Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Friday, July 15, 2011

Bestselling Books For Business And Entrepreneurship

David Brooks writes the novel called The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement. In this novel, you will discover ways in which emotions and character are shaped and affected by all of the various factors in life. Brooks merges the scientific facts of the brain and biology with the intersection of social effects in order to perform a kind of map quest into your mind. Reading this book will help you discover the ways in which these things affect how you love others, live, eat, and make the choices that you make, as well as how you interact with others around you. Also, the book will help you figure out ways to form your moral decisions as well as your wisdom and overall character. With this kind of rich understanding, you will be able to have the tools that are essential to starting your own business.

Another book that is great if you are thinking of starting a new business is by Jim Collins who writes a novel called Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't. This is a novel that explores the behaviors of a variety of other companies who made daring moves by embracing a spirit of change. This book is a good one if you are thinking to start a company or if you have already started a business and are at the helm and want to start some changes that will help you make that move that will take your business to a whole other level. You can not only see examples of what to do, but Collins includes tips through examples of businesses that failed, too, so you will have a comprehensive picture of what tactics will work best.

How To Be The Luckiest Person Alive! By James Altucher is another novel that can help you with your business as it focuses on helping you create luck, and figure out how to have the health, the success and the happiness and dreams that you succeed. You will be able to learn techniques and tips that will help you get lucky in the places where it counts, but not in a fashion of disarray, but rather one that will behoove you in your business ventures.

Patrick Lencioni writes The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is a book that provides useful information that is easy to read and follow by following a story that happened in Silicon Valley and the way it chose an unlikely leader to lead the company. It shows how the unit of staff failed to connect and how the unlikely boss decided to pull everyone together and create a workplace with a special dynamic that helped fuel the success of the team. Finally, Alexander Osterwalder writes Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, a book that strives to help you abandon old models and embrace new visions that will take your business to new heights and wonderful heights. For books that help you reach your potential and take your business to new heights, you will benefit from these books.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil


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5 Non-Business Books To Help Your Business

Over the years I've come across lots of books that have helped me tremendously in my writing, even though they don't appear to have anything to do with business.

Here are some that live within arm's reach of my desk because I dip into them all the time.

Mars and Venus in the Workplace by John Grey

It's primarily about relationships between the sexes and how they operate in a work environment. But before you run for the hills, it's also a great education on how men and women think, speak and respond differently. Really useful when crafting your message and how to present it.

How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster.

If you're ever stuck knowing what to write, grab this book, wander over to your favorite coffee shop, and do some of the exercises. It shows you how to come up with more ideas, faster and easier. It teaches you how to become "idea-prone" and takes you through a five-step procedure for digging up creative ideas. Lots of quirky illustrations too.

The Analogy Book of Related Words by Selma Glasser

It's not a dictionary of synonyms. It covers a series of topics such as acting, aeronautics, money, sales, insurance, travel and many more. Under each topic is a list of words and phrases that could be related to the topic. Some you wouldn't think of. For example, under the topic "love and marriage", you'll find everything from "aisle" to "old maid" and phrases such as "eternal triangle," "justice of the peace," and "mating season." It'll certainly broaden your thinking.

Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor

A plain English guide to writing plain English. It's a grammar classic updated to include the Internet age. From the jacket blurb: "common-sense, jargon free, even witty answers to all your questions about the basics and subtleties of grammar, style and usage." It's fun, charming and useful whether you have to write or speak for your business.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

I never thought punctuation could be funny but leave it up to Lynne Truss to find the humor in periods and semi-colons. This is a spirited and playful look at the foibles of the colon, comma, ellipsis, dash, and other signs; how to use them properly and the effect you create when you do so. Worth reading for entertainment value alone.

There you have it!

Copyright 2011 Maggie Dennison. All rights reserved.

Maggie Dennison provides marketing and writing solutions that help small businesses win the hearts and minds of their ideal clients without breaking the bank. Pick up a free report "11 Keys To Website Content That Works" at her website http://www.mymarketingmessage.com/.


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10 Books That Will Impact Your Business

Last year I read over 60 business books and this year I'm on pace to do at least one per week, but to be honest, the majority of these books would be better off as simple magazine articles.

And so to save you from wasting time reading the mediocre business books, I've reviewed the books on my shelf and I'm going to share the top 10 books that have had the great impact on my internet business.

10 - "Think & Grow Rich" and "Grow Rich with Piece of Mind"

Almost everyone knows about "Think and Grow Rich", but few people know of or have read Napolean Hill's follow up, "Grow Rich with Piece of Mind". I recommend you read both.

