The subtitle of this book (”How to succeed in every business and social encounter”) gives a clue about how much information Tonya Reiman has amassed. She states that as much as 93 percent of our interpersonal communication is nonverbal. The book is about both how to read others’ nonverbal messages and how to control your body to achieve your goals.

Her “five immutable truths of body language” explain her passion:

1. Body language is a constant.
2. Body language is always determined by context.
3. Body language can never be judged based on one single signal.
4. Body language reveals the discrepancies between what a person says and what a person truly believes.
5. Body language mastery allows you to tune in to “microexpressions,” the brief flashes or gestures that betray inner feelings.

Until reading the book, I had considered myself good at paying attention to body language. For example, the next time you’re in a group of people who are talking, look at the direction people’s feet are pointing. If a person’s feet are pointing away from the group, they are no longer engaged.

She has chapters on the language of: the face (including reading emotion, lip gestures, nose and chin expressions, etc.), the body (hands, torso, arms), of space and touch (the four zones of space and the 14 social touches), and sound (vocal cues). Additionally, she has a wealth of information on secret signals and first impressions. Each chapter also contains what the language means (”What to watch for”) and how to use it for your personal benefit (”What you should work on”). As she describes, the information can be used to both build rapport and/or manipulate people.

The book isn’t a casual read - it’s more like a study course. Read about a gesture or two, go into a social situation, and watch for it (in context). It’s another great skill to have in your social toolkit.

Ms. Reiman’s website (http://www.bodylanguageuniversity.com) has a number of videos and audios as well.

At the core of all great marketing strategies is to clearly identify who your target market is and what their problem is. This book is about the strategies for solving problems.

The core idea is to identify vital behaviors. A vital behavior is a “high-leverage” specific action that has measurable outcome. The author’s favorite example is Dr. Mimi Silbert, the President and Founder of Delancey Street. Since its inception in 1971, her organization has transformed 14,000 hardened criminals into professionals who earn degrees. Dr. Silbert’s vital behaviors are:

1. Everyone must take responsibility for someone else’s success.
2. Everyone must confront everyone else about every single violation.

These behaviors took years to develop, but her results are clear: 90% success rate. Too many behaviors, and no one can remember the rules. One or two of these “tipping-point” behaviors and you get results.

The authors believe that if you want to solve any problem, find the people who are studying best practices for that field. These researchers have already identified what works (and doesn’t). If you need to uncover your own best practices, look for places where your problem should exist but doesn’t. Then, uncover the unique behavior of the group that succeeds.

For example:

Best practices for teaching:

1. Reward positive (even moderately good) performance.
2. Alternate between teaching and questioning/testing.

Best practices for weight loss:

1. Exercise on home equipment.
2. Eat breakfast.
3. Weight yourself daily.

Best practices for Guinea worm disease eradication:

1. Strain water before drinking into clean vessels.
2. If your neighbor has been infected, tell the community.
3. Keep the infected person away from contaminating the water supply.

The second part of the book focuses on the six sources of influence (think of them as behavioral cues). These influences are needed in-concert to implement the vital behaviors.

1. Personal Motivation (”Make the undesirable desirable”): Why should someone care?
2. Personal Ability (”Surpass your limits”): How do they know it works?
3. Social Motivation (”Harness peer pressure”): Why should they trust?
4. Social Ability (”Find strength in numbers”): Why should
5. Structural Motivation (”Design rewards and demand accountability”)
6. Structural Ability (”Change the environment”)

I wished the authors had more lists of specific vital behaviors listed. Their website (www.VitalSmarts.com) has some additional surveys that they conducted. But I’d love to see a wiki of vital behaviors.

My engineering mindset always has me ask, “Is this the right solution for this problem?” In marketing most people give something a “good shot” and hope for the best. Doug Hall has done what I’ve been wanting to see for years: he’s done extensive research of what works in marketing, why, and how you can apply it to your business. His passion is Meaningful Marketing (as contrasted with Mindless Marketing).

The book begins with a 13 question multiple-choice test (the author reports that typically marketing professionals get 4 out of 13 correct!). Here are some of his questions:

• The smartest way to grow sales is: a) build loyalty or b) find new customers
• Most new products or services fail because of: a) poor execution of sales and marketing, b) poor product or service performance, or c) not being a very good idea in the first place.
• When selling to a customer it is best to: a) be blunt and direct about what you offer or b) use a softer, relationship-focused approach.

While the research is based mostly on corporate marketing, many of the points apply to small business as well. The chapters cover the following topics: marketing strategy, marketing message, Mindless Marketing, selling, leadership & teamwork, and Meaningful Marketing vs. Mindless Marketing.

