1000 True Fans: Use Kevin Kelly's Simple Idea to Earn A Living Doing What You Love


Jongo Longhurst - 2017
    If you could get 1000 True Fans to support you by buying $100 worth of what you create every year, you would earn an income of $100,000 a year. That sounds a bit like a get-rich-quick scheme. 1000 True Fans is not that. It's a get-a-good-income-slowly income model. It requires hard work, but once you’ve built up 1000 True Fans, you are free forever to live as an independent creator earning good money making what you love. Thousands of people are already using this income model that is recommended by Kevin Kelly, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin and Ramit Sethi. Kevin Kelly invented the term 1000 True Fans in a 2008 blog post. This book shows you how you follow a 1000 True Fans income model. It's ideal for anyone who can create a product or service. If you create music, art, writing, information, knowledge, apps, products you've designed, training courses, or anything else you can think of, you can use this business model to live independently. The books is quick and easy to read, written like a letter from a friend who wants to help you. This book starts you on your journey towards getting 1000 True Fans.

HYPERGROWTH: How the Customer-Driven Model Is Revolutionizing the Way Businesses Build Products, Teams, & Brands


David Cancel - 2017
    The key to achieving HYPERGROWTH is being customer-driven. So if you’re ready to start putting your customers first, keep reading... What You’ll Learn: A New Approach to Product Management and Developing SaaS Products People Love Today, there’s no excuse for not communicating with customers on a daily basis. Messaging has exploded, new generations are focused on 1:1 communication by default, and artificial intelligence is finally coming so we can deliver 1:1 at scale. So why would you build a product, or a company, without leaning into the advantages of that ecosystem? In his new book, HYPERGROWTH, serial entrepreneur and Drift co-founder/CEO David Cancel shares a modern approach for building products and structuring teams that makes customer communication a central priority. The book tells the story of how Cancel’s customer-driven approach started out as a test with a product team (Performable), transformed an entire organization (HubSpot), and sparked a new movement (Drift). What’s Inside: Practical Advice and Frameworks for Becoming Customer-Driven and Growing Your Business Responsive Development (RD): a new approach to building products that adds the customer back into the equation The Burndown Framework: a framework for implementing Responsive Development that’s faster and more flexible than Agile. The Three-Person Team: the customer-driven way to structure engineering teams. Each team consists of a tech lead who manages two other engineers. Getting Rid of Roadmaps: through building a culture of transparency and accountability and working closely with internal customers, you can release product updates more rapidly and iteratively. The Spotlight Framework: a framework for helping you focus on the right parts of customer feedback so you can take the appropriate next steps. The framework breaks feedback down into three main categories: user experience issues, product marketing issues, and positioning issues. Who This Book Is For: Entrepreneurs, Startup Founders, Product Managers, Product Teams, Marketing Teams … Entire Companies! Every part of your business can benefit from being customer-driven. With the rise of SaaS and the on-demand economy, customer expectations have changed. Customers expect their voices to be heard. They find value in being part of a community, and being part of that journey of creating the product. So stop running your business like we’re still living in the 2000s. It’s time to take a customer-driven approach. Here’s what people are saying about the book: “David Cancel is one of the best when it comes to building products that customers love. And now he’s sharing his wisdom and writing the book explaining how he does it. This is a must read for any entrepreneur or business owner.” -MARK ROBERGE Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School, Former SVP of Sale and Services at HubSpot ”When it comes to building business software, there’s no one better than David Cancel, and I saw fi

The Five Thieves of Happiness


John B. Izzo - 2017
    But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as thieves: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in.

