Get off your Arse, Brad Burton

ISBN 978-1-907451-00-3

Published by 4Publishing

Straight talking

In December 2004 Brad Burton told his employers to ‘shove it’ and set out to build his own business. Fast forward to November 2005, Brad is thousands of pounds in debt, delivering pizzas to put bread on the table and a friend invites him to a breakfast meeting of a networking group.

He hated it. But his business was going down the pan and networking seemed a likely lifesaver. So, as advocated in this book’s title, Brad decided to ‘get off his arse’ and do something. That something was to create a new business networking organisation that had none of the characteristics he hated. As we near the end of 2009, 4Networking has over 200 groups meeting regularly all over the country. A meteoric rise from near total failure to massive success.

In this book we are treated to Brad Burton’s story, his philosophy and some of his dreams. An engaging writer, he exhorts us to ‘Do something! Anything!’, to surround ourselves with smart people and to understand that the road to success is a hard one In short, he pulls no punches; he is overflowing with enthusiasm and his book is an easy read. He has some unusual viewpoints that refresh the familiar themes (such as ‘people buy from people …) and his treatise on the ten-minute appointment certainly gives food for thought.

All told, entertaining, largely original and well worth the time it takes to read.

Beat the Recession: proven marketing tactics, Carol A E Bentley

Published by Sarceaux Publications, Dorset, England.


139 Proven Sales Letter Writing, Direct Marketing & Business Development Tactics Make Short Work of Recession Fears

So says the jacket blurb for Carol Bentley’s second book – and she backs it up with a money back guarantee if you buy direct.

Carol is a well-known copywriter who also writes a blog all about marketing (and sales and other stuff) for small businesses. This volume is a distillation of that blog plus comments she has received on various postings and a whole section of ‘guest blogs’ from other (mainly Internet-based) marketing experts.

Apart from the advice in the ‘guest blogs’ the book contains 139 business tips aimed at improving profits. And it has something that raises its potential value to any small business exponentially – links. The book is heavy with them; links to all kinds of clever material from all kinds of sources; I’d be willing to pay the cover price just to get the links!

It is not possible, in a short review, to cover everything that Carol talks about in over 400 pages but here is a taster:

· Marketing
· Web marketing
· Selling techniques
· Networking
· Time management
· Writing sales letters
· Cold calling
· Joint venturing
· Referrals
· Prospecting

You can get Carol’s book in all the usual outlets – but if you follow this link http://www.bentleybtr.com/ you will be able to get the ebook version as well as the printed book. This means you can use the many links direct from the ebook instead of having to key them laboriously in to your web browser. And if that is not enough, Carol gives you a whole year to evaluate the material and take a refund if you are dissatisfied!

No matter what you got for Christmas, give yourself a New Year’s gift that should pay for itself over and over again.

Cold Calling for Chickens. Bob Etherington

Published by Cyan Books (Marshall Cavendish)

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

Something for the coward in all of us!

Have you ever had to make a business call absolutely cold? It sends shivers down the spines of otherwise fearless salespeople and causes fainting fits among sales trainees.

Well, Bob Etherington has been doing it for years and he knows all about the fear and how to handle it. Notice ‘handle’ not ‘eliminate’. The great strength of this book is that it allows you to remain a chicken and still succeed.

According to Bob, 85% of business goes to the 5% of people who know the secret of successful cold calling. Which makes this a very important book indeed.

Having established that we are to remain ‘chicken’ the author begins the process of showing us how to use our fears to make us ‘one of the best’ in the cold calling field. He does this by first ‘marking out the chicken run’; showing how to figure out what works best for your product or service and how to be convincing on the telephone.

The next section of the book is called ‘The big secret of successful chickens’ and here he reveals how we can get everything we desire in life. Mr E is deadly serious about the ‘everything’ bit and I have to say he makes a very convincing argument for his system.

The final two sections are concerned with persuasion and how to hang on to your customers – and keep them buying.

Part sales training, part personal development, all fascinating and could change your life (in a positive way!). I think you should probably buy it – especially if you are in sales or run your own business.

Working for yourself

Working for yourself, Mike Pywell and Bill Hilton – Published by Which

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

Working for yourself, Jonathan Reuvid – Published by Kogan Page

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

Two books – one title!

Both have much to recommend them; comprehensive and well organised, they cover all the topics one would expect, from first considerations (why do it?) through getting the basics right to planning the long-term growth of your enterprise.

Jonathan Reuvid includes the more comprehensive set of contents – useful if you are scanning for topics. He also puts handy checklists at the end of each chapter. Pywell and Hilton scatter ‘jargon-buster’ explanations throughout and include a glossary of terms.

While both give a list of useful addresses I rather liked Reuvid’s inclusion of ‘sector information for low investment, part-time and freelance opportunities’ which is basically a list of trade associations from The British Acupuncture Council to the Wine and Spirit Educational Trust with the addition of Kogan Page book titles where relevant works are available.

I was also impressed by the Which volume’s ideas on press releases, a much abused form of publicity explained with refreshing simplicity.

All in all it is difficult to separate these two; each has minor goodies the other lacks but either will provide all the essential information you need to strike out on your own. I can only suggest you nip down to Blackwell’s and thumb through both before deciding which is the guide for you.

And if you are a budding entrpreneur who hasn't found your 'niche' yet - here are some ideas:

Niche finder Click Here!

Free advertising Click Here!

PLEASE NOTE: I am not recommending these products! The decision (and responsibility) is yours. But whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck!