BizBook Nuggets

Amazon Offers Free Trial for Shipping Services

If you're an author, you love books...and you probably use Amazon.com to order them. I've been using their 'free' shipping services for a couple of years now, and have saved a lot of money since I probably order one or two books a month, at least.

Here's a way to save money on shipping, and get a free month trial. If you spent more than $79 last year in shipping charges, then you should be using Amazon Prime free shipping services.

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a popular Amazon.com program that gives its members unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of eligible items. All new members are offered a free trial, allowing them to experience the convenience of shopping with Amazon Prime benefits for an entire month at no charge.

Amazon Prime members enjoy the following benefits:

Fast Delivery - it really does get to you in two days

    * Unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
    * Upgrades to One-Day (Overnight) Shipping for just $3.99 per item
    * No minimum purchase required
    * Members-only 1-Click buttons on product pages
    * No need to think about shipping charges
    * Members can share benefits with up to four family members living in the same household

Free Trial

    * Amazon Prime new subscribers are invited to try Amazon Prime free, for one month. Just click here to find out more.

Donate a book to a child...

I just thought of a way to donate some cash and books to a worthy cause. I recently discovered the I AM Foundation in San Diego. This organization donates a book to a child for each $1 donated.

Since I am starting a new subscriber list for Newsletter Nuggets ezine, I will encourage people to sign up on my website home page by filling out the form on the upper left hand corner with their name and email address. For each sign-up, I'll donate $.50.

So for every two subscribers, a child gets a book.

And, you'll get weekly marketing nuggets on how to build your business using ezines and blogs.

Stay tuned for information on a big weekend event, the Millionaire Mentor's even in November, which is also donating proceeds to the I AM Foundation.

The I AM Foundation is now the official sponsor of Customized Newsletters and the Build a Better Blog System.

Consult Thyself!

If you are a consultant, you better stay well informed. But do a reality check, consultant. How many business books did you look at (dare I say "read?") in the month of February? You are not alone. Most professionals find the time for reading to be a problem.

Read what the Independent Consultant's Association (ICA) has to say:

Consultant's Tip Of The Day For February 23

You are a consultant. Consultants are expected to be better
informed than others. Consult with yourself. It begins with
priorities, moves on to organization, and ends/begins with
action. Here are some hints:

1. Priorities - what are the musts vs. terrific to know vs.
not really necessary, but nice.

2. Time - go down that scale and devote more time at the top.

3. Organization - stuff you read and throw away and stuff you
file, put on a shelf, or otherwise organize. Piles usually
don't work. Clipping is another technique some use
successfully... an extra step to be sure but potentially
allows for better organization and less space. Post-its,
highlighters, bend corners, and margin notes are additional
tools used by many.

4. Action - best to do your reading (at least an overview)
immediately. Start by reading the tables of contents for
every book or magazine that comes your way, then filing it
where it is clearly retrievable.

5. Time/place for reading - stake out some likely to work
for you, e.g. start or end of day, weekends, airline, before
or after meals, treadmill, etc.

Tip: Discipline/regularity is key to making
this all work.

P.S. And don't forget we also read to get leads for
consulting work.

P.P.S. Year-end throw-out practices will help with space.

Do you have a question or problem?
You can discuss this and other tips with other consultants
in the Independent Consultants Forums, found on the ICA Web
site at www.ica-assn.org.

End of quote...

This organization also has a Consultant's Report available for members only.

What have you found that helps you stay abreast of what you need to know? Personally, I'm finding some good stuff online, and through blogs. But these are more personal musings, that stimulate my thoughts. Nothing beats a good book for in depth understanding, reliable data, and making one think!

Patsi
The BizBook Worm

How to Read a Business Book

How do you read 2-3 business books a week?

Okay, I'll admit, I don't read every page. But I at least know what the book is about after skimming and scanning, thanks to a few tricks I've picked up.

One out of five or six books I buy gets a thorough reading, complete with yellow marker and turned down pages. Some I even put tiny post it notes all over with a comment sticking out of the page for easy finding.

Here are my tricks for scanning a book quickly and still get something out of it:
(please don't tell me this is obvious, I know it is; it's just a friendly reminder!)

1. Read the introduction first. This will tell you why the author wrote the book.

2. Read the first and last chapters next. The first will probably tell you what the author's going to tell you, sometimes dividing up the book into parts. The last chapter will usually summarize the main concepts you should have learned if you read the whole book.

3. Go to the section that interests you most. When skimming the first paragraphs of a new section or chapter, look for bulleted lists of points the author makes. Then look for the ones that interest you.

Here are some other scanning tips for quickly accessing what you are looking for:

1. Use the chapter list

2. Use the index

3. Use any appendices, or bibliographies.

I know this may seem elementary, you know all this. But the next time you find yourself going to sleep reading, wake yourself up by scanning for what interests you.

Hey, I'm not the only one who struggles to stay awake when reading. Here is another interesting post on How to Read a Business Book from the slacker manager blog:

Why read?
This is the bottom line, right?  If you're serious about your career, your industry and even your contacts, you can't afford to not read regularly.  After all, somebody is reading all those books that are coming out each month, and it's probably the competition for your next client or new gig.

You probably have your own system for scanning. Some people use a random approach, like just opening up to the middle, to see what's there.

What's yours? Please comment and share, I need to get through this stack here...

Patsi

Your BizBook Worm