Collapse of Distinction: Stand out and move up while your competition fails by Scott McKain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
- Do you have to compete on price?
- Do you need “added value”?
- Do you have to make business with everyone?
- Do you have to be just like everyone?
- Is imitating your competitors a must?
According to Scott McKain, the answer is no.
Clarity, Creativity, Communication and Customer-Experience Focus are the four cornerstones you can build your business upon. Defining clearly who you are and who you are not, who your customers are and who are not helps you to be different.
- Does it mean you have to send away prospective clients? Yes.
- Does it mean your market share becomes limited? Yes.
- Is that a bad thing? Ask Apple.
Seriously, you should read the book.
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The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
My rating:5 of 5 stars
Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber is one of the best and most creative fantasy books I have read. The plot is interesting - always seems just straightforward, but always there is a twist which just puts everything that has had happened into a different light. And then, as the whole story is told by an aeons old, machiavellian character to his own son, who is yet a stranger, who has been raised by the enemy, we can’t be sure that it has happened as it is told.
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Armchair Economist: Economics And Everyday Experience by Steven E. Landsburg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Armchair Economist is - in my opinion - a must read for everyone who is evenslightly interested in how economists see the world, what reasons can be for the outrageous price at movies and other important questions.
Some people claim that the author has a rather condescending,even blood-boiling style, and well, sometimes you can say he has.
But all in all it shows you how the economical thought process handles problems, and some interesting facts.
A warning - the book is simply economics, and when looking at a problem makes no moral distinction, the needs, costs, etc. of a Mother Theresa and a convicted serial killer are equally important.
If you can’t look beyond this, then you are going to get mad at the book sometimes.
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No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Well, blogging has arrived. I mean really.
This book is a good example of that, one of those 101 and “in 24 hours” books.
The subject is fun, the content is about 100 blog posts, the price for this is ridiculous.
The author complains that people are writing about their lunch, but funny thing is that her 31st idea for blogging is - yes, you guessed, lunch.
The book is basically about how to bare youself more to the public, how to put more of your private life on the net - hey, you got an embarrassing memory that makes you cry and curl up? Post it!
You got embarrassing photos? Post it!
No one cares what you had for lunch, but hey, why don’t you tell us what’s in your purse?
Blogging has arrived. And this book is one of those “lets make some money without any effort” books.
But, if you don’t mind the price - 20 USD? for this? -, you can have a good bedtime reading. And there are some good thoughts in this. Just not too much.
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