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Wayne Hurlbert shares his review for 5 No-Fail Strategies to Get More Clients and Fill Your Practice by Sue Kasson on his blog http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/2012/02/zero-stress-selling-by-sue-kasson-book.html

 

If you would like more practical sales and marketing strategies, visit  Zero Stress Selling today. Sue is known for her relaxed and authentic customized client enrollment and sales conversion training. Find Sue Kasson’s books at  www.amazon.com/author/suekasson

In these tough economic times we should all be on the lookout for ways to make ourselves stand out in business – in a good way. Being able to step up on the job and to create and do an effective presentation is a great way to make ourselves stand out. Are you an entrepreneur who does presentations for your business? Are you a sales person who does presentations for clients? Are you a speaker who speaks in front of crowds on a regular basis and you want to stay at the top of your game? Are you in a business and you want to advance and impress your boss? All of these people can use the information in this book.

This is one of the smallest books I’ve read lately – but its packed with great information. One the very first page it says:

Greatest Fears Among Americans

1. Speaking before a group
2. Heights
3. Insects and bugs
4. Financial problems
5. Deep water
6. Sickness
7. Death

— from The Book of Lists

Okay – I’m in agreement with most of that list. Although I’ve been speaking in front of groups since I was young. However, I realize that most people don’t have that background and even with all that experience, I’m still nervous before I start to speak. So,  I was intrigued with this book. I was also curious to see how much they could squeeze into about 45 pages.

First – the full title is

136 Effective Presentation Tips: Inspire, Inform & Influence Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime

The table of contents gives us a glimpse inside –

Tips on Getting Started

– Moving From Nervous to Natural

– Getting Your Act Together

Tips on Getting Attention

– Beginning Strong

– Setting the Tone

Tips on Keeping Attention

– Involving the Audience

– Maximizing Visual Aids

—– Powerpoint

—– Flip Charts

—–Presentation readiness

—– Handouts

Tips on Gaining Buy In

– Earning the Right to Call for Action

– The Summary and Closing

A Closing Thought

All the important elements are here – so does the book deliver. I think it does. Under each heading, there are a series of tips and an explanation to implement the tip. Near the very beginning they tell us not to apologize for being nervous. How many times have you or someone you heard started a presentation like that? First point, don’t apologize.

There is a great chart that is called the 3-D outline. It very simply and clearly outlines what, why and how to execute each part of the presentation AND how long each segment should be. Its very simple and very powerful. That chart is worth buying this book.

We learn how to take control of the environment — the tips are very easy to implement, but they work. Tips to reduce your stress – physical and psychological stress. We get the Top Ten Ways to Kill a Presentation. How many times have you wanted to hand that to a presenter when they were finished? These are great tips and I’ve seen people do most of these in past presentations. There are even tips for virtual presentations.

Like I mentioned this is a small book, but I’d highly recommend it to anyone who does presentations or may need to do a presentation in the future. Its a quick read, easy to go back to for reminders and packed with great tips. Do yourself a favor and order a copy of this book and study it from cover to cover before your next or your first presentation.

There is order information in the back of this book – which I’ll share here.

Cornerstone Leadership

P O Box 764087

Dallas, TX 75376

www.cornerstoneleadership.com

We’ve all heard the saying that life is a jungle and that idea is a big part of The Fearless Factor by Jacqueline Wales.  She shares her story of what happened in her life, the trials and addictions that she went through and how she ultimately faced her fears and created the life that she wanted. This information is good for anyone facing  fears, but for women or men who want to own their own business – the content of this book can be invaluable in their journey to success personally and in business.

The Fear less Factor: Overcome the Fears, Doubts and Anxiety That Stop You From Being Your Best Self Now by Jacqueline Wales is for anyone who is facing any fear and obstacles in their life. Do you know anyone who needs to deal with fear or obstacles in their life? Maybe you need to deal with some fears. There are so many things that people need to handle in their lives and those are the people who need to read The Fearless Factor.

