Purple cow
Transform your business by being remarkable
Seth Godin
Seth Godin has something of a cult-like status in the marketing world. He is an international best-selling author, and hosts marketing workshops in his New York loft.
Read Purple Cow, and you will get some idea why. This revolutionary manifest is about creating and selling something remarkable. Godin shatters the traditional five Ps of marketing - product, promotion, positioning, publicity and packaging - and introduces his own: the Purple Cow. In other words, something truly extraordinary.
It's about daring being different; being willing to fly in the face of conventional wisdom and risk something new and inspirational to market.
So why don't more people do it? The answer is fear - fear of failure, fear of a negative reaction. The SAS have a motto that deals with that ... He who dares, wins.
Richard Reed
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£8.99
Penguin,
ISBN: 014101640X
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Do your own PR
Richard Milton
Need to promote your business, but can't afford a PR firm? Then this book could be the answer to your prayers.
Do your own PR is a handbook that tells you in plain, practical language exactly how to raise your media profile and gain recognition for your products and services - even if you have no previous experience in the area.
It's packed with practical advice and tips on how to get some favourable coverage for your business. Topics include meeting and dealing with journalists, how to be interviewed, writing press releases, using pictures effectively, and how to get your products reviewed.
Like all the Pocket Essential series, it's presented in easily digestible, bite-sized chunks, and the booklet is small enough to pop into your pocket for reading on the train or between meetings. My only criticism is that the type is very small - obviously to pack it all in - but it may not suit an older reader.
Richard Reed
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£3.99
Pocket Essential
ISBN 1904048277
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Marketing Insights From A - Z
Philip Kotler
He is known as the father of modern marketing, and is certainly the marketing world's highest profile guru.
He is Philip Kotler, Professor of International Marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
He is, however, probably not the first port of call for anyone running a small business. His classic book Marketing Management consists of more than 800 pages - valuable stuff, but somewhat hard work to access.
Yet we can all benefit from the thinking of such people, and in Kotler's case his views encapsulate wide experience of working with many successful companies. Now, in this his latest book, he has produced something eminently accessible, allowing everyone to dip their entrepreneurial toes into his accumulated wisdom.
The book is, as the title suggests, a series of short sections, one for each letter of the alphabet - from Advertising to Zest. In the latter he suggest all marketers need a zest for life to enliven their approach. 'Otherwise send them into accounting'.
The book makes for an interesting and lively read, and can be taken a bit at a time in any order you like. There are observations, suggestions and strong links with the real world - the book is replete with examples. It can act to clarify views, reinforce existing thinking and stimulate further, and creative, thinking.
It seems to me, from my work and involvement with business people over the years, that those who often stand the greatest chance of success are those who are able to stand back and take - and operate from - the broad view.
Reading books such as this makes you step back and do just that. While an hour of reading is unlikely to change your world, it could lead to some radical, and useful, ideas.
Patrick Forsyth
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£19.99
John Wiley and Sons
ISBN: 0471268674
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Organising a conference
Pauline Appleby
How do you raise your credibility and authority in a field? One way is to put on a conference or seminar - industry leaders do this frequently. That is why they are seen as industry leaders... chicken and egg situation.
Whether the seminar is put on by a small accountancy firm or a multinational conglomerate, the principles are the same. This book will lead you step-by-step through the whole process: from choosing a venue, finding speakers and designing a brochure to working to a schedule, planning budgets and sponsorship and staging the event itself. There is even a section on 'The morning after' - looking at how you develop relationships initiated and evaluating the impact of the event on your business.
Case studies at the end of each chapter allow you to learn from other people's experiences.
In a nutshell, everything you need to know about putting on a seminar or conference is in this book. Don't even start planning one without it.
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£9.99
How To Books
ISBN: 1845280644 |
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Making direct mail work
Peter Arnold
This book is about how to 'get great results from all your direct mail'.
There's no doubt about it - direct mail works! Some companies are making millions from this form of selling. But most direct mail deserves to be called junk mail. Why? Because it is badly targeted, badly conceived and badly handled.
Arnold takes you through all the stages involved from deciding what you want to achieve, tailoring your campaign and deciding whom to mail. He then looks at how to build a suitable mailing list, produce a mailer, design a great offer, and finally handle responses. He also goes into the intricacies of how to set your mailing apart and give it the tone that will get your prospects responding. For example, there is a section on choosing the 'style' of your mailing package. Will it be plush, cheap and cheerful, or businesslike? A plush mailing would use quality paper, full-colour printing, loads of glossy photographs and is appropriate for a luxury product or service. Cheap and cheerful encompasses workaday products and services - cheap, in this case, means inexpensive, not tawdry. It is the kind of mailing that would sell home insurance.
