Book Description
As founder of Beckwith Advertising and Marketing, HarryBeckwith learned early on in his career that no matter what product isbeing sold, the most important component of the sale is you. Here Beckwithteams up with his wife, motivational speaker and former sales executiveChristine Clifford Beckwith, to provide tips, anecdotes, and insights basedon their 30 years of selling experience. Written in a traditional homespunstyle, the Beckwiths offer doses of humor and practical knowledge to anyonewho wants to learn how to seal the deal and thrive in business.
Customer Reviews:
You, Inc.: The Art of Selling More of the Same.......2007-10-16
Please, save yourself the money! You, Inc. is an OK book that covers a lot of basic information for people completely new to sales or a profession/career that does not deal routinely with people. I found the writing style no better than eight grade level. If you want a light read, and one with more humor that you can reference easily, I recommend Jeffrey Gitomer's books over this brochure by Beckwith. Thin self-help books like Beckwith's validate that money can be made by copying every other book on the market, slapping a 'sticky' title on the cover, and adding to the authors growing fortune. Please don't add to his already significant pile.
Not bad, but not great.......2007-10-11
The book wasn't a waste of time. There were keen insights shared. My problem was that you had to turn too many pages to read them. As opposed to books such as Blink, or Made to Stick, this book seemed "cheap." Honestly, I felt like I was reading motivational literature.
kris.......2007-09-22
Good book, with lots of wisdom and forgotten common sense. I enjoyed reading the book - very easy style and got pumped up with energy after reading. Brings to light lots of obvious things in life and business, which we tend to easily forget.
Brilliant!.......2007-09-22
Like Beckwith's other books (I've read them all), I really enjoyed it. For me, each book has built on the previous one. I also find Beckwith's books easy to read. It's as if they are written in "bite-size" pieces to be easily digested. :-) Once I get started, I have a hard time putting them down. I read You, Inc. in two sittings. My brain feels like it "ate too much!"
You, Inc. is another book I will highly recommend to my dental colleagues. Well, I've recommended ALL of Beckwith's books to my dentist friends! I think You, Inc. and What Clients Love are particularly well-suited for dentists. Both of them are "chock-full" of pearls. Both are books that should be read multiple times. And, I've used many of Beckwith's concepts in my website and my business.
Between my wife and me, our copy of You, Inc. has virtually doubled in thickness because of all the dog-eared pages. It won't even close normally!
You, Inc. was an outstanding read, and I know I'll be putting some of the ideas to work starting tomorrow!
So so.......2007-09-15
Sorry everybody but I didn't think this book was all that great. There really wasn't anything new in here that I haven't read or heard before. It seems like all books like this have the same ideas but put in someone else's words or through their own stories.
Book Description
Do you dream of opening up your own retail business, but don’t know how to get started? In Retail Business Kit For Dummies, retail marketing guru Rick Segel gives you the expert advice you need to get your business on its feet, with unbeatable advice on branding, marketing, and merchandising. You’ll figure out how to start and run your business, including day-to-day operations and procedures as well as all the little details retail professional handle on a daily basis.
If you’ve ever wanted to make your living interacting with customers and being your own boss, this book offers all the inside advice you need to get going. In fact, this book is perfect for anyone:
- Who wants to be her own boss
- Considering a career in retailing
- Who loves working with people
- Thinking about opening their own business
- Who loves to sell
Retail Business Kit For Dummies covers all the nuts and bolts of setting up shop — finding the perfect location, choosing and purchasing merchandise, and hiring employees. You’ll also discover how to write a business plan and deal with paperwork like taxes, permits, registrations, and other requirements. There’s also great advice on the art of selling and the fundamentals of promotion and advertising. You’ll also benefit from such practical advice like the ten keys to retailing success and ten ways to impress customers. And there’s much more:
- Branding your business
- Identifying and targeting your ideal customer
- Developing a marketing plan
- Pricing your merchandise
- Fulfilling legal and financial responsibilities
- Getting the word out
- Choosing the right media to advertise in
- Setting up and running a sale
- Fundamentals of accounting and financial statements
The book also includes a helpful CD-ROM packed with sample financial reports, customizable legal and business forms, checklists, and tools for building your own coupons, gift certificates, and much more. Whether you’re thinking about starting a business or need help running the business you already own, Retail Business Kit For Dummies is the fun and easy guide to big profits.
