John Jantsch in his new book “The Referral Engine – Teaching your business to market itself” , talks about exactly that. Somewhere in the archive of my blog, you will find the book review of his first business book bestseller, “Duct Tape Marketing“!

I started reading his book this morning – big mistake – I did not put it down all day. With this book, John has established himself as the undisputed master of business referral writing, best of all there is a system to referral marketing. John takes you on a tour from the psychology of human referral behavior, in order to gain social credit in your social group, to the implementation of these findings into a easy to follow marketing model for your business, not only to your benefit but that of your customers too.

This has to be one of the best books I have ever read on referral marketing and can fully recommend – or better refer – it to anyone with passion for business.

In keeping with Adrian’s strong business values, to win the book you need to leave a comment here, on my blog, telling us why customer care is vital for business success. The chosen answer will win this great business book, that I would recommend to you all!

So, just tell us what’s so important about customer satisfaction, for your chance to win.

Over one hundred entrepreneurs contributed to this book meaning that it is jam-packed full of very good business advice for almost every kind of business scenario you could find yourself in. Just looking through the contents will confirm the vast spectrum of business advice given from the first to the last chapter. Each chapter is followed with a “Smarta in five” roundup of the chapter – which is handy to distill the previous content down to five bullet points.

The nice thing about this book, is that it has insights from over 100 people who have been there, done it, got the t-shirt and are still doing it. This, in my mind, makes this book into a valuable resource for anyone running or thinking of starting a small business today. This book will provide you invaluable knowledge born out of many years experience by some of the most successful entrepreneurs around, and as such a great guide when it come to setting up or growing your business.

I can highly recommend this book, I am certainly going to use it to look at some of the examples given for my business. Well done to the people from Smarta!

Confused? Fasten your seat belt and read the book and find out why Zsa Zsa Gabor, “….wanted a man who only has to be kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a multi millionaire?” Find out why this book is not only for women and why it is so relevant for you and your entrepreneurial endeavours.

Loenora, with the help of her “underwhelming” helper Tony Robinson, cuts through the chase, tells it how it is and then delivers the distilled business truth in a fashion that entertains as much as it is relevant.

“Stripping” for freedom paints a picture of brutally honest business acumen and asks you how much you really want it – and by getting you to strip your ambitions bare in the process of reading, this book leaves you in no doubt on who has to make it happen – You!

If you plan to read one book this holiday season, make it “Stripping for Freedom” – you will by mightily entertained with humorous insights, exposed yet practical business knowledge whilst being delighted and amused with the double meaning of words. I guess as you can tell, I loved this book, ….. just don’t tell her about the fleece – you must promise!

Running a business is one of those things like driving a car, when you sit behind the wheel and start the engine you usually know where you are going. For some reason with all the changes in our business lives, such as the rise of social media, traditional marking failing rapidly and the importance of cloud computing and small business infrastructure, some business owners find it difficult to navigate to business success.

Adrian Swinscoe’s book – Rare Business – is a road map for anyone in business today; big, small and micro business entrepreneurs alike will find this book a relevant and even thrilling read. It seems to me that Adrian has managed to create a jargon free and back-to-business book covering fundamental business needs and know-how, incorporating all these confusing new business paradigms. He deals with cash-flow and new business problems by likening them to the good old “There’s a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza”, you may remember it from your childhood – Adrian calls this:

“The Hole in My Bucket” Syndrome.

The three main pillars of the book centre around customer focus, your people and your leadership. He develops a most compelling narrative that allows you to refocus your business on your customers, and people, with the focus always brought back to how this will bring you business success. Customers are not only great repeat customers, they are great sales people for your business, and better still they don’t cost you a penny! Adrian makes this notion relevant in the Social Media Age, by likening it to online word-of-mouth marketing.

You will put this book down and think, ” Could it really be that easy?” In my opinion it is really can be that easy. What a great read, I loved it.

PS. I have a second signed copy by the author to give away to one of my readers. To win, just leave a comment on why you think customers focus is so important – the best comment will win the copy of this great book. If you’re not lucky to win this copy of the book, it is available to buy from Adrian’s website here.

