Tools For Success

Introducing the Tools For Success Podcast Media Center

dave — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:06:20 +0000

Listen to this short message from host Ken Inlow to hear what Tools For Success is all about, learn how to easily navigate around the site, and discover how you can connect, contribute, and grow! We’re excited you’re here and we hope you find Tools For Success to be an invaluable resource for your business.

To help build the Tools For Success community, please invite your friends, family, co-workers, chamber members, plus other business owners to join you here at our website. We want to feature you and others on the program, so we encourage you to contribute to the show and to invite other’s you know to do so as well.

Keith Wyche - Good is Not Enough (…and Other Unwritten Rules for Minority Professionals)

dave — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:59:26 +0000

You may have gone to the right schools, taken the right courses, made all the right moves in your career. But somehow it’s not working. You’re stuck, and nobody will tell you why. The doors of corporate America have opened wider than ever for minorities, but the cement ceiling is still thick.

The competition is brutal for everyone, but especially brutal if you are a member of a minority group. Luckily, there is a way out. Keith R. Wyche, a division president at a Fortune 500 company, has been there and broken through the cement ceiling, making him the perfect mentor for ambitious minorities at all levels of business.

In this book he tells stories of his own experience and those of some of the thousands of minorities he has counseled on how to overcome the (often hidden) obstacles to getting ahead in their careers. In Good Is Not Enough you’ll also gain insight from prominent minority executives at the highest levels of corporate America, such as Ken Chenault of American Express, Richard Parsons of Time Warner, Aylwin Lewis of Sears Holdings, and Lloyd Trotter of GE. Wyche reveals “the unwritten rules” such as:

• Know how others see you—because their perception can become your reality.
• Stay current to remain relevant—being a continuous learner is a must.
• Always have an “exit strategy”—it’s better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.

Robert Solomon - The Art of Client Services: 58 Things Every Advertising & Marketing Professional Should Know

dave — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:57:06 +0000

If you work with clients in any industry, The Art of Client Service is for you. If you work in an advertising or marketing agency, then this book is indispensable.

Distilling decades of experience, advertising executive Robert Solomon has compiled the definitive resource for advertising and marketing account executives: a fast-reading, pocket-size, actionable checklist of 58 essential ideas to help client service professionals improve their account management strategy and skills.

Now fully updated and revised, The Art of Client Service is geared to the entire account team — copy writers, art directors, and planners, researchers, media executives, support staff — anyone who works with clients. With brevity, levity, and clarity, Solomon recounts both successes and failures, and uses them to formulate fast-reading, actionable tips, including:

Know when to look it up; know when to make it up.
What happens when I screw up?
Respect what it takes to do great creative.
In a high-tech world, be low-tec.
Be brief, be bright, be gone.
How to write a letter of proposal
The Zen of PowerPoint.

You’ll also find new chapters on technology in advertising, the changing role of client service in an increasingly high-tech era, and an updated bibliography of essential reading.

Martin Yate - Knock ‘Em Dead 2008: The Ultimate Job Search Guide

dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:00:17 +0000

For more than 20 years, Martin Yate has been helping job seekers just like you achieve their ultimate career potential. In Knock ‘Em Dead 2008, you’ll find the latest on job market development, professional networking strategies, effective career-researching methods, and the expert advice that has benefited millions to date.

Whether you are searching for an entry-level position, changing professions, or climbing the corporate ladder, you’ll find the strategies and solutions you need to make the most of your specific situation, including how to:

* Structure your resume and cover letter for maximum impact
* Conduct a telephone interview
* Decide what to wear, say, and do during the face-to-face
* Negotiate the title and salary you deserve

There’s a reason the Wall Street Journal and USA Today praise this series as one of the best-it works. With celebrated career guru Martin Yate as your guide, you’ll nail the job you want in no time!

Tom Geller - Save My Home

dave — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:58:07 +0000

Many homeowners facing foreclosure don’t have to lose their homes. In fact, there are proven tactics for keeping your home—no matter the size of your debt and even if your mortgage is already in default. More than half of homeowners facing foreclosure didn’t ask their lender about these strategies. But it’s never too late.

Millions of Americans could lose their homes due to subprime mortgages. If you’re one of them—or if you fear you may become one of them—don’t panic. Save My Home! is the step-by-step guide to avoiding foreclosure. You’ll learn why lenders and banks don’t want to foreclose on your home and how you can use their reluctance to your advantage. You’ll also find:

* New methods to determine the true value of your home
* How to find hidden sources of equity
* The pros and cons of modifying existing loans
* Information to avoid scams

Dan Roam - Back of the Napkin: SOLVING PROBLEMS and SELLING IDEAS with PICTURES

dave — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:12:52 +0000

A bold new way to tackle tough business problems—even if you draw like a second grader

When Herb Kelleher was brainstorming about how to beat the traditional hub-and- spoke airlines, he grabbed a bar napkin and a pen. Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers.

