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Cat-lover, Catpitalist

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

REVIEW: The Marketing Gurus

Since 1978, Soundview Executive Book Summaries has offered its subscribers condensed versions of the best business books published each year.
My first question: Is this legal?

It would appear so, as each summary says the authors gave permission. I guess they got some scratch back, too. I also guess high-powered CATpitalist executives don't mind the details when they need to fit a book into 20 minutes. And when they have someone they pay to take care of the details, like actually reading the things.

Now I too can pretend I've read a book. Thanks, Executive Summaries! Some of the books I've mastered:
  • Networking with the Affluent by Thomas Stanley. Give them things and they'll pay you back later with business contacts. Don't ask for anything, though.
  • Relentless by Johny K. Johansson and Ikujiro Nonaka. The Japanese market differently than we do. They follow the leader and differentiate their products with incremental improvements, while treating the customer like a king.
  • How to Drive Your Competition Crazy by Guy Kawasaki. Coopetition!
  • Lateral Marketing by Philip Kotler. This one's more about product development, but taking product development from a marketing perspective. In other words, don't rely on your scientologists to make up new products, let the market & the product appear at the same time.
  • The Purple Cow by Seth Godin. The beast of the title looks weird, but people remember it. And TALK about it-- viral marketing!
There are more-- not all fit a small entrepreneur like me, but I will return to their ideas of corporate-marketing dominance once CATpitalism has swept the world's porch.

Now that I think of it, Zooey is kind of a high-powered executive. I run errands for her, get her lunch & dinner, clean up after her, and generally make sure she looks good. That's a pretty good gig. Maybe I should dress up in a cat suit and start hanging out down in the Subdivision of Mansions behind the gates. I will sit in my owner's lap, sipping champagne, purring out Executive Book Summaries in front of the fire.