Author: Tom Asacker

I apoligize for not posting towards the end of last week. I have been sick for the last few days. But it’s a new week and we’ve got new books.

A Clear Eye for Branding focuses on debunking branding myths that permeate the business world. The author is a former strategic planner for GE, co-founder of a medical device company, and a well-know brand consultant and author.

The best decription of the ideas in the book I found is an excerpt from the book itself.

Behavorial economics have taught us that there is a lot more involved in a purchase decision than a simple price/benefit analysis… Feelings drive behaviour… Your ultimate business or organizational advantage lies in discovering your audiences desired feeling. And then, once discovered, to get creative and develop consistently positive experiences so your audience can bring those expected feelings to life.

The book focuses on the last part, how to create consistently positive experiences with your audience.

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Author: Seth Godin

In Permission Marketing, Seth Godin teaches his well-known idea of getting people to “raise their hands”. The problem with mass advertising, according to Godin, is that it vies for people’s attention by interrupting them rather than asking for permission and then buliding relationships based on that permission. Marketers can learn to be more effective by learning to build over time a meaningful and beneficial relationship between both a company and it’s customers/prospects.

What this book is really known for is email-marketing techniques. This seems to be the main reason this book is recommended. I’ve included a few excerpts from Fast Company’s interview with Seth Godin, in the review snippets. There is also a link to the full interview. It’s very insightful and worth reading the whole thing.

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Author: Steve Krug

If your organization has any sort of Web site or if you are in any way involved in the usability and design of software, this book is the place to learn how to make your customers enjoy using what you design. Everyone from Joel Spolsky to marketingsherpa.com recommends this book.

I’ve thumbed through it a few times but haven’t actually read it yet. It has a very conversational style of writing and should be an easy read, yet not just a bunch of fluff, judging by the types of people that recommend it.

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Author: Dale Carnegie

It’s crazy to think that this book was first published nearly 70 years ago, yet is still on nearly every list I’ve seen of must-read business books. To be honest, How to Win Friends and Influence People has always rubbed me the wrong way, so I have never read it (almost out of spite), but its staying power has been so strong that it is now on my list of books to read. It was a NY Times bestseller for 10 years.

It’s split into 4 sections, each of which deal with a different aspect of human interaction and persuasion. Here are the four main sections.

1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. Win People to Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

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