Brand Autopsy

NOTE: OFF-TOPIC blog post Since the Fourth of July weekend is usually when families gather together, I'm sharing a recent gathering of the Moore Family.

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Technology makes home movies and old-school slide shows so much better. Super 8 home movies and Kodak Kodachrome slides on the projector screen were great back-in-the-day. However, these days, we have iMovie to make our home movies of vacations more enjoyable and sharable.

Recently I spent a few days in Sedona, AZ with my father (age 74), brother (44), nephew (13), and of course me (39). We called it our “3 Generations” trip and the Moore Boys had fun seeing the natural beauty of Sedona.

I compiled some photos and videos from the trip and whipped up a home movie using iMovie. It’s over 10-minutes long so posting it to YouTube was a no-go. Instead, it’s posted on Vimeo.

Have a look-see, if ya like. (Note: the helicopter video is really cool. It begins at the 11:20 mark.) Enjoy the video and enjoy spending time with your family this weekend.

SEDONA | 2009 ... The Moore Boys from john moore on Vimeo.

Seeing this hideously dirty ceiling tile at my dentist’s office today reminded me of the Broken Windows theory and how it relates to businesses.

The Broken Windows theory hypothesizes higher crime rates occur in cities when broken windows are left unrepaired because people will conclude no one cares enough to fix them. More windows will become broken and attitudes of lawlessness will spread, resulting in higher crime rates. Michael Levine applied this theory to business in his book, BROKEN WINDOWS BROKEN BUSINESS.

According to Levine, broken windows are telltale signs to customers that a business doesn’t care, that it is poorly managed, and or it has become too big and arrogant to adequately deal with little details.

He warns businesses that customers draw wide-ranging conclusions based upon their perceptions of the broken windows they find. These negative perceptions will undermine a business as they can turn once highly-satisfied customers into very-dissatisfied customers who choose take their business elsewhere.

I’m not saying my Dentist poorly manages his business. I am saying his patients could draw wide-ranging conclusions based upon the fact he hasn’t replaced the severely water damaged ceiling tile.

Every business has broken windows. The easiest way to tell if your business has a broken window is when you find yourself saying, “A customer will never notice that.” Because chances are, they will … just as I did with the way too soiled ceiling tile at my Dentist’s office.

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Learn more in this vintage Brand Autopsy post (Dec. 2005).

Something funky happened with my last vacation to Sedona, AZ. Canceled flights wrecked havoc on the plans to have the Moore Boys (from Grandfather to Sons to Grandson) spend time trekking the trails in Sedona, AZ. Only I made it to Sedona to experience the unbelievable views. (The others were caught up in a canceled flight after canceled flight nightmare scenario.)

So we are trying it again. Off to Sedona. All of us. (We're hoping weather cooperates this time and our flights aren't canceled.)

I'm sure one of our treks will include Devil's Bridge, a walkable natural sandstone arch. This is a short, edited video of me walking across Devil's Bridge. An amazing experience. Truly amazing. Enjoy.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

In 2005, Seth Godin wrote the FREE PRIZE INSIDE. It's essentially a guidebook for creating remarkable products and services. As marketers we know when remarkable things get remarked about ... word of mouth happens.

This 2-minute video ditty I posted on the All Things WOM blog shares two word-of-mouth worthy free prizes I experienced while staying at the Hotel Burnham in Chicago. (Yes, I mispronounce the hotel’s name in the video. My bad.) Enjoy.

RSS Readers … click here to watch the video.

Henry Dormann has compiled an interesting book of LETTERS FROM LEADERS including nobel laureates, CEOs, world leaders, and presidents. Each letter from a present-day leader was written to share advice for tomorrow's leaders. It's a provocative book with lots of money quotes.

(It's also interesting enough of a book to earn my money and earn a blog post as this was a book I purchased and didn't receive free from a publisher or publicity firm.)

Enjoy the money quotes and consider riffling through this book for more inspiration and guidance.

RSS Readers ... click here to read the Money Quotes/

UPDATED (June 10): Thanks everyone for the thoughtful comments. To avoid any question ... going forward, I will disclose how I receive business books reviewed on the blog.

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Lots of great conversation is happening about the ethics of compensating bloggers with cash, in-kind gifts, and special access privileges in exchange for writing a post about the product/service a business provides them.

This conversation has me thinking about how I’ve been compensated for some posts on this blog.

Because I frequently write business book reviews, publishers and publicity firms send me free business books. I’m under no obligation to write anything (be it positive, negative, or nothing at all) in exchange. While not cash, this in-kind gift has a monetary value of about $25 per book.

I’ve probably written over 100 business book reviews on this blog. Some reviews have slammed the book as worthless and others have praised the book as worthwhile. In every case, my authentic opinion has been expressed.

However, I’ve never disclosed when a review is from a business book I received as a gift or from a book I purchased. (By the way, the vast majority of my book reviews are from books I've purchased.)

I’m curious … Do you expect me to disclose whether or not I was gifted the book or paid for the book? Would you trust my review more with this type of disclosure?

Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Long-time readers know I'm a big supporter of Word of Mouth Marketing. More recently, I've put my passion for WOM to good use helping the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) strengthen its marketing muscles.

Right now WOMMA is wrestling with questions of ethics. They've long stood against SHILLING. That is, a brand/agency paying cash to people to talk about, blog about, tweet about a product without disclosing they are being paid to do such.

However, the practice of Sponsored Conversations is gaining more acceptance from brands and agencies. (A "sponsored conversation" happens when a person is compensated with cash, in-kind gifts, and special access privileges in exchange for talking, blogging, tweeting about the product/service a business provided them.)

Some, like Joseph Jaffe, say if a person is transparent and discloses they are being compensated then a "Sponsored Conversation" is ethical and acceptable marketing behavior.

Others, like Andy Sernovitz, abhor the practice of compensating bloggers to post reviews, especially if the reviews are inauthentic.

In 2005, WOMMA established an ETHICS CODE for Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Since then, it has become a standard guide for companies of all sizes to use to help them design and deliver more ethical (and effective) WOM programs.

In the last formal review, WOMMA included this language in its ethics code: “We stand against marketing practices whereby the consumer is paid cash by the manufacturer, supplier or one of their representatives to make recommendations, reviews or endorsements.”

Recently, three WOMMA members have requested this language in the ethics code be revisited ... no doubt to support the practice of sponsored conversations.

Should WOMMA alter its ethics code to support marketing activity where a consumer is paid cash to make recommendations, reviews or endorsements?

WOMMA wants to hear your opinion because your opinion will help WOMMA make a stronger ethics code that is reflective of how honest marketers should behave. Consider adding your voice to this issue on the WOMMA Living Ethics blog.

UPDATED: The submission deadline has passed.

Seth Godin is updating one of the most important marketing books ever published, PURPLE COW. It's a simple book about baking "remarkability" inside everything a business does. The book is chock-full of case study examples highlighting businesses that do things to earn opinions from customers.

With the updated edition, Seth is sharing new case study examples ... including examples submitted by us. (Yep, by us.) ACT NOW! Submissions are due by midnight, New York time, tonight.

(I submitted a ditty about Mighty-Fine Burgers.)

On May 13 & 14, WOMMA held its Word-of-Mouth Marketing University conference. Below is a video recap of a presentation from the conference.

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The world’s two largest social networks, MySpace and Facebook, attract over 130-million users monthly. Thus the question has changed from IF you should use MySpace or Facebook to reach your customers to HOW. How can attention, affinity, and action happen best on each site? How do marketing messages spread differently between the two? How best to monitor and measure a brand’s performance on each site?

Those questions and more were answered by Heidi Browning from MySpace and Chris Pan from Facebook during the kick-off keynote to Day 2 of WOMM-U.

For smart recaps, I recommend reading posts from Josh Hallet, John Bell, and Ian Sohn. The moderator of the panel, David Berkowitz, also posted a good summary of the session.

