The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and used in seminars around the world.Now Roger von Oech's fully illustrated and updated volume is filled with even more provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking. This new edition will attract an entire new generation of readers with updated and mind-stretching material.

    In a world where everyone wants to blog and blog posts are ubiquitous, how do you stand out? How do you blog your way from nobody to somebody? How do you, as a business owner, use content to build your brand and drive your success?Blogging has become the ‘it’ career of the modern world and every business knows that blogging should be an integral part of their marketing and success, but it’s actually never been tougher to be shine in the digital storytelling landscape.No matter who are you – a mum at home, a budding fashion blogger or a small business owner –The Million Dollar Blog will be your ultimate guide to starting a successful blog or taking your existing blog to the next level.Through a combination of practical advice and interviews with some of the world’s most famous and successful bloggers, vloggers and content strategists, including Seth Godin, Lily Pebbles, Grant Cardone and Madeleine Shaw, entrepreneur and digital strategist Natasha Courtenay Smith shows you how to build a blog that will increase your profile, create new opportunities, earn money and change your life.

    They studied more than 700 business-to-business purchases made by buyers who represented a total of $3.1 billion in annual purchasing power. When they compared the winners to the second-place finishers, they found surprising results.Not only do sales winners sell differently, they sell radically differently, than the second-place finishers. In recent years, buyers have increasingly seen products and services as replaceable. You might think this would mean that the sale goes to the lowest bidder. Not true! A new breed of seller—the insight seller—is winning the sale with strong prices and margins even in the face of increasing competition and commoditization.In Insight Selling, Schultz and Doerr share the surprising results of their research on what sales winners do differently, and outline exactly what you need to do to transform yourself and your team into insight sellers. They introduce a simple three-level model based on what buyers say tip the scales in favor of the winners:Level 1 “Connect.” Winners connect the dots between customer needs and company solutions, while also connecting with buyers as people.Level 2 “Convince.” Winners convince buyers that they can achieve maximum return, that the risks are acceptable, and that the seller is the best choice among all options.Level 3 “Collaborate.” Winners collaborate with buyers by bringing new ideas to the table, delivering new ideas and insights, and working with buyers as a team.They also found that much of the popular and current advice given to sellers can damage sales results. Insight Selling is both a strategic and tactical guide that will separate the good advice from the bad, and teach you how to put the three levels of selling to work to inspire buyers, influence their agendas, and maximize value. If you want to find yourself and your team in the winner’s circle more often, this book is a must-read.

    and the response isn't what you want. Is anyone even listening? What if you could cut through the chaos and the noise and find the direct route to your audience? It's easier than you think. Less Chaos. Less Noise. delivers proven "now" strategies for church communications--practical solutions and best-practice principles that build trust instead of walls. > Quickly establish your expertise through simple techniques you can use now for easy, early success. > Rise above the frenzy of overwhelming demands and learn a framework to lead internal change towards a clear and unified strategy. > Overcome communications barriers with your members and your community by learning to connect with hearts and minds, rather than broadcast to the masses. > Avoid the frustration of multi-audience messaging by identifying key channels for each group and learning the language that matters to them. > Bust through the limits of a small budget with free strategies that are essential for effective communications.

    It encourages readers to expect more from companies, to give more of themselves, and to fall back in love with their work and their lives.

    On Target is the first in-depth look at the business leaders and strategies that made Target such a runaway success. The company's easily recognizable red-and-white logo, youthful television advertisements, and upscale partnerships-with designers like Michael Graves, Mossimo, and Todd Oldham-have not only removed the stigma traditionally attached to discount store shopping, but actually made it hip to be frugal. In the process, the company has cemented its place as the favorite discount retailer of middle- and upper-income families across the country. In On Target, award-winning business journalist Laura Rowley examines the methods and the success of the company from its shrewd merchandising strategy to its clever marketing campaigns, ingenious branding effort, and extensive philanthropy . An excellent education in how to beat the competition even in a crowded and weak retail market, Target's story details the history and incredible success of a unique company and an enticing, unmistakable brand. Both insightful and entertaining, On Target offers important business lessons for executives and managers in need of a bull's-eye.Laura Rowley (Maplewood, NJ) is an award-winning television, radio, and print journalist specializing in business reporting. She is the personal finance and career columnist for Self magazine and has also been published in The New York Times, Parents, and Newsweek. As a reporter and producer for CNN in New York, she reported on air for Your Money and Business Unusual, and produced live programs for CNNfn. She has also appeared on Good Morning America, Oxygen Media, and CNBC.