Customer Reviews:
Retail Business Kit for Dummies.......2007-08-04
I recently opened a small shop in an antiques mall and found this book to be quite helpful. The information is presented in an interesting and easy to use format. The book covers all the basics and is loaded with useful suggestions for marketing your business.
Good read, but too rudimentary.......2006-08-31
One thing is for sure - if you really intend to start your own retail business, Retail Business Kit for Dummies will not take you far. It is very rudimentary, to say the least. My real disappointment is because of the CD that came with the book, supposedly full of useful forms, reports etc. They looked as if they were written with a typewriter.Anyway, regardless of your profile, I do not think that this book will help you open or run a successful retail business, nor significantly compliment your existing knowledge.
However, it does make an interesting read, and offers good common sense advice based on the authors many years in the industry.
A must read for the beginner.......2005-07-21
I could hardly put this book down after receiving it. I especially liked the section on writing a business plan. Lots of detail in this book.
Great for basics, too general for experienced marketers.......2003-10-13
I should preface this review by saying that I am probably not the typical reader the author had in mind when writing this book. As a marketing consultant, I was recently was engaged to develop retail feasibility study and project plan for an Internet retailer planning their first bricks and mortar store. Although I have retail marketing experience, I bought this book to make sure that I had all bases covered and to get some fresh ideas on visual merchandising, retail POS systems and operations for small retailers.
This book is a great tool for a would-be entrepreneur thinking about starting their first retail business. It covers all the basics needed to plan, set up and manage a retail business, from writing the business plan to making the business a reality. The author makes good use of case studies which illustrate some of the retail successes and failures that he has observed. Another feature I found particularly useful are the tips on all aspects of retailing that could take years of trial and error to learn on your own. Last but not least the CD contains a wealth of useful forms and checklists.
Some areas that I would like to see developed in future editions are:
* Visual merchandising and store layout - more on principles and examples of floor plans
* Software suggestions - small business retail POS systems, planogram and merchandising design software
* Sample budgets and project plans
* Links to online sources of information - where to find designers, software, sales staff etc
To summarize, an excellent book on retail basics and if Rick Segel writes an "Advanced Retailing for Dummies" book, I will be the first customer.
Great book for retailing entrepreneurs!.......2003-06-17
I'm a CPA in Redmond, WA with a heavy retail clientale. (I'm also the author of QuickBooks for Dummies and Quicken for Dummies.)
This is a great book for people looking to start successful retail stops. Tons of great ideas. It's also a great book for established retailers looking to improve their profitability.
My one gripe with the book is that the tax advice and information is wrong. But your accountant or attorney can and should provide that information to you.
...P>Steve
Amazon.com
The Copywriter's Handbook is somewhat out of date. There are no references to Web sites or the Internet, and author Robert W. Bly advises that a freelance copywriter have a good typewriter. No matter. Bly has compiled an incredibly useful resource for budding, and even experienced, copywriters. Bly calls his book "a step-by-step guide to writing copy that sells." And that it is: Bly covers the writing of print ads, direct mail, brochures, catalogues, public-relations material, trade-journal articles, speeches, newsletters, commercials, and more. But equally informative is the substantial amount of space that he devotes to the copywriting business, in which he offers guidance in setting up a freelance copywriting business, getting hired by an ad agency, and hiring and working with copywriters (this section also includes a chapter on graphic design for copywriters). This is a terrific book. If you don't take my word for it, take David Ogilvy's: "I don't know a single copywriter whose work would not be improved by reading this book," he says. "And that includes me." --Jane Steinberg
Book Description
This is a book for everyone who writes or approves copy: copywriters, account executives, creative directors, freelance writers, advertising managers . . . even entrepreneurs and brand managers. It reveals dozens of copywriting techniques that can help you write ads, commercials, and direct mail that are clear, persuasive, and get more attentionand sell more products. Among the tips revealed are eight headlines that workand how to use them eleven ways to make your copy more readable fifteen ways to open a sales letter the nine characteristics of successful print ads how to build a successful freelance copywriting practice fifteen techniques to ensure your e-mail marketing message is opened This thoroughly revised third edition includes all new essential information for mastering copywriting in the Internet era, including advice on Web- and e-mail-based copywriting, multimedia presentations, and Internet research and source documentation, as well as updated resources. Now more indispensable than ever, The Copywriters Handbook remains the ultimate guide for people who write or work with copy.
Customer Reviews:
Want to Write For a Living? Bly Shows What It Takes.......2007-10-21
Highest recommendation!
