Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen


Donald Miller - 2017
    This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching readers the seven universal story points all humans respond to; the real reason customers make purchases; how to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and how to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media. Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

Successful Manager's Handbook


Susan H. Gebelein - 1992
    As a long time manager who dealt with organizational issues, growth, personnel matters, finance, and political influences, and one who teaches undergraduate and graduate school courses in management and leadership, I have experienced most of these issues. The author has done a remarkable job in the detail and accuracy of the work. The work is clear and understandable and organized in such as way as to allow easy access to information. To find such a compendium of information in one book instead of many is an additional benefit. Content is also ratified by the collective skills sets the authors bring.I highly recommend this book as a desk reference for anyone in a leadership or management role, and highly recommend it for anyone aspiring to the job. The comprehensive nature of the material in the book provides the foundation for new managers. In addition, the reference material leads readers to many other sources, reducing the need for Internet surfing trying to find information, or visiting the local library. As a graduate school faculty member I would also state for the record that this would be a great textbook. The book is written by practitioners who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. This book is a must read. Well done to all the authors - you have provided a book any manager, supervisor, or teacher should have.

Marketing in the Groundswell


Charlene Li - 2009
    The book includes three core chapters from the original bestseller that focus on market research, marketing, and spreading word-of-mouth among your best customers. Sure, you already know that customers are writing about your products on blogs or talking about your brand on Twitter and Facebook. Now, turn that interest into opportunity and profit. In these economic times, marketers like you are increasing their investment in social technologies, while cutting back on more traditional expenses. Why? Because they work—no matter the economic climate. Marketing in the Groundswell shows you how you can build social applications, measure their results, and use the social technology movement to your company's advantage.

Chief Culture Officer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation


Grant McCracken - 2009
    They didn't realize that those kids in baggy jeans represented a whole new--and lucrative--market opportunity, one they could have seen coming if they had but been paying attention to the shape of American culture. Levi Strauss isn't alone. Too many corporations outsource their understanding of culture to trend hunters, cool watchers, marketing experts, consulting firms, and, sometimes, teenage interns. The cost to Levi-Strauss was a billion dollars. The cost to the rest of corporate America is immeasurable. The lesson? The American corporation needs a new professional. It needs a Chief Culture Officer. Grant McCracken, an anthropologist who now trains some of the world's biggest companies and consulting firms, argues that the CCO would keep a finger on the pulse of contemporary cultural trends--from sneakers to slow food to preppies--while developing a systematic understanding of the deep waves of culture in America and the world. The CCO's professionalism would allow the corporation to see coming changes, even when they only exist as the weakest of signals. Delightfully authoritative, trenchantly on point, bursting with insight and character, Chief Culture Officer is sure to expand your horizons--and your business.

From Good to Great


Scott Brouwer - 2013
    Most believe that success is a long, up-hill battle that leaves little time for rest or relaxation. Well, I'm here to tell you the opposite. In fact, the difference between good and great often amounts to the simplest of strategies that, when adopted, will instantly improve your business as well as allow for long-term success. If you're ready to take your business from good to great, read on. You'll find all of the tips and tricks you need to grow your business in any economy. Together we'll cover specific marketing, sales, customer service, and business-building techniques that you can use to significantly increase your success with very little extra effort. As a result, you'll have a better business and a better life with time to do the things that you love.

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google


Scott Galloway - 2017
    Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that's been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway.Instead of buying the myths these compa-nies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions. How did the Four infiltrate our lives so completely that they're almost impossible to avoid (or boycott)? Why does the stock market forgive them for sins that would destroy other firms? And as they race to become the world's first trillion-dollar company, can anyone chal-lenge them?In the same irreverent style that has made him one of the world's most celebrated business professors, Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the Four that lurk beneath their shiny veneers. He shows how they manipulate the fundamental emotional needs that have driven us since our ancestors lived in caves, at a speed and scope others can't match. And he reveals how you can apply the lessons of their ascent to your own business or career.Whether you want to compete with them, do business with them, or simply live in the world they dominate, you need to understand the Four.