Disclosure: Yours truly is interview in this book, which makes it even more valuable of course

The structure of a family business as a business model has been one of my all time favourites, after all over 80 % of all businesses around the world are family businesses. Running a family business can be a very stable and fulfilling way to run a business, as it grants the family members a great deal of personal freedom and lifestyle choices.

When I first was sent the book – The Family Business Guide by Frederick D. Lipman – by the publishers for review, I was expecting a typical small business guide, with a slight slant on family business. I could not have been further of the mark.

“Everything You Need to Know to Manage Your Business from Legal Planning to Business Strategies”

This really sums it up quite well, follow that by reading the small CV about the author and you will realise this is a hard hitting, very pragmatic approach to family business, by one of the foremost legal experts in the US when it comes to all things family business. I know what you’re thinking now, legal…. not interested! That would be the wrong reaction if you’re interested or already run a family business. As Frederick D Lipman uses his vast personal experience to highlight issues like:

- Succession Planning

- Family Employment Agreements

- Family Shareholder Issues

All these are underpinned by real stories about family business successes and failures, worst & best practises – these stories for me are the best part of the book as they allow you to relate to the issues you encounter without the legal jargon. Yes, there are legal contract examples for you to consider, but what makes this book relevant are the case studies. This is also the reason why this book is relevant outside the US too, ignore the legal documents and immerse yourself in Frederick’s vast knowledge and first hand real life experience that spans decades of family business endeavours.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone, thinking about or running a family business. In fact after reading this book I’m even more convinced that a family business is a great way to start a business, just read the book – it will advance your thinking by a decade.

The Family Business Guide is available from a variety of outlets online, in both the UK and the US. It can be found here on Amazon – it really is well worth a read for everyone involved in, or thinking of starting a family business.

I’ve been reading a great little book by the wonderful Shama Hyder that goes in-depth about what you should be doing to establish a social media presence for your business. The book is called ‘The Zen of Social Media’ and is written in a way that makes the concept very easy to understand. It covers Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in a very thorough fashion and explains the differences between each of these and how to act appropriately on them. There is also a section about how to use on-line video websites such as YouTube to your advantage. 

Social media can be difficult for first-timers to understand but reading this book will make you aware of the potential pitfalls and also the numerous benefits that can be achieved. 

Emma also runs Enterprise Nation, a web site dedicated to home business, a great resource for anyone owning a home business and, to me at least, a natural extension to her wonderful book.

The book is divided into four sections:

• I. Business – finding the right idea, making a plan, sales and marketing, and managing your home business;
• II. Lifestyle – setting up your home office, balancing work and life commitments, and taking care of yourself;
• III. Technology – finding the right technology, working away from home, and building a home on the web;
• Appendices – next steps, glossary, useful links, profiled home businesses, and templates.

In short this book is a must read for anyone starting a home business. In this book Emma shows you how she did it and how you can do it too. At £8.44 it is a cheap investment into your future.

A practical, passionate, down to earth Home Business Must Read – I loved it. — ST.

• Time to spare? There are lots of easy ways to making extra cash in the evenings and at weekends.
• Space to spare? Make money out of your home.
• Got a skill? Turn your hobbies and creative talents into money.
• Unwanted clutter? Ways to make money, by selling it in novel ways.
• and hundreds more great little ideas.

The ISBN for this book is: 0-7499-2651-1, it’s worth a read, I loved it. ST.

John’s book is full of those moments, when he talks about ” A Solution to THE Small Business Problem“, marketing. His book fills any bootstrappers heart with joy as he takes you step-by-step to developing your own marketing plan. Along the way you will find many suggestions, like “Why the post office is a great resource” and many more.

Any if you’re thinking about marketing, you should consider this book. As John said:

“If you get nothing else from this book, get this: You are are in the marketing business! Marketing is an all-ecompassing outlook that must inform every activity of you business.”

I loved reading it and can recommend it to you. Duct Tape Marketing is available via John’s blog and Amazon in the US or UK. ST.