4 out of 5 stars

Just finished my review copy of Find Your Next by Andrea Kates. 

I was skeptical as I started, because I’ve read and reviewed so many books on business strategy, but as I dived in more and more, my respect for the book grew.

From the website for the book, I share the six elements for business growth:

The author Andrea Yakes does an admirable job of uncovering the need to really dig - look “between the lines” and outside your industry to uncover the unseen opportunities for dramatic business growth.

I recommend this book for top business executives looking for fresh ideas for dramatic growth.

(Note about our reviews. We are tough and honest graders. It is very rare for a book to garner five stars)

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Here’s a summary of key points in the book:

These are the six elements that combine to create new opportunities for business growth and define an organization’s “DNA”

The core DNA of a company is the starting point for change. These six elements are levers that can be combined in different ways to fine-tune an organization’s strategic edge. Map your genome against the patterns and successes of other companies in other industries. Then, incorporate those successes into your DNA to leapfrog forward.

4 1/2 stars out of 5

“B2B marketers are in an arm’s race around content. The winners will be those with the best content.” Paul Dunay, Buzz Marketing for Technology.

Read the written review below or, if you prefer, watch my video review on YouTube.

I recently finished the book Managing Content Marketing by Robert Rose (@Robert_Rose) and Joe Pulizzi. @juntajoe (Joe, known as the “Godfather of Content Marketing” is an upcoming guest soon on my marketing show, Mad Marketing TV.)

While I was looking forward to the book, I had some skepticism because this topic has had a lot of coverage lately. Books like Content Rules covered it in depth as well as Joe’s earlier book, Get Content, Get Customers. The last thing we all need is a new book that beats a dead horse.

With that in mind, I was wondering how Robert and Joe would blaze new trails with this book. In my mind, they certainly did. They wrote this book as a how-to manual, but they had some innovative ideas too. Here are three examples:

1. Creating the story of your company (No other content marketing book covered story as well as this one.)
2. Sharing a model for metrics - a triangle. (I loved the idea of a small number of KPIs for top executives - top of the triangle. Key measures for mid level execs. And general metrics like visitors and email opens for lower level employees. The triangle was the perfect graphic device.)
3. Focusing on creating heroes - not just education. (This was my favorite. Most content focuses on educating buyers, but the authors shows how content can make heroes out of people.)

Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose

findnewcustomers intro

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“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.

4 1/2 stars out of 5.

I’m honored that Dan Paulson invited me, as President of the B2B lead generation company Find New Customers to review his new book. This book held particular interest for me because I believe that commoditization is a huge problem for most businesses. Prospective buyers are unable to spot meaningful differences.

With buyers unable to see real differences between company offerings, companies face pressure on margins and have lowered win rates. Think of a bushel basket filled with red apples. They all look the same. But one golden apple would stand out. This is also the concept in Seth Godin’s book, Purple Cow. And why when I was asked for the marketing take-away of the week on HubspotTV, I said “Think Different.”

Dan Paulson of InVision Business Development and Marketing LLC is experienced at helping companies overcome this dilemma. This book walks the reader through a process to help them uncover true differentiation.

One of the key things I look for in book reviews is where the book fits in the existing arena of books. Some books, like on social media and demand generation (not to mention the Civil War) are well-covered. But books that break new ground are of greater value I think. (We give half a star for this.) Dan’s book blazes new trails I think. This is a key topic for business leaders.

Dan introduces the topic by explaining that price differentiation is inadequate. He goes on to explain that change requires deep self-examination and that change must go deep. He emphasizes that your people are your brand. Dan introduces the Five Tasks of the Golden Apple in the book.

1. Direction - your vision, mission and values
2. Path - your strategy and innovation
3. People - leadership, talent and culture
4. Process - balancing standardization and flexibility with cultural alignment
5. Measures - using data for diagnosis and predictions

“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.

B2B Lead Generation | Maximizing Lead Generation - a book review

Update: There is now a free chapter of the book at Maximizing Lead Generation.

As the President of the B2B lead generation company, Find New Customers, I was excited to be invited to review the book Maximizing Lead Generation by Ruth P. Stevens. Since this topic is the specialty of our company, we felt our insights might be valuable.

Before we jump into our review, we wish to note excellent books on the market today, such as Lead Generation for the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll and eMarketing Strategies for  the Complex Sale by Ardath Albee. In addition, Dan McDade wrote The Truth About Leads. So the topic is well covered.

Ruth Stevens

That said, Ruth does a commendable job of covering a topic near and dear to the hearts of marketing and sales leaders (and CEOs and boards responsible for revenue results) In particular, I liked Chapter 3 - the Marketing Database, as this is an area not well covered by others books - and an area of real expertise by Ruth.

Ruth also has a well-written and easy to read style which I enjoy and she also uses lots of tables and charts.

This book is highly recommended as a comprehensive and complete guide to B2B lead generation.

Order the book now on Amazon.com.

We give it four out of five stars, mainly because it breaks little new ground.

“If more companies listened to (Find New Customers) a lot more would be sold.” Dan McDade, Pointclear.

76% of leaders at small and medium-sized businesses cited sales growth as their greatest challenge in 2011.

Mike Schultz

Having been through the process of founding RAIN Group with my business partner, John Doerr, I know just how difficult it can be for a young, growing business to get off the ground.

You’ve got a great idea that people have told you will succeed, outstanding content, and the people in place to make it all come together. Problem is, when it comes time to launch, you’re just not generating the business you thought you would.

More often than not, this is a direct result of the fact that many entrepreneurs simply have not been taught how to sell. And even experienced salespeople struggle to sell in an entrepreneurial environment where there are unique challenges to selling new ideas or selling against big, well-branded competitors.

As good as your business idea might be, it’s not going anywhere if you can’t sell it.

Fortunately, it’s never too late to learn.

To help you out, I’ve made a series of video training lessons specifically for entrepreneurs and sellers in growing businesses. They’ll teach you everything you need to know about how to make the sales that will help your business achieve the growth you’re looking for.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

• The most common sales mistakes entrepreneurs sellers at growing businesses make
• How to avoid these mistakes
• The unique challenges of selling in an entrepreneurship and how you can overcome them
• A step-by-step guide on how to communicate your value
• How to lead masterful sales conversations that result in new business
• The simple formula to make millions of dollars in sales

The first video in the series is available now. And the best part is, I’ve made the series available to you for free! Note that these are not quick-tease videos. This series contains 60 minutes of value-packed RAIN Selling content.

So head over to EntSelling.com and check it out. I guarantee it’ll be worth your while.

Full disclosure: This email contains affiliate links and Find New Customers may receive compensation for anyone that signs up. But we know these men well and we wouldn’t promote anything that we didn’t think was quality.