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Book Review Water For Elephants

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Sure, advertising is easy if you're Pepsi or Apple, but what if you don't have millions of dollars to throw at TV and print ads? Any business owner out there looking to cut their marketing budget should look no further than Guerrilla Marketing for FREE – Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits by Jay Conrad Levinson.

We've all heard examples of businesses that spend nothing on marketing and yet never seem to be lacking in customers (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts comes to mind), but how do they do it? On the first page of the book Levinson lets you know that it is possible to grow a business without spending a dollar on marketing, but that it takes a lot of energy and time. Each of the simple tactics the book discusses (there are 100) are deceptively simple and, according to Levinson, have proven track records.

All that you need to get started is a telephone, a computer, a printer, business cards, and access to the internet. After that you will not spend another dollar. Techniques range from the relatively obvious, such as “write a marketing plan” and “have a website”, to not-so-obvious things such as “establish a referral program” and “get involved in your community.”

Many of the tactics involve giving to receive. In addition to doing volunteer work in your community, Levinson suggests joining local networking groups, giving away your product for free to non-profit organizations and schools, and doing free presentations on your area of expertise to local organizations. Levinson's tactics will not just help improve your bottom line, they'll help you become a more altruistic entrepreneur.

If there's one downside to the book, it's that some of the techniques involving computers are outdated. For example, Levinson suggests advertising on free online classified sites. That may have worked years ago, but these days those sites are covered in spam and I doubt that any business would gain anything from listing on them. The book was written in 2003, so most of the techniques are still pretty valuable, but there's just a few that stand out as infeasible in 2006.

When reading Guerrilla Marketing for FREE by Jay Conrad Levinson, I found myself constantly putting it down and jotting down ideas that could help supercharge my business. Levinson truly invokes your creative juices. And the best part is that all of the techniques cost you NOTHING. This is a no-brainer purchase for all entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Book Review Water For Elephants

'The elephant in the room' is that unseen creature that everyone knows is there. It is a harbinger of bad and distasteful information. Authors Steven Vannoy and Craig Ross use this elephant idiom to describe all of the bad practices so beloved by even the largest of corporations. Using their experience as management consultants within a very diverse set of industries they share their techniques and strategies for creating corporate cultures that are harmonious, creative, and forward headed in direction.

In general I do not like business books, they tend to be very dry and coma inducing. Stomp The Elephant is a little different. They have included some aspects that I can only call masterful, many of the concepts they explore are also explained in the home life setting. Dealing with kids, dogs, wives, and all of the other things that life includes. You don't have to be a captain of industry to take advantage of these concepts.

This cleverly avoids the big mistake that many books make, the concepts may be sound but they seem to only apply to the CEO, what about the poor guy slogging away in the mail room?

In fact I liked some of the concepts in Stomp The Elephant so much that I decided to take them out for a test drive. I won't go into the details, but it did involve an important, well at least to me important, business situation. So far the results have been spectacular. I guess I am a convert!

I hear you ask, is this more 'Snake Oil?' I would say no. In fact the best way I can describe it is in a quote by Patrick Swayze from the rambunctious movie Road House, "Be nice." Be nice to folks around you, be nice to yourself.

OK, Stomp The Elephant is a little more complex than my two word summary, but in my mind that really is the crux. Pointing fingers, assigning blame, and having a negative reaction is what most people do when faced with a problem, change, or challenge. However this reaction is wrong, it does nothing to solve the problem, but much to compound it, this is a destructive direction to move in. Don't dwell on the problem, but focus on the solution. Don't fixate on what failed, rather explore what aspects worked.

In some ways this is rather like the Roman God Janus. Janus is the god of gates and doors, and is represented by two faces, one looking forward through the door, the other looking backward at the gate. We too have that ability, we can focus of the problem, which is looking backward, or focus on the solution which is looking forward.

Things will happen that take you by surprise, the question is how will you react? Will you take the low road and be negative, or take the high road and find the solution?

You can pick up your copy of Stomp The Elephant In The Office from Amazon, there is also a Stomp the Elephant web site that you might enjoy visiting.

(Originally published at Blogger News Network, and reprinted with permission of the author, Simon Barrett).

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About Author

Both Adam Mcfarland & Simon Barrett are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Adam Mcfarland has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Based Business, Photography and Entertainment Guide. Adam McFarland owns - Lists that can be edited at any time from any place in the world. Email, print, check from your mobile phone, subscribe via RSS, and sh. Adam Mcfarland's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.

Simon Barrett has sinced written about articles on various topics from Auto Insurance, Entertainment Guide and Writing. Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for an. Simon Barrett's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.

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