Used properly, a simple drawing on a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or PowerPoint. It can help crystallize ideas, think outside the box, and communicate in a way that people simply “get”. In this book Dan Roam argues that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who swear they can’t draw.

Drawing on twenty years of visual problem solving combined with the recent discoveries of vision science, this book shows anyone how to clarify a problem or sell an idea by visually breaking it down using a simple set of visual thinking tools – tools that take advantage of everyone’s innate ability to look, see, imagine, and show.

THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN proves that thinking with pictures can help anyone discover and develop new ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and dramatically improve their ability to share their insights. This book will help readers literally see the world in a new way.

Pamela Skillings - Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams

dave — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:33:09 +0000

Does your corporate career leave you stressed out, burned out, or just plain bummed out? You’re not alone. The good news is that there’s a way out–and you’re holding it. Written by career expert and corporate escapee Pamela Skillings, Escape from Corporate America inspires the cubicle-bound and the corner-office-cornered to break free and create the career of their dreams–without going broke. With no-nonsense advice and unflagging humor, Skillings shows you how to

• assess your job’s “suck” factor–from terminal boredom to boss from hell
• identify your true calling–brainstorm fantasy careers and test-drive your dream jobs
• develop your Escape Plan–set goals, figure out your timing, and evaluate your finances and health insurance options
• find jobs that don’t bite–entrepreneurial corporate environments, energetic start-ups, the nonprofit sector, and flexible work options
• be your own boss–explore entrepreneurship and freelancing, assemble an advisory team, and start a business while you collect a paycheck
• follow your creative dreams–learn how to make time for your artistic passion and develop a plan to quit your day job
• overcome any obstacle–deal with fear, doubt, negative people, and other bumps along the road

Plus, Skillings shares success stories from dozens of corporate escape artists, including celebrity TV chef Andrea Beaman, Cranium CEO Richard Tait, and many others.

Full of practical strategies and fun-to-follow exercises, Escape from Corporate America will help disgruntled office workers everywhere find more meaningful, fulfilling careers.

David Meerman Scott - The NEW RULES of MARKETING & PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly

dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:07:52 +0000

The Internet has profoundly changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. But it has also changed the way businesses communicate with their customers (and those who they want to be customers). In the old days, companies could only communicate through the filter of expensive advertising or media ink placed by a PR firm. Today the rules have changed entirely.

The New Rules of Marketing and PR shows you how to leverage the potential that Web-based communication offers your business. Finally, you can speak directly to customers and buyers, establishing a personal link with the those who make your business work. You can reach niche buyers with targeted messages that cost a fraction of your big-budget ad campaign. Rather than bombard them with advertising they’ll likely ignore, you can focus on getting the right message to the right people at the right time.

When people visit your company’s Web site, they aren’t there to hear your slogan or see your logo again. They want information, interaction, and choice—and you’d be a fool not to give it to them. This one-of-a-kind guide to the future of marketing includes a step-by-step action plan for harnessing the power of the Internet, showing you how to identify audiences, create compelling messages, get those messages to the right people, and lead those consumers into the buying process. Including a wealth of compelling case studies and real-world examples, this is a practical guide to the new reality of PR and marketing.

Michael J. Panzner - Financial Armageddon

dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:07:18 +0000

From desperate interest rate cuts and chaos in global financial markets to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and a fast-crumbling tower of public and private debt, Wall Street insider Michael J. Panzner exposes the cracks in the dike, the looming economic threats, and the vast array of promises and obligations that will ultimately go unfulfilled.

How did we get to this place, and how can we protect ourselves from the fallout?

This revised and updated edition features a new introduction by the author on the predictions that have come to pass since the book was first published. It also provides a financial bomb shelter for every American by identifying the most pressing risks we face today as well as what we can do to survive the crisis:

* How an unraveling economy will affect each one of us
* When to sell, what to buy, and where to invest as the crisis unfolds
* The social, political, and geopolitical fallout from widespread financial upheaval

Everyone must learn of the disaster-in-the-making so they can protect themselves, their families, and their economic well-being—before it’s too late. Financial Armageddon is today’s call to action.

Guy Kawasaki - The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

dave — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:30:33 +0000

When you get pregnant, you read What to Expect When you’re Expecting. When you get laid off, you read What Color is Your Parachute?. When you get entrepreneurial, you read The Art of the Start.

