There are a gazillion great books out there and who has time to read them all? I read books for IDEAS! New ideas…ways to expand on ideas I already have…new ways to think about old ideas. Maybe I need a spark to fire up an idea that’s stuck in neutral?
I also like to read books by thinkers/authors that have:
BIG BRAINS!
Who all appear to have an endless supply of ideas and seem to actually have the time to think all the way around a particular idea or subject. I think I can do that with the best of ‘em but it’s a real treat when your favorite and admired BIG BRAIN takes the reins and makes your brain and heart race like it’s Christmas morning back when you were 5 years old. That alone is worth the price of most books for me.
Check out my Shelfari page for just a sampling…
I have hundreds of books in my library. HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS. I’ve read a very small percentage all the way through but there are bookmarks and highlighting in just about every one. It’s ideas I’m looking for. For me, for a client or just because my favorite snack in the whole wide world is a new, a great, a cool, a razor sharp, make a dent in the universe…I-D-E-A!
An idea that makes my heart race~~~~~~~~~
Each of the following book recommendations will require at least one and probably two highlighters and either a fresh pad of note paper or a digital recorder with many, many MBs of free space. On second thought, I’m also a big fan of digital recorders so save a tree or at least save the notepad for your next trip to the grocery store!
And yes, I’ll make $0.03425 if you decide to heed my recommendation and buy a book! Doing this more as a social experiment than a way to fund my retirement! That’s fair isn’t it?
So…read on and prosper!
The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything
How many people do you trust? Why do you trust them? Maybe, more importantly, why don’t you trust people? Who trusts you and why? More importantly, why DON’T people trust you?
On the first six pages of this book there are 64 heaps of praise from all sorts of people – most of whom you’ve probably heard of. What they have to say about this book WILL get your attention. It sounds corny but what Stephen M.R. Covey has to say about trust will change every aspect of your life forever. This might be the most POWERFUL $10.20 you can spend at Amazon.
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich – and Cheat Everybody Else
Buy some pampers or better yet – some Pampers stock before you read this book. And re-up your blood pressure medication while you’re at it.
Truth: The New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World
From inside the back flap: “A revolutionary book that redefines how we market, Truth will show you how to strengthen and build your business in a world filled with would-be-buyers who are more inclined to doubt than to purchase.”
Companies: Who’s your Chief Trust Officer? Do your customers trust you? How do you know? [Hint: I'll bet dollars to doughnuts you don't know...]
Customers: how many companies do you trust? How many brands do you trust? Where the level of trust is so high and so engrained that you have to tell everyone you know? [Hint: I'll bet more than dollars to doughnuts you can count them on one hand with fingers missing...]
Read this book and start playing the trust game. I know what they say about people who say “trust me” BUT…trust me on this. You snooze on trust and you WILL lose!
Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync?
If this book doesn’t make you think different about your marketing and all marketing – proceed to the nearest mirror and try to fog it! Already consumed a meatball sundae? Great…step up to the buffet for a second helping! You’ll be startled at what you missed the first time and refills are FREE!
Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life
From inside the front flap: “CHANGE OR DIE. What if you were given that choice? We’re talking actual life and death now. Your won life and death. What is a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think, feel and act? If you didn’t, your time would end soon — alot sooner than it had to. Could you change when changed mattered most?”
I read this and bought the book immediately. You should too.
Killer Brands: Create and Market a Brand That Will Annihilate the Competition
Repeat after me: Focus ~ Alignment ~ Linkage. Focus ~ Alignment ~ Linkage. Focus ~ Alignment ~ Linkage. Quick read and contains mucho great brand studies! Two other words worthy of a brain brand: choice & expectation. Now you know so go git ‘r done!
Your Marketing Sucks.
Think about it…most marketing DOES suck. C’mon now, yes it really does. Read this book and yours won’t. Don’t read this book and it will. Any questions?
The Great Mutual Fund Trap: An Investment Recovery Plan
Do you own mutual funds? Know anyone that does? Remember “shock and awe”? Read this book and you’ll have a whole new appreciation for shock and awe. Better yet, read this book and then grill those nice folks that are shepherding your mutual funds for you. The first three chapters alone might have you and better have them investing in Pampers!
Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
I haven’t read this book yet. In fact, I don’t even own it. But it just moved into the TOP 3 in my queue. Why? Here’s why! It’s FREE. Take it. Devour it. Compliments of John Jantsch. Now…think this guy might have another good idea or two or three or a hundred about marketing? Don’t know for sure. But a bear and his doody and the woods are coming top of mind.