The Section Headers in the Fearless Factor set the stage for the content –

Part 1 – Enter the Jungle

Part 2 – Choose the Right Path

Part 3 – Arrive at the Clearing

Part 4 – Master the Jungle

In Part 1, Jacqueline Wales discussed identifying what fear is, why do we ignore fear, how much pain are you in, what are you willing to give up, what is your commitment to change, where do you want to go, what do you want to achieve, do you think change is easy, determine what you are grateful for, keep smiling, age and attitude and much more.  Part 1 sets the stage and lets you evaluate what you need to deal with and to begin evaluating yourself. Another element is – are you ready to make a change? That may sound funny, but not everyone is ready to make the commitment to make a real change.

When you’re ready to move to Part 2, you need to learn how to choose the right path. Jacqueline Wales hits on many points that are important and that will likely be hard to face. But, to move forward through the jungle of life – you must face these concerns and be honest with yourself. She starts by asking what stories you tell yourself. Then you evaluate when opinions and expectations influence your life. Are you avoiding issues? She tells you to stop second guessing yourself and to be honest about whether you are all right. Chapter 8 starts by asking are you ready to change your life. You must develop compassion and forgive yourself. She wants you to answer the lies you tell yourself and what motives you to do this. Part 2 is not light reading, but a very integral part of your journey.

Appropriately Part 3 is titles Arrive at the Clearing. After considering the elements of Part 2 – you will indeed reach a clearing mentally and emotionally. This is the time to start identifying your values, skills and experience. These will help you define who you are. Mistakes and failure are the next topics – and she wants you to understand the positive elements of “failure”. Its time to get rid of the negativity and to learn to love yourself. An entire chapter is dedicated to risks – where to take risks and where to avoid risks.

This has been a powerful journey and Jacqueline Wales says it is time to move onto a bigger game – so you need to understand what is holding you back. Evaluate where you give up the control in your life and get rid of the distractions. Chapter 18 helps you to define, refine and accept your dreams. Isn’t it amazing how a person can go from not understanding fear and then being able to realize their dreams? This is a huge step for many people and the trek that Jacqueline Wales lays out  in her book will enable you or someone you love to make this sort of change in your life.

I can tell you from personal experience that facing you r fears, learning to love yourself, understand your skills and values, understand its all right to fail sometimes and many of the other things that Wales talks about in The Fearless Factor – are wonderful steps to making great changes in your life. These are some of the things I did several years ago that helped me to lead a much happier, more fulfilling and successful life. I didn’t say it is easy, but I wish I’d had this guide to help me through my personal struggles. It is available for you – and the principles in this book can make a major difference in your life – to make it better.

For More Information –

Jacqueline Wales is known the world over as The Black Belt Millionaire. Her unique programs have helped women around the globe develop strong personal success, confident communication and clear visions of their goals. She is the author of five books including The Fearless Factor. The Fearless Factor. For information on how to get YOUR copy of The Fearless Factor visit http://www.thefearlessfactorbook.com/

There are many people who are facing a wide variety of stresses, discouragements, disappointments and other events and situations that take an emotional toll on their lives. Sadly, many people feel there isn’t much they can do to help themselves, their loved ones or their business associates who are having a tough time. Or, they feel that medication is the only answer. I’m the sort of person who avoids medication as much as possible, so I’m always on the lookout for other alternatives. I’m also a person who is very concerned about friends and associates who are emotionally fragile or who find themselves in difficult and trying situations. We all know people who have more than the usual problems in their lives. So – what can we do to help them?

When we know people who are stressed, discouraged, depressed, dealing with a very heavy load of problems, how can we help them? This is something I think about as I see friends and family members facing a wide array of problems and especially in these tough economic times. We also see people who reach out to help others and many that can take a toll on their own mental, emotional and physical well being.

For years I looked for a way to be more optimistic in my personal life – but also in business.  There were many “outside” sources that pulled me down and I just had no idea what to do to feel better about myself, my situation and much more. While I still had to work 40-60 hours a week, these personal concerns made my work schedule even more tedious. I know this is something other people deal with every day and especially entrepreneurs who have even more stress in their businesses. So, how can we balance these lives and get our emotional balance and emotional freedom – to move ourselves, our families and our businesses to a higher level?

