By Ivana Taylor - Mar 19, 2011 -
It’s been a long time since we’ve reviewed a book on becoming a small business owner or entrepreneur. So, when I received Startup From the Ground Up from a publicist, I thought it was time to give it a read and see what the most current advice is about getting out on your own.
About the Author
Cynthia Kocialski (@ckocialski) has been involved in 25 startups and writes the Start-Up Entrepreneurs' Blog. All of the startups she’s been involved in have been acquired for nearly $20 billion. She’s also had a variety of executive …
Read More
By Pierre DeBois - Mar 13, 2011 -
"The sound that you're listening to is from my guitar that's named Lucille. I'm very crazy about Lucille. Lucille took me from the plantation. Or, you might say, brought me fame. I don't think I could talk enough about Lucille." -- “Lucille,” B.B. King
Though the above lyric is about B.B King’s legendary Gibson electric guitar, the term "love affair" could just as easily describe the early years of Bob Taylor, founder of Taylor Guitars. At 14, Taylor built a guitar and begun a love affair with the instrument “not to be a rock star …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Mar 12, 2011 -
Guy Kawasaki Practices What He Preaches
I received a review copy of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions and an email that said Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) would be open to an interview. I immediately responded with some date and time options. At first, I wasn’t sure who sent the email. I had assumed it was a publicist or an assistant, even though it came from Guy’s email address. But when I responded with an interview request – it was Guy and I who had the email exchange.
You might be thinking, “So …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Mar 5, 2011 -
What kind of genius creates a product and brand that is so strong and so powerful that people will wait outside the handful of retail outlets that distribute the product, even though ...
The product has some technical features which are less desirable than the alternative?
It has basic functions that actually cause developers and design firms to design around them?
Hackers break into the device so that desperate customers from certain wireless providers can use it?
It has an audience that's so loyal they will beg and plead with their …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Feb 27, 2011 -
Readers (that's you!) have already voted on the 2010 Best Business Books -- Reader's Choice Edition.
Now, as the Editors of Small Business Trends, it's our turn. Below we present the Small Business Book Awards - Editor's Choice version for books of 2010.
Here at Small Business Trends, we read and review well over 100 business books during the year. Some are provided by authors in draft form, giving us the opportunity to review and comment on the book before publishing. Some are sent to us by publishers to review. Some we purchase …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Feb 26, 2011 -
Every time someone does a survey of small business owners, it seems the issues that always bubble to the top of what we’re interested in are generating leads and finding new customers. That's why I've reviewed so many sales books recently.
First there was SHiFT, where we learned how important it is to analyze the successful sales we’ve made and identify the trigger events that get our prospects to actually buy. Then I reviewed Selling to the C-Suite because I know how many of us need to connect with the top dog if we want to get the …
Read More
By Pierre DeBois - Feb 19, 2011 -
Rocky Balboa is not exactly a poet laureate, but the movie character's strength lies as much in his life observations as in his southpaw tenacity.
In the movie "Rocky Balboa," Rocky’s son admonishes Rocky for his boxing comeback decision because he feels the fight publicity will embarrass the both of them.
Rocky’s response is a great father-son teaching moment:
“Nothing will hit as hard as life...but it’s not how you hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Nothing like boxer logic to point out the way …
Read More
By Anita Campbell - Feb 13, 2011 -
Ken Kaufman has written a book that every small-business owner and entrepreneur should read -- at least once, if not several times.
Impact Your Business: An Allegory of an Entrepreneur's Journey to Clarity, Cash, Profit, Family and Success is a mouthful of a title. Luckily, the book is easy to read.
In case you're racking your brains trying to remember what an allegory is, think of it as a novel with business lessons woven into it.
Impact Your Business is the story of Steve Loveland. He is the owner of Bolty Solutions, a …
Read More
By Pierre DeBois - Feb 12, 2011 -
Remember how you felt about an episode of The Facts of Life? Or how about when you watched A Different World? Some of the most memorable TV shows are set during the school years, a formative period fully of funny moments, life lessons and heart-tugging memories.
Well, for business, it seems compelling TV consists of situations outside of school -- for instance, "The Apprentice," CNBC originals, and even a little small business drama from Bravo’s "Flipping Out." Instead of viewing middling TV fare for real-world lessons, I suggest you …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Feb 6, 2011 -
If you’re still looking for ways to make sense of the overwhelming amount of information and feedback that’s coming through on social networks, then The Network Is Your Customer: 5 Strategies to Thrive in a Digital Age may have some answers and insights for you.
This is a book I was eager to read because it focuses on how technology intersects with real life strategy. The first thing I did was look for the book’s website. I find that’s an easy way to get an overview and start developing an opinion. I also love it when books …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Feb 5, 2011 -
Every business owner or sales and marketing person knows that if you really want to sell something, you have to sell the person at the top. And that’s usually anyone with a “Chief” as the first word of their title. There are many books written on the topic, but Selling to the C-Suite: What Every Executive Wants You to Know About Successfully Selling to the Top by Nicholas A.C. Read and Stephen J. Bistritz claims to be the only one that features research-based advice on how to get to the CEO at the very moment when he or she is ready …
Read More
By Ivana Taylor - Jan 30, 2011 -
Big business used to have a monopoly on resources and tools that virtually kept customers hostage if they wanted a certain level or type of service. This is no longer true, and Phil Simon’s The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies will show you exactly how small businesses just like yours are playing and earning big using tools and technologies that used to be out of reach for us.
Phil Simon: An Advocate and Example of Entrepreneurial Spirit
I don’t normally start a book …
Read More
10 Marketing Books You Can't Live Without 13 
14 Books on Leadership Every Young Entrepreneur Should Read 15 
Top 10 Books About Sales 8 
Read "Rules of the Hunt" and Start Playing Successfully in Business 1 
Own Your Niche and Remove the Fear of Internet Marketing 4 
Best StartUp Books 5 
Reading The Good Fail Can Make You Successful 5 
Robert Koenig
Grant Wickes (@gwickes)
Squirrel
Robert Brady
Deborah Shane