Get to Aha!: Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition


Andy Cunningham - 2017
    Now she reveals the winning framework she uses to transform markets and industries.Get to Aha! shows how to establish the kind of foundation world-class brands are built on. Too many business leaders fail to ask the most basic questions about their company--Who are we? And why do we matter?--before they leap right into branding. Big mistake. A company must first know itself (establish its position) before it can express its identity (execute its branding).There are three types of companies in the world, each with its own DNA: Mothers are customer-oriented, Mechanics are product-oriented, and Missionaries are concept-oriented―and it's absolutely critical for business leaders to know which type their company is to create an authentic and ultimately "sticky" position in the market. A company's DNA is the key to achieving this and with it, a competitive advantage. Why? Because if a Mechanic creates a marketing campaign based on its belief that it is a Missionary, the underlying positioning will not ring true and the company won't gain a foothold in the market. But if a company positions itself in alignment with its DNA, it will resonate authentically and establish its role and relevance even in the face of a major competitor.Get to Aha! presents a clear step-by-step framework that will help you determine your company's precise position in the marketing landscape, using Andy's DNA-based methodology. It takes you through the process of performing "genetic testing" on your company, examining the market through the six Cs of positioning, and developing your positioning statement--a rational, factual statement about your company's role and relevance. Then and only then can you create a branding and marketing strategy that will build market momentum and crush the competition.Trust Andy. Steve Jobs did.

Buying Trances: A New Psychology of Sales and Marketing


Joe Vitale - 2007
    This thoroughly documented and easy-to-read book is the first of its kind. Vitale gives you the keys to their minds. All you have to do is turn the keys. They said 'yes' to you long before you said a word and they were begging to buy from you shortly after you uttered your first sentence. Buying Trances is an exciting ride to the edge of the mind. His finest work to date." -Kevin Hogan, author, The Psychology of Persuasion and Covert Hypnosis "This book maps marketing's final frontier-the customer's mind-and exposes the buying trance. Frankly, this may be the smartest marketing book ever written." -Dave Lakhani, coauthor, Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want "As with all of Vitale's books, there are magical secrets chucked out like a mad Vegas poker dealer on every page. Not only will you learn to put people into buying trances with this book, the act of reading it will put you in a trance and force you to master it." -Mark Joyner, #1 bestselling author, The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less "Vitale's expertise in hypnotic marketing combined with his extensive research challenges the reader on many different levels. He forces you to delve deeper into the benefits of creating a buying atmosphere and a trance-like desire on the part of your prospect. I found this an absolutelyfascinating book." -Joseph Sugarman, President, BluBlocker Corporation "Buying Trances is not your run-of-the-mill marketing book. It's an exceptionally well-written, well thought out, high-level work that gives the reader unique insights into how to capture a prospect's attention. Cutting-edge stuff that is a must for every serious marketer to absorb and implement." -Robert Ringer, author, To Be or Not to Be Intimidated?: That Is the Question "Vitale's understanding of how and why people think and act like they do is remarkable. Byunscrambling complex ideas and explaining them in simple language, he reveals how to fashion messages that will turn people into compulsive buyers of our products and services. Now we can take control and create the buying trance. It's a totally refreshing and very effective approach to hugely profitable sales and marketing!" -Winston Marsh, veteran Australian marketer

Business Model Generation


Alexander Osterwalder - 2010
    You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a new business model or analyze and renovate an old one.2) Co-created by 470 strategy practitionersBusiness Model Generation practices what it preaches. Co-authored by 470 Business Model Canvas practitioners from 45 countries, the book was financed and produced independently of the traditional publishing industry. It features a tightly-integrated, visual, lie-flat design that enables immediate hands-on use.3) Designed for doersBusiness Model Generation is for those ready to abandon outmoded thinking and embrace new, innovative models of value creation: executives, consultants, entrepreneurs and leaders of all organizations.

A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community


Jamey Stegmaier - 2015
    In this book he goes beyond the nuts and bolts of how it works to a deeper level—crowdfunding not just as a cool way to raise money but as a better way to build and run a business.This book features over forty illustrative examples of crowdfunding campaigns. Some succeeded wildly—like the high-tech cooler designer whose first attempt faltered but whose second raised $13 million. Some were sobering disasters, like the board game maker (not the author!) whose mistakes caused his project to collapse in two months, forcing him to return over $100,000. Stegmaier uses these stories to make points about topics such as preparation, timing, what kind of offers to make and what kind to avoid, what to spend money on and when, and more.But he insists it’s not just about the money—if you follow Stegmaier’s advice, crowdfunding can enable you to build a loyal following before you even have a product. He shows that if you treat your backers as people, not pocketbooks—communicate regularly with them, ask their opinions, attend to their needs—they’ll become advocates as well as funders, exponentially increasing your and your projects’ chances of succeeding.

Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It


April Dunford - 2019
    Successfully connecting your product with consumers isn’t a matter of following trends, comparing yourself to the competition or trying to attract the widest customer base.So what is it? April Dunford, positioning guru and tech exec, will enlighten you.Her new book, Obviously Awesome, shows you how to find your product’s “secret sauce”—and then sell that sauce to those who crave it. Having spent years as a startup executive (with 16 product launches under her belt) and a consultant (who’s worked on dozens more), Dunford speaks with authority about breaking through the noise of a crowded market.Punctuated with witty anecdotes and compelling case studies, Dunford’s book is at once entertaining and illuminating. Among the invaluable lessons you’ll learn are:- The Five Components of Effective Positioning- How to instantly connect an audience to your offering’s value- How to choose the best market for your products- How to use three distinct styles of positioning to your advantage- How to leverage market trends to help buyers understand why making a purchase is important right nowWhether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer or salesperson struggling to bring inventive products to market, Dunford’s insights will help you find your awesome, so that your customers can too.

Pricing Strategies: Maximize your bottom line for long-term financial health (Successful Indie Author Book 5)


Craig Martelle - 2019
    Pricing Strategies is about making the most from your work by understanding what your genre will support. It’s not hard, but you have to have a plan. Over the course of a year, you might change your book’s price five or ten times. That’s perfectly fine, when done for the right reasons as part of an overall marketing strategy. What is one reader worth to you as an entry point into your author world? What is that reader worth if they stay on board?Pricing Strategies explains why and how you would vary price points, whether you are exclusive to Amazon or distribute on multiple platforms. Book pricing is about getting the most money from your book or box set, not just one time but for the long term. It is how you can be a successful indie author. Without buyers for your books, self-publishing is just a hobby. Look at your words as your profession and earn your just desserts by pricing your books appropriately and intentionally to improve your bottom line.That’s what Pricing Strategies is all about. Understand the why and let the money flow. Pricing Strategies. The book you need.

Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer


Susan Britton Whitcomb - 1998
    Explains all the ?nuts and bolts? of r?sum? creation and illustrates professional techniques with actual examples that show why the techniques work.

The Story Engine: An entrepreneur's guide to content strategy and brand storytelling without spending all day writing


Kyle Gray - 2017
    Your story is the most powerful asset you have at your disposal. It can cut through the noise and connect you with your customers. Content marketing is one of the most affordable and powerful digital marketing tools available to tell your story at scale. Maybe you’ve considered content marketing to tell your story, but instead of opportunity, you see setbacks. Creating content takes a lot of time and energy. How is it that some entrepreneurs can produce tons of content, run a business, and still have time to relax with their kids at the end of the day? The Story Engine provides you with a clear, concise, and actionable strategy to reap the benefits of inbound marketing. Inside you’ll learn: • How to set yourself up for content marketing success early, and how to avoid common pitfalls • Content strategy for both B2B and B2C businesses • How to use content as an influencer marketing and relationship building tool • Simple metrics to understand how your content is performing • How to use brand storytelling and transparency to drive growth for your business • Simple guides to use SEO, email automation, and paid traffic to support your content strategy and convert visitors into customers • How to automate and delegate time-consuming parts of creation, and still feel secure knowing that your content fits your unique brand. All without breaking your budget. This book also includes easy-to-use content marketing templates to help you take action right away and to get the results you want. Available free at thestoryengine.co/resources.

Launch Your Dream: A 30-Day Plan for Turning Your Passion Into Your Profession


Dale Partridge - 2017
    In Launch Your Dream, Partridge distills the essence of that course into a hyper-practical, 30-day journey for readers looking to follow their passions and realize their dreams. In clear, easily grasped steps, he teaches readers how to hone their ideas, build an audience, construct an online presence, launch a business, master social media, craft a beautiful brand, and create experiences that keep customers from ever considering competitors. Sharing time-saving "smartcuts" to make readers more efficient, Partridge also helps them identify and resolve business-killing blind spots.For anyone looking simply to make money on the side or seeking to become a millionaire, for the CEO or the stay-at-home mom, for the would-be entrepreneur or the freelancer, Launch Your Dream provides the steps necessary to begin living your dream in just 30 days.

Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall-Of-Fame Career in Advertising


Phil Dusenberry - 2005
    A good idea can inspire one commercial. But a good insight can fuel a thousand ideas, a thousand commercials. An insight gives you an entirely new way of thinking about your business. Consider just a few of the breakthrough insights that Dusenberry's agency, BBDO, has offered their clients over the years: That General Electric's unifying tagline should be ?We bring good things to life.? That Pepsi should be targeting the ?Pepsi Generation.? That Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection theme should be ?Morning in America.? That Visa should compare itself with American Express, not MasterCard. Talk about moving the needle!Dusenberry argues that these brainstorms don?t come out of thin air, even at a world class organization like BBDO. They are actually the result of a rigorous and disciplined process of insight generation, one that any manager in any type of business can adopt. Dusenberry explains this process?Research, Analysis, Insight, Strategy, and Execution (RAISE)?in plain English. And he offers examples of some of the greatest business insights of our time, from the birth of Federal Express to the positioning of HBO."Moving the Needle" will help businesspeople get to the heart of their toughest problems.

Make Money from Non-Fiction Kindle Books: How to Maximize Your Royalties, Get Paid to Capture Leads and Rapidly Build a Successful "Backend" Business


John Tighe - 2015
    This is not a book about how to write or market Kindle books...This is a book about how to make money from non-fiction Kindle books.That distinction is critical. Before you even think about what to write or how to market your books you need to be crystal clear on how you plan to make money from them. Most people don’t bother and they leave a huge amount of money on the table as a result!They could be losing anywhere from thousands of dollars a year to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands…It depends on the number of Kindle books they have and the nature of their Kindle business and the crazy thing is they don’t even know it!I don’t want you to make that make that mistake. I don’t want you to leave thousands of dollars on the table month after month because you didn’t know how to tap into the multiple income streams that are possible through Kindle books.I don’t want you to be out of pocket to the tune of thousands of dollars because you weren’t aware of how simple pricing strategies can triple your royalties or double your leads overnight.This book will help you think through how you will make money from your non-fiction Kindle books so that you can maximize your income from each one.If you get this right then you have the chance to achieve something that’s both very rare and very special. You have the chance to build powerful income streams and start living life on your terms.

The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative


Stephen Denning - 2005
    Now, in this hands-on guide, Denning explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time. Whoever you are in the organization CEO, middle management, or someone on the front lines you can lead by using stories to effect change. Filled with myriad examples, A Leader's Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few available ways to handle the principal and most difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future. The right kind of story at the right time, can make an organization "stunningly vulnerable" to a new idea.

Junior: Writing Your Way Ahead In Advertising


Thomas Kemeny - 2019
    Thomas Kemeny made a career at some of the best ad agencies in America. In this book he shows how he got in, how he's stayed in, and how you can do it too. He breaks apart how to write fun, smart, and effective copy-everything from headlines to scripts to experiential activations-giving readers a lesson on a language we all thought we already knew.This book is not a retrospective from some ad legend. It's a book that should be instantly useful for people starting out. A guide for the first few years at a place you'd actually want to work.Traditionally, advertising books have been written by people with established careers, big offices and letters like VP in their titles. They have stories from the old days when people could start in the mailroom. They are talented. That's been done. Who wants another book filled with seasoned wisdom? This is a book written by somebody still getting his bearings. Someone who has made an extraordinary number of errors in a still short career. Someone who has managed to hang onto his job despite these shortcomings.

Quantum Success: 7 Essential Laws for a Thriving, Joyful, and Prosperous Relationship with Work and Money


Christy Whitman - 2018
    Through her accessible, empowering writing, Christy Whitman shares the fundamental principles that she’s discovered after more than twenty years of studying universal forces—such as polarity, alignment, resonance, momentum, and magnetism—and explains how to harness these forces to optimize your wealth and career. Exemplified by numerous case studies, Christy’s ten-step plan teaches you how to establish inner relationships with future clients, associates, and employees, work with light and energy to magnetize opportunities and resources, build a culture of value and appreciation that brings out the very best in those around you, and operate at your highest capacity. By mastering this process, you will enable yourself to achieve unimaginable success in your career, however you define it.

Made in Britain


Evan Davis - 2011
    Like Andrew Marr's HISTORY OF MODERN BRITAIN or Michael Palin's HIMALAYA, the book will have a coherence and life beyond the television series, mirroring its basic structure, but looking at some issues in greater depth, and telling additional stories to illustrate some of the ideas.This book is about the things that Britain produces in order to pay its way in the world, from physical goods that we can see and feel, to intangible services that are much harder to quantify. We don't have to be prejudiced in favour of certain types of value: we shouldn't assume finance is modern, and manufacturing out of date for example. What matters is what sells and for how much. From manufacturing to technology, design and the services industries, this book will provide a cutting edge analysis - via entertaining stories - about what we make and why it matters.