Brand Strategy 101: Your Logo Is Irrelevant - The 3 Step Process to Build a Kick-Ass Brand


Michael R. Drew - 2013
    No really, it is. Let me explain.It turns out that drooling dogs and ringing bells are far more important than a logo (thank you Pavlov).Sure, successful businesses have logos--easily recognizable logos. Playboy, McDonald's, Coke. But there's far more to their success than bunny ears, golden arches or a certain shade of red. Stripped of all the marketing lingo, branding is pretty simple: Your brand is all the associations that come to mind when your potential customers see or hear your name.Whether your focus is on personal branding or on branding your company culture--you've got to have more than a fancy logo and edgy color scheme to create brand stickability (you know, a brand your customers can't get out of their heads).Well, there’s a process to capturing attention and getting your foot in the door of your customers’ minds. Here's a taste of some of the personal branding advice you'll find in this book:You must become the first solution your customer thinks of when they have a problem you can solve. How?The first step is to figure out what your audience cares about. What keeps them up at night? What problems can you help them solve? From there, you need to apply these three steps:1) Frequency2) Repetition3) AnchoringIn this e-book, we’ll show you how to figure out what your customers really want. Then we will show you how to apply these three steps to help you become the trusted resource that comes to mind first when your customer’s itch needs to be scratched.Is real and authentic branding going to happen overnight? Probably not. But ask yourself this: Do you want short-term results that lose effectiveness? Or are you willing to invest a bit more time and effort to create long-term results that get better and better?If you're looking for a branding book that promises a quick fix, this isn't the book for you. But if you want to create a brand that sticks like superglue--read this book!Go ahead and let the wimps and whiners have the get-rich quick schemes that fizzle and fall flat like a wet firework. You want to ignite a branding bonfire.

No, No, No, No, No, Yes. Insights From a Creative Journey: Motivation & Self-Improvement (Creative & Innovation series Book 1)


Gideon Amichay - 2014
     But rather an essential tool for direction, motivation and innovation. No, No, No, No, No, Yes is the perfect inspirational Christmas gift for that someone in your life embarking on a great new challenge. Whether they just graduated from college, are changing careers, have set out to achieve something in the arts or the business realm, or just aspire to do something seemingly impossible, No, No, No, No, No, Yes will help them see that the “no’s” they will confront are simply directions on the map to “yes”. No. It is a word that every CEO, entrepreneur and creative professional has confronted. It is a word that both novices and seasoned professionals dread. It is a word that can easily seem like death to a dream. And yet it is also a word that can point in the right direction. It is a word that motivates us to do something differently, try something else, get better, innovate, keep going. No is a word that looms over every business person's, innovator's, and artist's life. And yet the word is universally met with trepidation and fear because the value of being told No is so little understood. ˃˃˃ No is a facilitator In No, No, No, No, No, Yes. Insights From A Creative Journey, award winning creator of visionary ad campaigns (Cannes Lions, Clios); ad exec (the Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R agency); cartoonist (The New Yorker); speaker (TEDx); and teacher (School of Visual Arts) Gideon Amichay demonstrates that No is not a barrier to success it s a facilitator. No is not the end, but rather an essential tool for direction, motivation and innovation. Based on Amichay s best-selling book in Israel (published by Gordon Books in 2011) and 2013 TEDx talk of the same name, No, No, No, No, No, Yes takes the reader on an illustrated journey of the author's own lifetime confrontation, negotiation and relationship with No . Walking the reader through critical No s in his own 25 year career pitching cartoons to the New Yorker, risky ad campaign concepts as head of one of Israel s biggest ad agencies, impossible outdoor ad installations -- Amichay reveals the wisdom that No rarely ends with an exclamation point. ˃˃˃ No ends with a comma Rather, Amichay demonstrates that No usually ends with a comma: No comma, we don't have the time. No comma, we don't have the budget. No comma, can we see another option? By discovering which No comma he was confronting, Amichay shows how No s in fact led him to eventual Yes s -- including the waiting, the rejections, and the revisions and demonstrates that No, forces us to reexamine, to explore, to rethink, to change directions, to get better. ˃˃˃ No can be the best answer to get In No, No, No, No, No, Yes Amichay shares the essential revelation that sometimes No can be the best answer to get. Through illuminating anecdotes from his own illustrious career running the gamut between business and the arts, Gideon Amichay demonstrates unequivocally that No's, whether from colleagues, from clients, from life, or from within have great power, and are simply directions on the map to Yes. Authoritative, funny, whimsical, wise, and pragmatic, No, No, No, No, No, Yes. Insights From A Creative Journey. is the essential companion for every executive, innovator and artist to navigate the unavoidable odyssey of No in order to find the eventual Yes. Scroll up and grab a copy today.