    Where do you start? Maybe you want to blog, but where do you begin? What do you say? How do you get anyone to care about what you have to say? “Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer” is a compilation of social media expert Kristen Lamb’s best social media blogs and lessons, and some additional material only found here. This book is designed to be a laugh-out-loud journey to the heart of social media.Many of us know we need a social media platform, but what exactly does that mean? Most of us would rather have brain surgery with a KFC spork than learn about computers and social marketing. Fortunately, “Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer” is not your average social marketing book. This book will strip away all those fears and teach you how to make the most of Twitter, Facebook, and blogging and give you all you need to build a worldwide platform based on relationship and community. Kristen will show you how to manage time, be more productive, and maximize the top social media tools. The best part is you’ll be having so much fun, you will forget you’re supposed to be learning.

    To become a persuasion powerhouse, start by imagining the human brain as an electrical circuit with 8 psychological switches that all need to be turned on for an effortless YES. 90% of purchasing decisions in the buyer’s mind are the result of someone sparking that circuit into action. The result? People stop scrolling and start drooling because you have tapped into their deepest, darkest desires. Consumers scramble for their credit cards because you have managed to position your products, your ideas and YOURSELF as irresistible. People take to their social media soapboxes on your behalf, telling the world how much they love you. And the best part about this excuse-disarming, desire-cultivating, wallet-opening thing called persuasion is that you don’t have to be a natural at persuasion, to persuade! Here are the eight persuasion switches in Mass Persuasion Method that once activated turn you into a master persuader: PERSUASION SWITCH #1 THE PRESTIGE SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #2 THE BELIEVABILITY SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #3 THE PARITY SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #4 THE CURIOSITY SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #5 THE URGENCY SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #6 THE DESIRABILITY SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #7 THE EDUTAINMENT SWITCH PERSUASION SWITCH #8 THE RELATABILITY SWITCH This book will not only show you the science and psychology behind each switch but will also give you specific, hands-on tactics that you can use on your websites, your social media & your client communications to to hook, pull, draw, magnetize and altogether mesmerize your customers and potential customers into buying from you, above everyone else in your industry...and not just once, but over and over again.

    It is more than a book about brands, and contains many sound lessons for strategy and the role of leaders.­­Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business SchoolPractical, psychologically astute, and clearly written, this book has much to offer business folk of all stripes.­­Publishers Weekly

    But that’s simply not true anymore. “Safe” jobs disappear daily, and the clamor of everyday life drowns out ordinary contributions. To make a name for yourself, to create true job security, and to make a difference in the world, you have to share your unique perspective and inspire others to take action. But in a noisy world where it seems everything’s been said—and shouted from the rooftops—how can your ideas stand out?Fortunately, you don’t have to be a genius or a worldwide superstar to make an impact. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty thought leaders in fields ranging from business to genomics to urban planning, Dorie Clark shows how these masters achieved success and how anyone—with hard work—can do the same. Whether it’s learning to ask the right questions, developing and building on an expert niche, or combining disparate fields to get a new perspective, Clark outlines ways to develop the ideas that set you apart.Of course, having a breakthrough insight is only half the battle. If you really want to share your ideas, you have to find a way to build an audience, communicate your message, and inspire others to embrace your vision. Starting small is fine; Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you leverage your existing networks, attract new people to your cause, and, ultimately, build a community around your ideas.Featuring vivid examples based on interviews with influencers such as Seth Godin, David Allen, and Daniel Pink, Clark shows you how to break through and ensure that your ideas get noticed. Becoming a thought leader in your company or in your profession is the ultimate career insurance. But—even more important—it’s also a chance to change the world for the better. Whatever your cause, perspective, or point of view, the world can’t afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. Whether it’s how to improve the educational system or how to make your company more efficient, your ideas matter. The world needs your insights, and it’s time to be bold.

