Mighty Marketing Mojo

Category: Entrepreneurship-Solopreneurs

Posts with tips, tools, resources related to helping other solopreneurs, info entrepreneurs and small business owners. Primary focus is on building, organizing, running your business.

  • 12 Last Minute Business Book Gifts for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Folks

    The 2013 Business Book-a-Month List

    The kind of New Year’s resolution we can all get behind – read more! Here are 12 business books to read in 2013. Read a book per month. Ok, read more. I won’t tell.
    Some of these business books are classics, others are new to the scene – all have come recommended from some of the best minds, or hives of minds, in the business world today.

    • The Startup Playbook by David Kidder – insider’s views of the highs & lows of entrepreneurship from top innovators (Spanx, LinkShare, Flickr, LinkedIn, TED,etc); a guide for small and large-thinking entrepreneurs [ via Fast Company]
    • The Half-Life of Facts: Why everything we know has an expiration date, by Samuel Arbesman;  the world, and its knowledge, advances. Science, technology, medicine, our ability to measure things, and even our understanding of history, are all advancing – so ‘facts’ are changing. Smaller, regular changes often precede and foreshadow larger ‘breakthroughs’. Learn to question assumptions and to gather quality information [hear, hear!!  Info pros have long said that the right info, for the right question, is always an improvement. Need help with that? See below!]   [via Inc]
    •  The One World Schoolhouse, by Salman Khan – understanding the power of online education; founder of the Khan Academy – goal of free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere; Khan Academy gives free videos and software on numerous subjects; Khan is rethinking assumptions about education in form, technique, structure and more
    • The Book of Business Awesome (and the Book of Business UnAwesome), by Scott Stratten; the power of the customer experience; case studies of successful businesses and “train wrecks” of unsuccessful ones

    [above three from Content Marketing Institute’s “Gift Ideas for Content Marketers”]

    Business Books to Read in 2013
    Photo from https://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/
    • The Art of the Start: the time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone starting anything, by Guy Kawasaki – a classic; whenever you need to go back and remember why you’re starting something and how to turn your ideas into actions
    • The Dip: A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick), by Seth Godin; don’t quit too early, but don’t stay in too long when you should really get out; help with perspective on quitting
    • The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An easier way to build credibility, generate buzz and increase revenue [2012 ed], by Shama Kabani; clueless on where to jump in and begin using social media to really propel your biz?  here’s some help and a confidence boost

    [above three via Social Media Today, Natalie Sisson’s “13 Must-Read Books to Kick Start your 2013”]

    • The Lean Startup by Ries – a nearly cult hit in the small business, entrepreneur, startup communities; logic and guidance for using a ‘lean’ methodology in starting a company [via Forbes]
    • Commitment Engine, by John Jantsch [see also his best sellers The Referral Engine and Duct Tape Marketing]

    [above three via Seth Godin]

    I have more business books as must-reads for my 2013.  What else is on your must-read list?

    Thumbs-up Reviews Want more recommendations and maybe some reviews of other business books? Good! Because they’ll be coming in the new year. Check back often to see which of my reads from 2012 get a thumbs up and review.

     

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     Worried that the ‘facts’ are changing or that you can’t keep up with information overload? Need to always look smart and work smarter? Then head to IntelliCraft Research and see how we can help!

  • Tips for new entrepreneurs

    It might be questionable to make my first official post about an article with “stop f**king around” in the title. But there are some salient points raised here.

    First-Time Startup Entrepreneurs: Stop Fucking Around | TechCrunch.

    At first I read it and griped that it is focused on tech start-ups, coders, programmers, the next big app thing. What about the rest of us? What about those who ‘start-up’ something that isn’t a Silicon Valley wunderkind, or going to get Y-Combinator funding, or maybe any funding at all other than our savings accounts? But yes, the article is from TechCrunch, so a techie focus should likely be expected.

    However, a few universally salient points are made:

    – Don’t waste time. Don’t meet people for sake of meeting people, or code because you can, or do whatever it is that seems cool and  a ‘must’. Instead … work.

    -But … don’t work to the complete exclusion of everything else. Find your ‘me time’ thing and keep it on your calendar. Always.

    -Define your goals first. Sounds simple and common sense, right? but apparently it’s easy to just jump into the ‘doing’ and forget about the ‘why you’re doing’ or ‘who you’re doing for’. Don’t forget. Plan around the ‘why’ and the ‘who’ and take your time to figure out how you’re getting there — first.

    For other non-techies out there, what did you take away from this article that could help you?

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