Strategy That Works: How Winning Companies Close the Strategy-to-Execution Gap


Paul Leinwand - 2016
    In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors. Based on new research, the authors reveal five practices for connecting strategy and execution used by highly successful enterprises such as IKEA, Natura, Danaher, Haier, and Lego. These companies:• Commit to what they do best instead of chasing multiple opportunities• Build their own unique winning capabilities instead of copying others• Put their culture to work instead of struggling to change it• Invest where it matters instead of going lean across the board• Shape the future instead of reacting to itPacked with tools you can use for building these five practices into your organization and supported by in-depth profiles of companies that are known for making their strategy work, this is your guide for reconnecting strategy to execution.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy (including featured article “What Is Strategy?” by Michael E. Porter)


Michael E. PorterRobert S. Kaplan - 2010
    Porter). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you catalyze your organization's strategy development and execution.HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy will inspire you to:• Distinguish your company from rivals• Clarify what your company will and won't do• Craft a vision for an uncertain future• Create blue oceans of uncontested market space• Use the Balanced Scorecard to measure your strategy• Capture your strategy in a memorable phrase• Make priorities explicit• Allocate resources early• Clarify decision rights for faster decision making"This collection of best-selling articles includes: featured article "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter, "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," "Building Your Company's Vision," "Reinventing Your Business Model," "Blue Ocean Strategy," "The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution," "Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System," "Transforming Corner-Office Strategy into Frontline Action," "Turning Great Strategy into Great Performance," and "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance."

Exactly How to Sell: The Sales Guide for Non-Sales Professionals


Phil M. Jones - 2018
    No matter what you are selling (yourself, your product or your services) this simple read is certain to provide you actionable strategies to deliver you more of the sales results you are looking for.  Inside, Phil M. Jones writes from experience and explains how to get more customers and keep them all happy—while they’re spending more money, more often. Using simple, practical, and easy-to-implement methods in line with the modern business landscape, Phil educates and guides you, giving you the confidence you need to develop the skills you need to win more business. Boost your salesmanship to support your core profession Create intent in a buyer and scenarios where everybody wins Choose your words wisely and present like a pro Overcome the indecision in your customers and close more sales Manage your customer base and have them coming back for more If you want to up your sales game, Exactly How to Sell shows you how.

Amazon Selling Secrets: How to Make an Extra $1K - $10K a Month Selling Your Own Products on Amazon


William U. Peña - 2014
     By mastering the Amazon Selling System in this book, you will be able to easily tap into the opportunities on Amazon, and create an additional $1K - $10K a month in passive income. This book will teach you the highly sought after secrets of how to identify highly popular products, and then transform them into your own special brand, which customers will pay a lot of money for. In this book you will learn How to: Identify Desirable Products People Want to Buy. Create a Unique Brand that People will Remember. Find High Quality Product Sources that will Support Your Thriving Amazon Business. Create High Converting Amazon Listings that will Emotionally Compel Customers to Buy Over and Over. Create the Most Profit Possible with the Least Amount of Expense. Test and Validate Your Product to Guarantee your Success. Effectively Manage Your Inventory and Fulfill Orders with Little Effort. Provide Outstanding Customer Satisfaction and Motivate Customers to Buy More. Get Abundant Reviews from Raving Fan Customers. Automate the Process so that You Can Sell Products While You Sleep. Expand Your Amazon Selling Business and Make 6 or 7 Figures a Year. By the time you finish this book, you will have all the tools, resources, and a simple, yet effective system to make an extra $1000 - $10,000 a month. So Get Your Copy Now and Start Making Money on Amazon Today!