I'm a copy writer for a small company serving businesses across the country. I learned the ad writing business "on the fly via Bly" after miraculously landing a copywriting job when a very brave Pacific Northwest employer decided to take a chance and hire me -- even though I didn't have a single day's worth of "in the trenches" experience beforehand!
My resume documented that I had written four books and dozens of articles for magazines and newspapers, but writing advertising copy is a whole 'nuther animal!
Because of Bly's excellent books (he has several -- none of them will steer you wrong) and a few others by Joe Vitale, I was able to jump into the new job and truly wow diverse clients from the get-go. The information and insights in The Copywriter's Handbook saved my bacon!
Kristine M Smith, Author
DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories : My Life and Times With a Remarkable Gentleman Actor
Every copywriter's best friend - a must-read keeper.......2007-10-03
Bob Bly is the master of showing beginning copywriters how to write compelling copy. He also knows all there is to know about the copywriting business.
If you're just starting out in this business, you must buy this book and any time Bob updates it, buy the new one.
He helps you know what to charge. He guides you in the rules of the road in a way you'll understand. Reading this book could be the ticket to a great career for you. So pick up your ticket and enter the world of copywriting.
Highly recommended --- especially for beginning copywriters or those who need a handy everyday reference to refer to when they have a question.
The Copywriter's Handbook.......2007-08-29
Excellent service.
Arrived really quick and in excellent packaging.
Love the book, Thank you!
Breaks down the basics of writing killer copy.......2007-07-28
Before I started my own copywriting business years ago, this one was my first books on the subject. And I still refer back to it periodically. Bob Bly is a copywriting legend who is well-known for making the fundamentals of writing great copy easy to understand. Whether you're thinking about a writing career, or just need to make your marketing materials more effective, this is the perfect primer for anyone who wants to learn how to write to sell!
Good for direct response copywriting, but not so great for ad agency writing.......2007-05-18
Since this review is largely negative, I should admit that "The Copywriter's Handbook" can be found near my desk and I reference it often.
With that confession, I'll take my first punch: the author of this book has never won an advertising award. Not one that matters, anyway. But in Bob Bly's world, awards really don't matter.
Since 1985, "The Copywriter's Handbook," has been a guide to the ugly but lucrative subculture of advertising called direct response. In this world, Bob Bly is a self-anointed diety. Since the book was first published, mobs of enterprising disciples have drunk his Cool-Aid, hoping not for a promised land, but a six-figure salary.
It's true that copywriters can earn $10,000 for writing one letter. Of course, it's a direct response letter. The kind beleaguered with double underlined sentences. Features explained through benefits. Promises punctuated with exclamation points. And, of course, the grand finale is highlighted in yellow: an offer that must be acted upon immediately.
For industrious writers who want to come up with this stuff, "The Copywriter's Handbook," is considered a bible. But for anyone who aspires to create concept-driven advertising, there's not much in this book.
Bly starts this work by taking sides against concept-driven advertising. He explains, "A copywriter is a salesperson behind a typewriter." He warns against becoming "an artist or entertainer." For if you go down this dangerous path, Bly warns, "Your copy will be wasting your client's time and money."
Although I don't do direct response, as a freelancer, I write a lot of stuff that's not artistic, entertaining, concept-driven advertising. I often write stuff that works hard at doing more than building a brand. For those jobs, this book contains a lot of practical advice.
Of its nearly 400 pages, I found Bly's lists most helpful. "Copy motivators" offer 22 reasons why someone might buy a product, a good thing to ask your client before writing. Bly offers interview questions too, many of which I have incorporated into my own. He also outlines different types of ads, which can be useful in finding direction for an ad. Will we do a question ad? A testimonial? An offer of free information?
But for all of his juicy nuggets, so many of Bly's examples read like spam. They sound too good to be true, killing the credibility of his work. So much so that I think his audiences must be incredibly stupid to read - let alone respond - to what he writes.
"Would you pay $1,000 to save $5,500?"
"One of a kind. Is that phrase a little trite? I used to think so until I tried to find you. ..."
"Three years ago this month, a man I know - he was then a vice president of a big corporation in Illinois - walked into his boss's office and handed in his resignation. Two weeks later, he started his own company. ..."
Aren't we past this kind of stuff? Judging by the number of people who make serious cash writing Bly-style advertising, apparently not. I know that I don't allow any of it into my life, not even from nonprofits and politicians I believe in.