My first suggestion is that you need to read Dr Judith Orloff’s latest book, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life. I love that title and especially “liberate yourself from negative emotions”. If we can deal with the negatives in our lives – so many things are within our grasp. I’m not just saying that – I experienced it a few years ago and it is amazing what has happened in a very positive way since that time. I wish I’d had this book – it would’ve made my transformation easier and it is a transformation.

This is the table of contents for Emotional Freedom by Dr Judith Orloff

Introduction. Emotional Freedom: The Secret to Serenity

Part One
1. The Path to Emotional Freedom: Beginning to Learn to Love
2. Four Practical Secrets to Empowering Your Emotional Life
3. Dreams and Sleep: Accessing Revolutionary States of Consciousness
4. From Intellectuals to Empaths: What Is Your Emotional Type?
5. Combating Emotional Vampires: How to Understand and Protect Your Sensitivity

Part Two
6. The First Transformation: Facing Fear, Building Courage
7. The Second Transformation: Facing Frustration and Disappointment, Building Patience
8. The Third Transformation: Facing Loneliness, Building Connection
9. The Fourth Transformation: Facing Anxiety and Worry, Building Inner Calm
10. The Fifth Transformation: Facing Depression, Building Hope
11. The Sixth Transformation: Facing Jealousy and Envy, Building Self-Esteem
12. The Seventh Transformation: Facing Anger, Building Compassion
Afterword. Living in Service to the Heart: The Blessing of Emotional Freedom

The Secret to Serenity – what a great way to start this book. Who couldn’t use more serenity in their lives.  I’ve thought about what was necessary to find emotional freedom and I know the steps I took and Dr Orloff touches on all of them and some that I didn’t use — yet. I love the first sentence in chapter one – “Your life is about to get better”. Who doesn’t want to hear that about their own life?

Dr Orloff takes you through her experience with emotional freedom and shows what she had to do. This isn’t like taking a pill, which is only a temporary fix or a band aid. This system that she lays out – step by step – is a very attainable way to change your life and to make it more serene, more peaceful, more fulfilling and much more.

Learn your emotional type – every one has an emotional type and once you understand yourself, you can learn about significant others in your life and how to better deal with them. Some years ago I was a hospital department supervisor and every employee took a personality assessment. Then the administrators brought all supervisors in for a meeting to reveal the results. It sounded like a waste or time, but this assessment showed each of us our emotional type and then explained the emotional type for all of the employees who reported to us.

You may wonder what good that would do. Its simple, by understanding our emotional type and our leadership type – we could better understand how we managed our departments and employees. That was powerful – but add a profile of the emotional makeup of each employee. This information showed what they needed from us and how we could adjust our style to get more from the employees. Imagine the change in your business and your life when you learn the best way to deal with family, friends, employees – and anyone else. At that meeting, we all thought about how powerful this test would be for our personal lives and now we have that ability through Dr Orloff’s book – and much more.

There are so many great aspects to this book that I could go on and on, but I’ll two other things that I’ve recommended to many friends and family. Chapter 5 is invaluable to anyone who deals with an “emotional vampire”. You may call it something else, but it’s the people who seem to suck the energy out of you and the room. We can’t always eliminate those people from our lives, so Dr Orloff gives step by step instructions and quizzes to help us deal with the people who drain our emotions and energy.

Part Two gives us the “Tools For Liberation”. In this section, Dr Orloff gives us all the tools to transform our lives. She helps us face: fear, frustration, loneliness, anxiety, depression, jealousy, and anger. Who couldn’t benefit from learning to face even one of these problems?

I can’t recommend this book highly enough for any facing problems. Even if you feel you’re on solid emotional ground, there are things in this book that will help you. And, like me, I bet you will find many family, friends and business acquaintances that you will recommend the book to. I bought copies as gifts for a number of close friends- that’s how much I value them and the content of this book.

