Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business


Meg Mateo Ilasco - 2010
    did for crafters, this book will teach all types of creatives illustrators, photographers, graphic designers, animators, and more how to build a successful business doing what they love. Freelancing pros Meg Mateo Ilasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho explain everything from creating a standout portfolio to navigating the legal issues of starting a business. Accessible, spunky, and packed with practical advice, Creative, Inc. is an essential for anyone ready to strike out on their own.

Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy


Dev Patnaik - 2008
    When people inside a company develop a shared sense of what's going on in the world, they see new opportunities faster than their competitors. They have the courage to take a risk on something new. And they have the gut-level certitude to stick with an idea that doesn't take off right away. People are Wired to Care, and many of the world's best organizations are, too. In pursuit of this idea, Patnaik takes readers inside big companies like IBM, Target, and Intel to see widespread empathy in action. But he also goes to farmers' markets and a conference on world religions. He dives deep into the catacombs of the human brain to find the biological sources of empathy. And he spends time on both sides of the political aisle, with James Carville, the Ragin' Cajun, and John McCain, a national hero, to show how empathy can give you the acuity to cut through a morass of contradictory information. Wired to Care is a compelling tale of the power that people have to see the world through each other's eyes, told with passion for the possibilities that lie ahead if leaders learn to stop worrying about their own problems and start caring about the world around them. As Patnaik notes, in addition to its considerable economic benefits, increasing empathy for the people you serve can have a personal impact, as well: It just might help you to have a better day at work.

How to Wash a Chicken: Mastering the Business Presentation


Tim Calkins - 2018
    Author Tim Calkins understands the power of a compelling presentation and the difficulty in accomplishing one. The brand strategist, professor and author has been giving presentations since he was eight, when he delivered his first official presentation with an uncooperative chicken at a 4-H competition. From business updates to project recommendations to marketing plans, Calkins has given more than five thousand presentations to date. With concrete suggestions, helpful tricks, and step-by-step guidance that’s applicable to all industries, Calkins sets out to propel his readers to create and deliver effective business presentations and pitches. When all lessons from How to Wash a Chicken are applied, readers will be empowered throughout the preparation and presentation process. They will be able to present with more confidence and conviction than they ever had before, setting them on a path of professional growth.

KNOWN: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age


Mark W. Schaefer - 2017
    Those who are known get the customers, the better jobs, and the invitations to exclusive opportunities. But can anybody become known? In this path-finding book, author Mark Schaefer provides a step-by-step plan followed by the most successful people in diverse careers like banking, education, real estate, construction, fashion, and more. With amazing case studies, dozens of exercises, and inspiring stories, KNOWN is the first book its kind, providing a path to personal business success in the digital age.

The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change


Jennifer Aaker - 2010
    But no book addresses how to harness the incredible power of social media to make a difference. "The Dragonfly Effect" shows you how to tap social media and consumer psychological insights to achieve a single, concrete goal. Named for the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert, this bookReveals the four "wings" of the Dragonfly Effect-and how they work together to produce colossal resultsFeatures original case studies of global organizations like the Gap, Starbucks, Kiva, Nike, eBay, Facebook; and start-ups like Groupon and COOKPAD, showing how they achieve social good and customer loyaltyLeverage the power of design thinking and psychological research with practical strategiesReveals how everyday people achieve unprecedented results-whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, raising millions for cancer research, or electing the current president of the United States"The Dragonfly Effect" shows that you don't need money or power to inspire seismic change.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd


Allan Dib - 2016
    Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn't get done. In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Allan Dib reveals a marketing implementation breakthrough that makes creating a marketing plan simple and fast. It's literally a single page, divided up into nine squares. With it you'll be able to map out your own sophisticated marketing plan and go from zero to marketing hero. Whether you're just starting out or are an experienced entrepreneur, The 1-Page Marketing Plan is the easiest and fastest way to create a marketing plan that will propel your business growth. In this groundbreaking new book you'll discover: • How to get new customers, clients, or patients and how make more profit from existing ones. • Why “big business” style marketing could kill your business and strategies that actually work for small and medium-sized businesses. • How to close sales without being pushy, needy, or obnoxious while turning the tables and having prospects begging you to take their money. • A simple step-by-step process for creating your own personalized marketing plan that is literally one page. Simply follow along and fill in each of the nine squares that make up your own 1-Page Marketing Plan. • How to annihilate competitors and make yourself the only logical choice. • How to get amazing results on a small budget using the secrets of direct response marketing. • How to charge high prices for your products and services and have customers actually thank you for it.

The 360 Degree Leader Workbook: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization


John C. Maxwell - 2006
    You don't have to be the main leader, asserts Maxwell, to make significant impact in your organization. Good leaders are not only capable of leading their followers but are also adept at leading their superiors and their peers.Debunking myths and shedding light on the challenges, John Maxwell offers specific principles for Leading Down, Leading Up, and Leading Across. 360-Degree Leaders can lead effectively, regardless of their position in an organization. By applying Maxwell's principles, you will expand your influence and ultimately be a more valuable team member.

The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too)


Gretchen Rubin - 2017
     During her multibook investigation into understanding human nature, Gretchen Rubin realized that by asking the seemingly dry question "How do I respond to expectations?" we gain explosive self-knowledge. She discovered that based on their answer, people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so using this framework allows us to make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively. More than 600,000 people have taken her online quiz, and managers, doctors, teachers, spouses, and parents already use the framework to help people make significant, lasting change. The Four Tendencies hold practical answers if you've ever thought...· People can rely on me, but I can't rely on myself.· How can I help someone to follow good advice?· People say I ask too many questions.· How do I work with someone who refuses to do what I ask or who keeps telling me what to do?With sharp insight, compelling research, and hilarious examples, The Four Tendencies will help you get happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. It's far easier to succeed when you know what works for you.

