Book Reviews

Author: David Maister
Publisher: Spangle Press
Year Published: 2008
Rating:
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For professional service firms, David Maister has been the go-to guy for advice on how to run a successful service organization. I’ve been a fan since I read his books, True Professionalism and The Trusted Advisor, years ago and am an avid reader of his blog, so I was eager to pick up a copy of Strategy and the Fat Smoker. continue

Author: Marcus Buckingham
Publisher: Free Press
Year Published: 2001
Rating:
Buy From Amazon.com

Now Discover Your Strengths is the follow up book to Marcus Buckingham’s best seller, First Break All The Rules. It’s billed as a management book, but only the last 50 pages focus on management. The bulk of the book focuses on how individuals can uncover their strengths and manage their weaknesses. continue

Author: David Meerman Scott
Publisher: Wiley
Year Published: 2007
Rating:
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Is web marketing really so different from traditional advertising and PR that we need a new set of rules for how they work? David Meerman Scott says yes - and then shows you exactly how you can take advantage of those new rules to drive more traffic to your site and generate more leads and sales. continue

Author: Hurol Inan
Publisher: Longman
Year Published: 2002
Rating:
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If you’ve been looking for a thorough guide to website metrics, this book is it. The book is written for anyone who wants to tackle the question of ‘is my website really working?’ - from newbies unfamiliar with metrics to experienced marketers looking to measure results. continue

Author: Eric Giguere
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Year Published: 2005
Rating:
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If you’ve ever wondered how you can turn a hobby site or blog into something that makes you a few extra bucks a month, then you’ll appreciate Eric Giguere’s book, Making Easy Money With Google. Written for the complete beginner, Giguere walks you step by step through the process of building a website and adding targeted ads from Google. continue

Author: James Parker
Publisher: Wharton School Publishing
Year Published: 2007
Rating:
Buy From Amazon.com

If there’s one company that business authors love to talk about, it’s Southwest, the airline that gets people where they want to go for the lowest fare possible with the best customer service in the industry. The company is known for taking care of its employees and customers while turning profits for 34 straight years, including 2001.

Chances are, you’ve heard the story. Maybe you’re even a loyal Southwest customer and can tell it yourself. Yet no matter who you are, you haven’t heard the story quite the way former Southwest CEO James Parker tells it in his new book, Do The Right Thing. continue

Author: Seth Godin
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Year Published: 2007
Rating:
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In a world with infinite choices, how do you stand out so that clients choose you over every other choice they have? According to Seth Godin, the key is to know which projects and opportunities to focus on and which to quit. His book, The Dip, is a short, motivational guide that teaches you when to quit and when to stick it out. continue

Author: Chip & Dan Heath
Publisher: Random House
Year Published: 2007
Rating:
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In a world of infinite choices, how do you communicate your ideas in a way that people will understand and remember what you tell them? How do you make your ideas as sticky as those urban legends about kidney heists and razor blades in Halloween candy or pseudo-facts like you only use 10% of your brain or that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space? Or all those conspiracy theories and tales of celebrity shenanigans that spread like wildfire, regardless of if they have a grain of truth to them? That’s the key issue that brothers Chip and Dan Heath’s book, Made to Stick. continue

Author: Mike Moran
Publisher: IBM Press
Year Published: 2007
Rating:
Buy From Amazon.com

Web 2.0 marketing can be a daunting endeavor to undertake for virtually everyone but those on the bleeding edge of technology. It seems every day there’s a new technology that hits the market or a new social network opens its doors or the trends shift from blogging to audio/podcasting to video. With all those new changes, it’s easy to become obsessed with doing it right the first time, overwhelmed with all the new choices each day, and frustrated that you can’t keep up. continue

Author: Benson Smith and Tony Rutigliano
Publisher: Business Plus
Year Published: 2003
Rating:
Buy From Amazon.com

If you’ve read Now, Discover Your Strengths and you are in sales, check out The Gallup Organization’s book on how to Discover Your Sales Strengths. Unlike most sales books that are written from a salesman’s perspective, this book is based on Gallup research of sales people who were consistently in the top 25% of their company’s sales forces and sold 4-10 times more than average performers. The research is based on interviews with 250,000 salespeople, over 1 million customers and 80,000 managers. continue