A Special Offer For You From Judith Orloff, MD

To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to: http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion.

Young Guns: TheFearless Entrepreneur’s Guide too Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own by Robert Tuchman

Part of the American Dream is to own your own business. Millions of people have done this – but we also know that many people fail in business every year, many in the first years. So, is there a secret to succeeding as a new entrepreneur? There are a number of factors and Young Guns by Robert Tuchman is a very good place to get started.

Anyone who is in business for themselves knows that there are many things that make a difference in the success or failure of any business. I’ve managed businesses for over 20 years for a wide variety of business owners and usually I was hired to reorganize and fix struggling businesses. This gives me a unique perspective in the qualities and decisions that make a successful entrepreneur. So, I was very interested to read Young Guns and to see what Robert Tuchman had to say.

I cringe every time I hear someone say “All you need is a great idea and you’ll be a success.” I was participating in a writer’s conference symposium for business authors and the man beside me said that and I had to chime in and disagree. It made for an awkward hour – but it had to be said. So, I opened this book and waited to see if the author would say that. I’m very glad to report that he did not.

I was very glad that the first chapter is titled “Why Not Me?” What a great way to start the book? It made me even happier when I looked at the table of contents and found “The Idea” was chapter 3. This is the table of contents.

• Chapter 1 – Why Not Me?
• Chapter 2 – The Decision.
• Chapter 3 – The Idea.
• Chapter 4 – The First Test and The First Plan.
• Chapter 5 – The Partner Principle.
• Chapter 6 – Gut Check: Getting Started.
• Chapter 7 – Priorities for That First All-Consuming Year.
• Chapter 8 – You Are the Company.
• Chapter 9 – Technology: Our Generation’s Great Equalizer.
• Chapter 10 – Service is What You’re Selling.
• Chapter 11 – Back Up Your Sell.
• Chapter 12 – Inside Players: Your Team.
• Chapter 13 – Celebrate Failure, Reward Success.
• Chapter 14 – Your Vendor Relationships Matter.
• Chapter 15 – By The Numbers.
• Chapter 16 – Why Not You?

Robert Tuchman tells the reader to be sure that it is really a big idea. Just being excited about an idea isn’t enough and many times we hear that its only important to find something that the market needs. While these are all elements of a successful idea – Tuchman says that its also important to find something that you are truly interested in. This proves that my “big idea” probably wouldn’t be your “big idea”.

I’ve always said that people should never make the decision to start a business without putting together a business plan. This can be daunting, but its also very revealing. In Young Guns, Tuchman provides a simple game plan to help the aspiring entrepreneur get started. This is not a complete and in depth business plan, but it is enough to help you get started and to evaluate your idea to see if its feasible.

There is a chapter about business partners. Should you have one? If so, what sort of person should you choose? The right or wrong decision about a business partner can have a huge impact on your business and your life.

He talks in depth about service – just selling a product or service is not enough. You need to back up your product or service with great customer service. As I was told years ago by my grandfather – great customer service guarantees you have customers and without customers you won’t have a business.

These are just a few of the things I really enjoyed about Young Guns and I highly recommend it for a person who is considering starting their own business. This is a book that you can and should read before you have an idea – it could even spark a great business idea and he will also help you develop the skills you need to launch a business.

Are you a business person who will lease a space for your business? There are so many things to research and plan with a business and especially when starting or moving a business. So, a lease might not be something that we make a priority. But, signing a bad lease and not understanding the details of a lease can cause a business person long term problems. That is why this review focuses on a book about how to Negotiate Your Commercial Lease.

Leases are something that many people think are simple. In some cases, they couldn’t be more wrong. A lease can be a nightmare if you don’t know or understand the details. Signing the wrong lease can also cause you all sorts of problems over the follow year or two or more.

When people look at a property, they usually are shown the property by a realtor, the owner, or an agent. I’ve personally been burned by details that were told to me verbally, but that didn’t make it to the final lease. Thankfully, my lease negotiations have gone well, but after reading this book, I’ll never look at this part of business the same.