F#ck Content Marketing: Focus on Content Experience to Drive Demand, Revenue & Relationships


Randy Frisch - 2019
    Truly effective companies (and marketers) create content experiences, drawing the customer into an immersive infinite scroll that mirrors the consumer experience of Netflix, Spotify, and other billion-dollar brands.Randy Frisch will push you to rethink how you approach content for complex buyer journeys. The current mindset is all about volume-the more content created, the better. But the reality is that almost 70 percent of content created within an organization is never used, and there's little point investing in content marketing if you're not leveraging the assets you create.In this book, Frisch unpacks the Content Experience Framework, arming your organization to deliver personalized experiences that leverage your content to engage your audiences at scale-as well as identify and ramp up the key players in your organization who need to own this process.

Baked In: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves


Alex Bogusky - 2009
    The new way is to create truly innovative products and build the marketing right in. But how does a brand make the transition from old to new? According to advertising gurus Alex Bogusky and John Winsor, it starts with the realization that the message is not the product, the product is the message. In Baked-In, they offer a step-by-step guide on how brands can adapt and thrive in this brave new world. Using these tools, Bogusky and Winsor have successfully marketed some of today's most important brands, including Google, Nike, Microsoft, Patagonia, Toyota, and Burger King. They reveal how, through tools at hand -- product design, brand history, internal collaboration -- and the new tools of digital technology -- YouTube and the web in general -- companies can succeed in the 21st-century marketplace.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue


Shama Kabani - 2010
    People are already talking about your business using social media, whether you’re using it or not. By becoming part of the conversation, you can start connecting directly to your customers, as well as finding new ones, easily and inexpensively spreading the word about your products or services.But social media marketing isn’t like traditional marketing-and treating it that way only leads to frustration. Let Shama Hyder Kabani, president of Web marketing firm Marketing Zen and social media expert, teach you the “zen” of social media marketing: how to access all the benefits of social media marketing without the stress!With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan, The Zen of Social Media Marketing outlines the most popular social media tools, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, and teaches you how to use them, step by step. She provides proven strategies for success from the businesses she works with every day, along with shortcuts and tips to help you make the most of your time and energy.The Zen of Social Media Marketing is also the last social media guide you’ll ever need: with the physical book you also get access to the exclusive online edition, which includes regular updates and video extras to make sure you’re always on top of the latest in social media.From Library Journal:“Highly recommended for anybody with anything to market online—including him- or herself.”

Content Strategy for the Web


Kristina Halvorson - 2009
    Redesigning your home page won't help. Investing in a new content management system won't fix it, either. So, where do you start? Without meaningful content, your website isn't worth much to your key audiences. But creating (and caring for) "meaningful" content is far more complicated than we're often willing to acknowledge. Content Strategy for the Web explains how to create and deliver useful, usable content for your online audiences, when and where they need it most. It also shares content best practices so you can get your next website redesign right, on time and on budget. For the first time, you'll: See content strategy (and its business value) explained in plain languageFind out why so many web projects implode in the content development phase ... and how to avoid the associated, unnecessary costs and delaysLearn how to audit and analyze your contentMake smarter, achievable decisions about which content to create and howFind out how to maintain consistent, accurate, compelling content over timeGet solid, practical advice on staffing for content-related roles and responsibilities "

Business Chemistry: Practical Magic for Crafting Powerful Work Relationships


Kim Christfort - 2018
    Based on extensive research and analytics, plus years of proven success in the field, the Business Chemistry framework provides a simple yet powerful way to identify meaningful differences between people’s working styles. Who seeks possibilities and who seeks stability? Who values challenge and who values connection? Business Chemistry will help you grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to excel. It offers practical ways to be more effective as an individual and as a leader. Imagine you had a more in-depth understanding of yourself and why you thrive in some work environments and flounder in others. Suppose you had a clearer view on what to do about it so that you could always perform at your best. Imagine you had more insight into what makes people tick and what ticks them off, how some interactions unlock potential while others shut people down. Suppose you could gain people’s trust, influence them, motivate them, and get the very most out of your work relationships. Imagine you knew how to create a work environment where all types of people excel, even if they have conflicting perspectives, preferences and needs. Suppose you could activate the potential benefits of diversity on your teams and in your organizations, improving collaboration to achieve the group’s collective potential. Business Chemistry offers all of this--you don’t have to leave it up to chance, and you shouldn’t. Let this book guide you in creating great chemistry!

Scientific Advertising


Claude C. Hopkins - 1923
    The author of Scientific Advertising, Claude C. Hopkins, is well known as the father of modern advertising techniques, and this book has been widely used by students of advertising and marketing. This book covers many important aspects of advertising including how advertising laws are established, mail order advertising, headlines, psychology, strategy, budgeting, and more advanced subjects like negative advertising and how to test an advertising campaign.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It


Michael E. Gerber - 1985
    500 CEOs.An instant classic, this revised and updated edition of the phenomenal bestseller dispels the myths about starting your own business. Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get in the way of running a successful business.Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a business—from entrepreneurial infancy through adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective: the guiding light of all businesses that succeed—and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Most importantly, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business.The E-Myth Revisited will help you grow your business in a productive, assured way.