Street Entrepreneurs

Book Review: Universal Principles of Design

Paul — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:44:21 +0000

From time to time I like to throw in a curve ball and on the face of it this book is one of those times. What does a book about design have to do with sales, marketing and being an entrepreneur. The answer is of course that it depends on the book. The reality is that anything we make from websites and business cards to business processes and client interation are designed. If you doubt that you can design a customer interaction then you’ve never used Apple support. This book is another classic text, but this time it gives you a solid grounding in the key principles that influence every design decision we make.

This book is a handsome object and it’s no surprise that a book on design has itself been designed to be clear and accessible. Accessibility is important here because this is a reference book containing descriptions of such principles as affordance, ockham’s razor and the golden ration. It is beautifully illustrated with clear information and examples. If you have a desire to make your projects and business better through design then I would be surprised if this book was not a constant source of inspiration.

TED Talk – Building a dinosaur from a chicken

Paul — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:57:47 +0000

A lesson on how to achieve the impossible. So what’s your dinosaur?

Book Review: Small Is The New Big

Paul — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:41:12 +0000

Oops, I seem to be reviewing another Seth Godin book. I promise I’ll review a different author next week … honest. I can’t say much more about this book other than it’s one of my favourite business books. The full title is small is the new big and 183 other riffs, rants, and remarkable business ideas, which gives you a clue to it’s content. The book’s style harks back to the classic works of ex-mckinseyite Tom Peters. It is accessible and infinitely readable in short or longer bursts, as it is made up of a series of short punchy sections on practically every area of business.

Each section (for want of a better word) covers one of Seth’s riffs taken from his blog. Each riff is anything from a paragraph to a couple of pages long and details a core marketing or business idea. There isn’t anything in the way of logical structure here, other than the riffs being ordered alphabetically. This I think is part of the book’s charm as it encourages the reader to dip into it and digest in small chunks. Although, I suspect you will end up reading it from cover to cover. Not least, so that you can make sure you didn’t miss anything.

As with most of Seth’s works this book isn’t intended as a manual for doing marketing but is intended to inspire you to create a remarkable and memorable business. With 183 riffs to choose from, I don’t doubt there is something in here to inspire you. If you don’t get anything out this book to help your entrepreneurial efforts, then you should probably go work for a bank.

TED Talk – Different Ways of Knowing

Paul — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:53:24 +0000

So what did you think “hnugginn” meant?

Book Review: Johnny Bunko – The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need

Paul — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:37:52 +0000

A guidebook for career building doesn’t sound like a book that would be relevant to the audience of this site. However, this particular book has much to offer, but don’t expect any ground shaking revelations. It’s a fun way to remind yourself that you need to reflect on where you are and make sure that you are moving in the right direction. It’s 10 minutes of reading time and a lifetime of commitment.

This is an entertaining read, especially if you are a fan of Japanese Manga comics. Written in this form the book explores 6 rules for managing your career told through the story of an office worker who discovers some magic chopsticks. As each chopstick is snapped a genie reveals to him a new lesson in how to think about his career and ultimately his life. This book is short, playful, thoughtful and a great deal of fun.

TED Talk – Try Something for 30 Days

Paul — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:50:07 +0000

What are you going to do for the next 30 days?

Book Review: Free Prize Inside

Paul — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:33:16 +0000

It should be apparent now that I enjoy the many works of Seth Godin. Seth broke through into the mainstream marketing world with his Unleashing The Ideas Virus book. I agree with much that Seth has to say, but more importantly admire his clear and concise delivery. His style is a breath of fresh air in a world of dry academic marketing materials and suspect ebooks that promise the world or your money back. His Free Prize Inside is one of my favourite works as it looks at an area critical to the success of any venture; differentiation.

This book is worth a look as it not only analyses the need to create a uniqueness within your products, services and branding but provides you with a method for doing so. Seth draws a distinction between his “edges” and product differentiation as it is traditionally defined. However, I’m not sure there is that much of a distinct difference; more a matter of perspective. Whatever the terminology, if you think the only way to differentiate is on price then this book should open your eyes to some alternatives.

TED Talk – Your Brain on Improv

Paul — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:35:36 +0000

Creativity is magical, but it’s not magic

I love the idea of intense creativity. How about you?

Book Review: Selling The Invisible

Paul — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:27:28 +0000

Many books will declare themselves as classic texts and in the marketing arena few deserve the title. However, Harry Beckwith’s Selling The Invisible, A Field Guide to Modern Marketing is certainly a book that deserves your attention. I love this book and it has influenced my thinking and approach to how I market and sell services possibly more than any other resource. As Seth Godin calls us to innovate then Beckwith provides a call for us to build relationships and does so with an entertaining and insightful guide book.

I own a lot of books and have taken to double stacking them in order to fit them into my already large and overflowing shelving system. The downside is that half my books are hidden away at the back of the shelves but this becomes an upside as it allows you to rediscover a little gem you had long forgotten about. I’ve rediscovered this book again and again since I bought it many years ago and despite my familiarity it continues to inspire and inform my business life.

It reads rather like Godin’s Small Is The New Big as it contains a series of small bite sized narratives. However in this case Beckwith clearly declares the point he is trying to illustrate and has taken the time to organise his thoughts into sections dealing with such subjects as research, planning, pricing and branding. In preparing for this review I took the time to reread this book one more time and as I did so I ended up making notes reminding me to address a number of issues in my own business projects.

This is a great little book and is well worth the investment to any entrepreneur. As I’ve said before in a previous review, if you don’t get anything out of this book, then you should probably give up and go work for a bank.

TED Talk – Listen, Learn then Lead

Paul — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:20:23 +0000

So how do you lead in the connected world?