Books

Mar 28 2012

EBook Week Continues with a Freebie

New Here? Learn Why We Really Don’t Think Coaching is BS.

It seemed like quite a while ago we issued ourselves the 20 Minute EBook Challenge. Can we write a book in 20 Minutes?

The answer was…yes. Heck, anyone can write a book in 20 Minutes. Right?

That being said, we thought we’d let you see the results – and, since we’re really big fans of the Amazon Kindle platform, we’re using their FREE promotion thing today.

The 20 Minute Motivation EBook is Free Today.

You have to go to Amazon Kindle Store to grab your copy.

We’d love to get your thoughts – or, even better, love to have you, too, take the 20 Minute EBook Challenge.

Oh, and if you missed the first book as part of EBook Week, take a look.

(And the other EBook – on Growing Businesses – is here, also on Kindle. And it’s FREE – IF you’re an Amazon Prime member.)

Mar 24 2012

It’s EBook Week Here at Headquarters

Last week, we were all over Amazon. This week, we’re launching not one…not two…but three different EBooks.

We love our Act Now button

We’ve thought of ourselves here at Area 224 Headquarters as something in-between. Not really an Internet Marketing shop. Not totally a Corporate Communications firm, either.

But, being in the middle of both things is pretty cool, we think – we’ve been able to watch how both sides try to tackle communications issues large and small. And we’ve tried to share that knowledge with you.

Which is Why This is EBook Week

First up: The Communicator’s Guide to Affiliate Marketing. This book is written for you if…

You’re in a Communications role – maybe an in-house marketing person, maybe a writer on your own, maybe someone who spins words into phrases for a living. OR
You’re a small business person – and you’re looking to augment your income by getting into the Affiliate Marketing world. OR
You’re in ANY sort of gig – and you’ve heard about Affiliate Marketing – but you’re not convinced it’s right for you. Or you don’t know where or how to get started.

So, you should give some serious thought to buying this book – if you’re any of the above.

Use the button below – it will take you straight to PayPal, where you can get the book for a price that won’t break the bank – but will give you a kick start in the world of Affiliate Marketing. (And stay tuned – a new EBook coming on Wednesday, and another one on Friday.)

Mar 21 2012

Growing Business – not Small Business – is the Term to Use

We wrote another book, and, if you have an Amazon Prime membership, it’s free.

Talk about perspective: twice in the last couple weeks I got a serious dose of it. First, there was a post from Redhead Writing, suggesting that business owners need to stop calling themselves “freelancers.” Upshot – act like a real business.

Then, there was a discussion with a colleague who said basically the same thing – but put quite a bit differently:

“Let’s say I have a business with revenue of $2 Million. It’s throwing off earnings of $400K for the owner. Is that ‘small?'”

Perception is Reality.

Six Biggest Marketing Mistakes — Dave's Book, Available on Amazon

We put the finishing touches on another book – there’s the cover over there – and we think a few of the mistakes can be avoided without too much effort.

But we know there’s a little danger in the general approach of “acting bigger than you actually are.”

Culture is Important – Especially with a Growing Business

When I look back at the Six Mistakes in the book, I’m struck by how, even for the tiny shop, Culture – that thing that’s tough to pin down – is pretty vital to nail.

Hey, it’s okay if you’re a jeans and a T-shirt culture. But are you marketing your business to match that culture? Is it just appearance? Are you paying lip service to the “not now, I’m coding, dude” thing, or is that how you and your team rolls.

Back with Startup Number One – We Got that Right

Sure, I’m certain that we didn’t do everything right with my first startup – if we did, I’d still have the business. But the culture thing – positioning ourselves as an important part of the higher education recruitment process – matched the sorts of things we said, the people we worked with, and the events we attended.

Enough About Me: Read My Book

The book is something you can get through rather quickly – and that’s by design. I’d rather you learn something and then go start doing it, than have you study over and over and try to figure out how to implement.

Here’s a link to the Six Mistakes Book again. Free for Amazon Prime members. Everyone else – it won’t set you back a ton.