This book is a weapon of mass construction. My goal was to provide the definitive guide for anyone starting anything. It builds upon my experience as an evangelist, entrepreneur, and most recently, as a venture capitalist who found, fixed, and funded startups.

The book is as relevant for two guys in a garage starting the next Google as social activists trying to save the world. GIST: cuts through the theoretical crap, theories and gets down to the real-world tactics of pitching, positioning, branding, recruiting, bootstrapping, and rainmaking.

Nick Romer - Make Millions Selling on QVC: Insider Secrets to Launching Your Product on Television and Transforming Your Business (and Life) Forever

dave — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:20 +0000

Make Millions Selling on QVC is more than just a guide to getting you and your products in front of millions of potential customers; it’s an inside look at how the largest television retailer in the world operates. The information and advice found throughout these pages will give you a distinct edge in this competitive business and allow you to exceed your professional expectations and enjoy the success you deserve.

Vahan Janjigian - Even Buffett Isn’t Perfect: What You Can-and Can’t-Learn from the World’s Greatest Investor

dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:00:29 +0000

A contrarian look at how Warren Buffett thinks about investing and related issues

Warren Buffett is the most successful and revered investor of all time. His ability to consistently find undervalued companies has made him one of the world’s richest men.

Despite many previous books about him, it’s rare to find an objective assessment—one that praises him when appropriate, but also recognizes that even Buffett makes mistakes. For instance, is he right to call for higher taxes and an end to earnings guidance? Should Buffett fans copy his avoidance of technology stocks?

In this penetrating look at how Buffett thinks, Vahan Janjigian shows readers how to learn from the master’s best moves while avoiding strategies that don’t apply to small investors. And he explains Buffett’s favorite valuation methodology, the discounted cash flow model, and how it can significantly reduce the odds of overpaying for a stock.

William J. Holstein - Manage the Media (Don’t Let the Media Manage You)

dave — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:10:25 +0000

In this book, William Holstein argues that two major trends have completely transformed the way that chief executive officers have to think of communicating - the rise of shareholder activist coalitions, and the power of Internet-based communications. He contends that CEO’s have to rethink the way both they themselves and their entire organizations communicate. They need to shape both their message architecture and the the playing field of ideas. To do anything less, Holstein says, is to let others define their company’s future.

Christopher Vollmer - Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control

dave — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:29:17 +0000

The Future is Now-Get Ready to Reap the Profits.
We stand at the beginning of a consumer-centric age-an era with potentially enormous returns for leaders in marketing, advertising and media-if they get their approach right. The new media environment is “always on,” digitally accessible to audiences from anywhere at any time, and responsive to their control. As consumers get used to this, the world of marketing is shifting to one of constant experimentation, fine-grained insight through new metrics, and continual innovation of the visible advertising message, as well as the changing business infrastructure beneath it.
The thought leaders at Booz & Company and strategy+business magazine have collaborated to create an up-to-the-minute exploration of this turbulent yet promising new digital era and its implications for corporate executives and marketing and advertising professionals. Giving you profiles of the best in the business and deep explorations of the most effective innovations and strategies in the marketing world, Always On introduces you to the companies that are reshaping the ways we will reach customers in the future.
Their secrets are in this book, including how to:

Match your messages to the right media
Learn the leading strategies of consumer-centric pioneers
Discover the lessons of laggard marketers
Explore viral marketing
Track advertising spending shifts
Capture emerging opportunities in a world of constant change
Master the new marketing metrics
Engage your customers on their terms

Figuring out the best mix of strategies for any brand requires experimentation, networking, innovation, analytics, and risk taking-qualities that have never been adequately nurtured in a marketer’s traditional career path. Always On puts you at the front of the race for successful innovation, with the latest successful approaches and techniques-essential competitive knowledge in a marketing and advertising world that never quits.

Jack Miller - Simply Success: How to Start, Build, and Grow a Multimillion-Dollar Business the Old-Fashioned Way

dave — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:14:20 +0000

In Simply Success, the former chairman and founder of Quill Corporation presents key lessons of entrepreneurship, including how to get started, set a vision, finance the business, and build a successful corporate culture. Based on his own experience, Miller shares his most hard-earned lessons, so you can avoid learning the same lessons the painful way. For entrepreneurs young and old, or even if only dream of starting a business one day, this book is a guiding light to a successful enterprise.

