Marketing Articles & Book Reviews

The full title of this book by Doug Hall is

Jump Start Your Marketing Brain: Scientific Advice and Practical Ideas

In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and is Very Highly Recommended.

Here is my book review.

Can this book rescue marketing and marketers?

I thought the author’s book Jump Start Your Business Brain was excellent when I read it and it was a no-brainer to move on to this book

Its purpose is to rescue marketing. The book starts with the assertion that between 75 per cent and 95 per cent of marketing initiatives fail. This is based on research and interviews with CEOs. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Tom Shapiro is

“Rethink Your Marketing: 7 Strategies to Unleash Revenue Growth”.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave it a FIVE star rating, meaning that I rate it as excellent.

Here is what I posted.

An excellent and thoughtful book to get your business back on track

The book encourages you to rethink seven different areas:

1-your audience
2-how they think
3-your goals
4-your marketing mix
5-your metrics
6-your revenue model
7-your future

The aim is to get your business growing again. Too often, companies get stuck and the owner-managers don’t know what to do other than more of the same, copying competitors or jumping on the latest fad. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book “by Tim Wesley” is

45 Minute Business Breakthroughs: How I Find $10K In Any Business In 45 Minutes

When I reviewed the book on Amazon.co.uk, I rated the book at the Four Stars level which means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.

Here is my book review.

Well worth reading and currently the cheapest but one of many versions

After reading and reviewing another of these “how to find 10K” books through my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I searched around and this seemed to be the cheapest available although that may change.

So I bought it for 99p to add to my digital library. [continue reading…]

This is an interesting issue.

How I Find $10k in Any Business in 45 Minutes by Stephen Fox

When I reviewed this book on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.

Here is my book review.

One of many – if interested look for the cheapest

This book is a good idea. Who doesn’t want to know where they can find extra revenue and profit. The promise in this book is to find $10k of extra revenue which isn’t very demanding and could have been more ambitious.

It’s such a good idea that, if you search Amazon for the title, you’ll see remarkably similar books, often with very similar covers by different authors. [continue reading…]

I am a big fan of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and how it can be applied throughout a business to improve results.

It started on the factory floor with the challenge of how jobs could be better scheduled to reduce lead times AND inventory levels. It has moved throughout the business. In the business novel It’s Not Luck, Eliyahu Goldratt introduced us to both TOC for marketing and the TOC thinking processes.

The person who has made most progress with TOC Marketing is Dr Lisa Lang and her work on Mafia Offers (those customers can’t afford to refuse). [continue reading…]

Marketing is a critical activity for any business that is not in a monopoly supply position or operating in a marketing where demand overwhelms the ability to supply. But how can you measure marketing and know if it is working?

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half” is a famous quote from John Wanamaker, a department store entrepreneur in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

One hundred years later, it’s still a sentiment that many business owners and senior managers can relate to.

The Two Types Of Marketing

I normally talk about the two types of marketing being the difference between search marketing and outreach marketing:

• Search marketing – making sure your business is found when a customer or prospective customer is looking for suppliers.
• Outreach marketing – reaching out to target potential customers to encourage them to take action to contact you before they begin searching more generally.

Today I want to refer to a different two types of marketing activities:

• Brand building – promotional activities to increase the awareness of a brand name and (hopefully) the brand positioning, i.e. what the brand stands for and means.
• Direct response marketing – actions taken to encourage a customer to make contact with you immediately.

There is some crossover since direct response advertising can also help to build brand awareness depending on the extent to which the business name and any slogan is emphasised in the promotions. [continue reading…]

One of my favourite business gurus, Jay Abraham contrasts tunnel vision with funnel vision as different approaches to finding ways to improve the business.

Tunnel Vision versus Funnel Vision

Tunnel vision is the process of focusing entirely on what’s going on in your profession, trade or industry. You watch your competitors closely together and  when you see something that looks a good idea, you copy it.

You should also keep an eye on best practices from your sector in the rest of the country or world, depending on how widely you compete. Many local businesses don’t bother to look at what companies are doing in other big cities and, as a result, they miss out on ideas that they could adapt.

Funnel vision is the process of taking a wider perspective on business ideas and best practices. You keep your eyes open and watch how other types of businesses deal with you, your family and friends. You also keep an eye on the media to widen your scope further. If you see a good idea that comes from outside your industry that is helping to achieve an objective you want to meet, you ask yourself how you can borrow or adapt the idea. [continue reading…]

David Ogilvy is a legendary advertising man, one of the original “mad men”. he’s the author of the books Ogilvy On Advertising and Confessions of an Advertising Man.

This 4 minute video, produced by Adweek includes some of the classic quotes from Ogilvy. A highly recommended way to spend a few minutes.

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The full title of this book by Ace McCloud is

Marketing: The Top 100 Best Things That You Can Do In Order To Make Money & Be Successful With Marketing

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

It has some useful tips but it’s over-hyped

I downloaded the book Sales: Sales Strategies: The Top 100 Best Ways To Increase Sales as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription because it had received plenty of 5 stars reviews. I received well over 50 bonus books including this marketing book so I had a quick look. Please don’t assume this is what you’ll get if you buy the normal kindle book, it might be but it might not. [continue reading…]