A bloody good story. At the end of every chapter, I immediately wanted to read the next. This book has even the subtle nuances of banking down to a T and not only that, it makes them exciting! Seriously, I want to see the movie. I have one rule when it comes to reading, if my interest hasn't been piqued after the first 20 pages then I won't bother. There wasn't a single chapter in the books that didn't leave me wanting to read on. It was a very engaging story and what made it even better is how realistic it really is - small things like Nick not being able to navigate the Deal Team folders are so typical. I also liked small bits of knowledge like the connection between maths and music or the arts, most people don't know that - I certainly learnt something new here. There's lots of clever writing and dialogue in the story; for instance, I loved the analogy between reading Ryan and a nursery school book in extra large print. That was very clever. I also loved the balance that Jamie brought to the whole Ryan saga. The one thing I thought was incorrect was the statement about Vice Presidents being a low position in banks. VP at Goldman Sachs, for instance, is a reasonably high position and the sort of work that Alfred was doing would typically be done by Associates. However, I did see that they didn't have Associate as a position in the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book.
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Rating: 5/5 I looked Jay Abraham up when I read somewhere that he was the only billionaire marketer in the world. For a very full review of the book read Alex McClafferty's take on The Sticking Point. My chapter summaries: Chapter 1. Leverage other people efforts, ideas, knowledge, resources, relationships and mula! Chapter 2. Think of ways to generate the most amount of income using the least amount of investment/effort, e.g. with win-win proposals to advertisers. Chapter 3. Pull in clients with great copy.
Chapter 4. Identify and quantify your target market - define your solution very specifically. Chapter 5. Delegate! Chapter 6. Save money by:
Chapter 7. If it doesn't work, stop doing it! Pivot. Chapter 8. Change the game! Chapter 9. Great content is the best marketing strategy ever! Chapter 10. When it comes to partnership DO NOT:
Chapter 11. Create a defence and offence Rating: 4/5 An interesting read. I purchased this book after seeing hisYouTube interview with Marie Forleo. Jonah Berger talks about how things that go viral abide by some or all the below STEPPS. He's a fairly young guy, early 30s (32/33), but is doing extremely well. Being a lecturer doesn't hurt either as I assume he got his adoring students to review his book on Amazon thereby achieving over 200 reviews in a very short time-frame. I wish him every success. The STEPPS Social currency: we share things that make us look good Triggers: we share things because a memory has been triggered at an appropriate time Emotion: we share things that make us laugh, feel happy or very concerned Public: things that are built to show are built to grow, e.g. Movember Practical value: we share news that can be used Stories: we share good stories. I totally feel inspired by Jonah Berger's CV (read it and weep!), the guy must be working around the clock! Rating: 5/5 I read this book after it was directly recommended to me by Roger Dooley. This was one of three books he recommended to me after I asked him for any book as good as his Brainfluence. The first two books were rather boring but this book completely met with my expectations. It's well researched and gives great insight into human behaviour. Some useful tips included:
OVERALL: BUY. Some of my notes may make sense to you but you'll definitely make sense of all of them once you've read the book. 3.5/5 This book is most relevant for old school sales people who call prospects with a view to seeing them face to face. The book is about 16 hours long so I didn't even bother to take notes. That would have slowed me down severely. I did write two notes though: 1. The world belongs to the asker. Ask and you will receive. 2. If you're afraid of a specific element of the sales process keep doing it and you will become systematically desensitised. The more you do the thing you fear, the less scary it becomes. It was an okay listen but I think it could have been said more succinctly. He went through everything. Get this if you sell to clients in person a lot.. Rating 4.25/5 An amazing story. It's written from the perspective of a young girl who's grown up with a physically (not sexually) abusive father who beats the mother and expects more than the best from his children. He is overtly very religious and gives a lot to charity but he is deeply troubled. He thinks the beatings he gives are deserved and never seems to regret it. The only reason I don't give this book a 5 out of 5 is that I have read Half of a Yellow Sun by the same author and it's a much more detailed and enthralling story. That said, this one engaged me from start to finish and is well worth a read. Ms. Adichie really knows how to weave a story. Here are some of my favourite lines: Of her brother: "His seventeen-year-old face had grown lines; they zigzagged across his forehead, and inside each line a dark tension had crawled in." Of her and her brother's relationship: "We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know." Kambili constantly craves to please her father, so when her brother says something to please her dad she notes: "Papa smiled, and I wished I had said that before Jaja had". Then when she in turn says something to please him: "Then he reached out and held my hand, and I felt as though my mouth were full of melting sugar." Of her Aunty Ifeoma's eyes: "They were quizzical eyes, eyes that asked many questions and did not accept many answers". 4/5 A very good book. The only reason it gets a 4/5 is that I knew most of the tips already, however, if you're new to marketing, you'll find it more than useful. A few of my notes:
Have a community page, e.g. on Facebook or on your own website. The effectiveness of that community page depends on:
PHONES
eBAY
There were tonnes of tips, I can't repeat them all but these few should be enough to get you going. Rating: 5/5 This is another timeless business classic. I have been wanting to read this book for years and I am so glad I eventuality got to it! I mostly listened to this audiobook when I was driving so my notes are sketchy, not nearly as comprehensive as usual. That said, here are some useful takeaways: On fate. "I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul." I love that line because it puts responsibility on the individual - not your parents, the Government, siblings or friends. As much as a support unit is important, understanding that you can control where your life goes inspires me to work harder. On desire. "Desire is the starting point of all achievement." Who can argue with that. What you visualise in your head, you can execute. No one thinks like you and only you can fulfill your vision or goal. "You don't just need an ordinary desire to succeed and progress but a keen, pulsating, definite desire." On visualisation. "Believe as though your desire is already a reality." This helps you to accomplish it. "Any subconscious thought which is repeatedly passed on to the mind is ultimately accepted by it... Faith is the only known antidote for failure." On making sacrifices. "You and you alone must decide whether the effort required to achieve the reward you desire is worth it." Think about that one. On worry. "Reach a blanket conclusion that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision comes poise and peace of mind." This suggestion was very important for me right now because I have been worrying far too much. On troubles. "Don't expect troubles because they have a habit of not disappointing." I love that! I liked Schwab's anti-greed principle. He believed that if you make a product cheap (steel in his case) more uses will be found for it leading to an ever-expanding market. That's profound. A couple of verses I enjoyed:
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Heather Katsonga-WoodwardTime allowing, I love to read. If I read anything interesting, I will blog about it here. 2019 Life and Career PlannerCategories
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