9 - "The E-Myth" and "The Power of Full Engagement"

I admit, I'm cheating a little by giving you two books at once a few times here, but hey, it's my list.

These are both classics. You'll discover the importance of systems in Michael Gerber's E-Myth, while getting a new perspective on time and energy management in the Full Engagement book.

8 - "Bringing Out the Best in People" and "Switch"

The former is a book on building and motivating your team. It is NOT an easy read, as it is full of scientific research on how to inspire people to act. But it is a powerful book.

A more enjoyable read, but just as important, is "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath. If you've ever wanted to change your own behavior, or a client's behavior (or even that of your spouse), this book will show you how.

Both books emphasize the rewarding of small changes that help you build up to making the biggest changes. It's a formula that works.

7 - "Instant Income"

Not too many people know about this book, but it is one of the most practical books I've ever read on how to increase your sales, client retention, and overall revenues. It is packed with strategies that you can put to use immediately. I just realized I need to read this one again.

6 - "Crush It" and "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs"

Two of the best speaker-entertainers in the world. If you could only read one, pick the Jobs book. After reading about his passion and vision, this book was the catalyst for me to get an iPad.

5 - "The Go Giver"

Neat and tidy little book. You'll discover 5 simple rules that will help you set up a lasting business, all based on becoming a person of extreme value to others. So simple, isn't it?

If you like this, you'll also like the management and meeting books by Patrick Lencioni, written in similar fashion.

4 - "Good to Great"

I put off reading this business classic for years, and to be honest, I expected it be another one of those books that could have been summarized in a 5 page magazine article.

I was pleasantly surprised at being wrong. This was my introduction to the importance of having Core Values and a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). I'll tell you more about those when we get to the most important book I've ever read.

3 - Anything by Dan Kennedy

From his hard-to-find autobiography ("Unfinished Business") to his "Ruthless Management of People and Profits", I've read every book by Kennedy, and they are ALL worth it. If you are struggling to get stuff done, his "No BS Time Management" book is even better than the 4-hour Work Week, and you should start there.

For mindset, No-BS Wealth Attraction is 1000x's better than watching "The Secret", and his books on "Direct Marketing" and "The Ultimate Sales Letter Formula" are mandatory reading for internet marketers.

2 - "Man's Search for Meaning"

This is not a business book, but instead a book about the human spirit and what people can overcome.

This book chronicles the horrors of World War II as seen through a concentration camp survivor, and should be mandatory reading for every high school student (and adult).

After you've read this book, you'll never have a "woe is me" attitude towards life or business again.

Everyday you hear someone say, "Oh, I could never do that...", but the truth is, if they stopped complaining and tried it, they'd learn pretty quickly that they could.

And despite it's gloomy content, there is still a positive lesson to take away, that is, as humans, we are are capable of much, much more than we might believe.

Never, ever, EVER give up.

1 - "The Rockefeller Habits"

By far the most practical business book I've ever read, focused around building a team, a vision, and a future for your business.

Like many on this list, it is not an easy read, and it includes several exercises you'll need to do to lay out a 90-day plan and long-term vision. I'd suggest setting aside three 90-minute blocks to get through the entire book.

The end results of your focused work will be an incredibly powerful blueprint for the future of your business.

I hope you enjoyed that list.

Everything you need to know has already been said,

Craig Ballantyne

"The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance." - Viktor Frankl

Harness the power of the internet to create your financial freedom: http://internetindependence.com/get-your-product-done

Get your free daily online marketing tips featuring shockingly candid information about building your online business and creating financial freedom.


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Personal Finance Books To Ensure Your Personal Gains

Dave Ramsey writes a book called The Total Money Makeover, and he uses his radio talk show wit and personality to preach about the importance of working hard and paying what you owe to avoid debt. The best way to get wealthy is to stay out of debt no matter what and to always pay cash. Because paying with credit is the road to debt and financial ruin, for every small step with credit is like sinking into a deeper hole. Also, he advises to save 1000 dollars and pay off all debts so that there will be nothing there lurking and keeping you from making your big bucks. Using tips of motivation and encouragement, Ramsey provides a guidebook that can really help with personal finance in a big way.

Denise and Alan Fields team up to write Baby Bargains: Secrets to Saving 20% and 50% on Baby Furniture, Gear, Clothes, Toys, Maternity Wear, and Much, Much More! This novel is targeted to couples expecting a new baby and hoping to get their finances geared up and ready for the new commitment headed their way. There are many thing and needs that go along with a new baby and this novel helps you really manage what is to come by helping you buy things at good costs and get good deals on the essentials. The book sifts out the important investments from the things that aren't that essential, such as extremely expensive blankets or bottles and thus helps you avoid wastes of money.

Suze Orman writes The Money Class, a book that discusses the American Dream of wanting to have home, family, a job, and then eventual retirement that can all be met with security and a sense of financial freedom. In this book she talks about how people must be truthful about their wants and that will help inform all of one's personal choices. She emphasizes the importance of confidence that comes from working hard and knowing that we must take care of the present. This book will help you really get sight of your dreams and figure out just what it is that you need to prioritize when working on your dreams and will lead you to financial success and freedom.

For women, Mika Brzezinski writes Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth. This novel discusses the ways in which women can obtain their recognition in an often man dominated world. This book is good for women as it discusses the way in which men perceive the moves that women make so that you can get a comprehensive perspective of how all parties thing. This also includes many stories that are woven with research about important issues like equal pay as well as a variety of other important issues.

Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler write Pick Another Checkour Lane, Honey: Save Big Money and Make the Grocery Aisle your Catwalk! This book has many tips that help one save money and do things like use coupons and other methods that can really help you save money. Plus, the book is written in an engaging and humorous way so that you can also have fun while figuring out ways that can help you save money.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil


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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Business Books To Help You Succeed

Peter Guber writes a book called Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story. In this book Guber uses powerful anecdotes to convince readers that there is a huge storehouse of power in memories and stories when selling yourself or a product. He uses the lessons learned from people like Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Frank Sinatra, who all told him that it is essential to tell a good story when expressing your views. Also, he talks about the time Michael Jackson told him to watch a python stalking a mouse to tell him the importance of drama in your work so that it hooks a listener or audience in a way that is impactful and meaningful to them. This book will be an inspirational tool to help you come up with new ideas of how to get the message of your product out there in a truly meaningful way.

Seth Godin writes a book called Poke the Box, a book about taking the initiative and doing something. The main message of this book is to just do it, just poke the box, just get moving, just get started, no matter what obstacles, what the hindrances, what the factors that may stand in your way, you should just go without thinking or planning or getting permission. Of course, he understands it is a frightening risk, but he suggests that you should think that being mediocre is far more dangerous than just being a failure. This book will inspire you to get moving as fast as you can and to go out and do something no matter what the risks or outcome.

Dr. Frank I. Luntz writes a book called Win: The key principles to take your business from ordinary to extraordinary. In this book he uses many real life examples and business icons to illustrate how having amazing communication skills can really help people take themselves and their business to high and amazing places. He speaks for nine action based principles, such as people centered, paradigm breaking, prioritizing, perfection, partnerships, passion, persuasion, persistence, and principled actions. All of this will inspire and motivate you with this framework of how to exceed.

Stefan Swanepoel writes Surviving your Serengeti: 7 skills to master business and life. This book is targeted to all people trying to keep a business afloat in a somewhat teetering economy. In this book the tale of surviving in Africa's Serengeti provides a variety of useful lessons that can be applied to surviving in business. It talks about the 1.5 million wildebeest that rely on its herd to survive, or how the alligator is opportunistic, or how the cheetah is effective, all small fables that can really teach you about yourself and your business.

And finally, Michael Lewis writes The Big Short, a book Wall Street and business, all done with his investigative and witty style. Though the topic is not a favorite for everyone, the author smartly guides the reader through the world of CDOs, mortgages, various investments, inflated egos, and a lot of it is done with absurd moments that will make you laugh.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil


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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Best Selling Books In Marketing And Sales

Joseph Michelli is one of the world's top authorities on creating an organizational culture dedicated to service excellence. In Prescription for Excellence, Michelli provides an in-depth look at the UCLA Health System and explains how you can use the same approach to dominate your own industry. UCLA Health system is known worldwide for its outstanding patient care and great staff and their overall success is driven by an organization-wide collaboration of visionary leaders. By breaking down the UCLA approach into five principles, Michelli shows you how to achieve similar goals by translating these steps into your own industry.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell explores the astounding phenomenon of when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. He describes the way tipping points have begun changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and spreading ideas. Through simple yet entertaining explanations, Gladwell explores this relatively new occurrence in the context of today's markets. Robert B. Cialdini's bestseller, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, explores the psychological foundations of marketing. Whether you are a consumer or someone trying to urge others to buy or vote for your product, this is an essential read to navigate the minds of consumers. This book will resonate with readers and strike chords deep in their psyche. Readers will be able to use Cialdini's theories on their own consumers in order to persuade them to buy their products.