Feb 28 2012

The Three Books Every Marketer Needs

Today we’re talking about books that marketers should have on their shelf. Did you know we wrote one for the Kindle platform called SEO Samurai? Here’s a link – but, it’s a Kindle version, so it won’t fit on a shelf.

I’ll admit to being at this online-meets-traditional marketing thing for a few years now. 6 to be exact – back in 2006, I was part of the team that launched a web portal for higher education called U Sphere.

I often tell folks that I reached a point where I was either going to (a) build a business or (b) get an MBA. I chose (a) – but that didn’t mean I wasn’t committed to constant improvement. So I went down the path of seeking out books that could teach me things about how the other half worked.

Publishing has changed in a revolutionary fashion in the past 6 years – traditional book sales methods are out the window, and it seems like just everyone has an ebook of some sort.

Here, then, are three books that, IMHO, have stood the test of time: they are the three that I keep on my shelf, refer to almost constantly, and, likely, may stand the test of time.

1. The 4-Hour Workweek, by Timothy Ferriss

4-Hour Workweek Book — Photo from Dave's Bookshelf

This is the book I recommend more than any other. And this is the one that gets the most eyerolls, too.

The takeaway from reading the cover is that you can design a lifestyle that enables you to spend no more than four hours a week working – and then you can spend the rest of your time lazing on a beach.

The reality is that Mr. Ferriss invested a lot of TIME – he was working 80 hours a week at his first startup – before figuring out that TIME = MONEY.

The Marketer can learn TONS from the book – even if it’s just to maximize efforts on the right sorts of things, and stop worrying about the wrong sorts of things.

Marketer’s Takeaway: This is actually a book about ROI. Might be Return on TIME Invested, but it is definitely worthwhile from that standpoint alone.

2. Business Model Generation, by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur

This book will change your thinking, and here’s how:

Business Model Generation Book — Photo from Dave's Bookshelf

Any business process, any department, any piece of an overall cog MUST understand how the other pieces fit. If this book does anything for you, it will help you raise your BS detector.

To be direct: I have quickly run many a startup through their methodology – the Business Model Canvas – and found them to be sorely lacking in a few key areas. This ALONE can save you, the marketer, a ton of headaches.

(Doing client work for the past six years has also meant that I have turned down opportunities to work with businesses; sometimes, I have used the methods in this book to figure out that a potential client doesn’t have a business model that will make it.)

Marketer’s Takeaway: This is a visually stunning book and walks you through the iterative process of creating and sustaining business models.

3. groundswell, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Groundswell Book — Guess where this photo's from?

This is the ultimate social media marketing book.

Seriously.

Written when Twitter had just been created – it’s that old – the upshot is that the technologies will continue to evolve – but people have certain tried-and-true behaviors online that marketers can leverage for maximum benefit.

We may have shared the acronym “POST” more often than any one piece in our years of doing this online stuff. People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology – in that order. The authors’ opinion: companies will put the “T” first, and chase a shiny object (Twitter, Pinterest, et al) before figuring out who they want to connect with in the first place.

Marketer’s Takeaway: Cookie-cutter strategies rarely work. Don’t sell a bill of goods based on the next new thing.

Great books are out there – and we read as many new ones as we can get our hands on. But these three, we have found, stand the test of time.

Are there books you would recommend for a marketer’s bookshelf?

Dec 21 2011

Top 26 Of Everything for 2011

Lists are Awesome! Here’s Ours.

1. Bacon

This was the Year of Bacon. Wasn’t it?

Wait, it wasn’t?

2. Cats

If you were a Vegetarian Dog Person, this was NOT your year. Just sayin.

3. Google+

While discussing Bacon and Cats, we should talk about Google+. It’s like Facebook, but it’s from Google, so it’s, well, plus. Here’s a link to Dave’s Google Plus Profile.

