About The Author.
C.J. Hayden is by professional business coach with her company,
Wings Business Coaching, specialising in working with business owners
and self-employed professionals. It is with the second group that
this book focuses its attention.
The Book.
I first bought this book back in 2004, entirely based on the cover.
I know the old saying but I thought if someone can make me want
to buy a book based entirely on the cover then they must definitely
know a thing or two about marketing!
The most appealing thing about this book to me was one word in
the title "Clients". As a newly self-employed Independent
Financial Advisor I was reading a lot of books about sales and marketing,
as it really hadn't taken me long to realise that just being the
best at my job wasn't going to be enough to make it on my own. However,
95% of all the sales and marketing books I read were aimed at those
with a product to sell. Being new to all this I found those books
really difficult to translate to my business. Especially given that
we have so many legal restrictions on how we market.
This is probably the first time I have ever bought a book based
solely on title and cover and I have never regretted it.
The book is divided primarily in to three sections. Firstly an
introduction to sales and marketing, written in plain English and
easily comprehendible even by someone with little or no knowledge
of sales and marketing.
The second part is the most important, the actual 28 day program.
Don't get the wrong idea this book is not about fixing your marketing
in 28 days it's about how to achieve something in a structured way.
Using the plan you pinpoint your weak areas or those from which
you will get the most immediate benefit. Plan how you will achieve
your goal for the 28 day cycle and then move forward doing a little
each day.
I have found this plan has applications far beyond marketing and
sales and have used it on numerous occasions to kick start projects
that have nothing at all to do with my business. For that reason
I was tempted to also list this book under General
Self Help as well as here but decided to stick with the author's
intention.
The third section is dedicated to ideas on how to achieve stages
in the marketing cycle. There is nothing new innovative or revolutionary
here, and that is not a bad thing at all. Everything here is tried
tested and it works, used in conjunction with the program you can
achieve a lot. I certainly did.
Although I don't use this book constantly I go back to it whenever
I hit a slump or a rough patch and it always helps me re-focus and
get back on track. This book really gave me hope at a time when
I was close to quitting.
Rating: 9/10
Who is the book for: Anyone who wants to achieve
something it is clearly aimed at professionals, lawyers accountants
etc. However, the plan has many applications even in your personal
life.
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