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results


Gary Keller - 2013
    The One Thing explains the success habit to overcome the six lies that block our success, beat the seven thieves that steal time, and leverage the laws of purpose, priority, and productivity.

Jump-Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career: The Fast and Easy Way to Get Started!


Lisa Morgan Mills - 2012
    Lisa Mills, an experienced general transcriptionist and publisher of work-at-home site Work at Home Mom Revolution, shares everything you need to know to get started in this exciting career. This ebook also includes links to valuable resources, including a list of 60 general transcription companies that hire home-based transcriptionists (with links).

Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success


Sean Ellis - 2017
    It seems hard to believe today, but there was a time when Airbnb was the best-kept secret of travel hackers and couch surfers, Pinterest was a niche web site frequented only by bakers and crafters, LinkedIn was an exclusive network for C-suite executives and top-level recruiters, Facebook was MySpace's sorry step-brother, and Uber was a scrappy upstart that didn't stand a chance against the Goliath that was New York City Yellow Cabs.So how did these companies grow from these humble beginnings into the powerhouses they are today? Contrary to popular belief, they didn't explode to massive worldwide popularity simply by building a great product then crossing their fingers and hoping it would catch on. There was a studied, carefully implemented methodology behind these companies' extraordinary rise. That methodology is called Growth Hacking, and it's practitioners include not just today's hottest start-ups, but also companies like IBM, Walmart, and Microsoft as well as the millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, managers and executives who make up the community of GrowthHackers.com.Think of the Growth Hacking methodology as doing for market-share growth what Lean Start-Up did for product development, and Scrum did for productivity. It involves cross-functional teams and rapid-tempo testing and iteration that focuses customers attaining them, retaining them, engaging them, and motivating them to come back and buy more. An accessible and practical toolkit that teams and companies in all industries can use to increase their customer base and market share, this book walks readers through the process of creating and executing their own custom-made growth hacking strategy. It is a must read for any marketer, entrepreneur, innovator or manger looking to replace wasteful big bets and "spaghetti-on-the-wall" approaches with more consistent, replicable, cost-effective, and data-driven results.

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea


Marc Randolph - 2019
    Late fees were ubiquitous, video-streaming unheard was of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. Indeed, these were the widely accepted laws of the land in 1997, when Marc Randolph had an idea. It was a simple thought—leveraging the internet to rent movies—and was just one of many more and far worse proposals, like personalized baseball bats and a shampoo delivery service, that Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings, on their commute to work each morning.But Hastings was intrigued, and the pair—with Hastings as the primary investor and Randolph as the CEO—founded a company. Now with over 150 million subscribers, Netflix's triumph feels inevitable, but the twenty first century's most disruptive start up began with few believers and calamity at every turn. From having to pitch his own mother on being an early investor, to the motel conference room that served as a first office, to server crashes on launch day, to the now-infamous meeting when Netflix brass pitched Blockbuster to acquire them, Marc Randolph's transformational journey exemplifies how anyone with grit, gut instincts, and determination can change the world—even with an idea that many think will never work.What emerges, though, isn't just the inside story of one of the world's most iconic companies. Full of counter-intuitive concepts and written in binge-worthy prose, it answers some of our most fundamental questions about taking that leap of faith in business or in life: How do you begin? How do you weather disappointment and failure? How do you deal with success? What even is success?From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.

Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Web Application


37 Signals - 2006
    At under 200 pages it's quick reading too. Makes a great airplane book.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World


Adam M. Grant - 2016
    How can we originate new ideas, policies, and practices without risking it all?   Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt; how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children; and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent. Learn from an entrepreneur who pitches his start-ups by highlighting the reasons not to invest, a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, an analyst who overturned the rule of secrecy at the CIA, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him, and a TV executive who didn’t even work in comedy but saved Seinfeld from the cutting-room floor. The payoff is a set of groundbreaking insights about rejecting conformity and improving the status quo.