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Conversational Capital. How to create stuff people love to talk about. Bertrand Cesvet, Tony Babinski, Eric Alper. 2008. ISBN 9780137145508. This is very relevant material as it really delves into the power of WOM.  The book uses so many relevant examples to drive their five attributes home:

• Rituals eg -  lemon in Corona
• Exclusive offer - your Ipod , Itunes
• Myths -Michael Dell started where?
• Relevant sensory oddity - Altoids
• Icons - Coke bottle
• Tribalism - Apple users
• Endorsement - celebs
• Continuity - contiguous story

In a time when consumer have unlimited choice they will chose the product that has the richer more meaningful experience (Cirque de Soleil) .  A book for todays’ marketer/CEO. A well written quick easy read to boot.

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Internet Dough. Create a business internet strategy to make more dough. Don Philabaum. 2008. The numbers of ebooks that are finding my inbox is rising by the week. One of the best is this one. Internet Dough (200pp) is well research

e

d, with thoughtful comments and examples. It is very current on all the various Web 2.0 applications. If yo

u are a marketing person, who is looking for one volume to point you in the right direction with all this “stuff” then I recommend this

book.
The book offers:
· Dozens of best practices and examples of how companies have adopted Internet strategies.

· Proven technologies they can immediately get started with.
· 30 exercises to help the

reader develop an Internet strategy for their firm.

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· 5 critical elements to include in a business Internet strategy.
His strongest part is the chapter on ROI. It is one of the better analyses I have seen.

If you want a version of the book goto www.internetdough.net/book .

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never eat alone. And other secrets to success, one relationship at a time. Keith Ferrazzi.  2008. ISBN 038551205.  Tom Peters calls this one of the most valuable books he has seen in along time. I agree.  If schools just handed out this book to their graduates, admonishing them to read it, lots of people would be much more successful in their careers.  Have you ever wondered how some people are able to chart a career path that you could only dream about? How do they meet and learn from such powerful and highly placed people?  How do they become so popular and remain so enthusiastic about life.  The answers to that and much more are in this book.  Here is a person who was CMO of Deloittes, Starwood Hotels, CEO of YaYa media.  And he struggled to get into the schools and society.  No silver spoons or hand outs here.  I urge  my readers to get this book, read it, gift copies to their children and practice practice practice.  In Keith’s words , be audacious.  IN one book here is a systematic plan for getting to your  career goals.   check out www.nevereatalone.co for lots of resources.

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Buying Facilitation. The new way to sell that influences & expands decisions. Sharon Drew Morgen.2003. ISBN 0964355302.  This New York Times best selling author was a recent discovery,  via Steve Flashman.

This  is an insightful look at sales qualification, as we’ve known it. She believes that there are actually two aspects to sales - first the product placement end, and then the buying decision end; We’ve always assumed that buyers understood their needs, were ready to buy, and we the sales team only needed to understand pain and solution issues. i.e. the buying decision end. Up to now we may have ignored the product placement front end.

In this simple book, Sharon Drew Morgen breaks down those things that buyers go through before they are ready/willing to buy or fix their problem.  This book tells you where they go and what they are doing, while you are waiting for their response . She describes where buyers go when they say ‘I’ll call you back’ and what is taking so long, and gives insights into ways to greatly diminish the sales cycle (hint:it’s about their internal decision making issues),

This book explains Morgen Buying Facilitation Method(R) that is a decision facilitation approach to teach buyers how to line up all of the internal decisions they need to make, before introducing the product and solution.   Sales has up to now not had the tools to help manage the very front end of the sales equation.  If you want to become one of the top 5% sales people , while  serving the customer better than you are today,  buy this easy to read book.

Because she does not agree with the main stream “this is just the way sales is ” mindset , her writings have not been picked up as much as they could be.  This is not a cookie cutter process she describes and it still requires a strong dedication to your learning process. This lady has shown us a better way to gain an early understanding of the buyers process.   This is another big step on the way  to prevent much of the waste we see in selling.

You can pick up a copy here.

She has lots of content on her website www.newsalesparadigm.com

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Kick-Ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps.  Build the buzz and sell the sizzle. Susan Gunelius. 2008. ISBN 9781599182537.  This is a very useful book. First she provides you with a  Copywriting Outline which immediately helps the small business person identify the holes in their approaches to copy.  She shows how and why writing copy is different from all other writing. (At Rocket Builders we run into this issue all the time with clients who get off on the wrong foot with their copy)  By reading this book you will obtain much better clarity about copy and an increased appreciation for how hard it is to write clear useful, consistent copy.  She has taken a small business B2B focus - which makes this book useful to a vary broad audience since the examples are simple, believable and in small enough chunks that you can learn from them. A long way back I learned that it takes a real expert to translate a complex process into simple steps.   She has made one of the clearest statements about why too much information slows your sales process, ” Extra words can confuse and slow down customers.  Write for those who have little time to read.”  This is one book every marketing manager should have on his desk, it will be well used.

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Marketing for Construction. Steve Flashman. 2008.  e-book.  The title is correct, yet this is also a very good introduction to sales oriented marketing for people new to the game or  who just want to know more.  I really enjoyed this book and found lots of depth in it.  From his 101 marketing ideas through to his analysis of the evolution of sales approaches, the book is well thought out, well written and refreshing.  His section on lead research questions and partnering are relevant to every field.  It has a distinct UK focus with lots of detail about that construction market, but do not let that stop  you from purchasing this.  I am going to follow up on his analysis of the LEED style an applications to all manners of building “green”  He talks about applying lean thinking to marketing and I am especially intrigued by this.

You can learn more at www.ontheboxmarketing.com
Click Here!

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Subliminal Persuasion Influence & Marketing Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know. Dave Lakhani. 2008. ISBN 9780470243367.  Also Persuasion. the art of getting what you want. Dave Lakhani. 2005. ISBN0471730440. Taken together these are two of the bets books on persuasion I have come across . The author uses his well researched techniques throughout the book so you can experience how persuasion is not manipulation, its selling, marketing, seduction. all rolled up.  Lakhani is the guru in this space and his research is extensive and documented for the discerning reader.

You need to read these books to

1. recognize and be forewarned when techniques are being used and
2. learn how to apply them.

You will recognize the impact of these techniques through stories about Volvo (safe and boxy), The Sierra Club, the Organic Food movement (pay more for the same thing)  as well as the Natural movement.  Read about the most influential (and unknown) American ever, Edward Bernays who made it fashionable for women to smoke, promoted bacon and eggs until it was the American breakfast, stoked the fear of communism to “rally the population”,  and participated in the United Fruit Co /Guatemala/CIA led government toppling.  Bernays believed that the conformity of the masses made for a smoother “democratic” society.   Amazing yet serious stuff.

The authors take on Positioning:

• Positioning and packaging is creating a legendary message that meets the expectation of your target audience and gains persuasive compliance.
• We are leveraging storytelling.
• We are focusing on creating complementary models
• We are creating a persona that is easily identifiable with you, your company, and your product or your service you are leveraging.

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