Roadrunner Marketing: Strategic SECRETS You Wish You Knew Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading this book, I had the overwhelming urge to take this book, stand atop the desk at our sales meeting and scream "You see, this THIS is what I've been trying to teach you for the last three years!"
In short, I loved the book.
'Roadrunner Marketing: Strategic Secrets You Wish You Knew' re-emphasized everything I believe to be fundamental to sound marketing practices. It is a very easy read, and even though I have nearly 14 years of marketing experience behind me, I found new nuggets of information that I can apply immediately. I seriously want to buy copies for our entire sales department as I feel they can benefit enormously from the advice and strategies within.
It doesn't matter if you are taking your first bold steps into the marketing world, or if you're a seasoned pro (like me) looking to find a competitive edge, this book is a good guide to have by your side. It helped me recharge my creative batteries, got me excited again about the advertising opportunities (even in our down economy) and actually gave me the courage to set my sail and seek out new challenges.
Matt Schroeder
Former Creative Director, Colorado Community Newspapers

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In today's visual barrage of advertising clutter, how do you, as an independent business owner, get noticed? Can marketing be cost effective? How do you contact the people you need to reach? What makes you unique? Why should someone believe you, like you, and subsequently try your product or service over the competition? That's where we begin. We call it creating the 'BUZZ." Getting your message out into the community is one of the most effective and least costly ways to build your awareness, repair any negative publicity, increase sales through existing customers, and increase your customer base-IF done correctly. These are the tested, proven techniques that work. It's easy. All that's required is an open mind to understand what people relate to, both those in the media that can help you get your message out, and in the way potential customers react to the information they receive. You can do it.We'll teach you how.

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Professional SharePoint 2007 Design (Wrox Professional Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the most common demands I see from customers is "I don't want my site to look like SharePoint." Unfortunately there aren't many books on this subject. This book does a great job of introducing the reader into what's involved in creating and applying a brand in a SharePoint site. It even includes intro chapters for those who haven't done this before or who are new to using tools like Photoshop. Finally there's a resource to point people to!

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From the planning details to the steps to the considerations, understand how to design the perfect SharePoint implementation by applying the information in Professional SharePoint 2007 Design. Begin with an overview of a installation and move through the technical aspects of creating usable, accessible, aesthetically pleasing SharePoint interfaces, with a primary focus on using SharePoint's basic design tools to create a better looking and more effective installation. Understand how to use PhotoShop to design the graphics and template model for your site and learn how to integrate SharePoint themes.

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The Fashion Designer Survival Guide: An Insider's Look at Starting and Running Your Own Fashion Business Review

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(More customer reviews)Mary Gehlhar's book is outstanding. It has depth and breath. I really enjoyed all the quotes and pearls of wisdom provided by so many lovely people in the apparel industry. This book covers everything - from concept and design to wholesale price points to retail product placement. This book shows you "the what" and "the how" like no other apparel industry book has.
What I especially enjoyed learning about was the legal information. Thank you Charles Klein for you saved me much heartache that comes with losing your intellectual property. Now I can work with investors wisely for you have banished the only fear I have and that is losing control of my intellectual property as I lose some corporate control due to investors' terms. This is what I read books for - to gain knowledge and insight from people who have done it before me, do it better than me, and write it down to share with us curious souls and thirsty minds.
The other aspect of this book I found to be stellar and not noted in any other fashion industry book (and I read them all) is what Mary Gehlhar says about patternmaking and samplemaking. She states both sides of the argument, doing it yourself and others doing it for you, articulately and succinctly. I applaud you Mary Gehlhar. You wrote a great book.