Despite the money to be made, you won't find me crossing to the schlock-y side of hard-sell direct response advertising. Even knowing about the profit potential of this work, I still want to create cool, concept-driven creative work. Because unlike Mr. Bly, I know that my kind of advertising can work for clients.
I recommend: How to Write Great Copy: Learn the Unwritten Rules of Copywriting
Book Description
This book details the essentials of visual merchandising and the basic methodology of presentation for anyone in the fashion or retail industry.
Customer Reviews:
NOT WORTH THE MONEY.......2006-06-23
Book is very small with pictures of super high end stores. You know...2000 sq feet to showcase 10 t shirts.
Not for many people with stores. Go to Vegas and look at the stores there. At least you will get something for your money...
Book Description
COMPENSATING NEW SALES ROLES How to Design Rewards That Work in Today's Selling Environment In every industry the traditional sales force is disappearing. To grow and prosper today, companies are focused on managing the total customer experience -- with an increasing number of jobs now playing key roles in the sales process. But what exactly are these new sales roles? How are they compensated? Now this action manual shows how to:
** understand why sales forces are evolving into new acquisitions specialists, retention sales specialists, telephone sales managers, service consultants, and more
** design state-of-the-art compensation plans for new sales roles
** implement a compensation plan that rewards top performers
** measure the effectiveness of the plan. JEROME A. COLLETTI is president and CEO of The Alexander Group, Inc., a nationwide management consulting firm specializing in marketing and sales. MARY S. FISS is a consulting manager with The Alexander Group, Inc. They are based in Scottsdale, AZ. WALLY WOOD (Sandy Hook, CT) is co-author of several books, including Marketing Myths That Are Killing Business.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome realities.......2000-09-09
This book is a must have for todays business managers in the ever changing world of sales. I am amazed at the insight and accuracy depicted in the book. It assisted me in the re-engineering of a tired sales force. Two thumbs up!
Book Description
Steve Scott held and lost nine jobs in his first six years after college. He was told more than once that he would never succeed. Yet this former corporate failure not only became a multimillionaire himself, more than forty others have become millionaires as a result of the efforts and advice of Steve and his partners. Ordinary people just like you, including a housewife, a makeup artist, a hair stylist, a salesman, a teacher, a convenience store clerk, a marriage counsellor, a carpenter, a doctor, a dog trainer, a former P.E. teacher, to name a few.
Not Simply a Book about Making Millions
A Book about Achieving Incredible Degrees of Success!
This book is not a guide to making millions, although its insights and advice could certainly result in that. It's not a book about theories. Instead, it's a step-by-step guide to success -- success in any field, at any age. It tracks Steve Scott's life from mediocre high school student to a corporate failure to number-one marketing entrepreneur in the United States. It shows how a "nobody" who couldn't even afford to pay for his first child's birth could create more than a dozen record-breaking companies in completely different industries, selling over one billion dollars in products.
Unlike Any Success or Business Book You've Ever Read!
This book doesn't stop with general principles or psychological motivation, but instead gives specific tasks you can instantly apply to your personal or business life.
Your Personal Notebook for Success
Each chapter ends with a section that leads the reader through a step-by-step process that can result in greater success than he or she has ever experienced. The Notebook for Success provides a guide that can be used by anyone from a high school student to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. You'll understand why Steve Scott firmly believes that ANYONE can significantly increase his or her "batting averages" in any area of life and break through the barriers that separate mediocrity from phenomenal success -- barriers imposed by others or even by ourselves.
If you want to achieve a higher degree of success than you've ever thought possible, this book will become the most important book on success you, your employees, and your children will ever read.
Customer Reviews:
A great book for infomercial marketing.......2007-07-17
As marketing director for my company, I read constantly read marketing and sales books. Occasionally a book comes along that really peaks my interest. A Millionaire's Notebook is such a book.
Many products have been marketed using infomercials, most fall flat on their faces. But some soar, making millions for the companies that sell them. Steven K. Scott has been around for a long time. He has marketed many products that you would recognize using both infomercials and 2-minute television spots. In his book, A Millionaire's Notebook, he outlines exactly what it takes to take a product to market and make a fortune.
He covers how to write a good television spot, how to write and engaging infomercial. He teaches how to pick or produce a great product with a fertile market. His writing is clean and his instruction is easy to understand.
If you hope to market using television, this book should be on your shelf.