The book is packed with great information. Here are some of the chapter titles –

1 – Commercial Lease Agreement.

2 – Selecting the Best Site for Your Business.

3 – Determining Square Footage.

4 – Selecting the Best Lease Term.

5 – Negotiating Strategies and Tactics.

6 – Negotiating Operating Costs.

7 – Negotiating the Rental Rate.

8 – Negotiating Free Rent.

9 – Negotiating the Tenant Allowance of Leasehold Improvements.

10 – Negotiating the Lease Deposit.

11 – Negotiating a Rent Reduction.

12 – Other Negotiating Points.

13 – Hiring Professionals.

I have to tell you that I am a very good negotiator, so I’ve never considered hiring a professional to negotiate anything – mainly because I wouldn’t trust them to negotiate with me, so why would I hire them. But after reading this book – if I was going to lease a place, I would take a look at the lease and if it was complicated, I would hire a professional to at least review it for me. One thing I really would’ve liked in the book is a glossary of lease and property terms.

Otherwise, I was very impressed by the depth and breadth of the information in this book. It Is a fairly quick read and the table of contents lists all subtopics, so you can zero in on specific information quickly. If you are going to lease a property for your business – you really need to read this book. I was amazed after 10-15 rental negotiations of my own, to find the number of topics in this book that didn’t sound familiar to me. If a topic isn’t familiar – the chance of getting a satisfactory resolution for yourself is almost impossible.

The author has been a certified lease consultant for over 15 years and has extensive experience with lease negotiating and consulting. He gives weekly seminars throughout North America and he is a consultant for tenants. On the back cover- the blurb says to read the book once if you are renewing a contract and twice if you are negotiating a new lease. Yes – there is that much detail and that much great information packed into less than 100 pages.

Time is a rare commodity for most business people, entrepreneurs, working moms, authors and many others. So, learning to manage time better is something that most people need to do. This book is a quick read (which will save you time) and is packed with 60 time management techniques. Which tips will be right for you? If you are a business owner – how much could you save in payroll costs if your employees learned to manage their time better?

We all know there are only 60 minutes in every hour and 24 hours in a day – so why do some people accomplish so much more with their 24 hours? That’s because they have learned to manage their time better. That’s why I’m sharing my review for Time Management in an Instant by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey. Look ago I learned that my jobs keep me very busy, so learning to manage my time was a necessity. I could get half my work done, or I could learn to get organized and get all the work done.

This book shares 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day – below are some of the topics.

• Assess Your Time Management Skills.
• Get Out of Time Denial.
• Achieve Your Goals Every Day.
• Beware the Stop-Goal.
• Set Solid and Stretch Goals.
• Plan Your Daily To-Do’s.
• Cultivate Time-Efficient Conversations.
• Break the Rules That Hold You Back.
• Determine What to Delegate.
• Give Yourself A Procrastination Inoculation.
• Take a Real Vacation.
• Clean Out Your File Drawer.
• Reorganize Your Filing System.
• Manage Incoming Calls.
• Streamline Your Email.
• Save Time For Your Personal Life.

These are just a sample of the tips in this book. Did you notice how many of these things require time? Some people may feel that using tips that take time would be wasting time. But, to manage your time, you need to change the way you work, how you file, how you manage your email and phone calls and much more. These tips will let you get organized and that helps you work smarter – not harder.

For example, if you don’t use an organized filing system, how long does it take you to find a specific memo for Mr Jones? Once you organize your file cabinet and put all correspondence for Mr Jones in one folder – you will be able to find that memo much faster. Filing doesn’t take much time and it allows you to find items much quicker. This is just one simple example of how organize is part of managing your time.

You will find a wide variety of tips, suggestions, questionnaires, and much more in this time management book. I highly recommend this for any busy person that needs to organize their personal and business life in order to manage their time and their life.

