BizBook Nuggets

Out of the Box Marketing

When do you have too much money and not enough brains? 

This story was posted on Sept. 22 by Tom Ehrenfeld on www.800ceoread.com.

Out of the Box Marketing by David Abingdon

One of the first things I look at in a new book is the Intro or the Forward.
A January 2006 book called Out of the Box Marketing has a great story about
looking around before throwing money at a project.

Check this out:

American astronauts upon first going into space soon discovered that their pens didn’t work in zero gravity. So NASA embarked upon a program to invent a writing instrument that would work in outer space. After spending millions of dollars and burning thousands of man hours on research and engineering, they finally developed a "pump pen" that could write anything, anywhere, at
any angle.

Meanwhile, in the secret laboratories behind the Iron Curtain, Soviet Union scientists casually took note of the researches of their American counterparts. They spent almost no time and no money solving this problematic dilemma. They already had the answer, their cosmonauts used…pencils.

Thanks, Tom, for sharing this great story.

...and can somebody please tell me why the US government has announced plans to return to the moon? Oh, that's right, we end up developing some really nifty pens that can write without gravity.

Just between you and me, I can think of far better ways to spend billions of dollars. What about you?

How would you replace government programs that waste money with really useful ones? Just hit the comment button below...

Conversation with Jerrold Jenkins

Books are Marketing Tools

Conversation with Expert Jerrold Jenkins, The Jenkins Group
Wednesday Sept. 28, 8:30 p.m. ET

Once upon a time books were the primary source for sharing and storing information. Valued for their ability to entertain, educate, inspire and persuade, books were considered timeless references for an ever-changing society. Though times have changed, books continue to hold intrinsic values and much more.

Today, books are a key marketing tool that reaches targeted groups of people with information relevant to their needs, interests, and lifestyles. Leading marketers are turning to books as a unique and enduring medium to deliver messages in a way that communicates value and brand relevance.

In this Conversation, learn how publishing a book can creating branding opportunities, customer loyalty, consumer education and product sales. Learn how book marketing creates publicity and credibility for you.

Register: http://www.customizednewsletters.com/CE/cesched.htm

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System: www.BuildaBetterBlogSystem.com

Craig's List Best Biz Books for Start-Ups

Craigslist's Book Recommendations for Start-Ups

To continue this week's business book recommendations, here are a few suggestions from Craig Newmark, founder and chairman of craisglist Inc., featured in Monday's Wall Street Journal. Check out the detailed list here. (This comes to you thanks to http://800ceoread.com/blog/)

1. Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond
2. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
   by Roger Fisher and William Ury
3. We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People
   by Dan Gillmor
4. Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
   by Leonard Cohen
5. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
   by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
6. The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Front
   by Bruce Sterling
7. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
   by Malcolm Gladwell
8. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
   by Lawrence Lessig
9. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
   by Fareed Zakaria
10. Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror
    by Richard A. Clarke

Best Sellers from NY Times

NY Times Best Biz Books for last month are as follows:

1. THE FAIRTAX BOOK, by Neal Boortz and John Linder. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins, $24.95.) A radio talk show host and a United States congressman call for the abolishment of the federal income tax and the I.R.S. 

2. THE WORLD IS FLAT, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27.50.) A columnist for The New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends. 1

3. FREAKONOMICS, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. (Morrow, $25.95.) A maverick scholar applies economic thinking to everything from sumo wrestlers who cheat to legalized abortion and the falling crime rate.  First Chapter  2

4. WINNING, by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch. (HarperBusiness, $27.95.) Business and career advice from the former General Electric C.E.O. (+)  3

5. WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson. (Putnam, $19.95.) A management expert offers techniques for dealing with workplace change. (+)  4

6. NOW DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. (Free Press, $27). How to identify and develop your talents and those of your employees. (+)  6

7. JIM CRAMER'S REAL MONEY, by James J. Cramer. (Simon & Schuster, $26.) A former hedge-fund manager explains his rules for investing. (+)  5

8. THE MONEY BOOK FOR THE YOUNG, FABULOUS & BROKE, by Suze Orman. (Riverhead, $24.95.) Financial advice especially for those who graduate college with huge debts.  7

9. GOOD TO GREAT, by Jim Collins. (HarperBusiness, $27.50.) Why some companies thrive and others do not.(+)  8

10. *THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM, by Patrick Lencioni. (Jossey-Bass, $22.95.) A fable that illustrates how teamwork can be restored to even the most troubled and entrenched workplace. (+) 
11

11. HOW FULL IS YOUR BUCKET? by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. (Gallup Press, $19.95.) Positive strategies for life and work. (+)  10

12. FISH, by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen. (Hyperion, $19.95.) A manager's guide to morale boosting in the workplace. (+)  13

13. SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND, by T. Harv Eker. (HarperBusiness, $19.95.) Think rich to get rich. (+)  12

14. YES, YOU CAN STILL RETIRE COMFORTABLY! by Benjamin Stein and Phil Demuth. (New Beginnings Press, $24.95.) How to maintain one's standard of living without decimating the family nest egg.   

