[courtesy of jonathan fields - a past guest on IntrepidTV]

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This post is for my readers who need holiday gifting ideas.

But we here at Intrepid don’t believe in giving gifts, such as neck ties, socks and cuisinarts. We believe in giving experiences: art, music, wine and of course, books.

Here is my complete 2011 reading list along with my notes on most titles. But below, I share the six books (and why) that you should give to your loved ones, friends and/or customers. These will help people become an intrepid marketer, and live a more intrepid life…

STEVE JOBS

[my notes: Apply Jobs' craziness to your business...the attention to detail; creating an experience and emotions, not a product; and never settling. For anything...]

ENCHANTMENT

[my notes: Guy Kawasaki makes it fun and exciting to be a marketer, this book will leave you inspired to tackle your marketing mission. Here is my interview with Guy earlier this year.]

ANYTHING YOU WANT

[my notes: If you run a business, or want to launch one, this book is an essential read. Here are my more complete notes on Derek's book.]

THE WARRIOR ETHOS

[my notes: I read a lot of Steven Pressfield this year, but this was my most favorite, and one of the most fun and inspiring reads. Let me put it this way, if you are a man, you should add this to your collection.]

DO THE WORK

[my notes: Another Pressfield title, and one of the most important books you will ever read. If you create, if you procrastinate (and we all do), this is a MUST READ. This will get you off your ass...]

POKE THE BOX

[my notes: In my opinion, the most important thing to do is read both Do The Work AND Poke The Box at the beginning of each month. I do. This combination of inspiration will light a creative fire, and launch you on pushing for the change you need in your life and work. In my view, this is Seth Godin's most important work, and he's had a lot...]

I hope this helps. Happy Christmas!

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Just finished David Meerman Scott’s latest book, Newsjacking. I will be interviewing him soon about this book, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, enjoy these clips from the book that I highlighted on my iPad:

“The rules have changed. The traditional PR model – sticking closely to a preset script and campaign timeline – no longer works the way it used to. Public discourse now moves so fast and so dynamically that all it takes is a single afternoon to blast the wheels off someone’s laboriously crafted narrative.”

“What’s new is that today almost anyone can newsjack if – and only if – they are able to follow the news in real time and react in real time.”

“Searching Google, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and whatever else comes to mind, the reporter scans for any plausible nugget to differentiate her story.”

“Your job is instantly spot an angle and get it online – via your blog, Twitter, or media alert – as fast as you can. You need to be clever and quick. You need to operate in real time.”

“If your blog develops a reputation for serving up informed, insightful, authoritative, articulate, quotable, and timely commentary on the issues in your industry, journalists will learn to seek you out when new issues arise.”

“When you do a blog post on breaking news, don’t just post it and walk away. As Joe Payne did at Eloqua, alert people to your post via Twitter, your company’s website, or email to journalists who might be interested.”

“How can you not afford not to react to news in real time? This is simple a question of missed opportunities. If you cannot react in real time, you risk being torpedoed by a competitor, an unhappy customer…”

“For a blog post to be effective, you need to get it online and post it in your media room as fast as possible. We’re talking right now. Not tomorrow. Not this afternoon. Now.”

If you do marketing for yourself or your organization, this short e-book is a must read. Purchase it here (affiliate link):

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Does anything else need to be said?

Just remember our veterans today…

I remember, like yesterday, where I was when I learned of the attacks. I was living in Nevada, in Las Vegas. Later that day, when they thought the large hotels in Vegas were in danger, and fighters jets from Nellis AFB circled our city for days. It was surreal.

I remember when the world changed. God bless us, pray for those lost on 9-11, pray for those still fighting for justice, and for those lost fighting for justice.

God Bless America…

Just finished reading Derek Sivers‘ Anything You Want. This book is a must-read for anyone in business, for anyone who serves customers.

There isn’t much for me to say about the power of this book, so I will simply share some passages I highlighted whilst reading on the iPad:

“Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.”

“Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently promoting what’s not working.”

“When you make it a dream come true for yourself, it’ll be a dream come true for someone else, too.”

“A business plan should never take more than a few hours of work. Hopefully no more than a few minutes. The best plans start simple. A quick glance and common sense should tell you if the numbers will work. The rest are details.”

“If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, say “no.”"

“Anytime you think you know what your business will be doing, remember this quote from Steve Blank: No plan survives first contact with customers.”

“Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision – even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone – according to what’s best for your customers.”

“You need to confidently exclude people, and proudly say what you’re not. By doing so, you will win the hearts of the people you want.”

“Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn’t that enough?”

“When someone’s doing something for love, being generous instead of stingy, trusting instead of fearful, it triggers this law: We want to give to those who give.”

“Please know that it’s often the tiny details that really thrill people enough to make them tell all their friends about you.”

“Even if you want to be big someday, remember that you never need to act like a big boring company.”

“There’s a benefit to being naive about the norms of the world – deciding from scratch what seems like the right thing to do, instead of just doing what others do.”

“In the end, it’s about what you want to be, not what you want to have.”

“You can’t just live someone else’s expectation of a traditional business. You have to just do whatever you love the most, or you’ll lose interest in the whole thing.”

“Lesson learned too late: Delegate, but don’t abdicate.”

“Business is as creative as the fine arts. You can be as unconventional, unique, and quirky as you want. A business is a reflection of the creator.”

The book came out this past week. I’ve already read it twice. You can purchase the book here (affiliate link):

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[Todd Schnick is a marketing strategist, helping entrepreneurs become intrepid marketers...]
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It isn’t about hot dogs, BBQ, baseball or the start of summer. It is about remembering those who died giving us the ability to cherish freedom. Please remember them…

I will be honest. Until Enchantment, I had never read a book by Guy Kawasaki. Not even The Art of the Start.

I now realize I’ve missed out. I loved this book. You will too. Guy is known for his 10-point speeches, using 10 slides only. Thusly, here are my 10 reasons to read this book:

1. Simple and actionable items. The book was full of simple, executable checklists on how to implement the advice in this book. Makes it very simple to be enchanting!

2. Simple descriptions about how to use push and pull technologies. I found this very useful!

3. Great chapter on how to launch. And, being the fellow behind The Art of the Start, who better to talk about launching than Guy…

4. Personal stories closing each chapter. I found these very enjoyable, and a nice way to drive home the point of each chapter.

5. New ways to leverage Facebook and LinkedIn. I thought I knew all I needed to leverage these tools. I was wrong. And will be implementing these.

6. Great discussion on importance of likability. If you need empirical evidence on the power of likability, just study Guy Kawasaki.

7. How to resist enchantment. What I wasn’t prepared for was a chapter on how to resist enchantment. Every day we make decisions, because we were enchanted, that we shouldn’t make. This chapter, which was surprising and unexpected, talks you through how to resist.

8. New vernacular. I read this book NOT thinking I would add the word enchantment to my dialog. I will now. To all my clients.

9. How to enchant your employees and boss. This isn’t ONLY a book about how to enchant your market. But how to enchant both your boss and employees. You cannot enchant customers if your employees aren’t happy and inspired. These were my two favorite chapters.

10. How to send effective email. Guy walks you through how to send email that will have impact. I took his advice. I sent an email to him – using his techniques – inviting him to join me on Intrepid Radio. It worked. Look for Guy to join me later this week on Intrepid Radio. That is a conversation that I am sure you will find enchanting…

Buy this book. It will change the way you do business.

You can purchase the book here (affiliate link):

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