The Founder & The Force Multiplier: How Entrepreneurs and Executive Assistants Achieve More Together


Adam Hergenrother - 2019
    I wish I could go back in tie and give to myself 20 years ago. I would have been a ten times better CEO. I recommend it to every entrepreneur I talk to. This is an absolute MUST read." - Jeff Davis, Founder & Chairman, 12 Mavens Behind Every Successful Founder is a Powerful Force Multiplier. Today's Entrepreneurs and business owners are always on, often overworked, bordering on burnout, suffering from decision fatigue, and trying to juggle it all while keeping their health and home life thriving and their businesses growing. Today's Executive Assistants are business-savvy leaders and are not content to sit on the sidelines. They want in on the action. They want to know that what they are doing is a value-add to their Executive and to the business as a whole. Yet, too often, EAs are kept at a distance and left unfulfilled. Sound familiar? Entrepreneurs and Executive Assistants need each other to survive and thrive. Entrepreneurs need a Force Multiplier (aka Executive Assistant), a strategic partner who will bring order to the chaos and take on the miscellaneous 80 percent of their workload - and who will help them create the foundation that will allow them to build a life and business without limits. Executive Assistants need a Founder (aka an Entrepreneur), a visionary, a driven, growth-minded leader who will reignite their passion for their career, challenge them to think bigger, and allow them to use their project management and leadership skills, along with their business acumen, to help create the foundation that will allow them both to build a life and career without limits. If you are an Executive Assistant interested in learning how to build a dynamic and fulfilling career, or a leader looking to hire or establish a better relationship with your right hand, then this book is for you. The Founder and the Force Multiplier: How Entrepreneurs and Executive Assistants Achieve More Together explores the partnership between the Entrepreneur and the Executive Assistant. Listen to it together. Compare notes. Use it as a catalyst for engaging in fierce conversations. The power of the partnership only works when you are both committed to challenging each other and growing together every day. Founder Adam Hergenrother and his Chief of Staff, Hallie Warner, have worked side by side for over eight years. Adam brings the vision and Hallie follows through. They don't have it all figured out; they are far from perfect, and they've had their share of growing pains over the years.Throughout this book, they share what's worked for them, what they've learned along this journey, and some best practices that they recommend you implement immediately to get results. It is their hope that the lessons you learn here will help you find success and fulfillment in your business, your career, and your life as a whole. Without a doubt, together you will achieve more. Let's get started. "I have been at Amazon for 3.5 years, and I am proud to say that I have been hired as an A to an Executive here starting next Monday! This book has been so informative and helpful in preparing me for the role - I wish I had discovered it prior to my interview! Thankfully I landed the job, and I'm sure that I will continue to reference this book as I settle into my new role." - Kathleen Dawson, Executive Assistant, Amazon "If you are part of an executive/executive assistant relationship, this book will challenge you to consider the current value of that relationship and encourage you to raise the bar.

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably


Thomas T. Nagle - 1986
    For Pricing Strategy or Pricing and Product Policy courses in MBA and/or advanced undergraduate marketing courses The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing provides a comprehensive, practical, step-by-step guide to pricing analysis and strategy development.

Principles of Product Management: How to Land a PM Job and Launch Your Product Career


Peter Yang - 2019
    The book has three parts: Principles: Part one covers the leadership principles that PMs use to lead their team to overcome adversity. When your product fails to gain traction, when your team falls apart, or when your manager gives you tough feedback—these are all opportunities to learn principles that will help you succeed. Product development: Part two covers how PMs at Facebook, Amazon, and other top companies build products. We'll walk through the end-to-end product development process— from understanding the customer problem to identifying the right product to build to executing with your team to bring the product to market. Getting the job: Part three covers how you can land a PM job and reach the interview stage at the right company. We'll prep you for the three most common types of PM interviews— product sense, execution, and behavioral—with detailed frameworks and examples for each. Hear directly from product leaders at Airbnb, Amazon, Google, and more on: How to overcome challenging situations from a VP of Product at Amazon. How to build a great product roadmap from product leaders at LinkedIn and Airbnb. How Google, Airbnb, and other top companies evaluate PM candidates from leaders at those companies. How PMs can grow their career from a Director at Instagram and Twitter. Table of Contents1. PrinciplesTake OwnershipPrioritize and ExecuteStart with WhyFind the TruthBe Radically TransparentBe Honest with Yourself2. Product DevelopmentProduct Development LoopUnderstanding the Customer ProblemSelecting a Goal MetricMission, Vision, and StrategyBuilding a Product RoadmapDefining Product RequirementsGreat Project ManagementEffective CommunicationMaking Good Decisions3. Getting the JobPreparing for the TransitionMaking the TransitionFinding the Right CompanyAcing your PM InterviewsProduct Sense InterviewExecution InterviewBehavioral InterviewYour First 30 Days4. Product Leader Interviews