At the end of each chapter are three running case studies that illustrate the points in each chapter.
An excellent book for start-ups as well as established businesspeople who feel there is room for improvement in their mailshots.
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£9.99
How To Books
ISBN:1857032977 |
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Outsell your Competition
Robin Fielder
The marketplace is getting more and more competitive - so how do you differentiate yourself from the opposition?
The answer, as Robin Fielder explains in this excellent book, is to do your homework.
Personal selling in this fast-forward marketplace requires a new mindset - you need to be in business with your customers, not just doing business with them.
Using examples and case histories from a broad range of businesses, the book is divided into four distinct sections, each finishing with a useful summary of the main points covered.
Fielder first takes the reader step by step through the psychology of the buying process - something often overlooked in sales manuals. After all, unless you understand the mind of the buyer, how can you expect to make a sale?
He then explains the psychology of the sales process, before going into considerable detail on finding new business, building a relationship with the customer, the art of sales negotiation, and closing deals - among others.
This is as comprehensive a sales manual as you could hope to find, yet it is easy to read and highly accessible, with lots of bullet points and check lists. Whether you are in business on your own, or employ a small sales team, this is
a 'must' read.
Richard Reed
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£12.99
McGraw Hill
ISBN: 0077099370
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Do you own market research
Paul Hague and Peter Jackson
How old are you? Are you married or single? Have you ever...? How many...? Why do you...? How do you rate...?
You can classify people into groups, you can look at behaviour and you can assess attitude. The right questions can reveal a wealth of information that will make marketing and selling your product or service much easier. But what should you think about when you do your research? How long can you make your questionnaire? Should you offer incentives to get people to respond? When might telephone interview less than effective?
This practical, jargon-free book gives lots of insight into techniques for successful market research. Essential topics include: what market research is, planning a project, desk work, field work, telephone interviewing, face-to-face interviewing, data analysis, and buying market research.
Even if you hire outside expertise to do your research for you, a quick read of it will ensure you know what you are talking about and that you understand all the issues involved. If you are doing your own market research, this book will lead you through all the stages to help you get the most from your research.
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£12.99
Kogan Page
ISBN: 0749426527
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e-PR
Matt Haig
Matt Haig feels that the Internet is the most powerful relationship-building tool the business world has ever witnessed. He sets out to show how you can use the Internet to forge mutually beneficial relationships between your business and its various publics. Among other things, this book will help you:
- Learn to think from an e-PR perspective;
- Do your market research on the Internet;
- Create a website that will build business relationships;
- Use e-mails more effectively;
- Get a better position on the major search engines;
- Conduct press relations online;
- Set up online discussion groups.
Haig's style is forthright and punchy. Mostly in bullet points, it gets to the heart of the issue in a few words. For example, in his chapter on website basics he writes:
- People get bored easily. Goldfish are said to have a five-second attention span. That is approximately two seconds more than most web users. If they are visiting your site via a search engine, they probably have a list of at least ten other sites they want to visit.
- Unlike books, people don't put a website down halfway through reading it and then come back to finish it off later. On the web, you only have one short chance to make an impression.
Bearing these facts in mind, the books goes on to offer tips on writing style, making your site 'sticky', how to build trust on your site, and how to build in cyber-suspense. He gives many examples of sites to emulate. The book is also filled with useful websites to make your life easier.
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£16.99
Kogan Page
ISBN: 0749434341 |
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Experiential marketing
Bernd H Schmitt
Bernd Schmitt sees three phenomena that signal a new approach to marketing, if not doing business as a whole. They are:
- The omnipresence of information technology;
- The supremacy of branding;
- The persuasiveness of communications and entertainment.
In this book, he outlines how you can use 'experiential' marketing to create and image and identity for your business, differentiate a product from its competition, turn around a declining brand, promote innovations, and create loyal buyers. He uses five strategic models - sense, feel, think, act and relate - and shows how they have been used in cutting-edge campaigns.
For example, in the chapter on Act marketing, he describes strategies that are designed to create customer experiences related to the physical body, long-term behaviour patterns and lifestyles, as well as experiences resulting from interaction with other people. He uses three case studies to show this strategy in action. For example, the Gillette Mach 3 campaign introduced the concept of a 'shaving system' as opposed to a plain old razor. To achieve this, the product design, name, packaging and advertising all worked together to create a powerful image about how Gillette would change men's lives. Result? The introduction of the Sensor razor made marketing history and it has remained one of the world's most successful razors.
This is an exciting and accessible book that opens up new ways of looking at things. It could transform the way you market yourself.
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£13.99
Free Press
ISBN: 0684854236 |
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