Love Is The Killer App – Or How to Get Ahead by Helping Others


Love- is the Killer AppThe subtitle of the book, “Love is the Killer App” is: “How To Win Business And Influence Friends.” This gives the reader a clue that the author is knowledgeable about Dale Carnegie’s famous book.

In my favorite section of the book, you will learn to remember the ‘Big Thought’ about a book. Why?  The author explains:

“Maybe someone was worried about job turnover and volatility; if you’d known Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, you could have recommended it for advice on how to be likable even in trouble times.”

As a “cat person”, I love the author’s concept called “lovecat.” The first chapter is called The Lovecat Way and is a good instruction on how to come up with an excellent new idea and run with it. In the afterword, you learn about an acronym called NSPS (Nice, smart people succeed). I think that this is the essence of love as the “killer app.”

“Here, then, is my definition of love business: the act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your intangibles with your bizpartners.

What are your intangibles? They are our knowledge, our network, and our compassion. These are the keys to true bizlove.” (Page 13)

You have now got the titles for chapter III (Network) and IV (Compassion).

Tim Sanders gives you at least six benefits for being a lovecat and he starts with how “you build an outstanding brand as a person” by using a “brand mindset” (coined by Duane Knapp) around the DREAM (Differentiation, Relevance, Esteem, Awareness, Mind’s eye) acronym.

As an avid book reader, the second chapter (Knowledge) is music for my ears. Through the book you get plenty of book tips and in the appendix you have a list of The Ten Must-Read Books for Lovecats. Tim Sanders says that books are the “complete thought-meal,” magazines are “between-meal snacks” and news media “are the equivalent of candy and soda: fun to eat, but hardly appropriate to live on.” He applies the Pareto principle as a food for thought idea: “Spend 80 percent of your time on books, and the 20 percent on articles and newspapers.” My question is: How would that classify the new media? How much time should you spend on blogs, social networks, etc.?

And now it is time for the explanation why you should buy hardcovers:

“And by books, I don’t mean just any book. I mean hardcovers. A paperback is made to be read. A hardcover is made to be studied. There’s a huge difference. I don’t read a book just to say that I’ve finished it. I read it so that when I’m done, the inside covers are filled with enough notes that I can use this book for as long as I need to.” (Page 70, paperback)

Tim Sanders has created a “practical four-step program designed to make knowledge work for you:”

  1. Aggregation – How do you know which books to read?
  2. Encoding – How do you consume the books in the right way?
  3. Processing – How do you properly digest, “chew” and review the books?
  4. Application – How do you share the knowledge you get from the books?

The application part entails four steps:

  1. Learn from the consumption and digestion on how to draw the big picture from the book. You have to “own the book’s Big Thought.”
  2. Do as George Constanza (Seinfeld TV show) and visualize a moment when you are adding value to the conversation by bringing up Big Thoughts from books related to the topic you are discussing.
  3. Look for the right moment to insert points from your reading literature in a real-time conversation. It is similar to do an “elevator speech” to a business contact. After inserting the pointers, ask for feedback.
  4. “Play doctor” and prescribe “medications” (books) to your “patients” (business contacts).

I feel strongly about this book, so you could see this blog post as a fan letter to Tim Sanders! I look forward to meeting Tim Sanders someday and check out his book libraries. I love the example with Steve Leveen of Levenger company and his fan letter to Stanley Marcus, the author of Minding the Store. I wonder if Tony Hsieh of Zappos found his calling as a merchant, in the same way as Steve Leeven.

At the end of the book (P.S. I Love You) you could read three fascinating stories, including the uplifting story, Spreading The Love: The Rosetta Story.

Do you have a story? Write it down in the comment field.

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Martin LindeskogAbout the Author: Martin Lindeskog is a “trader in matter & spirit” and a small business entrepreneur in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is a board member of the Swedish National Association of Purchasing and Logistics (Silf, Western Region). Martin also writes a long-standing blog called Ego.

13 Comments ▼

Martin Lindeskog Martin Lindeskog is helping businesses use new media to boost their supply and value chain. Martin is a tea enthusiast and you can find him on his blog, Ego.

13 Reactions
  1. Looks like an interesting book to read Martin and what you say about hardcover books makes sense. Sometimes it takes a few readings of a business book to take ideas or thoughts and apply it to your business.

    Thanks for the review.

  2. “Play doctor” and prescribe “medications” (books) to your “patients” (business contacts).
    Very true! Your customers are your patients and you are basically the doctor, when you view your customers in that kind of perspective, you can easily get a handle of them and massively improve customer satisfaction.

  3. The title suggests the theme but really its just nice to have friends that are friends and not involved in any business venture.

  4. This is a great book. And I did have the pleasure of meeting Tim. I also helped get him a guest appearance on Hilton Head Island’s “Talk of the Town” with Ed McCullough a number of years ago.

    One of those books I try to re-read every year or so.

    -ski

  5. Martin,

    Thanks for the review. I have strolled by this title a number of times online and in the bookstore, even flipped through it a few times. I think you have convinced me to actually take it to the cashier now. I love Tim’s description of the difference between a hardcover and paperback. I am a huge book collector and my library is full of hardcover “studies.”

    Bill

  6. Martin,
    Being a dog person…makes me not a cat person. I do love animals, and this book sounds pretty cool.

    It’s about karma. Right?

    The Franchise King

  7. Susan, RedHotFranchises, Dape, Jeff Ski Kinsey, Bill and Joel: Thanks for your comments! 🙂

    To the long list of Twitter users: Thanks for your reactions & RT messages!

  8. I work for Eagles Talent Connection, a speakers bureau–we work a lot with Tim Sanders for speaking engagements–he’s an amazing speaker. He is hosting a web event for us on March 4, 2010. His topic will be Connections: Harnessing the Power of Great Relationships. Just wanted to pass on the page to register if you’re interested in learning more. There is no charge for the event. http://www.gotospeakers.com/upcomingevents.php

  9. Charlie Schwalbe

    Hi, wher I can find the subtitles for toy story 3?

  10. I don’t like cats but I am a cat person. I read books but more on what interests me. This post encouraged me to start collecting hardcover. I’ll start with this book and will try to look at the others mentioned here will also practice the processing especially the application part. Thanks Martin =)wish i read it right the day you posted it=)God bless

  11. Thx for this. I remember the great cover story by Tim Sanders in Fast Company magazine–“Why love is the killer app,” right before the book was published, and have referred to its theme often and tried to apply it. I will definitely break down and buy the [hardcover] book–finally.