BizBook Nuggets

How to Build Your Mailing List

E-books are biz books too, aren't they?

I usually buy ebooks when I need to know how to do something, especially with internet marketing. Internet marketing and online strategies change so rapidly that a print book is usually outdated.

If you are a coach or consultant, or any professional, you probably have an online presence through your web site, ezine or blog. And you know how hard it is to build a massive list of loyal subscribers.

There are several tips you can learn from Ali Brown, the Ezine Queen, and her new ebook, 101 Simple FREE and Low-Cost Ways to Quickly Build a Massive E-mail List.

It is worth the price ($97) because you will avoid making several common mistakes with your email newsletter. It is time-consuming to write, format and publish an ezine, but you aren't going to reap any benefits from it if you don't have many readers.

Buy this ebook, read it, and immediately apply three strategies. You will see the difference right away. For example, Ali recommends promoting your ezine with an offer for a free report. Make it something valuable, and then promote it so that people feel they can't miss it or their lives or businesses will suffer.

Promoting a free report rather than just an invitation to subscribe will get you more results. Also, don't ask readers to give you too much information about themselves. Simply ask for the first name and email address.

And reassure them that you don't share their email address and they can unsubscribe any time.

I thought I'd share this with you because I know many readers of BizBook Nuggets have ezines and face the challenges of getting more subscribers. Hope this helps!

Patsi, your BizBook Worm

P.S.

What a title! Ali has probably another ebook on the way, 101 Simple, FREE and Low Cost Ways to Title your Ebook so that It Sells!

I wouldn't be promoting her ebook if I didn't believe in her and her messages.

Where Are All the Good Management Books?

"Where have all the good managers gone? Everybody wants to be a leader, nobody aspires to being a good manager these days. The separation of management from leadership is dangerous. Leading without good management results in a failure to execute. Let’s get back to good, strong managing."

And so I began another business coaching article for my subscribers over at Customized Newsletters.  I want to share with you my list of resouces for writing this article about management, because it really is a short list of some of my favorite business books.

Then, you tell me if there are some I've missed that should be on the list of best management books. Here's my list:

Bossidy, L. & Charan, R. (2004) Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right. Crown Business Books.

Bruch, H. & Ghoshal, S. (2004) A Bias for Action: How Effective Managers Harness Their Willpower, Achieve Results, and Stop Wasting Time. Harvard Business School Press.

Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. (1999) First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. Simon & Schuster.

Collins, J. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. (2002) Harper Collins.

Collins, J. & Porras, J. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. (2002) Harper Business Essentials.

Gardner, H. (2004) Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Mind. Harvard Business School Press.

Gosling, J. & Mintzberg, H. (November 2003) “The Five Minds of a Manager.” Harvard Business Review.

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2002) The Leadership Challenge. Jossey-Bass Wiley.

Mintzberg, H. (March-April 1990) “The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact.” Harvard Business Review.

Moss Kanter, R. (2003) Best Practice: Ideas and Insights from the World’s Foremost Business Thinkers. Perseus Publishing.

Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R.I. (2000) The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action. Harvard Business School Press.

There are certainly many others, this is just a few I used in writing my article about management and how it is changing.

Comments and additions most welcome, just press the comment link below and nominate your favorite management book.

Patsi,
Your BizBook Worm

The Blog Book is Published...well almost!

The Build a Better Blog System ebook is almost ready, and you can get the preview edition for only $35. This is because we need to polish up the interview section and tutorials. But if you buy it now you can get the updated version for free when it comes out.

This is an important ebook vital to any professional wanting to set up their own blog. Don't waste your time by trying to do it yourself without knowing these time saving tricks! Here are some reasons why, over at our blog on blogs, www.buildabetterblog.com. Click here and get the full story...

Trust me, you don't want your business blog looking like everyone else's family blog. You also want to have a domain name that reflects your business, and have a subscription form. All these little tricks took me a while to figure out.

So Denise Wakeman, who has a black belt in blogging, and I put together some articles and information that will save you time. There are over 25 tutorials with step-by-step instructions and screen shots.

This is a real time-saver. As much as it is important to start blogging if you are any kind of small business or independent professional, don't make the same mistakes everyone makes. Blogs are user-friendly, but unless your a true techno-geek, don't waste your time. Read this first, then go get an account with Typepad and do it yourself. You'll be glad you did. Click on this link here for details.

Patsi

The Changing Face of Management

Best Practices:
Ideas and Insights from the World's Foremost business Thinkers
(2003) with an introduction by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

With all the hype about leadership, no body speaks of management and managers anymore. Let's face it, leaders in organizations have to manage people. Leaders get things done through others. That requires managing people. But management best practices are undergoing rapid transformation.

I haven't finished reading this book, but have to tell you about it now. Best Practices is a collection of articles written by some very foreward thinking experts. The insights that this book provides will change your way of thinking about management and the way business should be run.

You will be impressed just by reading the list of contributing writers in the table of contents. It is like the Academy Awards for thought leaders in business.

Don't be put off by the small print, just get your glasses out and settle down for a few hours. If you're a marker, you'll have yours full of yellow in no time.

There are a couple of articles that survey the history of management and organizations. And many that look towards the future trends of organizational life.

Here are a couple of underlined comments I want to remember:

• "Business and society often seem worlds apart, each operating under a separate set of principles that have little to do with the interests of the other. As business becomes more global in scope, and global networks underscore its world-spanning effects, the results of this radical disintegration are approaching a critical pass." Christopher Locke, "The Case for Business Criticism" p. 24
• "The very identity of the corporation is being called into question...the question "what is a business?" is now in question...With the advent of the Internet it is not much harder to work with others. As this trend develops it will change people's perspective of what a business is and what it should be doing. Businesses become parts of systems rather than whole systems in themselves....All that this means is that two management skills that today are largely absent will jump to the very top of the leadership agenda. Managers will have to be proficient in designing and instrumenting systems and processes, and have an enormous capacity for teamwork and collaboration." Michael Hammer, "Setting the Agenda for the Next Generation of Leaders," p. 37.
• Great workplaces get better results by giving people better control over their own destiny. Business must focus on personal, not just organizational, productivity. The future of work is increasingly customized, personalized, and tailored to each individual." Bill Jensen, p. 84.

Get this book, you won't be disappointed.

Patsi, your bizbook worm...