Excellent job, Steven.
Hope this helps.
-Craig Nybo, co-author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System
But Wait There's More!.......2007-01-11
More than just a book about "How Ordinary People Can Achieve Extraordinary Success", Steven Scott has given us what I consider to be one of the best books on the subject of making infomercials. I've produced, written and directed over a hundred infomercials myself, so I feel qualified to make this endorsement. I thought Steven explained the business so well that I purchased and gave away over two dozen copies to my clients, colleagues and friends. If you want to learn what making infomercials is all about, while discovering secrets on how to vastly improve your business life, then order your copy now!
Joe Torina
TORINAMEDIA INC.
Brilliant marketing & copywriting book -- powerful tactics!.......2005-05-27
This is one of my top 3 favorite marketing/copywriting books of the year (also get Eugene Schwartz' Breakthrough Advertising, and Joe Sugarman's books, and Ron Popeil for infomercials).
As an internet marketer and producer of internet infomercials, I found the insights shared by Steven to be priceless. The checklist on page 194 has helped me make thousands in sales improvements on a single campaign, and the inclusion of actual scripts and objection-handling phrases and marketing perspective was absolutely stunning.
Scott's a brilliant man, and this is one book that I will refer to for years (especially all the later chapters where his best secrets are revealed -- crucial stuff for marketers and copywriters).
In addition to personally profiting from Scott's tips, I recommend it highly for all my students at the online copywriting university site. Wickedly brilliant. Also study Dan Kennedy's stuff, priceless.
Buy this book -- one of my all time favorites, and I've bought hundreds.
Fabulous book!.......2005-03-16
I've read this book about 5 times, starting from when I was 23 years old and floudering around in the business world trying to figure out what I could do for a living.... making about about 1/5 of what I do today, 8 years later.
Steven Scott meshes practical skills and advice with actual step by step activities to do to immediately put what he's saying into action in your own life. He's the genius behind such products as Richard Simmon's "Deal a Meal", Suzanne Sommer's "Thigh Master", and Christie Brinkley & Chuck Norris' "Total Gym".
Extremely easy reading by a man who has done it. It's like having a personal coach who is a multi-millionare at your side telling you how to do it. I recommend it to anyone of any age.
nice autobiography.... but little useful info.......2002-04-06
this guy writes a nice autobiography about how he did it in marketing... maybe interesting for some but not for me. I guess I was expecting something more than a horn blowing fanfare of an "I did it my way" brag-o-rama.
Book Description
"We're wordsmiths. Words are our weapons. A difference of a fraction of I percent in our ability to generate or intensify reader involvement is worthwhile. Knowing how and when to plumb for power verbs and imperatives is just one more indication of our professionalism. Enough said." Packed with valuable tips and informative examples and illustrations, Catalog Copy That Sizzles is the ultimate compendium of catalog copywriting know-how. Herschell Gordon Lewis, known worldwide for his copywriting expertise, reveals all the hints, tips, and tricks of the trade you'll ever need to know in order to write effective catalog copy for any kind of productfrom gardening tools to surveillance devices. In his personable and engaging style, Herschell clearly defines and presents examples of the fourteen types of catalog copy, including "Minimalist" copy, "All the Facts" copy, and "I Am the Greatest" copy. Plus, more than one hundred illustrations are interspersed throughout the text along with valuable critiques of copy that works and copy that fails to make the grade in print and on-line catalogs. Interactive exercises like "First, You Try It!" will alert you to areas that require improvement and will keep you entertained and engaged through each and every chapter. Whether you're a copywriter, a freelance writer, an advertising and marketing professional, or someone who simply wants to craft copy that sells for a print or on-line catalog, Catalog Copy That Sizzles will arm you with the tools you need to craft copy that will sell any product, to any demographic, and in any format.
Customer Reviews:
Helped me write MUCH BETTER descriptions.......2004-02-01
I had to read this book for work. The author suggests reading one chapter a day, which is pretty much how I did it, with one exception.
I found the material to be much easier to digest when I read it only one chapter a day. I wasn't bombarded with all of this new stuff that I had to remember and implement into my descriptions.
Having all of the pictures really helped because it illustrates the points that the author is trying to get across.
I suggest keeping the book close by when your brain just goes to mush and you can't think of the benefit of this gadget. Reread Appendix A and try to answer the 20 questions in there. It will help you come up with something.
