Rework
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$22.00
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Product Info
- EAN: 9780307463746
- Manufacturer: Crown Business
Features
- ISBN13: 9780307463746
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Spotlight customer reviews:
- Customer Rating:
- Summary: Great ideas and lots of inspiration
- Comment: Lots of short chapters each with one key idea. Count me as someone who was not familiar with 37signals. I'm a fan now.
Many of the ideas won't apply to your business. So what was the last business book you read where that wasn't the case? Some of the chapters may leave you cold. That's okay too.
That leaves lots of gems. As an intentionally one-person professional firm, here are a few of the gems for me:
Everything is marketing. Every word on your web site, every answered call, even your e-mails are marketing. That is so obvious, yet I had never thought of it that way. After reading the book, I had the idea to rewrite the signature blocks on my email to increase visibility of one line in the block that is directly marketing. (Aha, that would be application of the last chapter - inspiration is perishable - do something while you are highly motivated to get it done.)
Out teach your competition. As a small outfit, you can teach, educate, and help your clients and potential clients easier than the big guys. I recently started blogging as a marketing approach and to help my client base. The out-teach-competition chapter gave me ideas for several series of posts beyond the updates and news I had already planned.
Sell your by-products. The recent blog postings by 37signals is marketing (see above), which is also building an audience (another chapter), and was then turned into this book, which is an illustratin of selling your by-products. Great idea! I need to think about how to do that in my firm.
Those gems for me may do nothing for you. Lots of other ideas that didn't do much for me may be the Aha! inspiration you need.
Be forewarned the authors sometimes use strong language. They do so to good effect, but if that is a concern for you then don't say you were surprised.
- Customer Rating:
- Summary: essential business reading for capitalists everywhere.
- Comment: as others have said, the concepts are clear, concise, and of critical importance to any business who doesn't completely own their market (everyone?). for much of the book, you could expand 'business' to apply to everyone with career aspirations -- you don't have to be an owner or Chief Something Officer.
the real beauty of the book is that it's anecdotal. this is not the end of all business wisdom, it's just a lot of really excellent experiential observations. I don't agree with every statement, but that's not the point. it gets you thinking. you second guess what you thought were business requisites. as with their S vs N posts, the ideas bring you back to common sense and away from MBA school.
you'll remember the lessons they've learned because they get right to the point. and if you forget something, just read the whole book again -- you'll be done by the end of the week if you're a slow reader.
if I were rating the illustrations (as a whole) I think I'd offer 3 stars at best. the style is fun and casual (like the writing). a few are fantastic and you'll want them posted 6 feet tall in your office. many, however, are just the chapter title written out in sketchy lettering (which is then repeated in type on the opposing page). not very helpful. the constraint of one illustration for every chapter (often as little as 1 page of text) did not add value to the project. I would've preferred a slimmer volume to all the graphic noise.
- Customer Rating:
- Summary: Eh, it was okay at best.
- Comment: If you want a quick read that confirms what you think a fairytale workday should be, then buy this book. It helps keep things in perspective instead of getting caught up in the details. But, if you're looking for an in-depth book with insights and true-life examples from other companies (instead of just 37signals) then don't purchase this book -- or just purchase a used one for less.
I found this book fine for a time filler. But if I really wanted to learn more about being a successful entrepreneur (or, "starter" as this book calls us), then I would have preferred a more intelligent book. By "intelligent," I mean something that peaks my interest beyond the pages.
- Customer Rating:
- Summary: The book is excellent - great advice for early stage entrepreneurs
- Comment: This book provides excellent insight for launching and running a new company. The authors did a great job in conveying their wisdom for what works and why. Almost all the expressed concepts are rooted in common sense and practice... versus business theory. I highly recommend this to read for any early stage entrepreneurs or business owners.
- Customer Rating:
- Summary: An absolute must have for anyone interested in business
- Comment: Simple, clear, and to the point. Rework is easily the best book I've read in awhile. I would HIGHLY recommend it to any entrepreneur or small business owner.