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59


Douglas Edwards - 2011
    No academic analysis or bystander’s account can capture it. Now Doug Edwards, Employee Number 59, offers the first inside view of Google, giving readers a chance to fully experience the bizarre mix of camaraderie and competition at this phenomenal company. Edwards, Google’s first director of marketing and brand management, describes it as it happened. We see the first, pioneering steps of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the company’s young, idiosyncratic partners; the evolution of the company’s famously nonhierarchical structure (where every employee finds a problem to tackle or a feature to create and works independently); the development of brand identity; the races to develop and implement each new feature; and the many ideas that never came to pass. Above all, Edwards—a former journalist who knows how to write—captures the “Google Experience,” the rollercoaster ride of being part of a company creating itself in a whole new universe. I’m Feeling Lucky captures for the first time the unique, self-invented, yet profoundly important culture of the world’s most transformative corporation.

Freelance to Freedom: The Roadmap for Creating a Side Business to Achieve Financial, Time and Life Freedom


Vincent Pugliese - 2017
    After winning the highest award in his field, Vincent was offered a 3 percent raise. He knew at that moment he needed a monumental change. One month away from their baby being born, Vincent and Elizabeth started a side photography business out of desperation. In less than four years, they grew their business to pay off all of their debt, including their home, and left their jobs for a life of freedom. With the world moving rapidly towards a freelance model, Freelance to Freedom is not only timely and necessary, but it’s also entertaining, engaging and paints a picture for anyone looking for a life of freedom with money, time and location.

The Infinite Game


Simon Sinek - 2019
    The winners and losers are easily identified.In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.The more I started to understand the difference between finite and infinite games, the more I began to see infinite games all around us. I started to see that many of the struggles that organizations face exist simply because their leaders were playing with a finite mindset in an infinite game. These organizations tend to lag behind in innovation, discretionary effort, morale and ultimately performance.The leaders who embrace an infinite mindset, in stark contrast, build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Their people trust each other and their leaders. They have the resilience to thrive in an ever-changing world, while their competitors fall by the wayside. Ultimately, they are the ones who lead the rest of us into the future.Any worthwhile undertaking starts with Why - the purpose, cause or belief that inspires us to do what we do and inspires others to join us. Good leaders know how to build Circles of Safety that promote trust and cooperation throughout their organizations. But that's not enough to help us chart a course through the unpredictable, often chaotic landscape of today's marketplace.I now believe that the ability to adopt an infinite mindset is a prerequisite for any leader who aspires to leave their organization in better shape than they found it.

Ladies Who Launch: Embracing Entrepreneurship & Creativity as a Lifestyle


Victoria Colligan - 2007
    All the tools you need to ignite a fire under a long smoldering dream, catapult a lifestyle, relationship, or career to a higher level are right here. Women tend to think of dreams as bigger than themselves, pies in the sky, morsels of imagination saved for a rainy day…in other words, out of reach. Well, guess what? Ladies Who Launch will reprogram how you think about your dreams so that they are as real as the coffee you drink each morning. They're real and they're all yours!  To be truly happy and inspired by the life you're living, you can take steps to wake up and launch your dreams right now. It is time to start believing that you can have what you really want.  With the help of Ladies Who Launch, you will."            --Victoria Colligan & Beth Schoenfeldt www.ladieswholaunch.com VICTORIA COLLIGAN and BETH SCHOENFELDT, co-founders of Ladies Who Launch, created their company as a blend of on-line social networking and offline support system.  The offline support system takes the form of Incubators - inventive, supportive, networking workshops that take place in more than 30 cities across the country.  They also act as a marketing, public relations, and distribution channel for the thousands of women who are members of Ladies Who Launch.  They have been featured in women's and business publications including Fortune, the LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Working Mother, and much more. AMY SWIFT has been a close and early collaborator with Ladies Who Launch as a brand communications strategist, writer and as the leader of the Los Angeles and Orange County Ladies Who Launch Incubators.

The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success


Darren Hardy - 2010
    No Hyperbole. No Magic Bullet. The Compound Effect is based on the principle that decisions shape your destiny. Little, everyday decisions will either take you to the life you desire or to disaster by default. Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine, presents The Compound Effect, a distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships, and beyond. This easy-to-use, step-by-step operating system allows you to multiply your success, chart your progress, and achieve any desire. If you’re serious about living an extraordinary life, use the power of The Compound Effect to create the success you want.

Contagious: Why Things Catch On


Jonah Berger - 2013
    People don't listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral? Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He's studied why New York Times articles make the paper's own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you've wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread - for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you're a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.