What these books have in common:  They’re hands-on, dollars-and-cents knowledge tomes that can fill your head with good information and your pockets with profits. 

 Creating Competitive Advantage: Give Customers a Reason to Choose You Over Your Competitors, by Jaynie L. Smith (2006), is one of those Wow! books that every business owner needs to read.  Here are just two of the many practical lessons Smith serves up:  (1) Do not compete on price.  When you do, says Smith, “you’re accepting commodity status.” And (2) your true competitive advantage is quantifiable.  Example:  “Great customer service” is a meaningless phrase, while, “We have a 95% customer satisfaction on eBay,” actually means something,

 Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell (2008) is a fun read that will get your mind outside the box, but in a logical, constructive way.   The key message is that success is not about innate talent, but about other factors.  One is sheer, hard work, which Gladwell refers to as the “10,000 Hour Rule.”

 He draws a direct connection between level of success and time dedicated to learning a skill.  For example, The Beatles’ phenomenal success can be attributed to the more than 1,200 performances they did early in their careers in the strip joints of Hamburg, Germany, playing sometimes seven days a week and up to ten hours a day.  Gladwell quotes The Beatles biographer Philip Norman writing about their time in Hamburg:  “They were no good on stage when they went there and they were very good when they came back….  They weren’t disciplined onstage at all before that.  But when they came back, they sounded like no one else.  It was the making of them.”

Marketing to the Social Web:  How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business, by Larry Weber (2009) is about the rules of the e-marketing game.  Weber points out that marketing used to mean bending, twisting, shouting, cajoling, sex-appealing, manipulating, and pleading to get people to BUY!  BUY!  BUY!  It was a one-way, top-down message. 

 No more.  And we can blame that on (or thank) the web.  “Today, 90 percent of the people who can avoid TV ads through TiVo, DVD recording, or the skip button on the VCR remote do so,” says Weber.     

 Today’s successful marketers are “aggregators,” not broadcasters.  They build experiences, along with buying opportunities.  The customers are in charge.  If we give them what they want – information, experiences and the power to buy what they want, when they want (even at 2:00 AM in their jammies, if they like) and how they want (online, instore, inhome, at the beach) — they will buy … eventually.

 Selling for Geniuses: Selling When Selling Isn’t in Your Title, by eight successful small business people from across the country, including Wisconsin’s Dan Paulson, president of InVision Business Development (2009). 

 What makes this book stand out is that every page is loaded with practical info.  If you read Selling for Geniuses and don’t come away with a dozen or more money-making ideas, go back and read it again. You weren’t paying attention.

 So, go ahead, when you do take a break this summer, soak up the sun and the ideas in these must-read business books.  Then get back to work.  And as always: work hard, make money, have fun!

Q # 1 keeps coming back a reassuring “not bad.”  As for Q # 2, here are some recent recommendations.   Interestingly, most are about attitude and how one views life, work, and success.  In other words, get your head right and great things will follow.

The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber, keeps coming up high on everyone’s list as a good introductory book about entrepreneurship and small business.      

Less is More, by Jason Jennings, who analyzes top performing large U.S. firms … and arrives at the conclusion that they are successful because they operate like small businesses. 

You’ll See it When You Believe It, by Wayne Dyer, which is a motivational book that shows us how our attitudes and thoughts can bring us the things we desire. 

Bad Leadership, by Barbara Kellerman, written on the premise that we can learn a lot from bad leaders. 

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, which convincingly demonstrates that great decision makers aren’t necessarily those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of quickly, often at a glance, analyzing the very few but key factors that matter. 

Thinking for a Change, by John C. Maxwell,  examines 11 ways effective and successful people approach their lives and their work. 

And here are three of my all-time favorites:   

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, a novel that is my all-time favorite book about the irrefutable benefits of capitalism and destructiveness of do-gooder socialism.  This book is the business bible that made me a successful capitalist.     

Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone.  This 50-year-old classic is the single book that turned my head around from failure to success.  Though some of the stories may seem a bit hokey in 2009, the principles are timeless. 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven Covey, is the first and best of Covey’s books.  The clear-headed, insightful review of seven common sense “habits” that make successful people successful also makes it an absolute must read.

P.S.  In the name of shameless self-promotion, I must point out that I do have a few books of my own, including The Back to Basics Book of Selling, A Guide to A Successful Sales Career, as well as a new one on money management, The Back to Basics Book of Money!  A Couple’s Guide to Financial Peace, both of which I think are pretty good … though even I’m not arrogant enough to include them on the same list as some truly great classics. 

Enjoy and keep on reading, learning, growing, and profiting. 

