How to Win Friends and Influence Profits
David Kean
Summary
To be honest, I initially read this thinking it was ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ and eventually got halfway through the book before realizing my mistake, so I just finished it.
That being said, it has some good advice if you’re in business.
Rating: 3/5
Notes
Organic growth is the most important for business by using existing clients
Power of giving something for free and expecting nothing in return is very powerful to get people to come back to you
Business from existing clients is always more valuable than new clients (shows a sustainable business)
Act in the interest of the client first
Showing up face-face with a client is so much more impactful
Write out who the most important clients are and spend more of your time with them
Political, Economic (market conditions), Customer/competition, Socio-demographic (population trends), Technology, Environment, Legislative (regulations)
Instead of asking a client what they want, tell them what they should do and why (be proactive)
Instead of asking how you can help with the problem, offer solutions to the problem
News of your company
Issues the client is having
Services you can provide that can add value
Extra (go the extra mile, article, book, hobby, etc.)
In a client meeting when presenting a proposal:
Facts/evidence about business situation
Opportunities/consequences from facts
Desire to do something about it
Action necessary to capitalize on the situation
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