4. Francisco Rosales

He was kind enough to run our blog post on Holistic Social Media in September, but he makes this list by sharing so much awesome stuff on his site. (TIP: Visit his site today and learn which Social Media Blogs HE recommends. Here’s a link to the Top Social Media Blogs of 2011.

5. Books

Everyone seemed to either (a) come out with a book or (b) get a publishing deal. As a result, everyone is now talking about (c) how awesome everyone else’s book is and (d) where to pre-order their book. (e) Publishing is a wacky world. If you want to write one, learn what to do before you go down that path. Check out the Redhead Writing series on getting published.

6. 12 Most

We’d make this number 12 on our list, but, well, when you skip down you’ll see why we couldn’t. 12 Most: Great site, great lists. I don’t think they’ll run out of things to talk about anytime soon. 12 is a powerful number.

7. The Cloud

Want to make your startup really rock and roll? Make it Cloud-based. Put it in the Cloud. Use Cloud Computing to Solve a Problem. Say “cloud” over and over.

8. Queens of the Stone Age

Hey, if you re-released your first album, performed everywhere, and even showed up on No Reservations…

9. 9-9-9

Herman Cain, you glorious GOP Presidential Candidate you. By coming up with an interesting tax scheme – one that’s simple, memorable, and yet convoluted; I’m paying 9%, but am I doing it three times? Am I really paying 27%? Or is it 9%, then 9% of what’s left, then another…I guess when he unsuspends the campaign, we’ll know.

10. As in ‘Perfect 10’ of PR Stupidity

What Not to Do: Penn State. (Rather than talk about it ad nauseum, here’s a link to the Prevent Child Abuse website. Help a kid, learn what you can do, learn the warning signals.)

11. 11-11-11

This date comes around once a century. Though we will have 12-12-12 next December. And 13-13-13 the December after that. Right?

12. 12 Minute Marketing

Rick Strater and I worked really hard to bring you a dynamite program that trains small business people on everything they need to know to become better marketers. Not sure if the course is right for you? Check out a sample lesson on the site. One of my favorites: Holistic Social Media.

13. Color: The Expensive Launch That…

I remember hearing about this and downloading the app for my Android phone. Then what? Here’s a link to what the site is up to now. I’m not even gonna ask how much money they spent to launch. (Canadian Readers will point out that they spelled “colour” incorrectly.)

14. DJ and Danny and Chris

Three guys I like a lot for their smarts and no-nonsense approach to marketing, business and life. DJ Waldow, Danny Brown, Christopher Penn.

15. IRL 2011

Got to knock a few people off of the “hey, I’d like to meet them in real life” list this year. Claudia Anderson, Leyla Arsan, Lisa Pugliese, Paige Worthy, Amber Naslund. To name a few. (Five. To name five.)

16. The Launch of the Year

Wow, this one stumps even me. Which launch from 2011 was the most noteworthy, newsworthy, tweetworthy?

It’s this: the Launch of the Year. Rebecca Black. So sorry, but 13,000,000+ views. 13 Million Views of a Video that is Horrible, and a Girl that Can’t Sing.

17. If You Google Ron Paul

Don’t just Google Ron Paul, but Google the phrase “If you Google Ron Paul.” You get this gem.

httpv://youtu.be/FmKwlE3fO-Y

(NOTE: Two straight unwatchable videos of unlistenable songs. You’re welcome.)

18. Internet Marketers

Even if you think there’s a good deal of schtick, there’s something to learn from these guys. Well, not these guys, just this guy: Frank Kern. You’re welcome. Again.

19. Your 2012

You are going to make things happen in 2012, right? You know what you want to accomplish. You have objectives – for your business, for your personal life. So 2012 is where it all starts. Correct? CORRECT.

20. That’s All We’ve Got

Really, there are better things we should be doing – not making up lists, or doing more research on the other 6 things we should add. So…

We’ll keep the title because 26 is a more interesting number than 20.

And, on that note, thanks for listening, reading, watching, and being there in 2011.

Go Get Em! Make it a Great Balance of 2011, and an Awesome 2012!