I plopped my rinky-dink camera atop the banquet table in the dimly lit ballroom and captured much of the session on video. Because this session was so informative, written summaries fail to cover all the content. So, you should watch it for yourself and jot down your key takeaways.

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VIDEO ONE:
In this segment you’ll learn about audience/demo profiles for MySpace and Facebook (0:00 to 2:45). Plus, you’ll hear Heidi and Chris share best practices from brands including Vitamin Water to Papa Johns Pizza to Starbucks to Cheetos to Aflac (2:46 to 9:35).

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VIDEO TWO:
Both Heidi and Chris talk about the importance of creating engagement and community with users when designing marketing activities on MySpace and Facebook. Lots of great information in this segment.

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VIDEO THREE:
Measurement matters to marketers. In this segment, you’ll learn how MySpace uses the momentum effect to evaluate success of a marketing activity. Facebook uses measurements of engagement to determine success/failure. Deep stuff. Watch, listen, and learn.

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NOTE: crossposted on the ALL THINGS WOM blog

NOTE: crossposted on the ALL THINGS WOM blog

On May 13 & 14, WOMMA held its Word-of-Mouth Marketing University conference. Below is a recap of a presentation from the conference.

Presentation:
Maximizing Online Video for Marketing Success

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Presenter said:

Jeben Berg, creative director of Cross Platforms Solutions at YouTube & Google, threw out some startling stats about YouTube during his presentation ... it’s 81-million unique monthly visitors makes YouTube one of the most trafficked websites in the world ... each minute, another new 15-minutes of video is uploaded to YouTube.

Obviously, YouTube is a media and marketing channel to be reckoned with and smart companies are finding ways to integrate YouTube into their marketing mix. Jeben explained there is “no single formula" for online video success. There are, however, lots of best practice tips on how to improve the effectiveness of online videos.

First, focus on great ideas rather than production values. Companies like BlendTec and its “Will it Blend” series begin with a singular idea — such as, will an iPhone blend? — to create simple yet interesting videos. According to Jeben, following the BlendTec approach of “high concept with low fidelity” is a recipe for creating compelling online video.

Second, think quantity more than quality. Jeben explained brands that post lots of videos gain the most viewers and receive the most must-see recommendations from friends.

Third, make the most out of your Title, Description, and Tags. Don’t get too cute with your video title names. Use key words and commonly searched terms in the Description of your videos. And, spend extra time making sure you Tag your videos with the most appropriate terms. Something simple as a good title, robust description, and relevant tags will help online videos get better visibility through search engines.

Jeben jokingly talked about how many CEOs of big brands have called YouTube requesting certain videos be taken down. As long as a copyright isn’t infringed upon, YouTube leaves such videos alone.

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Audience tweeted:
@VirginiaMiracle was impressed with the short case study on how the rock band, Weezer, analyzed the stats behind their videos, “weezer used their YouTube stats to determine that no one in the state of Oklahoma cares about weezer.” By knowing how few viewers there were from Oklahoma, Weezer decided not to make a tour stop in the state.

In response to Jeben talking about the recent Domino’s video incident, @spikejones tweeted, “CEO of Domino’s called called YouTube and tried to play the ‘pull down the video b/c I pump so much $$ into Google card.’ It didn’t work.”

Jeben continued the Domino’s story about the company’s video response. @TravelPRPro responded, “Money Talks. Advertising does have influence. Domino’s response to employee hoax got prime placement on YouTube bc they advertise.”

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WOMMA says:
Viral videos can give a company lots of attention. However, predicting what goes viral is nearly impossible. If you approach making a video with the intent of it going viral, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead, use Jeben’s advice of focusing on a quality idea more than on quality video production. It’s interesting ideas that get people interested and when interest is achieved, online word-of-mouth is primed to spread.

NOTE: crossposted on the ALL THINGS WOM blog On May 13 & 14, WOMMA held its Word-of-Mouth Marketing University conference. Below is a recap of a presentation from the conference.