    But too often, even the most innovative organization quickly becomes a "giant hairball"--a tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, traditions, and systems, all based on what worked in the past--that exercises an inexorable pull into mediocrity. Gordon McKenzie worked at Hallmark Cards for thirty years, many of which he spent inspiring his colleagues to slip the bonds of Corporate Normalcy and rise to orbit--to a mode of dreaming, daring and doing above and beyond the rubber-stamp confines of the administrative mind-set. In his deeply funny book, exuberantly illustrated in full color, he shares the story of his own professional evolution, together with lessons on awakening and fostering creative genius.Originally self-published and already a business "cult classic", this personally empowering and entertaining look at the intersection between human creativity and the bottom line is now widely available to bookstores. It will be a must-read for any manager looking for new ways to invigorate employees, and any professional who wants to achieve his or her best, most self-expressive, most creative and fulfilling work.

    A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don't know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.I'm a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my job is to control blogs--as much as any one person can. In today's culture... 1) Blogs like "Gawker," "Buzzfeed" and the "Huffington Post" drive the media agenda. 2) Bloggers are slaves to money, technology, and deadlines. 3) Manipulators wield these levers to shape everything you read, see and watch--online and off.Why am I giving away these secrets? Because I'm tired of a world where blogs take indirect bribes, marketers help write the news, reckless journalists spread lies, and no one is accountable for any of it. I'm pulling back the curtain because I don't want anyone else to get blindsided. I'm going to explain exactly how the media "really" works. What you choose to do with this information is up to you.

    Those cartoons eventually led to a popular blog-gapingvoid.com-and a reputation for pithy insight and humor, in both words and pictures.MacLeod has opinions on everything from marketing to the meaning of life, but one of his main subjects is creativity. How do new ideas emerge in a cynical, risk-averse world? Where does inspiration come from? What does it take to make a living as a creative person?Ignore Everybody expands on MacLeod's sharpest insights, wittiest cartoons, and most useful advice. For example:-Selling out is harder than it looks. Diluting your product to make it more commercial will just make people like it less.-If your plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.-Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether. There's no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.-The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours. The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.After learning MacLeod's forty keys to creativity, you will be ready to unlock your own brilliance and unleash it on the world.

    They employ what psychologists call "lateral thinking: to rethink convention and break "rules" that aren't rules.These are not shortcuts, which produce often dubious short-term gains, but ethical "smartcuts" that eliminate unnecessary effort and yield sustainable momentum. In Smartcuts, Snow shatters common wisdom about success, revealing how conventions like "paying dues" prevent progress, why kids shouldn't learn times tables, and how, paradoxically, it's easier to build a huge business than a small one.From SpaceX to The Cuban Revolution, from Ferrari to Skrillex, Smartcuts is a narrative adventure that busts old myths about success and shows how innovators and icons do the incredible by working smarter—and how perhaps the rest of us can, too.

    Most salespeople have extensive knowledge of their products, but many fail to ask the questions that will help them uncover the real needs of their customers. Questions That Sell helps readers use advanced questioning techniques to sell their products based on value to the customer, not on price -- and increase their success rate as a result. The book contains powerful examples, exercises, and hundreds of sample questions, including: * Vision Questions: Tap into a customers' needs and desires for the future * Questions to Uncover Problems: Fix something that's not working for the client * Pay-Off Questions: Get customers to articulate for themselves how much the product or service is worth Questions That Sell is an invaluable resource for connecting with customers, understanding what they need, and closing more sales, faster.