The format of the book is deceptively simple. The left-hand page details a specific scientific advice, and the right-side gives practical ideas to help you implement the advice. Implementing any of the advice is hard work, and that’s where consultants (such as myself) can be a huge benefit to your company.

Here are the author’s secrets to success:

1. Be bold and brave.
2. Add uniqueness to innovation-decision metrics.
3. Seeking new markets is 10 times more successful than pursuing incremental innovations.
4. A future-focus strategy is 10 times more valuable than a “voice-of-the-consumer” approach.
5. Pioneering results in double the sales volume over being fourth to market.
6. The bottom line: If you offer the “same old stuff” (S.O.S.) you are “— out of luck” (S.O.L.)

Those who cannot learn from (marketing) history are doomed to repeat it. Don’t make your business a failed statistic.

What struck me about Stuart Skorman’s book (subtitled, "Why I Can’t Stop Starting Over") is his creative need to start new businesses and his (growing) wisdom about business. Stuart’s better-known accomplishments are launching Reel.com (sold for $100M) and Elephant Pharmacy.

Stuart’s smarts, creativity, luck, risk-taking, and finances are well-described. The book is written in a conversational style - it’s as if you’re sitting down with him (or going for a walk) and he’s mentoring you on customer service and startup business logic. He not only describes his business life, but also his personal life (and the give-and-take he learned). The best part of the book is his hard-won  pearls of wisdom that end each chapter:

• Why I rarely hire MBAs (they often don’t understand the needs for creativity, struggle, and sacrifice)
• Customers can be your best teachers (by intimately knowing your customers likes and dislikes you have a better chance for success)
• Decisions should be made by the person with the best resumé (Hire well and entrust the right person make the right choices on your behalf)
• Three rules to winning in poker and business (Be aggressive, be conservative, be opportunistic)
• Do’s and don’ts for choosing a business (base it on logic, stick with the familiar, prioritize fun, start small, do something established, know your risk tolerance, and focus on short-term goals)
• Create a second bottom line for your idealism (calculate the cost of your idealism from your profitability)
• Avoid creativity at all costs (where possible, reuse existing well-tested solutions to your problems. Creativity is expensive (but attention-getting)).
• How to make the transition from a big company to a start-up (start small, do your homework, work for a startup first, understand your motivation, and be financially prepared).

The subtitle of this book (”Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing”) gives a hint about its purpose: how to appeal to your prospective customers. While the book can be enjoyed by any small business owner, the information is a bit more sophisticated than the usual “here’s some simple ways to improve your business’ marketing”.

The authors have developed Persuasion Architecture™ which attempts to overcome the traditional obstacles to connecting with your customers:

1. Uncovery : Identifying the key benefits for your customer.
2. Wireframing : The steps of the marketing “experience”.
3. Storyboarding : The mock-ups of the marketing experience.
4. Prototyping : The “final” marketing pieces.
5. Development : Ensuring that the prototype matches the wireframe experience.
6. Optimization : Measuring the results and refining the message.

Persuasion Architecture attempts to figure out all the different ways a prospective customer would need information, and provide it to them ahead of time. They’ve extended the traditional business school model of AIDA (Attention -> Interest -> Desire -> Action) to AIDAS (Attention -> Interest -> Desire -> Action -> Satisfaction), since satisfaction is what generates word-of-mouth mentions.

For me, the best parts of the book were chapter fifteen (”Personas” - which described the different filters people use to get information) and chapter 20 (”The Human Operating System” - which described the basic 4 ways people ask questions).

The key points about personas:

• Topology: How is your product used? What are the competitors? How did people solve the problem before your product came about?
• Psychographics: How do different people behave (based on lifestyle and personality profile)
• Demographics: Where are our customers and what do they look like?
• Empathy: How can you “do for others as they would like it done to them?”

The 4 ways people ask questions:

• Methodical: focus on HOW (”What are the details? What’s the fine print?”)
• Spontaneous: focus on WHY or WHEN (”How can you get me to what I need quickly? Do you offer superior service?”)
• Humanistic: focus on WHO (”How will your product or service make me feel? Who are you? Can I trust you?”)
• Competitive: focus on WHAT (”What are your competitive advantages? What are your credentials?”)

I would have liked to see some specific step-by-step examples of applying the Persuasion Architecture to existing businesses (rather than identifying some businesses that use a feature or two of the process). Nonetheless, the book can serve as a good checklist for developing (or improving) your marketing strategy.