– John R. Ingrisano, The Freestyle Entrepreneur
 * * *

I haven’t been able to put it down.  Besides Steve’s incredibly blatant, readable style (by his own admission, what he doesn’t know about cheese isn’t worth knowing), he reminds all business owners that becoming the best at what you do — even in the supposedly bland grocery biz — is exciting, incredibly exciting.
 
But what caught my attention for this little rambling of mine today is how he described his bosses/partners and their tough-headed, old-school approach to business.  Read on below.  Oh, and work hard.  Make money.  Have fun.  — jri  
 
“What do I mean by old-school?  You coddle
no one who works for you.  You stack it high
and sell it cheap….  Never give people a raise
to inspire them; give a raise only when it’s
been earned.  There’s no such thing as a half-
day.  A workday is all day.  And eight hours is
not a workday — it’s merely two-thirds of a
workday. Holidays are workdays.  Take time
off when it’s not so busy.  Plow as much
money as necessary back into the business
for improvements or whatever; you’ll get it
back in spades.  Trust no one.  Everyone is
capable of stealing (and people often do
steal).  Never make the same mistake twice.
One way to avoid this? — Never give second
chances.  That means never forgive a shoplifter –
once shoplifters are caught, never allow them
back in, no matter how contrite they are.  Never
rehire someone you’ve fired.  Vendors too: if one
cheats you, he’s out.  Forever.  That’ll teach ‘im.”
            –    Steven Jenkins
                   (The Food Life)

           – Virgil

The Capitalist Manifesto leaves no doubt that it is the producers, the hard workers, the capitalists who bring about prosperity, while statists do nothing more than feed off those who produce wealth and, in the end, destroy the system itself. 

Most of all, it turns on its head some things we once assumed to be true.  Example:  The Industrial Revolution did not impoverish men, women, and children in England.  On the contrary, though it was a harsh system, with awful working conditions, it was a step up from the grueling, hopeless poverty of rural England of the time. 

Another example:  Capitalism does not call for a lack of law or a dog-eat-dog way of life.  Instead, it protects individuals and their rights.  Writes Bernstein:  ”A hallmark of capitalism is a rule of law that protects private property, safeguards investments and enforces contracts.  The fundamental moral principle upon which capitalism is based is that individuals have inalienable rights and that governments exist solely to protect those rights.  Capitalism requires the limiting of governmental power to maximize the freedom of the individual.”

These are just some of the documented ideas Bernstein presents.  Check out The Capitalist Manifesto.  It’s well worth the read.    

Money: 46%
Unchallenged: 23%
Too challenged: 21%
Dead company: 21%
Other (or in addition to above): 29%

I was surprised to see money so far out in front. Certainly money is important and it’s a very quantitative method of judging ones career against peers. However, (and don’t tell my wife…), I’d accept a small reduction in pay if someone could place me in an ideal work situation / opportunity. Absolutely.

For me, an ideal situation might entail:

• Control of my own destiny. The sky is the limit. Nothing prohibiting my success except myself.
• Little / no politics; a meritocracy
• Challenging
• Flexible schedule-I don’t mind working some evenings and weekends but let me choose the timing. And don’t yank me across town for an ineffective meeting that could have been a 10 minute phone call.
• Strong compensation. Perhaps this compensation is tied partially to performance: bonused.
• Working with sharp, motivated, talented folks
• Learning new skills, businesses, technologies, well…things
• Not in a cubicle…so impersonal. Hey, I’m not  cattle.
• Keep me in the loop on company happenings and ask my opinion. Some influence.
• Close to home. Travel does not align with raising a family right now. Telecommuting works for me.

Gee, I don’t want much, do I? Well, I’ve worked for 7 firms in 11 years so I know what I want/need. Now it’s just a matter of finding it. I’ve come to the realization this situation may not exist–at least in the traditional work world. Hmmmmm.

Why do top employees quit? I place most of the blame on managers. It’s not hard to identify someone who’s not hitting on all cylinders and to understand why–as long as managers actually listen. Help employees focus on tasks that align with talents (I strongly subscribe to this philosophy from Marcus Buckingham introduced in Now, Discover Your Strengths). Hire folks that fit in to your culture. Don’t do dumb stuff (this is a blog post in itself but the H-P privacy debacle comes to mind; spending millions on custom software when a $500 off the shelf commercial product will do the job; Enron; HealthSouth; I could go on…).

I say, "help me, help you". Get the BS out of my way and let me use my natural talents to deliver value. Don’t charge me with tasks I’m not good with. Don’t put artificial barriers in my way. Treat me like a valued friend. Grant me equity in the firm based on my performance. Point me to your best opportunities that challenge me. That’s how you’ll keep me happy–and keep me on your team.

I’ll let you know when I find my utopia.

Jeff…

Update: George Anders writes on this topic at the WSJ this morning. I think his article "What Is Success, Anyway?" nails the [apparent] conflict between money and success.