Lords of Finance: The Bankers That Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

In 2009 we’re deep into a major recession in the United States and many other countries throughout the world are experiencing many of the same problems. Each week we hear comparisons to previous recessions and economic downturns – but the benchmark for all financial crisis is the “Great Depression”. So, this seems like a great time to read and learn more about what happened around the world from the end of World War I and the late 1930’s. Liaquat Ahamed has written a great book that documents what was happening in the world during this twenty year period. I highly recommend that anyone interested in learning more about what lead up to the Great Depression and how the financial leaders handled it – must read this book.

In 1918 the world was reeling from the events during World War I and they were trying to rebuild their countries and the economies in those countries. We are all familiar with the bare bones of the end of World War I, the Roaring Twenties in the United States, rebuilding in Europe, the financial crash in the United States, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party and many of the other events between 1918 and 1938.

                   But, how many of us know the details of the individual financial systems in the United States, France, Britain and Germany?

                   Do you know what people managed the financial decisions in these countries during that time?

                   Do you understand how the gold standard worked and what that meant for each country?

                   Do you know what happened in the ongoing debate about war reparations and what that did to various economies around the world?

                   What happened within Germany when they were ordered to pay substantial reparations after the war?

                   What happened when Germany started printing money around the clock to boost the economy?

These are just a few of the questions that are answered in this book.

In school I remember learning that the financial situation in Germany after World War I was one thing that enabled Adolf Hitler to gain power in Germany. But I never understand the extent of the financial crisis. My depth of understanding on that piece of history has increased dramatically. Understanding what happened in the different countries and the various domino effects are staggering as you turn the pages and see how things fell apart.

I love to read about history and to get a deeper understanding of what led to various events. But I think in the current economic climate – this information is even more important. Most of us have heard the saying that “those who do not study history are destined to repeat it”. That idea kept coming to mind as I read this book and saw many examples of the things these power players in the worldwide economic community tried that failed and in a good number of cases – made the situation much worse.

Through the pages of this book you will meet Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, Emile Moreau of the Banque of France, Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank in Germany and Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition, you will learn how each of these men reached these positions and much about the history of these various financial institutions.

Anyone interested in the economy – and especially people who could make a positive difference in the financial situation – should be required to read this book. For people who are concerned about authenticity – there are 23 pages of notes and references for the information in the book and a 12 page bibliography. This is a long book – over 500 pages of content, plus the notes, bibliography and index. It took me a while to read the book – because its not really the sort of content you want to rush through, but I thoroughly enjoyed the content and feel like I have a much more complete understanding of the things that led up to the Great Depression and how the world recovered from this crisis.

You may be asking what whale hunting has to do with women and why we’re talking about this in the 21^st century. I was curious when I first heard the title too – but I can guarantee that this book will surprise you. I’ll share the full time which will give you some insights into the content. This book is titled Whale Hunting Women: How Women Do Big Deals.

We get used to long books that go on and on about a topic – but Whale Hunting Women gets right to the point. I couldn’t find any “fluff” in this book, but there is a lot of great content to help you. These are some of the chapters in this book –

· How Women Hunt Whales.

· Only a Minnow (In a Sea of Whales).

· Small Company Looking Big.

· Small Fish Hunting Whales.

· Radical Culture: Take a Rival to Lunch.

· Radical Culture: Money is Cheap.

· Radical Culture: Kill Some Commandments.

· Who Do You Trust?

· Whale Hunting Resolutions.

Women are uniquely qualified to “hunt whales” because they listen, align and empathize. Men can learn these qualities too – but women are usually raised to have these traits. That gives them a boost in the “whale hunting” concept.

For people who aren’t familiar with whale hunting – the entire village was involved in preparing for the hunt and the right combination of skilled people were necessary for the hunt. Imagine having several people in a small boat and having to hunt and kill a whale – then you have to row the boat to get the whale home. They had no “modern conveniences” like radar, radios, motors and other things to help them bring home the whale to help the people in their village. Today we have many tools to make a whale hunt easier, but we still need a skilled team filled with members who all contribute to the hunt.