Presentation:
Yelp: Empowering Consumers with Local Knowledge

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Presenter said:

In kicking-off the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s WOMM-U Conference, Geoff Donaker, chief operating officer at Yelp, said, "The Genie is out of the bottle. You’re better off joining the conversation, than not." Conversations about local restaurants and businesses fuel Yelp’s business. Donaker described Yelp as, "local search powered by community."

It is the online community that provides Yelp with over 6-million reviews of local restaurants and businesses. 21-million people last month used Yelp to decide which restaurant to visit, car mechanic to use, and spa to be pampered at. With its broad reach and deep reviews, Yelp is changing the game of small business marketing.

Donaker told the story of a local carpet cleaner who used to spend $100K on yellow page advertising. Thanks to all the new business generated by positive reviews on Yelp, this carpet cleaner no longer spends money on yellow page advertising. Instead, this business is spending much of its advertising budget on improving it’s customer service, resulting in more positive reviews on Yelp.

Donaker also discussed how businesses have a love/hate relationship with customer-driven reviews. Businesses love how great customer service is rewarded with positive reviews. However, they hate the loss of message control. That said, the positive to negative review ratio at Yelp stands at 6:1.

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Audience tweeted:

@ErikNYC mentioned the beauty of Yelp’s customer-driven model is that "when the customer wins, the business wins." Echoing sentiments from the presentation, @gamedayjreau tweeted, "It’s always about customer service at the end of the day."

In response to a case study example of how negative reviews can become positive for businesses, @leslieforde commented, "It’s worth engaging vocal customers gently. Reaching out to angry customers can change negative perception."

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WOMMA says:

The love/hate relationship with customer-driven conversations is real. Word-of-mouth offline and online can not be controlled, only sparked. A business cannot ethically control what customers say about them. One of the best ways to spark word-of-mouth conversations is through delivering outstanding customer service and providing remarkable products.

For any business wanting to spark word-of-mouth conversations, it must first spend time and money to gain utmost confidence in their services and products. This confidence will give a business thick enough skin to withstand negative reviews as well as a solid foundation from which a virtuous cycle of positive reviews will fuel business growth.

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LEARN MORE at WOMMA.org

I just watched Jim Gaffigan’s “King Baby” comedy special. Funny. Dang funny. And applicable. Really applicable to anyone who gives presentations.

Long-time readers of this blog know I’ve talked about applying lessons learned from improv comedy and from how stand-up comedians approach their craft. (So this isn’t new territory for us.)

Presenters and stand-up comedians have a lot in common. Presenters, like comics, must share a unique point-of-view. Presenters must also share their unique point-of-view in a smart way, just as comedians must do. Good presenters and good comedians utilize the power of timing and pauses in their delivery. The very best presenters and comedians go the extra mile by managing to give the illusion of their on-stage performance being a dialogue and not a monologue.

When you watch this clip of Jim Gaffigan’s “Bacon” routine, you'll learn exactly what I'm talking about. Notice how he shares his point-of-view in a uniquely smart way. Also, notice how Gaffigan pauses just enough to add more punch to his punch lines. It’ll be hard not for you to notice how Gaffigan gives the illusion of his routine as being a conversation with the audience. He's a brilliant presenter.

*** BEGIN WATCHING at the 2:09 MARK ***

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video

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For extra credit, check out this presentation I posted on SlideShare. It shares more insights on improving your presentation skills by incorporating lessons from the world of stand-up comedy.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the prezo

If you've enjoyed the "Would You Miss" series on Brand Autopsy, then you'll enjoy Denise's BRANDS WE WOULD MISS series.

Denise is riffing off the 24/7 Wall Street article highlighting 12 brands they've singled out as being on the endangered species list.

Yesterday Denise made the case for why Budget rent-a-car deserves to exist. Today, she pleads for Saturn to survive. I wonder what endangered brand Denise will talk about tomorrow...