If your description just doesn't make much sense or parts are out of order and you can't figure out why, reread Appendix B, it have all of the "rules" the author presented in the book with a brief explanation of each.
A copywriter's resource that really sizzles!.......2000-04-19
Very helpful! Typical of many books written by veteran admen, the text is broken up into bite-sized chunks with snappy headlines, but in this case the format serves the message well. Lewis' tone is chatty and informative, there are lots of good ad examples, and best of all, each chapter begins with a brief writing assignment. I found it a valuable resource.
Book Description
Learn what Advergames are, how to use them, and how to create your own! Welcome to the world of Advergaming! Interactive games are one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment and theyíre on track to exceed movie ticket sales. Using them as an advertising tool, however, is a relatively new idea that is catching on fast. Advergames are created not only to entertain, but to sell a product, brand, or company. More and more companies are using these free, brand-centric games to supplement, and even replace, traditional branding methods. If you are a Web designer, graphic designer, or game developer, youíll want to learn more about Advergames. They're showing up everywhere, on the Web, cell phones, CD-ROMs, even embedded in email. The Advergaming Developer's Guide teaches designers and game developers the ins-and-outs of this innovative new form of advertising. It shows you how to create a variety of Advergames from the ground up, even if you have no prior game development experience. The book begins with a detailed overview of Advergaming, branding, gameplay, and the two main creation tools, Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and Director MX. From there youíll learn how to conceptualize, develop, launch, and track the success of your Advergame. In the last part of the book, you'll create your own games, including a linking, matching, puzzle, memory, pinball, makeover, arcade, and whack-the-mole type game. And finally, youíll learn about the business realities of Advergames through case studies with leading companies, including Blackdot, YaYa Media, Inc., and AGENCY.COM. This is the one resource you'll need to get started with Advergames, whether youíre a Flash/Director developer already involved in advertising and game creation, a game developer looking to expand your development channels, or a Web designer looking for an innovative new tool.
Customer Reviews:
Horrible for Beginners.......2007-07-18
If you are an advanced Flash or Director user this book might be tolerable, but as a beginner it is HORRIBLE. I have spent 3 hours so far on the first tutorial. Not because the concepts are difficult, but the descriptions in each step are so awful. Most simply, they don't explain the basic principles of how to do things, but then just jump into tutorials telling you to do things like " Set up a new layer and type this into the actions panel". How do I set up a layer, where is the action panel? The book never told me.
Even if you are an advanced user, the tutorials are very poorly set up. For example on one step they tell you to place a bunch of items on the timeline. After placing all 15, in the next step they start referring to different layers that the items are on and how to manipulate them. What they didnt tell you at any point before is that you were supposed to put all the items on specific layers and that the layers have to have specific names that they refer to later. How could this book possibly have gotten past any editors?
Conceptually: Great idea. Could be a very handy book.
In execution: Don't know how it ever got published.
Great book!.......2004-03-18
I love playing the games and this book tells the story behind some of the greats! Blockdot has a game site called www.kewlbox.com where you can play all of them!
Book Description
It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be is a handbook of how to succeed in the world - a pocket 'bible' for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible. The world's top advertising guru, Paul Arden, offers up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem solving, responding to a brief, communicating, playing your cards right, making mistakes and creativity, all notions that can be applied to aspects of modern life. This book provides a unique insight into the world of advertising and is a quirky compilation of quotes, facts, pictures, wit and wisdom, packed into easy-to-digest, bite-sized spreads. If you want to succeed in life or business, this is a must!Paul Arden began his career in advertising at the age of 16. For 14 years he was Executive Creative Director at Saatchi and Saatchi, where he was responsible for some of Britain's best known campaigns including British Airways, Silk Cut, Anchor Butter, InterCity and Fuji. His famous slogans include 'The Car in front is a Toyota' and 'The Independent - It is - Are You?'. In 1993 he set up the London-based production company Arden Sutherland-Dodd where he is now a commercials director for clients such as BT, BMW, Ford, Nestle and Levis.
Customer Reviews:
Talk like a West-Indian..........2007-08-15
Perhaps most useful if you're dumb, silly & blind and a fresh-faced intern
in the marketing/PR biz.
The randomness of this collection made me wonder if he wrote it over the
course of two weeks worth of company wash room visits in a particularly
constipated period of his life... In the end, the joke was on me.
Waste of money. Someone pass the soap plz...