In his first book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, Tony Hsieh, the iconoclastic CEO of Zappos, the online shoe retailer, explains how he created a culture with a commitment to service that improves the lives of its employers, customers, vendors, and backers. Drawing on anecdotes and stories from his own life experiences and the experiences of other companies, Hsieh connects with you by providing concrete ways that you and your company can achieve monumental success like Zappos. By providing details of the unique customer care practices of Zappos, Hsieh underscores the importance of company culture in order to bring forward great customer service and long-term branding. Delivering Happiness provides an account of Zappos employees and how their use Zappos' Core Values outside of work to bring happiness to their personal lives.

Gary Vaynerchuk's The Thank You Economy is about something greater than a single revolutionary platform. It is about the way we communicate, buy, and sell and the way consumers interact online and offline. This type of economy was born on the Internet and has given consumers back their voices by providing them with tremendous opinion-forming power through social media. Vaynerchuk describes how today companies must compete on a whole different level than they used to. Customers demand more from companies making it imperative for companies to provide excellent customer service and find compelling ways to grab customer attention. Vaynerchuk reveals the ways in which companies can become more personal to their entire customer base using social media. By offering data-driven evidence, this book shows that by harnessing the word-of-mouth power derived from social media can help companies profit and grow more than ever before.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil


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10 Business Books That Really Make A Difference

Looking for some good general business books to good stuck into? Here are some of our favourites.

Customer Genius - Peter Fisk

A brilliant book to dip in and out of. As the title suggests, the focus is entirely on customers - really understanding them, building solutions for them and leading a business that centres on your customers. Lots of great live examples from businesses and a good reminder that businesses which forget about their customer are doomed to fail.

Allan Leighton on Leadership

One of the best leadership compilations around. A mix of Leighton's own views and interviews with other well known leaders, with some great quotes, business stories and lessons. There are also some refreshingly honest accounts of Leighton's own early failures as a leader and manager.

How to be Brilliant - Michael Heppell

Why settle for good, if you can be brilliant? It's a simple premise, built on Heppell's belief that most people are capable of much more and just need to tap into those talents. This is very easy to read and gets you to focus on what you can do, right now, to make yourself better at what you do.

Unstuck - Yamahita and Spataro

Brilliantly different, this book is built for people who are stuck in work, business or life. It's full of action points, little tools, hints, tips and quotes to help you work out why you are stuck (and give you an ah-ha moment when you realise what's causing it) and to get you unstuck again. If you hate traditional, boring business books that take ages to read and digest, you'll love this.

Why Work is Weird - Connor and Sears

A great description and model for the types of people you'll come across in a typical office or business (know a Jargon Junkie or a Top Dog?). You'll probably recognise yourself in there, and will definitely see that annoying colleague or boss that drives you mad. Most importantly the main character ("the Workdoctor") gives simple but insightful tips about causes of the "diseases" and how to stop them.

Value Forward Selling - Paul R.DiModica

OK, it's an American book, so could be a bit too full on for many Brits reading it. But if you can get past that, this is a really good book to focus on selling to senior people and working at Board level rather than middle management. Want a really clear way to position your business at a different level? Or simple ways to present or build propositions that go away from typical Powerpoint slides? It's all in here, and a lot of other valuable stuff.

Bright Marketing - Robert Craven

Why should people bother to buy from you? We get hit by 4000 marketing messages every day, so how do you make yours stand out? Simple tools and techniques to get you to focus on your key messages and a great set of "crunch questions" to get you thinking.

Leadership - Tom Peters

One of a series of Leadership Essentials, bite sized books published by DK. This is bright, engaging and thought provoking. Typical Tom Peters - expect him to challenge and have a strong voice. I knew someone who picked this up every morning and tried to concentrate on a key tip that day. Yes, I know you can't only do leadership skills for a day, but there is so much in here, you have to start somewhere.

10 Steps to Successful Strategic Planning - Susan Barksdale and Teri Lund

Tired of dull, boring strategy books? This one is a step by step guide that tells you what to do. May be too simplistic for some strategy purists or too detailed for smaller businesses, but actually it covers the middle ground pretty well. Most importantly, everything is based around tools, techniques and real examples to hold your hand through a strategy review.

The Seven Minute Difference - Allyson Lewis

Apparently studies have shown that the average corporate executive has an attention span of seven minutes (is it really that long?). This book is based on taking those seven minutes and using them, through a series of "micro-actions" to make a big change to your life. You won't want to do all of them, but even a few would have a big impact on your life and work.

