Nerds on the Beach
Summer 2011 Reading List - Five Best Business Books

By Marie Elwood, Brand Marketing Consultant 
June 7, 2011- Speed Dial Issue 71

Summertime- - And The Reading Is Easy

Summer’s here, and as you get ready for vacation, you’ve probably got a juicy best-seller that you can hardly wait to read. It’s going to be great to lounge around and dip your mind into something light and relaxing- - and you certainly deserve it.

Have you noticed that after a few days of “doing nothing”, your stress dissolves, the pressure evaporates, and your brain clears out the junk that piles up from living such a frantic life?

1) Start With No is ostensibly a negotiating book and a direct counter to the “Getting to Yes”/ win-win approach espoused by most American business schools. What’s even more captivating, however, is the way Camp challenges you to clarify your business objectives, stare down your weaknesses, and adjust your approach accordingly. This book has been a thought-provoking, game-changing resource for me.

2) Just Listen is written by a psychologist, but this shrink isn’t sitting around doing past life regressions or beating on your mamma-- he’s a business consultant, executive coach, and hostage negotiator. What Goulston delivers here is an engaging collection of specific, practical techniques for working with difficult people in seemingly impossible situations. If you want to communicate with a challenging client, irrational co-worker, crazy boss, or exasperating family member, you’ll find several useful insights to choose from.

3) SNAP Selling, on the surface, is a book for salespeople. As such, it’s very, very good. Although I’m a marketing consultant and Konrath is a sales expert, we see the world the same way. Want to get your message across? Then you’re going to need to do it quickly, concisely, and from a customer/ consumer-centric perspective. The value of this book is not only in its application but also in its unflinching acknowledgement of the real world.

4) What SNAP Selling does verbally, Don't Make Me Think does visually. This is the best book in the market on web design and usability. If your job doesn’t involve web strategy, read something else. But if it does, Steve Krug’s book is a gold mine— don’t miss it.