NOTE: crossposted on the ALL THINGS WOM blog

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Suzy Welch, business writer, has an intriguing way to quickly analyze the consequences of decisions. When faced with making difficult choices, Suzy will 10-10-10 it. Meaning, she will take a few moments to consider the consequences of a decision that may occur in the next 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.

Suzy’s 10-10-10 model is a simple (and smart) way to analyze immediate, short-term, and long-term consequences of a decision. Plus, it’s so applicable to making important marketing decisions, especially in today’s online social world.

Except, we need to amp up Suzy’s 10-10-10 thinking to account for how quickly information spreads online. 10 minutes. 10 hours. 10 days. That’s a more workable 10-10-10 consequences model for marketers dealing with issues worthy of explosive online conversation, such as the marketing disaster recently faced by Dominos Pizza.

Because it took Dominos more than 24-hours to respond, the company was singled-out as being uncommunicative and unresponsive to the groundswell of online commentary on twitter and various blogs. Similar slow-reacting critiques have been hurled at Motrin (#motrinmoms) and Amazon (#amazonfail).

Dominos, Motrin, and Amazon all suffered immediate consequences of not making a decision on how to respond within 10 hours of the incidents they faced. The online chatter spiked and to an extent, took on a life of its own. However, these three brands did ultimately respond and the twitter storm receded within 10 days. For Motrin and Amazon, sales haven’t suffered from these missteps. Time will tell if the gross-out video will hurt Dominos sales this quarter.

We are still learning that responding quickly to marketing matters discussed online is vital. Using the10-10-10 rule should be helpful for companies in similar situations faced by Dominos, Motrin, and Amazon.

For example, within the first 10-minutes, a company should acknowledge what is happening. No answers. No explanations. Just an immediate acknowledgement using whatever social media tool a company feels most comfortable using will work. However, within 10-hours, a company should go beyond acknowledging to responding by explaining what happened and what specific actions the company is taking to address the issue in order to reassure people they can trust the company again. If done right and timely, negative consequences will be minimized 10-days after the initial flare up.

Is responding within 10-minutes realistic? Probably not. However, a response within 10-hours is realistic and expected in today’s always-on information cycle.

We keep learning the faster the response, the less damage done. If a company fails to respond quickly to these flare-ups, the consequences can last 10-years and not 10-days.

RSS Readers ... click here to view the video

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Yep, I’m putting my marketing where my mouth is as WOMMA’s in-house evangelist for all things word-of-mouth (WOM).

In this role, I will help the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) better communicate with its members and non-members to promote the discipline of Word-of-Mouth Marketing. I’ll also serve as a WOMMA spokesperson addressing hot-button topics covered by traditional media and discussed in conversations happening in the online social media world.

Plus, I’ll be sharing thoughts on a new blog, the ALL THINGS WOM blog. On that blog, we’ll explore the arts and sciences of WOM that sells (and fails), wrestle with ethics issues, and showcase smart analysis from bloggers about all things WOM.

(Expect some overlap posts on the Brand Autopsy blog from the ALL THINGS WOM blog. Not much, but some.)

This "WOM Evangelist" role with WOMMA is an add-on to my day-to-day doings as a marketingologist with the Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice. (That's precisely why the video above shows me stockpiling extra sleep time.)

It is interesting to note when I began my private practice in early 2005, one of the first steps I took was to join the just-started Word of Mouth Marketing Association. And if you attended the first WOMMA Conference in March 2005, you probably saw me. (I was the dude in the white smock.)

Because WOMMA is the leading voice for ethical and effective word of mouth marketing, I can’t think of a better organization to work with. Given my marketing experience, my background with WOMMA, and WOMMA’s mission … it feels natural for me to work directly with them as their “WOM Enthusiast.”

Thanks for joining me on this ride. This’ll be fun.

... from the Post2Post tour highlighting THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY

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Consider THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY from Marty Neumeier as a manifesto on building a company based upon the pillars of vision, culture, and innovation.