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The national retail apparel business has grown to a $172 billion per year industry, and the employment rate for designers is expected to outpace that of all other occupations through the year 2008. The Fashion Designer Survival Guide is a must-have for the thousands of talented designers who want to see their dream of creating an independent fashion line become a reality.Mary Gehlhar, author, industry authority, and consultant to hundreds of designers (including newcomers Alicia Bell, Keanan Duffty, and Milly), gives readers behind-the-scenes advice and essential business information on creating and sustaining a successful career as an independent designer. The Fashion Designer Survival Guide provides the necessary tools to get a fashion line or label up and moving on the right track, including: •Start-up costs and financing •Legal issues •Business plans •Public relations and sales •Marketing and manufacturing •Distribution-trade, trunk, and runway shows This book also provides case studies from independent designers at different stages of their careers, including tough letdowns and exciting successes. Young designers weigh-in on topics important to them when they were starting out, while several top name designers offer personal perspectives on a single question, providing a window to their world and a variety of answers.Designers are bursting with creativity but often fall flat going into business as an independent. The Fashion Designer Survival Guide provides designers with the one thing design school didn't-intelligent and successful business practices.

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Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Interactive Technologies) Review

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(More customer reviews)[Update at bottom] Letting Go of the Words is a terrific book with respect to site structure and usability, but is extremely inadequate in regards to Search Engine Optimization and content that actually sells.
Dr. Redish's experience with web content is largely related to government agencies. In that respect, I couldn't ask for a better book on the basics of site structure and usability. The author presents a solid primer on helping your visitors find the information they seek as easily as possible.
The book, however, largely ignores issues that are important to business websites that wish to rank well on Google and other search engines. As an SEO guru, I was surprised that a book on writing web content completely ignores the fact that Google absolutely loves keyword-rich content. While some web purists believe in designing sites as though search engines never existed, it's impractical to cut short the very content that would ultimately deliver visitors to your site.
Government sites will generally rank well by virtue of their number of (quality) inbound links. Business owners aren't looking to simply provide information, they're looking to get traffic and motivate visitors to perform an action (purchase, contact, subscribe). Some of her tips ("don't embed links" - chapter 12) are in opposition to what designers should do to encourage Google to "spider" relevant pages and categorize them better in its results.
If this book teaches you the architectural skills of constructing a physical store that's easy to get around, it does so without mentioning how to encourage walk-ins to buy your products, nor how to get them from the street into your business. Brilliant from a usability standpoint, but often contradictory to what can help sites generate search engine traffic and drive sales.
[8/8/10 Update: While it doesn't emphasize SEO or sales copy, this is still the best book on usability that I have ever read. It's a must-own for designers, though I suggest you supplement Dr. Redish's techniques with other books on optimization and writing copy]

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iPhone and iPad Apps Marketing: Secrets to Selling Your iPhone and iPad Apps (Que Biz-Tech) Review

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(More customer reviews)Gone are the days that you could submit your apps to the App Store and without much effort at all thousands of eager users downloaded it. Unfortunately, as apps have become more popular, the competition has become far more fierce. Now, quality isn't enough. Even a low price won't guarantee downloads or a listing on the top apps lists. Now, like every other type of business venture, you have to market.
iphone & ipad Apps Marketing is not a programming guide and does not give any details about how to submit your app for review. There are other books for that sort of thing. Instead, iphone & ipad Apps Marketing focuses entirely on marketing, everything from making sure you pick the correct category for your app and targeting the right audience through creating descriptions and web pages that pop to the importance of reviews and promoting your work on other social networks.
Beyond the need to market, there were several topics discussed that are extremely important. One is about the pricing debate, especially how to balance making money and attracting customers. The second is the need to create quality and quantity. There are so many apps that aren't worth the price (even when they are free). Yet, in order to keep apps from dying a natural death, new material needs to be added fairly regularly. Again, trying to do both is pretty tricky.


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The Easy, Complete, Step-by-Step Guide to Marketing Your iPhone/iPad Apps!There are huge profits to be made in selling iPhone and iPad apps! But with more than 180,000 + apps now available, just getting your app into the App Store is no longer enough. You need to market it effectively. Don't know much about marketing? Don't worry: This book gives you all the tools you'll need. Top iPhone and iPad apps marketing consultant Jeffrey Hughes walks you through building a winning marketing plan, positioning highly competitive apps, choosing your message, building buzz, and connecting with people who'll actually buy your app. With plenty of examples and screen shots, this book makes iPhone and iPad apps marketing easy!You'll Learn How ToIdentify your app's unique value, target audience, and total message

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