Mitchell Lewis Ditkoff - Awake at the Wheel: Getting Your Great Ideas Rolling (in an Uphill World)

dave — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:03:35 +0000

Awake at the Wheel is a book about ideas: what they are, where they come from, and what it takes to manifest them in a world not always ready for the new and the different. Simply put, it’s a book about possibility, about the wellspring of creation, about the strange and fascinating process we all go through whenever we have an idea and try to do something about it. And while it’s often said that “ideas are a dime a dozen,” the fact is that your idea - the one you can’t get out of your head - is priceless. That is, IF you make the kind of effort required to turn that top of the line idea into a bottom line reality. Maybe it’s an idea for a new business. Maybe it’s an idea for a new product…or invention…or a book you want to write…or a school you want to open…or a move you want to make. Maybe it’s an idea for something that will change the world…or if not THE world, then YOUR world. Whatever it is, one thing is clear: it’s time for you to take the next step. Now!

Bob Burg - The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

dave — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:47:42 +0000

The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.

Over the next week, Pindar introduces Joe to a series of “go-givers:” a restaurateur, a CEO, a financial adviser, a real estate broker, and the “Connector,” who brought them all together. Pindar’s friends share with Joe the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success and teach him how to open himself up to the power of giving.

Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving—putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives—ultimately leads to unexpected returns.

Imparted with wit and grace, The Go-Giver is a heartwarming and inspiring tale that brings new relevance to the old proverb “Give and you shall receive.”

Ken Blanchard - The One Minute Entrepreneur: An Inspiring Story About Discovering Your Entrepreneurial Strengths

dave — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:46:49 +0000

Mega-bestselling author Ken Blanchard and celebrated business leaders Don Hutson and Ethan Willis present an inspiring story that reveals the secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

In THE ONE MINUTE ENTREPRENEUR, Ken Blanchard (coauthor of the #1 bestselling business classic The One Minute Manager), Don Hutson, CEO of U.S. Learning, and Ethan Willis, CEO of Prosper Learning, tell the inspiring story of one man’s challenges in creating his own business. Through a powerful and engaging narrative, we confront many of the typical problems all entrepreneurs face in starting up their business, from finding new sources of revenue to securing the commitment of their people and the loyalty of their customers. More important, we learn the secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur, including how to build a firm foundation, how to ensure a steady cash flow, and how to create legendary service. In addition, the book offers invaluable advice, delivered through One Minute Insights, from such entrepreneurs and thinkers as Sheldon Bowles, Peter Drucker, Michael Gerber, and Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

Today, in the midst of the largest entrepreneurial surge in U.S. history, four out of five small businesses continue to fail. THE ONE MINUTE ENTREPRENEUR offers businesspeople and would-be entrepreneurs a treasure trove of wisdom on how to think, act, and succeed in creating and sustaining a business, no matter what their industry.

Brenda Greene - Get the Interview Every Time: Proven Strategies From Fortune 500 Hiring Professionals

ryan — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:18:13 +0000

Get the Interview Every Time is an informative and up-to-date resource for job seekers who are looking for solid direction from Fortune 500 executives — those directly responsible for hiring. Many corporations have regrouped in the last five years and downsizing has been the dreaded outcome for millions. In this tough business climate, job applicants are finding that just getting in the door for an interview poses an enormous challenge.

So what has happened on the other side of the desk—as employers review huge piles of prospective resumes? What catches their attention? What turns them off? Author Brenda Greene surveyed 50 Fortune 500 employers— including Continental Airlines, Gannett, Kellogg, Merck, Chubb, Georgia Pacific, TIAA-CREF, Fannie Mae and UPS—to find out. The book contains valuable insight into just what it takes to command attention and interest in a crowded field.

Packed with sample resumes and cover letters that represent what hiring managers, directors, and vice presidents want to see, Get the Interview Every Time shows and tells what is expected versus what is rejected.

Readers will learn how to:

· Research the company and its opportunities before sending any resumes.
· Distill all of their talent and experience into a few well-chosen words.
· Showcase their communication skills through a well-crafted cover letter.
· Avoid hype.
· Determine the resume style that looks and works the best.
· Design and submit an electronic resume correctly.

Andy Sernovitz - Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking

dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:07:47 +0000

With straightforward advice and humor, marketing expert Andy Sernovitz will show you how the world’s most respected and profitable companies get their best customers for free through the power of word of mouth.

Learn the five essential steps that make word of mouth work and everything you need to get started using them. Understand the real purpose of blogs, communities, viral email, evangelists, and buzz - when to use them and how simple it is to make them work.

Learn what sparks the irrepressible enthusiasm of Apple and TiVo fans. Understand why everyone is talking about a certain restaurant, car, band, or dry cleaner-and why other businesses and products are ignored. Discover why some products become huge successes without a penny of promotion - and why some multi-million dollar advertising campaigns fail to get noticed.