jay Abraham:télécharger (4)

Only 3 Ways to increase income:

  • Increase the number of clients
  • Increase the size of the sale per client
  • Increase the number of times that client buys from you

Difference between a customer and a client

  • A customer is someone who purchases something.  A client is someone under our protection.  So when a client wants to buy a bicycle for his son, what he really wants to spend precious time with his son to teach him to ride a bike, so its in his best interests if I sell him the best bike in the store that won’t crumple if he bumps into a tree.  I am a trusted advisor, so he’ll be back next year to get bikes for the whole family.


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12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter

My Notes on “12: The Elements of Great Managing” by Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter:9781595629982_p1_v3_s369x593

1. I know what is expected of me at work

Like a Jazz band or the team on an aircraft carrier, or a NBA basketball team.  More than knowing their tasks, they have been working as a team for so long, they can anticipate moves and have contingency plans.  I know the tasks to complete but more importantly, how my role fits in with everyone else.

2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right

Be open to other peoples suggestions about how they could do a better job. Eg the special gloves at the fibreglass factory.  Small refinements add up over time.  And mean a lot to the employee – they feel listened to and cared about and they reward the company with loyalty and pitching in when needed.  Bad idea: Not allocating people their space, having fluid desk arrangements Continue reading “12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter”

Crucial Conversations, Tools For Talking When The Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson

My Notes:51aefLfnGUL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

    • Focus on what you really want.
      • What do I want for myself?
      • For others?
      • For the relationship?
      • How would I behave if this were what I really wanted?
    • Contrast to fix misunderstanding:
      • Start with what you don’t intend or mean, then explain what you do intend or mean.
      • Don’t be tempted to water down your content: “you know it’s really not that big a deal”

  • What story am I telling myself?
    • Victim story: It’s not my fault!
    • Villain story: It’s all your fault!
    • Helpless story: There’s nothing else I can do!
    • Re-examine the cold hard facts, question my conclusions look for other possible explanations. What do I really want? What would I do right now if I really want these results?
  • STATE your path
    • Share your facts
    • Tell your story (explain what you’re beginning to conclude)
    • Ask for others’ paths (encourage them to share their facts and stories)
    • Talk tentatively (state your story as a story – don’t disguise it as fact)
    • Encourage testing (make it safe for others to express differing or opposing views)
  • To get people to share
    • Ask (express an interest)
    • Mirror (acknowledge their emotions)
    • Paraphrase (restate what you’ve heard to show you understand, and that its safe for them to share)

Bargaining for Advantage by G. Richard Shell

So How Do You Ensure You Have The Advantage When Negotiating? My Notes:51C7i36GXbL._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_

    • Prepare thoroughly in advance
    • Locate the decision maker
    • Built rapport
    • Discover the other party’s goals – ask questions, obtain information on interests, issues and perceptions. Test for understanding, summarise, probe first then disclose, signal regarding your leverage
    • If you open then you benefit from setting the anchor point.
    • Look for common ground
    • On what issues might the other side say “no”?
    • Search for low-cost options that solve the other party’s problems while advancing your goals
    • Trade issues

  • Leverage
    • Flows to those with the greatest control and comfort with the present situations.
    • Threats must be credible.
    • For whom is time a factor?
    • Create momentum by giving little things.
    • Create a vision that the other side has something to lose from no deal
    • Positive leverage: Is having something the other guy wants, or better, needs, or best, cannot do without
    • Negative Leverage: Threat based, with hints rather than shouts
    • Normative Leverage: Give and take
    • Leverage changes constantly through the negotiation
    • Leverage depends on the other party’s perceptions of the situation, not the facts
  • Closing Technique: Scarcity Effect
    • Competition (many others are interested)
    • Deadlines (we will withdraw the offer soon)
    • Walkouts (I will get up and leave at any time)
  • Closing Technique: Overcommitment
    • eg standing in line at DisneyLand
    • Leverage loss aversion  (“We’ve come so far, don’t let all this time and effort go to waste!”)
  • Softer Closing Technique: Split the difference
  • Beware Rogue Tactics:
    • Lies about bottom lines and alternatives
    • Low-balling
    • Phoney issues / decoy / red herring
    • Fake authority ploys
    • Overcommitment (drags out the negotiation process and raises or lowers the price or terms at the last minute)
    • Good guy / bad guy
    • Consistency traps (The goal of which is to pre-commit you to a seemingly innocent standard. They get you to agree to a statement before telling you why the statement is important)
    • Reciprocity ploys (“I made a concession, now its your turn”. Beware of reciprocity traps – “Here’s a flower, may I have a donation?”)
    • The nibble (just before closing hoping your exhausted)

Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin

Like all of Seth Godins books, this book was simple, to the point and easy to digest.51g8syHXezL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

14 Trends Facing Us Today:

  1. Direct communication between producers and consumers
  2. Amplification of the voice of the consumer and independent authorities
  3. Stories spread, not facts (need for an authentic story as the number of sources increase. saying one thing and doing another fails, because you’ll get caught)
  4. Extremely short attention spans due to clutter
  5. The long tail (and the short head)
  6. Outsourcing
  7. Google and the dicing of everything
  8. Infinite channels of communication
  9. Direct communication and commerce between consumers and consumers
  10. The shifts in scarcity and abundance
  11. The triumph of big ideas (in factory based organisations little ideas are the key to success, now its about big ideas in a noisy marketplace, and not advertising but viral)
  12. The shift from “how many” to “who”?
  13. The wealthy are like us (the new bell curve)
  14. New gatekeepers, no gatekeepers (don’t need to work with big guys to get bigger)

Now What?

Now that you are aware of the trends, what action can you take today to position you and your business for the future?

Need help to figure that out?

If you need help to figure that out, call me today on (07) 575 8799 or email me.

Cheers,
Sheldon.

10 Days To Faster Reading by Abby Marks-Beale

This is the single most important book of my life.41GH7WqBB7L._SX320_BO1,204,203,200_

It doubled my reading speed from 300wpm (which I thought was already pretty good) to 600wpm with the same or better comprehension.

If only I had read it when I was 10 I could have learnt so much more in my life so far!

I have no fear of big thick books now because I know after one session I’ll be a quarter of the way through with just 3 quarters to go.

It is the first in a series of 90 books I’m reading

. Continue reading “10 Days To Faster Reading by Abby Marks-Beale”