It has been a while since I write about the books that I have read. So I thought of putting up the best relevant book that I have recently read about business. Seriously, I think we don’t need to read many books before starting a business, they don’t make a lot of difference. In fact, reading too many books can make a person lazy. And from my own experience, reading can be really addictive!
Having said that, I still feel that some books are really worth talking about and for this book that I am going to recommend, you should read it at least once before starting your own business.
Written by John Jantsch, the Duct Tape Marketing is one of the most practical books that I have read about marketing your own business for the last 3 years. John is a marketing and digital technology coach as well as the award winning social media publisher. His blog was chosen as a Forbes favorite for small business and marketing and is a Harvard Business School featured marketing site.
So what is Duct Tape Marketing? It is called the Duct Tape because it sticks wherever it goes =) After reading the book, I fully agree in what John says. For me, it is not the business or marketing plan that I have created that make my business profitable, rather, it is the things that I have done that John has highlighted makes my business running. This fantastic book consists of three full parts:
Duct Tape Marketing Foundation
Part 1 starts with the foundation. Honestly, I used to dislike reading foundations.. they are boring and made up of the same old content from other books. If you were like me, this is a good time to ditch that thinking and really start understanding the foundations. I cannot stress enough how important are the concepts listed in this section for small businesses. It is when I started my own business that I realise I have been taking the foundations for granted. Just to give you some idea of what is covered in this section:
- Identifying your ideal client – Nothing is more frustrated earning peanuts out of your most challenged customers. You have to identify and focus all your energy on finding, if not, forming alliances with someone who is serving your ideal client base.
- Core marketing Message – Do you have a core marketing message where it differentiates from your competitors? This is an excellent chance to test if you are offering something worthwhile.
- Get your entire team involved in marketing – Blair Singer always say “Everyone must sell!”. This is not easy but I believe it is a habit that you must enforce.
There are a total of 7 chapters in this section and every single one of them is an important piece of your pillar of success in business.
Lead Generating Machine
Part 2 goes deep into how you can generate leads. Generating leads is one of the most challenged tasks for most business owners. This section covers how you can create a systematic referral machine and follow up with your prospects by educating. Now, do not underestimate the previous sentence. People hate to be sold, but they love to buy. Especially from people they like and respect. This book has highlighted one of the most important trust building factor that most industry can use to generate leads.
Getting on a roll + Commitment
Most books leave you hanging in the air not knowing how to start. But John has written the last chapter to help you follow through all the processes highlighted in the book. Along with the plan, he also throw in some additional tips that you will find them useful.
Follow-Through
I am not sure how many people can really follow through after reading a book. Regardless, if you stumbled upon this post and find that you have read the book and followed through resulting in a difference, please post your comments below and we will be glad to see it =)
Lastly, you can get the Duct Tape Marketing book from Amazon. This book is pretty hard to find in bookstores if you are living in Singapore.. But I have good news for you! Just order it through OpenTrolley =)
