Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. What every business can learn from the most iconic band in history. David Meerman  Scott & Brian Halligan. 2010. ISBN 9780470900529.   This is  more than a story about the Grateful Dead from two Deadheads.  It really does draw lessons from the Dead that are very applicable to today.  David Meerman Scott really knows todays marketing “stuff” and Brain Halligan is a founder of Hubspot.  Short but not a book to dismiss this is a very good read at the same time.

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The 2011 Ready to Rocket list for Information Technology and Communications Technology companies is accepting nominations for companies until 11am PT on Thursday January 20th 2011. Anyone involved with the company, whether management, an investor, director or a professional advisor, can nominate. To qualify for nomination, a company must have more than $500K in revenue and a growing base of customers. The selection committee is looking for companies that have the potential for 50% to 100% growth in the coming year, and are in good position to leverage industry trends or key industry partnerships..

Go to http://readytorocket.blogspot.com/2011/01/last-call-for-nominations-for-ict.html

UnMarketing. Stop marketing. Start engaging. Scott Stratten. 2010. ISBN 9780470617878.  This  is a very useful book for anyone looking to pump up their business though using the social networks.  Stratten is one of those folks who has done the work and made a conscious effort to help others to really “get it”  His short chapter on how to create, organize and publish content is far and away the easiest and most direct writing we have seen to date.  He also covers the whole gamut of  marketing from trade shows to telesummits.  His website http://www.un-marketing.com/blog/ contains much of the content of the book.  His format of many (over 50) short chapters really suits the ADD generation of readers.  The best thing – Stratten speaks the truth and puts it out there. (Of course – he’s Canadian!)

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eat pray love. One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. Elizabeth Gilbert.2006. ISBN 9780143038412.   My wife suggested I read this book and I am glad she did.  The author has a clear strong voice that makes this book much more than the movie (which became a Julia Roberts vehicle) .  The writing style is excellent.  I especially enjoyed Gilbert’s analysis/discussion of God from an Indian and Indonesian context.  The story of the the cat tied to a tree is hilarious yet tragically true! I have struggled in past to understand the various forms of God worship across so many cultures, yet at the core I sensed much similarity.  Gilbert clears this up but very gently. More than a “chick book” this is actually a very useful point of view.

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Free. How today’s smartest businesses profit by giving something for nothing. Chris Anderson. 2010. ISBN 9781401310325.  I have had this book awhile and, really kick myself for not reading it sooner.  It is outstanding.  Anderson is able to debunk all the chestnuts out there around free as well as spend the time to give you some history lessons on free.  He also experimented with his own ideas on how to place the product out there for free using various methods he put forward.  Very insightful stuff . I especially appreciated his 10 Rules of Free on pp 241 and the review of the range of conversion rates one can expect from freemium on pp 247.  The key insight for me is his comment ( compressed and paraphrased by me)  that:

Price will fall to the marginal cost (in the digital bits case,  free) unless the provider has a monopoly and/or enjoys the network effect such as Microsoft (Office docs) and Facebook.  This supports a winner takes all effect, driving competitors to  very low numbers.   Facebook can not charge for new members because it has value in the network = linking new people all the time. So they will generate revenue from scale – losing with 99 % of the users and making it from a small % of ad revenue.  ( or perhaps – selling stock!)

I see that  Guy Kawasaki and Tim Ferris both used ideas from Anderson in their recent promotions.  Guy generated more “reputation” currency by offering free downloads of the Macintosh Way to people who “liked” his new book facebook page.  Tim Ferris drove buys of the new 4 Hour Body , by offering a pdf of the 4 Hour Workweek to those who bought the new book.  Tim drove his book to the top of Amazon very quickly = increased sales and reputation.

This is the best treatment of free and freemium out there. If you buy this very readible book, read and digest it. It contains numerous money making ideas. Do not treat it lightly! You can get the audiobook still free at Chris’ website:

• “Ten Rules for Maker Businesses” by Wired & DIY Drone’s Chris Anderson Chris Anderson (adafruit.com)
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• Chris Anderson: “If You’re Going To Fail, Fail In An Environment Where It’s Impossible To Succeed” (businessinsider.com)
• Guy Kawasaki promotes his latest book by giving away his first one (thenextweb.com)
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Turbulent Times Leadership for Sales Managers. How the very best boost sales. Tom Connellan. 2010. ISBN 9780976950639.  I have several books for sales managers.  This one will now be on the top of my list. The author brings you the real stuff that works. Along the lines of the one minute manager, but a lot more, Connellan gives you actionable steps and ways to see how it works.  I really liked his analysis of the six customer responses:

1. No
2. I”ll listen to what you have to say
3. I’ll consider your product next time.
4. I’ll recommend your product to purchasing and others.
5. I’ll specify your product next time I initiate an order
6. I”ll buy it.

This is 1 No and five variations of Yes that you can use to measure movement in your territory when you have lengthy sales cycles in your prospects.  (I have had sales managers who saw this as 5 nos and one yes.)  What a wonderful way to have the sales rep focus on what the customer is saying and doing.  He recommends you analyze your targets into a customer behavior  spreadsheet  showing how they are distributed in the five types of yes. Simple, elegant and effective. The book is loaded with useful things like this.  I say this is a must buy for managers and top producing sales guys.  Oh this also works when you have any kind of coaching to do.

The 1% Solution forWork and Life: How to Make Your Next 30 Days the Best Ever

• Sales Compensation Resources. (regnordman.com)
• 7-Step Program To Rev Up Your Sales in 2011 (blogs.forbes.com)
• Best Sales Book and Best Management and Leadership Book of 2010 (prweb.com)
• The easiest and hardest productivity tip of all (christopherspenn.com)
• How to Become a Good Sales Rep (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• How to Create an Unstoppable Marketing & Sales machine. An introduction to Fusion Marketing (regnordman.com)
• Content Rules. How to create killer blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars. Ann Handley & C.C. Chapman (regnordman.com)