Bev's Blog

Bev’s Personal Note: I have read many of Seth’s books along with subscribing to his blog and I believe he has a fabulous grasp on marketing and the psychology of people. I would recommend any of his books! These are just six that I have read and learned so much from.

Author: Seth Godin

Bev’s Personal Note: Anything you Want  is a short read (one day) that is inspiring to anyone with an entrepreneurial mind. This is the man who started CD Baby and in ten years, grew his hobby into a booming business of $100M in sales! This book really made me re-think how we train employees too:-)

Author: Derek Sivers

Bev’s Personal Note: Cheap, The High Cost of Discount Culture is a complicated book that explores the history of business from the founding fathers on and it shows the devastating mindset that is occurring all over our nation today from Wal-Mart to Outlet Malls. She uncovers fascinating information about the psychology of our current “discount culture.” Though not an easy read, it is a must read! Information is power.

Author: Ellen Ruppel Shell

Bev’s Personal Note: Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness…the science, design and engineering of contagious ideas is a short book, but packed full of information on how to quantify your social media efforts. Exposure, Attention and Motivation are the 3 main points. Exposure deals with how to increase the numbers of people exposed to your social media content. Attention deals with how to increase open rates by having more engaging content. Motivation deals with research on powerful calls to action.

Author: Dan Zarrella

Bev’s Personal Note: A Whole New Mind is a great read that explains why right-brain thinkers have an advantage in business. “According to Pink, the keys to success are in developing and cultivating six senses: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.” Great book that makes you think about business in a different way!

Author: Daniel Pink

Bev’s Personal Note: How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life is a book I read many years ago and I consider it a classic describing just what the title says along with great ideas on sales. This one needs to be in your business library!

Author: Michael LeBoeuf

Bev’s Personal Note: Hug Your Customers is a book I read years ago and it gave us the idea for our current RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) program at our studio that is still active today. Jack Mitchell is so impressive as he lays out how he develops relationships with his clients by over the top service and experience. I started working on improving my memory of our clients’ names after reading this book as Jack Mitchell put me to shame! A must read on ways to love and HUG your customers.

Author: Jack Mitchell

Bev’s Personal Note: The E Myth is one of the most important books I have ever read and set the path we are on today. Of all the books I recommend, if you had to choose only one, this is it! This book is especially helpful to those just starting out and wanting to succeed in a fragile and volatile small business environment. P.S. Tim and I also did the workbook together and it was eye opening too!

Author: Michael E. Gerber

Bev’s Personal Note: Selling the Invisible along with the other titles listed below by this wonderful author are all easy, quick and informative reads. Written in a daily nugget style, there is no excuse not to purchase and read all four books. I refer back to these books again and again for wisdom on client ideas and business principles.

Harry’s other great books you need to read:

The Invisible Touch

What Clients Love

You Inc

Author: Harry Beckwith

Bev’s Personal Note: All Business is Show Business is a wonderful read that gave us the idea of sharing our studio’s history with our clients throughout our marketing pieces as well as solidifying our concept of making emotional connections with our clients and treating our business like a “play” where we were on stage every time we interacted with a client.

Author: Scott McKain

Bev’s Personal Note: Mind Your X’s and Y’s is the first book I read on the different buying habits of the different generations in America, from baby boomers to the X and Y consumers. It is a real eye opener on how to market and win the loyalty of these different generations. This is a very interesting book and will greatly benefit you.

Author: Lisa Johnson

Bev’s Personal Note: How to Win Friends and Influence People is the ultimate classic read for every business person who wants to improve communications with their clients. Who knows how many thousands of people have reached amazing success after reading this book! I read this one every year to refresh my skills in this area and you should too.

Author: Dale Carnegie

Bev’s Personal Note: Little Red Book of  Selling is a quick read on the principles of salesmanship with examples of customer objections and how to answer them. If you are the salesperson for your business, you need this book.

Author: Jeffrey Gitomer

Personal Note:The Wizard of Ads, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads and Turning Words into Magic are three super interesting books that are unlike other books on the market. You know you are in for a different experience just from the book covers and pages which are intended to mimic a very old book from a castle.  At least, that’s what it reminds me of! Roy Williams is full of intricate surprises that thread throughout these three books and he also has a blog called Monday Morning Memo, that I subscribe to which is amazing as well.

Roy H. Williams

Bev’s Personal Note: Creating Customer Evangelists teaches how to turn customers into die hard “sneezers” who will talk about you everywhere they go. When we teach, we always use the example of Apple. We LOVE,LOVE,LOVE any and all Apple products and have all of them, but we aren’t satisfied with that. No, we talk about Apple to our friends and constantly work on convincing them to buy their products. Do we get compensated? NO! We do it because we love the company and that is what this book is all about. A must read for all serious business owners, this book will show you strategies on how to do just that.

Author: Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

Bev’s Personal Note: The Referral Engine is a great read on how word- of-mouth referrals are what drive business today. People trust the recommendation of a friend, family member, colleague, or even stranger with similar tastes over anything thrust at them by a faceless company. This book details how to get more referrals and why it is vital in today’s marketplace.

Author: John Jantsch

Bev’s Personal Note: Trading Up is the book that taught us that consumers are looking for luxury products to help them manage the stresses of everyday life and  it may be as simple as a shampoo ($9 from Aveda, versus $3 from Suave) that brings moments of comfort and sensual pleasure. We also learned from this book that we need to think of clients as relationships and not transactions. This is a very interesting book and one well worth the time to investigate.

Author: Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske

Bev’s Personal Note: The Kindle is one of the best gifts I have ever received. Whether traveling or sitting on the back porch, I know I have a great selection of books I can read at my fingertips. This device is well worth the investment.