Want help improving your business results? Kate Marsden is founder of Ignition Key Ltd and has 20 years business experience working at Director level for a number of well-known organisations. Kate provides businesses with advisory, support, coaching and mentoring services to enable them to step change their performance and results. For more information visit http://ignitionkey.co.uk/


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Best Business Law Books

Whether you are an entrepreneur, an employee or a business major in college, you will encounter various aspects of commercial law in your daily life. Commercial law is one of the most important things that every businessman out there needs to know about, and it constantly changes. Consequently, you are going to read some business law books to keep yourself updated.

Theories can be boring, especially if reading through dozens of business cases is not your idea of a good time. C. E. Bagly and C. E. Dauchy's The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law may just be the perfect book for you. It is very easy to read, especially for those that do not have any prior knowledge about the topic. This book is good to start with so that you can understand all about business law. For some people, it may be the only book they need.

R. A. Mann and B. S. Roberts's Smith and Roberson's Business Law is more appropriate for academic purposes. If you are a college student who wants to gain a strong understanding of this subject, then this is the book for you. The good thing about this book is that it is regularly updated. It's the perfect book for law students or students who are taking business law classes. Another book that is suitable for college students is Cengage Advantage Books: Business Law: Text and Exercises by R. L. Miller and W. E. Hollowel. The book is clearly written and is very concise; it uses the least complicated ways possible to explain a very complex topic. This will be the right book for those who have been facing difficulties in understanding most of the ideas that are written in thick, complicated textbooks.

Business Law by Robert W. Emerson is a compulsory read for those who are taking college level examination program (CLEP). Despite that, this book is also recommended for those who want to gain more knowledge about the topic. The book is relatively easy to read and it covers most of the important aspects of business law.

Different countries have different laws, and commercial law is not an exception, of course. West's Business Law: Text and Cases by K. W. Clarkson, R. L. Miller, G.A. Jentz, and F. B. Cross integrates global themes as well as a vast assortment of cases. It is a good book for college students as well as business practitioners, and like any other textbooks, the content of the book is updated regularly.

One of the most popular books on this subject is R. L. Miller and G. A. Jentz's Business Law Today. Many readers agree that this book provides cases that are relevant to the issues that many businessmen of today face when starting or running their businesses. This book illustrates the topic in the most interesting way possible and it does not have any unnecessary information, avoiding any possible confusion over a certain area of business law. This book is a good reference book even if you are not an academic or a student.

If you are studying about correlation between business and legal aspects, it is advised to know which business law books suit to your budget and academic background. So it is advised to visit http://aboutlawcases.com/ in order to get more book reviews and legal advices.


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Monday, July 11, 2011

Tips For Buying College Accounting Books

Before entering university, you will have to choose one specific major that has bright career prospects. Choosing a specific major also means that you have to pick the one that suits your interest and talent. If you are good at managing accounts, or if you always got picked as the class treasurer in high school, then you might want to be an accounting major. Accounting is a good career choice as the need for accountants is quite large. Thus, if you select this major, you will likely be successful in the future.

As we all know, going to college means that you need to have some textbooks for your reference and to guide you gain a better understanding of the lessons given in your classes. It is also the same with accounting. You will need some college accounting books that will help you master the trade. Certainly, your professors are going to recommend you to find several textbooks that will be used in their classes. Therefore, you better get prepared or else you will be left behind by your college mates.

There are several titles that you should probably have in order to master accounting. Some of the compulsory titles include College Accounting 1-12, Advanced Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Accounting Information System, and Management Accounting. However, when you are going to buy a textbook, you will need to make sure that you choose the right book. Check the name of the writer and the publisher of the book, because sometimes you will find two or more different books with the same title. Make sure the book is exactly what your professor has recommended.

Besides buying compulsory books, you might want to buy some complementary textbooks as well. Those books will be very helpful to expand your knowledge in accounting as it is a very vast field. You can go online and try to look for some important titles which are not suggested by your professors. There are many websites that provide book reviews which you would find very helpful. And the good thing about the reviews is that most of them mention the price of the book so that you can prepare your budget beforehand.

It is somehow a common knowledge that college textbooks can be very expensive. Most accounting books are indeed very pricey and if you don't choose them wisely, you might end up being broke. Therefore, you will need a strategy to get the books you want when you are on a limited budget. Online vendors usually offer many interesting offers or discounts for college textbooks. And the cool thing about buying from an online vendor is that the books will be delivered to your door immediately after purchase. Besides buying books online, you can also go to the local second hand bookstores. Used books are normally cheaper than the new ones, but you should know that most of them won't be in mint condition. As long as the book looks decent and the price is cheap enough, it is worth buying. After all, you need the knowledge and not the look.

Before shopping around for used and new college accounting books, it is advised to read reviews of books so you know whether they meet your needs and budget. For more detailed reviews of these books, you can visit http://collegeaccountingbook.com/.


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