The World's Best Book Summaries
Does your business have a market positioning strategy? What path should you take to beat out the competition? In their book Positioning, Al Ries and Jack Trout discuss market positioning strategies for established market leaders, aspiring market leaders, and established leaders entering a new market. Regardless of your position now, there’s a strategy that fits your business. Keep reading to learn about these market positioning strategies.
What do Posner and Kouzes mean by “challenge the process” in the context of leadership? Do you always seek ways to improve your current processes? Challenging the process, as defined by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge, is all about a leader’s efforts to challenge the status quo and find ways to optimize organizational processes. There are two guidelines for challenging the process: 1) search for opportunities, and 2) experiment and take risks. In this article, we’ll take a look at the specific ways you can “challenge the process” to proactively drive your organization or team forward.
What is Osterwalder and Pigneur’s book Business Model Generation about? What are the nine elements that make up a business model? In their book Business Model Generation, innovation experts Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur propose a framework for designing a successful, holistic business model. Co-created by 470 practitioners from across 45 countries, the template consists of nine elements, which can be combined in different ways to tailor-design a business model for any venture. This Business Model Generation book review takes a look at the book’s impact, authors’ backgrounds, and critical reception.
Do you know how to name a product? Why is this your most important marketing decision? In Positioning, Al Ries and Jack Trout argue that selecting a product name that supports your claims is crucial to positioning your product in the market. They explain why you shouldn’t underestimate the power of a name and provide guidance on how to (and how not to) name a product. Continue reading to learn how to name a product to position it for success.
What is Osterwalder and Pigneur’s Business Model Generation about? What are the nine elements that make up a business model? Business Model Generation by innovation experts Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur is a contemporary guide to systematic business innovation. The authors provide a template for brainstorming and visualizing the overarching elements that make up a successful, holistic business model. In addition, they provide techniques you can use to generate your own innovative business models, as well as strategies you can incorporate to regularly analyze and optimize your existing business models. Below is a brief overview of the key points.
What is The Ultimate Sales Machine about? What is the secret to sales success, according to its author Chet Holmes? In The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes argues that the secret to sales success is relentless discipline, determination, and above all, repetition of a few steps. For Holmes, sales mastery is intensive, not extensive—it’s about being an unmatched expert in a relative handful of things, not being adequate or average at many things. This article takes you through Holmes’s key ideas about becoming the ultimate sales machine.
Do you feel like you’re always on the defense, trying to improve your product to overthrow your competition? How can you stop getting bogged down by what your competitors are doing? Investigating what your competitors are doing can be time-consuming and distracting. According to David Hansson and Jason Fried, the founders of software company 37signals, you will be better off ignoring your competition altogether, especially in the startup phase. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of ignoring startup competition.
What is the multi-sided platform business model? How do companies that run on an MSP business model create value for their customers? A multi-sided platform business model (MSP) is where a platform connects several distinct groups of customers with mutual interests. This business model is not a new development—it has existed for centuries. However, it started gaining prominence only in the last decade or so thanks to the advancement of the internet. Keep reading to learn about the concept of the multi-sided platform business model and its key characteristics.
What makes an effective marketing strategy? What are some things you should keep in mind when designing a marketing strategy for your brand? A good marketing strategy builds both trust and awareness. If you have just awareness but no trust, your sales will be inconsistent and modest. If you have trust but little awareness, you’ll likely not sell enough. Keep reading for tips on how to market your brand for maximum trust and exposure.
What do Posner and Kouzes mean by “enable others to act” in the context of leadership? What can you, as a leader, do to develop a sense of agency in your subordinates? “Enable others to act” is the fourth principle of Posner and Kouzes’ outstanding leadership. There are two overall guidelines to achieve this: 1) foster collaboration amongst your team members, and 2) build their sense of self-determination by strengthening their competence and confidence. We’ll discuss these two concepts below.