Book Watch: What I've Been Reading Lately

The New Rules of Marketing & PR
By David Meerman Scott

The 2010 edition of The New Rules of Marketing and PR is now available – and it's definitely worth reading. It's really a wake-up call to anyone who wants to propel their company to a thought leadership position in their market and drive sales – all without a huge budget.

Personally, I liked it even better than the first edition that came out in 2007. It's meatier, with lots of fresh examples on how to leverage social media to reach your customers/prospects directly.

David Meerman Scott shows you tons of cool tools, strategies and techniques that even a small company can implement effectively. I've been a strong advocate of leveraging this new approach for years. And, quite frankly, am proof-positive that it works to:

• Attract prospective clients,
• Create differentiation between vendors.
• Connect and converse directly with your customers, prospects and like-minded people.
• Showcase your expertise.
• and much, much more.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR is the definitive guide to what you need to know to blast out of obscurity, change the game and be a leader in the next decade. Get started reading it now!

Check it out on Amazon: http://bit.ly/7lxg1G

Bounce: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success
By Barry J. Moltz

Failure is not an option. Everyone one of us goes through downtimes in our career.

Sometimes you're in the wrong place at the wrong time or maybe you made a serious blunder because you lacked the right business savvy.  Maybe you didn't understand the politics of the situation and created enemies. Or maybe you just tried to play it safe, but discovered that was no longer sufficient.

Sooner or later, it hits you. Even high-fliers end up having their comeuppance. I can personally attest to that. My own business tanked in 2000 and I had to start all over again from scratch. It was a very painful time - and one that I learned a great deal from.

When the bad times hit, what matters, more than anything else, is how you handle them. That's why I liked this book by Barry Maltz. He's been there too - more than once. And, he's become an expert at bouncing back.

What I like the best about it is how he talks about "creating your own measurement systems of success." To me, that's the most  important. We need to stop being other-focused and look at how we personally want to measure success - and getting away from how much money you make or how many toys you have as the key barometer.

If you need some ideas re: how to deal with failure you're experiencing now, become more resilient or regain the confidence you need to achieve your goals, check out this book.

Check it out on Amazon: http://bit.ly/7lxg1G

42 Rules for Growing Enterprise Revenue
By Lilia Shirman

This book, by B2B sales guru Lilia Shirman is full of practical strategies to matter more and sell more in today's business environment.

In the easy-to-read 42 Rules format, the author really includes a lot of excellent advice on topics such as:

• Developing relevance as a corporate skill
• Identifying markets where you matter most
• Collaborating with customers
• Defining and proving tangible, relevant, and unique value
• Orchestrating solutions
• Aligning to target industries
• Empowering sales channels for greater customer relevance

I was honored when Lilia asked me to write the foreward!