His earlier books, THE BRAND GAP and ZAG, were also manifestos. THE BRAND GAP discussed the importance of marketers and creatives working together within a company to bridge the gap between logic (marketing) and magic (design). ZAG expressed, in irrefutable fashion, how to best develop and apply differentiation strategies. Both books are brilliant.

And, THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY is also brilliant.

Neumeier makes a compelling case for “DESIGN” being more about performance than style. Being a designer, according to Neumeier, isn’t limited to being an artist, architect, composer, etc. Not at all. Anyone, and that means everyone, who tries to improve a given situation is a designer. Whenever you work through any creative process, you are doing design. Dig?

To give you some flavor for THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY, I designed a three-minute video ditty sharing smart tid-bits from the book. Enjoy…

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RSS Readers ... click here to view the video.

At WOMM-U, you will learn practical knowledge, gain tactical tools, and hear inspirational guidance on how to swiftly use Social Media to drive Word of Mouth direct from brands including Google, Disney, and Facebook. Plus, you'll learn why some WOM programs Blow Chunks from myself and Ted Wright of Fizz.

During SXSWi I spent time with Todd Sattersten from 800-CEO-READ. We talked biz books, beer, and barbeque. We also discussed a writing project I’m working on and Todd helped me to better shape the idea.

In our discussions, Todd suggested I read NOTES ON DIRECTING (Frank Hauser & Russell Reich). It’s not a business book. Instead, it’s a book on how playhouse directors should go about doing their business. (Hmm, interesting.)

The approach of managing a stage production with actors, stagehands, and a script is not unlike managing a project with core team members, sub-team members, and a project plan. (Makes sense.)

You’ll have to connect some of the dots here, but I’m sure after reading these money quotes from NOTES ON DIRECTING, you’ll gain insights into being a better business manager.

RSS Readers … click here to read these money quotes.

Tom Peters kickstarts our go-get'em engine that may be sputtering in today's tough economy with this excellent rant. It's a MUST-READ.

Below is a tease...

SOURCE: Dealing with Recessionary Times | TomPeters.com

... just re-purposing something from Twitter ... ENJOY.

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RSS READERS ... click here to view the presentation.

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Learn more about Stephen Anderson here and follow @stephenanderson here

Jill Griffin has applied her customer loyalty thinking to today’s upended online world in a new book called, TAMING THE SEARCH-AND-SWITCH CUSTOMER. Provocative title for an important topic.

I heard Jill give a talk at SXSWi about the book and it passed my “Worth-It Test.” For those who didn’t hear Jill at SXSWi, the Society for Word of Mouth (SWOM) is hosting a SEARCH & SWITCH webinar happening on April 1. Hustle up to score some cheap seats to Jill's talk. The $9.95 early bird special will not last long.

Jill’s book gives lots of tactical advice on how businesses of any size can block customer switching tendencies. These money quotes from her book are high-level but once you read the book, you’ll gain all the tactical advice.

RSS READERS ... click here to view the money quotes.

In January, Hyundai did a major ZAG. Other car companies decided to play the “Zero Down. Zero % Financing.” card as well as the “Employee Discount for Everyone” card to rescue drowning sales. Hyundai didn’t. Hyundai zagged while others zigged.

Hyundai introduced an alternative marketing program that didn’t rely on the same easy credit, wallet-stretching gimmickry that got us in this current dismal economic mess.

Understanding the lack of confidence consumers have with their job stability, Hyundai created a marketing program to reduce the risk in buying a car. The program was called the Hyundai Assurance plan. Its mechanics were simple: if you lost your job after buying a new Hyundai, you could walk away from your loan or lease and return the car to Hyundai.

In marketing, salience occurs when a business designs a marketing program that connects emotionally and rationally with consumers. In business, sales occur when people buy stuff.

The beauty of the Hyundai Assurance marketing plan is in its salience and its sales. With a 10.0% unemployment rate on the horizon, it’s no secret people lack confidence about when their next paycheck is coming. Sales results of the Hyundai Assurance marketing plan are astounding.