If you work for (or with) a non-profit, this book is a must-read. Kim Klein (the editor) focuses on key problem all non-profits face: acquiring, retaining, and upgrading donors.

Acquiring is the process of getting new people to donate to your organization. Typically this is done with direct mail, web site asks, and some special events. The goal is to create an impulse donation.

Retaining is the strategy of converting an impulse donation into a habit.

Upgrading converts the "regulars" to give more than they have before. Typically this is done via a personal call, letter, or special "insider" event.

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Finding Donors. Did you know that in 2004, 75.6% of contributions came from individuals (11.6% of foundations, 8% bequests, and 4.8% corporations)? Or, 7 out of 10 adults in the US and Canada give away money?

Asking For Money. What’s the #1 way to get donations? Ask for them! You need to identify people who: are able to make a gift, believe in your organization, and can be contacted. Formally, you ask for letter first with a letter detailing your organization and a request for monies for a specific need, following up with a phone call, and ending with a face-to-face meeting. Informally, a phone call followed by a letter would suffice.

Special Events. A special event is a two-fer: a fund-raising opportunity plus increased publicity. During the event, there must be a pitch to let people know now is the time to donate. Consider having some friends of your organization purposely start the donation process to break the ice.

Direct Mail. Use direct mail to: get someone to give for the first time, get donors to repeat their gift, and get donors to renew their gift. On a direct mail piece, expect less than 1% response (higher quality lists produce greater response) - so you’ll need to play the numbers game. Before starting a direct mail campaign, calculate the cost of the mailing vs. the likely result of the donation to arrive at a net income per donor. There a lot of information in the book about crafting the copy of the mail piece.

This book is a gold-mine of non-profit fundraising strategy. If you work with non-profits, read it often.

As a small business owner, I’m always searching for ways to build my list of referrals. Two previous books I’ve reviewed (Brag! and Networking Magic) also described strategies for building referrals, but this book is my new favorite.

Endless Referrals picks up where Networking Magic leaves off - what to do after your initial conversation. It’s based around the core belief: All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust. You must first get to know people, then to like you, then to trust your advice. Of course, you must also have a product or service that is high-quality (if you don’t, improve your issues internally before trying to attract referrals).

The author (Bob Burg) starts by listing 7 steps that will ensure your success at business functions. These steps are similar to Networking Magic’s - ask questions, listen, and be of use.

1. Adjust your attitude. Realize that the purpose of attending this function is to work and build your network.
2. Work the crowd. Be pleasant and approachable.
3. Introduce yourself to someone new. If possible, have that person be a Center of Influence.
4. After the introduction, invest 99.9 percent of the conversation in asking that person questions about herself and her business. Do not talk about yourself and your business.
5. Ask for your networking prospect’s business card.
6. Later on, pop back by and call that person by name.
7. Introduce people you have met to others and help them find ways to benefit one another.

I will almost always follow up with the conversation with an email, mentioning what we talked about, and then asking them if they would be interested in my services. Endless Referrals’ strategy is different. Don’t ask them if they want anything that you’re selling (since you met in a business setting, it’s assumed that you are selling something). Instead, stay in touch with your prospects, and make it your “job” to be of service to your prospects - finding them leads (you asked when you first met them, what is an ideal lead for you). This is the law of “Successful Giving and Successful Receiving”.

The author suggests using hand-written note cards instead of email (with your photo on the card). Handwritten notes will be opened, and your photo will subliminally act as a reminder of who you are (not everyone can remember what people look like, but seeing the same face makes you seem more familiar, and therefore trustworthy).

There are chapters devoted to cold-calling (how to get past the gate keeper), using the Internet, positioning yourself as an expert, cross-promotions, and more.

Unscrewed: The Consumer’s Guide To Getting What You Paid For (by Ron Burley) provides some strong tactics for resolving customer service problems where you know you’re in the right. It’s a great way to learn how to market your needs to an organization, guerrilla marketing, and also how to improve your own business’s customer service.

Ron drew upon his background as a broadcast journalist to create 5 key strategy principles:

1. The Principle (”A company will do only what is in its financial self-interest”). Therefore, if you have a problem, you need to show the company that satisfying your needs is in their best interest.
2. The Purpose (”The purpose is to reclaim money, assets, or equity while minimizing time and effort”). It’s not about getting (emotionally) even, it’s simply a business transaction.
3. The Promise (”It will cost much more to ignore me than to take care of me, and I am willing to spend an unlimited amount of tie and energy to get what I’m due”). You’ll be making yourself into a nuisance for the expressed purpose of ensuring other consumers won’t become victimized.
4. The Power Tools (”Technologies that you use to leverage your position with your opponent”).
5. The Plan (”…is designed to recover what you are due; it includes an acceptable goal, adversary research, a specific strategy, and an honest assessment of the situation”). The plan matches the situation with your resources to get the result you’re after.