In case you're wondering, the title of this review references the rather
insulting example of how to 'accentuate the positive'. That was really
the best example this creative gOD could come up with? Wow!
Bible of Advertising.......2007-08-11
This is the advertising bible. My blog has more specifics and will continue to feature more about the book, how it is utilized (at least from my planning perspective) and why it's just brilliant. I highly recommend. It's the no duhs that are sometimes the biggest a-has.
http://www.noduhbigaha.blogspot.com/
Highly creative book about becoming more creative.......2007-07-25
This is a highly creative book about becoming more creative. It is filled with provoking thoughts and exercises. I recommend this book very much to anyone seeking to expand, enrich, widen their personal creativity. It could easily be a supplementary textbook for many courses in high school and college.
Quick and Useful.......2007-06-27
It takes a really short time to read. Very easy and straight to the point. Will; keep it around to remind myself of how I'm going to become rich and famous:)
Fantastic little gem.......2007-06-18
I love that most reviewers give this book either five stars or just one. That fits with the book's philosophy; Arden urges readers to take risks and produce works that some people will love and others will hate.
"It's not how good you are..." is small and short but brilliantly crafted. The ideas inside are simple but inspiring. Its insights apply to advertising and to life in general.
I love this book not just for what it says, but how it says it it.
I even love the way the paper smells.
Book Description
In today's competitive marketplace, establishing a creative and comprehensive branding program is crucial to achieving business success. This dynamic new book from best-selling author Robin Landa is an all-inclusive guide to generating ideas and creating brand applications that resonate with an audience. A highly visual examination of each phase of the branding process includes comprehensive coverage of the key brand applications of graphic design and advertising. Readers gain valuable insight into the art of designing individual brand applications-brand identity, promotional design, identification graphics, web sites, advertising, and unconventional/guerilla formats, among others-while benefiting from the thoughtful commentary and full-color branding work of award-winning designers and creative directors worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
Horribly designed, can't stop puking.......2007-03-01
I've never seen a book so poorly designed since my junior high health book. I thought this book looked good based on other reviews on amazon but once I opened it up all I see is horrible design. The book is based on an atrocious grid, with horriblly uninteresting typography, and a "let's try to hit every base, even if it's only for a couple of lines" attitude to the content.
The content is written like a junior high essay. I don't mean in the way the author articulates herself, what I mean is how she touches on subjects so briefly as if she was required to by somebody else. The intro for example contains a brief (brief brief) history of just about every part of design, but in a bulleted format like she was giving a lecture. There's just no heart in the content.
Overall, the whole thing looks like a powerpoint presentation and I'm so disgusted by what I see that I can't even get past the first two chapters. I'm selling this book and getting my money back for something more worth while.
Beginner's Guide to Branding..........2006-11-06
Good book for newbie advertising professionals. Unlike other theory books, this follows a step by step guide for creating a brand.
Make sure you understand what a brand is first, though... read "The Brand Gap" first.
Future oriented.......2006-03-20
I've read all the current and classic books on branding and brand identity. No one author, other than Landa, really sees the future of branding so clearly-Landa tells it like the big guns at Ogilvy and Landor! Love the term "experiences" which includes the audience as a major player in the brand.
The Best Book on Branding.......2006-01-05
I have been creating and teaching about brand experiences for almost twenty years and Robin Landa's book is the best I have ever read.
Books:
- Your First Year in Network Marketing: Overcome Your Fears, Experience Success, and Achieve Your Dreams!
- Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System
- Apollo Root Cause Analysis: A New Way of Thinking
- Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
- Big Frank's Fire Truck (Pictureback(R))
- Bringing Out the Best in People
- Change the World : How Ordinary People Can Achieve Extraordinary Results
- Coaching for Improved Work Performance, Revised Edition
- Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
- Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Starting an Online Business For Dummies, 4th Edition
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
- The Films of Boris Karloff
- The Complete Guide to Employee Stock Options: Everything the Executive and Employee Need to Know Abo
- The World Is Flat
- Cemetery Stories: Haunted Graveyards, Embalming Secrets, and the Life of a Corpse After Death
- Alaska by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising Alaska with Giant Pull-out Map
- Leverage Competencies: What Financial Executives Need to Lead
- The Nature of Economic Thought; Selected Papers, 1955-1964
- Tigers in Red Weather: A Quest for the Last Wild Tigers
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business
Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing
The Invisible Touch: The Four Keys to Modern Marketing
Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others (Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Books)
What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
