Marketing Articles & Book Reviews

The full title of this book by Mary Naylor is

“Customer Chemistry: How to Keep the Customers You Want and Say Goodbye to the Ones You Don’t“.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave it a rating of FOUR stars. This means it’s in the range of good to very good.

Here is my review.

You can manage your customer base

This is an interesting book that takes a different approach to thinking about customers.

Most managers and business owners focus on getting more customers this month and then more customers again next month. Yes it’s recognised that some customers are better than others but the general assumption is that any customer is better to have than not have. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Dan Kennedy is

“The Ultimate Marketing Plan: Find Your Hook. Communicate Your Message. Make Your Mark“.

In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a Four stars rating. This puts it in the good to very good category.

Here is my review.

A good introduction to Dan Kennedy but not so good if you want to prepare a marketing plan

This is a book that has given me mixed feelings so let me explain why.

*** What I don’t like about The Ultimate Marketing Plan ***

Rant 1 – the use of the word “ultimate” makes me mad. Regular edition updates prove it wasn’t the ultimate.

Rant 2 – Dan Kennedy takes you through many different topics – and it makes great reading – but I didn’t feel that I was reading a book about preparing a marketing plan. There is a form at the back which tries to pull the topics together to create a marketing plan with a worked example – but it didn’t work. [continue reading…]

The full title of the book by Rod Sloane is

121 Marketing Ideas To Grow Your Small Business

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

Here is my review.

A list of ideas that lack structure

The title of the book summarises this book well. In general, there is a page to a page and a half of explanation after each tip that gives limited information about each.

From what I could see, they are listed in a random order whereas a book like Instant Cashflow has more tips separated into useful categories like generating leads, converting leads, increasing order values and getting the customers to buy again.

There is crossover between tips. Tip 25 is make business cards available to all staff, Tip 64 is about making your business card work for yourself while tip 101 is carry business cards at all times. This “haven’t we already talked about this” feeling happens a few more times. There isn’t an index that brings these together.

Finally, the book dates back to 2007 so it ignores more recent developments like social media. From the other reviews, I expected more.

Tips books can be a useful way to remind you that there’s plenty of more things that you could do to promote your business but I don’t think it’s the place to start if you’re new to business. You need a good grounding in the basic themes with a book like Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide, written by John Jantsch who wrote the first section of this book.

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The full title of this book by Jay Conrad Levinson is

“Guerrilla Marketing Attack: New Strategies, Tactics and Weapons for Winning Big Profits from Your Small Business“.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a Four Stars rating. This means I consider it to be in the range of good to very good.

Here is my review.

Old but interesting in a good way

This is an old book. It is copyrighted 1989 and should not be read before the most recent version of Guerrilla Marketing: Cutting-edge strategies for the 21st century.

Some of the author’s ideas have advanced considerably between the two books. As a certified guerrilla marketing coach, I found it interesting to step back in time. As guerrilla marketing has developed, the author has had to balance taking things out when adding more new ideas in. Reading this book brings some still relevant issues to my attention. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Robert Bly is

“The Perfect Sales Pitch: A Complete Do-it-Yourself Guide to Creating Brochures, Catalogs, Fliers and Pamphlets“.

In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I rated the book at the Four Stars level. This means I consider it to be good to very good.

Here is my book review.

Quaint but still helpful and relevant

This book was published in 1994. A great deal has changed in the twenty odd years since then in terms of the Internet, PCs, digital photographs and developments in the printing industry.

Some of it is quaint but there is plenty in here that is still relevant and useful. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Jay Abraham is

The Sticking Point Solution: 9 Ways to Move Your Business from Stagnation to Stunning Growth in Tough Economic Times

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.

Here is my book review.

Disappointing book, lacking structure and organisation

I’m a big fan of Jay Abraham. He received help from Internet marketing guru, Rich Schefren, and I’m a big fan of his too but I thought this book was very disappointing for the people writing it.

Of course, my expectations were high, perhaps too high because I think Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition is essential reading for entrepreneurs and business owners. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Seth Czerepak is

“The 24 Hour Marketing Miracle: The FIRST Marketing Book EVER to Be Backed Up By a 500% Money Back Guarantee“.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a FIVE STARS rating. I don;t give the five stars away easily and this means that I think it is EXCELLENT.

Here is my review.

A direct response marketing book so good you don’t want your competitors to read it

This book isn’t for everybody. The writing style is quite abrasive at the start and the author doesn’t pull any punches over what he thinks is right or wrong.

The book looks at direct response marketing and copywriting. While you may not want to do it yourself, I believe business owners need to know and understand the process. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by V.F. Joseph is

Marketing for Your Small Business: What an Advisor Would Tell You How to Attract Customers to Scale Up Your Business for Growth

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

Here is my review.

A very short book about marketing

This book says it contains everything a business advisor will tell you about getting customers. If true, you’re talking to the wrong business advisor.

It is a very short book which rushes through the following topics:

Marketing strategy
Market research
Understanding customers
Pricing
Advertising & promotion
Social media

I have three issues with the book

1- it is too short to be valuable. There are benefits in being concise but this goes too far.
2- some of the writing is clunky.
3- the subtitle indicates the book is for business owners who are in the process of scaling up (well beyond start up) but the book doesn’t tackle those issues. It can apply just as well to start ups.

There are some excellent marketing books for just a few pounds more if you’re after a general marketing book. I recommend Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch.

However, there’s a lot in favour of finding a book focused on your particular trade or profession. Just do an extra search on the author because there are some who churn out the same book and use the find and replace function in Microsoft Word to switch trades. These promise far more than they deliver in my experience.

Alternatively, dig deeper into the subjects you want extra help with because I recommend you master one technique and get it working consistently well before adding another technique for reaching out to customers.

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The full title of this book by David P. Doyle is

Adding Value To Marketing: The Role of Marketing in Today’s Profit Driven Organization

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave this book Two Stars.

Here is my review.

More of a book for academics than for practitioners or business owners

I misunderstood what this book was about. I hoped for something linking the concept of perceived customer value to the profitability of a business.

This book is actually a look at a number of issues that concerned the author about the state of marketing as an academic discipline in the late 1990s. [continue reading…]