15. UNCONVENTIONAL SUCCESS, by David F. Swensen. (Free Press, $27.50.) A contrarian's guide to managing financial assets. (+)   

16. *PRESENCE, by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers. (Currency Doubleday, $27.95.) Four theorists of organizational change explore ways to effect transformational change and leadership. (+)   

Rankings are based on August figures of almost 4,000 bookstores and of wholesalers serving 50,000 hardcover retailers and 60,000 paperback retailers (gift shops, department stores, newsstands, supermarkets). The numbers are statistically weighted to represent sales in all such outlets nationwide. An asterisk indicates that a book's sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. (+) Some bookstores report receiving bulk orders on these titles.

Best Biz Books: FT/Goldman Sachs

FinancialTimes/Goldman Sachs Business Book Award Finalists

This week they announced the finalists for The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of The Year Award. (This comes to you from http://800ceoread.com/blog/.)

The finalists are:

1. The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote The Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture by John Battelle (Portfolio)
2. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Globalized World in the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
3. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (William Morrow)
4. Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets by Constantinos Markides and Paul Geroski (Jossey Bass)
5. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Econonmist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade by Pietra Rivoli (Wiley)
6. DisneyWar: Battle for the Magic Kingdom by James Stewart (Simon & Schuster)

Each finalist receives £5000 (~$9000) and the winner will receive £30000 (~$54,000). The overall winner will be announced Monday, November 21st.

Here's How You Can Start Blogging the Right Way

If you have a book inside you, one great way of getting it out and onto the screen is to start blogging. Blogs are great content organizers.

Here's a great way to learn how to start your own blog the RIGHT way:

Boost Your Biz with Blogs - 6 Week Teleseminar

Denise and I, along with our colleague Adam Urbanski, are offering a 6 week teleseminar on setting up and optimizing a professional business blog.  If you're one of the first 10 to register, we'll even throw in a bonus to submit your new blog to the 120+ blog directories and search engines (a $95 value).  Here's the info:

Boost Your Biz with Blogs: For Coaches, Consultants, Speakers and Other Solo-Professionals
$497***
Led by Adam Urbanski, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman
Thursdays, October 6 – November 10, 2005
8:30 p.m. ET, 90 minutes

"Build a Successful Blog That Gets More Traffic to Your Website and Turns Lookie-Lous Into Paying Clients..."

You don't have to be a techno-buff, a marketing genius, or a writer. It's OK if you don't have a website, an ezine, or a large list of subscribers. You don't need to invest much more than a pocket change to get started, and can have your first blog in minutes and then quickly turn it into a traffic and client magnet - without ever again being held hostage by your webmaster!

Having a successful blog can boost your web traffic, build trust with prospects and clients, increase the size of your email list, and make you money online - even if you don't have your own information products - we'll show you how in 6 short weeks. 

Step by step, you'll learn how to create an effective blog for your business.  Through live teleclasses, video screen casts, audio recordings, and using the Build a Better Blog ebook, you'll set up a professional business blog that gets results.  From proven tips for driving traffic, getting subscribers, organizing your content and how to use your blog as a marketing tool, you'll learn everything you need to know to make your blog successful.

** $100 discount if you refer 3 colleagues when you register!

Class details and registration:  http://www.boostyourbizwithblogs.com

How to Attract Publicity for Your Own Biz Book

What You Need to Attract National Publicity & Major Publishers – The Inside Scoop
Wednesday, September 21, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest:  Suzanne Falter-Barns, www.GetKnownNow.com

These days, if you want to book national TV, get quoted in magazines, and make megabucks on major-publisher book deals … or even if simply attract more business ... you need platform. That’s media-speak for your position in the marketplace, and how many people know about you. Join best selling author Suzanne Falter-Barns as she takes you on a platform tour of the Web, and explains the inside scoop on what you really need to get known now. (To get the most out of this class, you’ll want to have ready access to the Net during the call.)

You’ll learn

• What all branded websites must have
• The key to creating a successful brand for yourself
• What media and publishers expect to see on your site
• A free Web tool that gives you major inside information
• Why blogs matter to the media
• How to get started building platform right now

To learn more about Suzanne’s work, and to download her free database of 50 Top Media & Publishing Contacts, drop by her site at http://www.getknownnow.com

For nearly twenty years, Suzanne Falter-Barns was a copywriter, marketing consultant and freelance writer in New York. Her articles and essays have appeared in More, Fitness, Self, The New York Times, Prevention and Writer’s Digest. Her consulting clients have included Hearst, Conde Nast, and The New York Times Company. She is also the author of two self help books, including How Much Joy Can You Stand?, a One Spirit Book Club Main Selection featured in more than 100 radio and TV shows. Suzanne’s website, http://www.getknownnow.com, teaches anyone how to build platform effectively and establish themselves as a recognized expert in their field.

Register:  www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

Best Marketing Books for 2005

Another good book review from Jack Covert over on the MarketingProfs.com site. He highlights three great marketing books in such a way to make me surf on over to Amazon and order. His picks are:

Brand Hijack: Marketing without Marketing by Alex Wipperfurth (Portfolio, 288 Pages, $24.95, hardcover, February 2005)

All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World by Seth Godin (Portfolio Publishers, 175 pages, $23.95, hardcover, May 2005)

The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable by The Group of 33, edited by Seth Godin (Portfolio Books, 180 Pages, $19.95, hardcover, October 2005)

Bag the Elephant: How to Win & Keep BIG Customers by Steve Kaplan (Bard Press, 190 pages, $19.95, hardcover, August 2005)

Read why here.

Build a Better Blog 2nd Edition Released

Whew! Writing an ebook is work, but so is revising one! We're finally finished! Ta-Da!! (Fanfare, horns, and a rousing chorus of Whoopees, please).

When Denise and I finished our how-to book on blogs for professionals in April, we promised our readers life-time updates. Things change so quickly in the blogosphere, that we had to update the ebook after only 5 months.

Here's what you should do: buy the revised edition of the Build a Better Blog System now. Over the next two days, we'll give you a $10 coupon off.

Here's what's new in edition #2 of the Build a Better Blog book:

• 90% new screenshots
• More tips on creating and writing content
• More tips on how to make money on your blog
• A new and improved way to deliver blog updates to your readers
• More design options
• Tips about keywords and titles
• How to protect your intellectual property
• How to avoid 17 mistakes most biz blogs make

Here's what you get when you order, as far as bonuses:

1. Access to our private Blog-Revolution blog with tons of resources, Q&A, ongoing updates and tutorials, and 5 hours of audio training. (Value - $97)
2. 6 audio programs:  Interviews with Blogging Experts (Value - $30)
3. A valuable ebook explaining RSS feeds and how they can work for you (value - $25)
4. Coupon for a 90 day free trial on Typepad.com (value - up to $45)
5. Lifetime updates. (Value - priceless!)

Remember to use this link right here, to get the $10 coupon off, only good for the next two days.

If you're on the fence about starting a blog, don't worry about all the hype. Blogs are a fad, but a good fad. They aren't going to go away. They are just too darned easy to use, inexpensive, and blogs bring results for your business.

Don't waste your time setting up a free blog, because it will look just like everyone else's. Do it right, the professional way, and follow our steps. We show you how to set it up right, AND, how to optimize it to drive business your way.

That's the whole point, isn't it? Blogging for business.

P.S. If you've bought the book, and still need help in optimizing your blog for business, you might want to participate in our 6-week intensive blog training teleseminar with Marketing Mentor Adam Urbanski. You can peek over his shoulder as we teach him how to blog and use a blog to get clients.

Register here: www.boostyourbizwithblogs.com.

A Conversation with a Self-Help Expert

Philippe Matthews, from The Philippe Mathews Show, will be our guest expert on our weekly Conversations with Experts on Wednesday Sept. 14, at 8:30 p.m. ET

Philippe Matthews The SHOCKphilosophy (tm): Manifesting Success, Wealth and Happiness

Philippe Matthews, the host of The Philippe Matthews podCAST & vCAST Show and author of several books and coaching programs on producing quantum achievement, will discuss The SHOCKphilosophy™ and The Shock Wealth System™ -- spiritual technologies and transformational methodologies that identify and neutralize deep-seated, unconscious beliefs and behaviors that stifle or sabotage success.

You will learn how to break through the invisible comfort zone that keeps you from reaching the next level of wealth, achievement and success in life regardless of how many books you read and seminars you attend.

To attend, please register at www.conversationswithexperts.com.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of The Build a Better Blog System.