Each of his strategies are based on an in-your-face little-crazy approach. If you threaten a business person with a lawsuit, bodily harm, or to damage their reputation, you’ve eliminated the opportunity for a quick resolution. Instead, you call upon your Free Speech Rights to tell people about your true story. A zealot is hard to ignore.

Each strategy is detailed using a real-life story. He gives a background to the problem, his solution, the result, and an examination of the specific of why exactly the solution worked.

Aikido is a Japanese martial art based on “blending with your opponents’ energy”. As I learned during my 12+ years of training on the mat, victory over others is a matter of physical and mental training. In business, you need to win over your customer prospects and stand out from your competition.

1. Ground Yourself/Center. Masters are confident and aware of their own expertise. They also know what they don’t know, creating partnerships and learning opportunities to improve their limitations.
2. Relax. Focus on your goal, but don’t try to be able to do everything well. Do your homework, then let your knowledge pick your best choices through grounded intuition. Know how you use the tools at your disposal, and use them optimally.
3. Awareness. Know your competition. Don’t be afraid of them. Pay attention to what they are doing and their intentions. Know your own relationship to your business environment.
4. Extend. Reach out to your customer, but don’t lose your own business “center”. Keep your core values intact, and you’ll be able to authentically offer your services.
5. Don’t Resist. See what your customer is asking of you, and adjust to their needs. If what you’re doing isn’t working, stop struggling and be willing to experiment with something else.
6. Pay Attention. Great marketing is about leading, not reacting. Don’t try to play “catch up”, seize new opportunities and anticipate needs.
7. Connect To Something Larger. See the big picture of what your customers need and how your offering fits into that image. From your customer’s perspective, it’s not all about you, it’s about their needs.
8. Lose To Win. A great strategist knows when to give (”lose”) to get (”win”). By focusing on a business strategy that builds on your skills, you can adjust your short-term actions to achieve your long-term goals.

Martial arts and marketing mastery both require continually improving and practicing. You must constantly be willing to seek out new information, try it out, and see what works (and why it works). Just because someone offers a technique that works for them doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for you or your business. If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn. Seek out senseis (teachers) to get feedback on your practice.

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If you’re interested in learning more about martial arts strategy, I recommend “The Art of Learning“. It’s a fascinating introspection of the training necessary to produce martial arts “miracles”, written by a former chess master who became a world champion at Push Hands.

Stories have the power to ignite, educate, unify, lead, share values, and focus attention. We’re born to tell and listen to stories. Why are we shy to use them to help us in business?

While I’ve already written of how to tell your marketing story, Stephen Denning writes about organizational storytelling. His book is a fable showing how can you use a story to help you inside your business.

Next time you’re tempted to use a PowerPoint slide show or present information for your business, consider instead crafting a story. It will no doubt take you longer to prepare your story, but the results can be dramatic. No glazed eyes staring at handouts or screens. Instead, people will be focused on you, listening and imagining.

The book’s story focuses around a squirrel company that needs to change its business model. It has been a company that helps squirrels bury nuts. But one visionary in the company wants the company to instead help squirrels store nuts. How the visionary learns to convince their peers, their boss, and eventually the board is the fable.

The book lists the high-value forms of organizational storytelling, so you can match the right type of story to achieve a certain result. Here’s a brief synopsis:

1. To spark action
   • The story must be true and focuses on a positive outcome
   • Have people say: “Just think..” or “Just imagine…”
2. To build trust
   • Reveal some true strength/vulnerability from your past
   • Have people say: “I didn’t know that about you”
3. To transmit values
   • Describe how leadership did something before
   • You must walk the talk
   • Have people say: “That’s clearly the right way…”
4. To get people to work together
   • Tell a story that others can relate to
   • Have people say: “That reminds me…”
5. To neutralize gossip
   • Commit to tell the truth, but show the humor in the situation
   • Have people question the gossip
6. To share knowledge
   • Tell the problem, setting, solution, and explanation
   • Have people say: “We need to keep on eye on that…”
7. To lead people
   • Describe a positive outcome about the future
   • Have people say: “When do we start?”

If you don’t feel comfortable telling stories to people, join a public speaking club to exercise your story-telling muscles (or take an improvisational acting class). Remember that you’re not trying to get people to buy tickets to hear you speak (yet) - you’re just trying to learn a new tool to communicate ideas with others.