Overall car sales in the United States have declined about 40% from the same time last year. (Yikes!) Hyundai car sales aren’t in decline. Nope. So far this year, Hyundai has recorded an increase of nearly 5.0% from the year prior.

As marketers, we must applaud Hyundai for designing an effective marketing program that drives both salience and sales.

SOURCE: New York Times Magazine article (Rob Walker) | March 22, 2009

Far too incomplete. Not enough context to fully digest. Way too inadequate. I know. I apologize. However, the following presentation shares some smart stuff I heard during SXSWi 2009. Other folks will give you more breadth and depth. I'm just giving ya snippets. Enjoy.

Motivated by Seth's post on the difference between PR and Publicity, I excavated this juicy marketing quote from a vintage Brand Autopsy post (circa May 6, 2005).

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”Advertising is when you tell people how great you are.
PR is when someone else says how great you are.”

— Guy Kawasaki —
THE MACINTOSH WAY
(HarperPerennial reprint, 1990)

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A friend recently returned from a business trip to Europe. Before he left, we talked and I made some suggestions on places to visit in Amsterdam. Not sure if he hit Café Gollem for a Westvleteren 12. He hasn’t told me yet.

However, in a short email he did recommend a cool hotel: CitizenM.

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Next time I’m at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, I’m checking out the loo flies and CitizenM.

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NOTE: For the uninitiated, WOM is shorthand for Word of Mouth.

The Post2Post series about The 100 Best Business Books of All Time is chugging along. Yesterday I wrote about it and today, Phil Gerbyshak writes about it.

(And, I’m still writing about it today.)

Anytime anyone lists anything, something is certain to be left out. I felt my favorite business book was left out of the mix in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS deserves to be included in this book.

The authors of 100 BEST knew debate and conversation would be sparked by their listing of only 100 business books they felt were most worthwhile in today’s business world. To acknowledge this debate and to encourage conversation, the authors have created MyFavoriteBizBook.com.

Go to the site, type in the title of your favorite business book, and share your testimony for how that book changed your life. I testified for the worthiness of THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS.

I didn’t stop there. I also wrote a fake missing chapter for the book that should have been titled, The 100 & 1 Best Business Books of All Time.

Click below (or here) to read the fake missing chapter highlighting the worthiness of THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS (.pdf).

from the Post2Post tour highlighting THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME

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Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten strongly believe business books help people solve problems. They also believe people read the wrong books. That’s why they wrote THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME. They know too many people read too few business books despite the ROI upside.

Think about it. There isn’t a better business investment of $25.00 cash and 5-hours of time to be found. With that small investment, you can reap the returns of sharper knowledge, better ideas, and greater motivation ... all from reading a worthwhile business book.

Worthwhile being the key word. Finding worthwhile business books isn’t easy. 11,000 new business books are published each year. It’s hard to know which few are worth your money and time. That’s the problem Jack and Todd are solving with THE 100 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF ALL TIME.

Think of their book as an Investment Guide on which books to invest your money and time in order to produce above-average returns for your business life.

Having reviewed 1,000s, they’ve selected 100 worthwhile business sharing expert advice on critical business matters ranging from Personal Development to Leadership to Strategy to Marketing to Management to Innovation to Entrepreneurship to even more.

Enough evangelizing, let’s learn more about Jack & Todd and their take on their business book and the overall business book market.

Jack Covert is the founder of 800-CEO-READ, the leading online seller of bulk business books. Todd Sattersten has grown from a grasshopper to snatch the pebble from Jack’s hand is now the President of 800-CEO-READ.

I’ve known Jack & Todd for nearly four years and respect their perspective on business books. And as a business book author, I’m always asking them questions to better learn the market.

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Since these guys run across 11,000 new biz books a year, I asked them how they first judge whether a book is worthy of reading or riffling.