Dr Barbara Weaver Smith helps the reader understand that small businesses can look bigger and they can compete with big companies to get the big clients. This is where the team you assemble will make the difference and give you an edge. In the current economic climate, using the tips in Whale Hunting Women allows us to compete with the “big boys” by building our team in creative and productive ways to attract the big clients without piling on additional financial obligations of hiring more staff members.

These ideas are just the beginning of the information that is included in this information packed book. As you read through this book we recommend that you take the time to work through the journal pages. I always like it when the author creates review exercises or journal pages that prompts the reader to dig deeper to learn more and to start applying what they are learning.

If you are a business woman or business owner who would like the tools to take the business to the next level – I highly recommend this book. If you have a woman in your life that is in business and she wants to set herself apart from the crowd – you need to buy this book for her. It is available on www.thewhalehunters.com along with much more information about Dr Barbara Weaver Smith and Whale Hunting Women.

The Entrepreneurial Author: Surviving Tough Economic Times
By Jay Conrad Levinson and David L Hancock
Foreward by Rick Frishman

When I started doing promotional work, I was always given a limited budget. This meant that I had to get creative and that was one of the things that really appealed to me about promotional work. So, for a long time I was doing “guerilla” marketing – without knowing it. When I was asked to do a review for the new Jay Conrad Levinson book I was very pleased. Since David Hancock is a co-author, that made me even more interested in this book because I’ve enjoyed his entrepreneur author blog. David and I share many thoughts about how authors, especially business book authors, should approach their promotion. Many of these thoughts are included in the pages of The Entrepreneurial Author. Let me say in the beginning that this book is good for many entrepreneurs – not just authors.

Many books are coming out about how to do business in tough economic times and it seems that approach will be useful for the foreseeable future. So, our challenge is to find books that have quality and useful content. I was very pleased with the content in The Entrepreneurial Author. If you are a fan of the Guerilla Marketing books – you will enjoy this book. If you are an author who thinks your publisher is going to do all your promotion – you may not like the content, but you will learn a lot.

When you have a book on the market, you have created a product that you want to sell – that makes you a business person. So, all authors need the “entrepreneurial author” mindset. That is what this book is all about. In tough times, the people who approach their work with the right attitude, have a better opportunity to succeed. If you’re an author – do you approach your writing and book promotion as a business? If not, you need to read this book.

There are a number of great chapters in this book which are geared to working and promoting in a tough economy – such as: Tough Times Don’t Have to be as Tough as You Think, Importance of Stressing Value, Using Consent Marketing Now More Than Ever, Community Involvement During Tough Times, Attracting New Business During Tough Times and Online Marketing in a Shaky Economy.

Additional Chapters Include:
Free and Almost Free Marketing.
The Importance of Service During Tough Times.
Making Yourself the Talk of the Town.
Freebies That Can Lead to Serious Profits.
Getting Extra Mileage From Your Marketing.

I always advocate creativity and ingenuity in promotional efforts and tough economic times makes that even more important than usual. These are the times when we need to show potential clients that we offer great value. We also need to build our credibility for clients and that is a great reason for a business person to write a book.

This book starts at the beginning and helps you see the various options that are available to authors and can help you find the one that is best for you. Too many writers dive into publishing without doing sufficient research and it is amazing how much money this can cost you. The chapter on Tough Times Don’t Have to be as Tough as You Think is easily worth the cost of the book and it offers opportunities for authors and other business people. These tips help you reduce “the cost of marketing while reinforcing the customer relationship”.

I like books that draw you into the content and help you use the information within the book. The Entrepreneurial Author contains Exercises and Action Steps in each chapter to help you dig deeper into the content and also to actually take steps to start doing the work you need to do.

Guerilla Marketing is very much about using your mind and creativity instead of a big advertising budget. What better time could there be to learn how to promote effectively on a tight budget? The content is great and the time is definitely right – to learn to be an entrepreneurial author. Are you ready to take your books and your promotion to the entrepreneurial level? If you realize this is the time – you need to read this book —- now. I think you will be astounded by how far you can take your writing career and your business by using the information in this book.

Nikki Leigh – Author of Book Promo 201: Harness the Power of the Internet with Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing