andreweverett360 Book Review, Writing

Everybody Writes

everybody-writes


Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
by Ann Handley

Everybody Writes is a catchy title, although a more accurate one would be Writing Tips for Content Marketing.

Here’s the secret formula: “The multiplication signs are important, because if the value of any one of these things (Utility, Inspiration, or Empathy) is zero, then the sum of your content is a big fat zero, too… Utility x Inspiration x Empathy = Quality Content.” I think she means product—not sum—but I like the idea.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Everyone’s a Critic

everyones-a-critic


Everyone’s a Critic: Winning Customers in a Review-Driven World
by Bill Tancer

I must admit that I approached this book with a certain bias.  Having read a lot of Amazon reviews, it becomes apparent there are a lot of games being played in the world of online reviews. Bill Tancer acknowledges the shenanigans, but focuses on using customer reviews to drive revenue and to provide competitive intelligence.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers

traction


Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers
by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares

“Almost every failed startup has a product. What failed startups don’t have are enough customers.”

“Traction is a sign that something is working. If you charge for your product, it means customers are buying. If your product is free, it’s a growing user base.” Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares draw from their own startup experience as well as interviews with some 40 other founders and marketing experts. The book starts with five foundation chapters followed by chapters explaining each of the 19 traction channels.

PayPay founder Peter Thiel says, “It is very likely that one channel is optimal. Most businesses actually get zero distribution channels to work. Poor distribution—not product—is the number one cause of failure.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Outside In

outside-in


Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business
by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine

“Customer experience is how your customers perceive their interactions with your company. Once you understand that, you can manage your business from the outside in… To achieve the full potential of customer experience as a business strategy… you must manage from the perspective of your customers, and you must do it in a systemic, repeatable, and disciplined way.”

The benefits of providing exceptional customer experience are “higher revenues resulting from better customer retention, greater share of wallet, and positive word of mouth, plus lower expenses due to happier customers who don’t run up your service costs.” One example from the book is a $1.7 billion per year savings in customer service costs and bill credits as a result of Sprint simplifying its confusing plan options.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Contagious

contagious


Contagious: Why Things Catch On
by Jonah Berger

Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has studied why certain ideas and products get talked about and shared more than others. He refers to the “psychology of sharing” and identifies six common attributes: Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Stories.

Berger puts the hype of viral marketing in context. “Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 percent to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.” However, “Research by the Keller Fay Group finds that only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online…

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andreweverett360 Art, Book Review

A Gallery Without Walls

a-gallery-without-walls


A Gallery Without Walls: Selling Art in Alternative Venues
by Margaret Danielak

“This book is about selling art in alternative venues and in innovative, cost-effective ways” based on the author’s experience as an artist’s representative. What I like most about this book is that it opens the door to nontraditional sales channels, so you are not competing in the same sandbox with everyone else.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Marketing Above the Noise

marketing-above-the-noise


Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters
by Linda J. Popky

Grounded in fundamentals and guided by strategic objectives, Linda Popky puts the hype around social media and big data in perspective. “It’s time to move the discussion away from today’s latest hot marketing tools and tactics to what really counts: convincing customers to trust you with their business—not just once, but time and time again.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

The Brand Challenge

the-brand-challenge


The Brand Challenge: Adapting Branding to Sectorial Imperatives
Edited by Kartikeya Kompella

The Brand Challenge consists of four general branding topics followed 11 sector-specific chapters, namely: luxury, retail, business-to-business (B2B), media, financial services, non-profits, fashion, hotels, cities, technology, and football (soccer). Each chapter is written by a different author.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Marketing

Fans Not Customers

fans-not-customers


Fans Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World
by Vernon W. Hill II with Bob Andelman

Vernon W. Hill II founded Commerce Bank in 1973. In 2007, the bank “was sold to Toronto-based TD Bank for $8.5 billion, producing a 30-year, 23 percent annual shareholder return. Everyone profited, including shareholders and team members.” In 2010, he co-founded Metro Bank, bringing the same service culture to British banking. In Fans Not Customers he reveals the secret sauce of his business model. This book is about branding, differentiation, corporate culture, and organic growth, but the dominant theme is providing exceptional customer service.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Creativity

A Technique for Producing Ideas

a-technique-for-producing-ideas


A Technique for Producing Ideas
by James Webb Young

This concise booklet was first published in the 1940s by James Webb Young, who became vice president of the advertising firm J. Walter Thompson and the first chairman of The Advertising Council. He wrote it in response to the question, “How do you get ideas?”

Before explaining the process, Young presents two principles.

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