JACK COVERT (JC): “The first thing a good non-fiction book, business or other, needs is a knock’em dead introduction. That gives the reader a look at the writing quality and the introduction tells the reader what to expect from the book. The value proposition the author is offering. Then looking at the Table of Contents and the index gives you more insight to the book. Then riffle through the chapters and look for any design value. Finally see if the chapters end with a takeaway. The five minutes you spend their can save you two hours in with the wrong book.”

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Every author has reasons for writing a book. Jack has his …

JC: “Recognition of the company is very important. We wrote this book as our stick in the sand saying we know business books and if you as a business person/student want solutions, we can help. That would be a success, if we accomplish that.”

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Every author has ways to measure the success of their book. Todd outlines his …

TODD SATTERSTEN (TS): “First, we will track how many copies of the book we sold (we are booksellers after all). If we sell more than 30,000 copies in the next 24 months, I will consider it a success. That will mean we have made money for us and our publisher. And that will give us chance to write another book.

Second, we will look back at the media impact. Before you start, this part is unpredictable. You don't know what journalists will be interested when your book hits. We have been fortunate with stories in BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, and CNBC. I also include online media in that as well. We have had incredible support from bloggers and podcasters. That part has already been an unquestionable success.

That fact that we completed the book and that it turned out as amazing as it did is the final measure of success. No matter what happens we will always have that. (Yes it is cheesy, but it is really true)."

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Every author is surprised how the market reacts to their book. Todd was surprised in this way …

TS: “I was surprised at the strong feelings people have about books. Everyone has asked about why we left out ‘their’ favorite book. Why not more books written by women? Why such a heavy skew towards books of the last 30 years? Lists are naturally decisive, but I am not sure expected the strong responses we have gotten. I think it is good, creates great conversations and helps us find new books or new appreciation for old books.”

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My all-time best business book was left out. THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS forever changed my life.

It was the first business book I realized the huge ROI upside of spending $25-dollars and 5-hours of time. I confronted Jack with this omission and demanded to know why THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS didn’t make the cut. Jack replied…

JC: “It was very close. I read the book and wrote the review. But as we got close to the end, we felt the message of MARKET LEADERS matched that of IN SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE, GOOD TO GREAT, or PROFIT FROM THE CORE — the bottom line is stick to what you are good at. MARKET LEADERS is really good and would have no problem telling your readers to check it out.”

Continuing my “Would you Miss” series ...

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Does Ace Hardware provide such a unique product and customer experience that we would be saddened if it didn’t exist? Does Ace Hardware treat its employees so astonishingly well that those workers would not be able to find another employer to treat them as well? Does Ace Hardware forge such unfailing emotional connections with its customers that they would fail to find another hardware store that could forge just as strong an emotional bond?

What say you?

Post inspiration | Mavericks at Work

Karin, an eleven-year Starbucks marketing veteran, has entered the blogging fray. She's super smart. She’s worth reading. And you’ll be a better marketer for reading THE ESSENTIAL ORANGE.

(Welcome to the fray Karin.)

By now you’ve heard Starbucks is introducing an instant coffee product. It’s a just add water and stir packet called VIA. Okay. Fine. That’s cool. Starbucks has long-dabbled with concentrated instant coffee.

For the past ten years, the Frappuccino ice-blended drinks you’ve been enjoying have been made using a powdered coffee concentrate. And the bottled Frappuccino drink from Pepsi uses concentrated coffee as its base. So concentrated instant coffee isn’t new for Starbucks.

What is new … is how Starbucks is positioning this product. Howard Schultz, Starbucks ceo and chairman, is talking about how VIA will "disrupt and reinvent the instant coffee category."

That’s right, "disrupt and reinvent the instant coffee category."

Hmm … priorities seem to be misplaced.

Shouldn’t Starbucks be more concerned with disrupting and reinventing their core retail business and not the instant coffee category?

Lack of rejuvenating their core retail business has resulted in closing nearly 1,000 locations, the loss of almost 6,000 jobs, and the marginalization of the Starbucks brand.

Selling instant coffee isn’t an instant fix to solving Starbucks problems. It’s a distraction, not a solution.