Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Audio, Inc." in Marketing & Sales

Over the last four decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels, and the personal savings rate has sunk dangerously low. Why, in the richest nation on Earth, can't Americans hold on to their money? First published in 2008, Stuart Vyse's Going Broke described the epidemic of personal debt that existed in the years leading up to the Great Recession and anticipated the home mortgage crisis that started it. Ten years later, this fully updated new edition tackles the post-recession era of economic recovery.

In this thought-provoking exploration, Matthew May defines elegance as the elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power, and pinpoints the four key elements that characterize it: seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, physics, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers a surprising array of stories that illustrate why what's "not there" often matters more than what is.

Some people say the first step to starting a successful business is to have a clearly defined vision. For others it may be a revolutionary product that solves a need. Hundreds of books have flooded the network marketing profession, all claiming to share that certain "nugget of truth" that is supposed to deliver your goals and dreams. So why read this one? The DNA of Business for Network Marketing offers proven concepts that will explain why you are working too hard and thinking too much.

What is a company's balance point between the demands of its customers and the profit expectations of its shareholders? In the era of "lean and mean" operations, is quality service still the key to a business's bottom line? To answer these corporate life-and-death questions, Dick Schaaf, a leading authority on the subject and coauthor of The Service Edge, goes back to the 101 companies he profiled in 1989 and reviews what has happened to them since.

National Public Radio's Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world's most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford's 20 years of observing first-hand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. As he takes listeners on this journey, he also takes them through China's past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation's potential future.

Marketing executives and consumer advocates alike predict a future of brand-proof consumers, armed with technology and a sophisticated understanding of marketing techniques, who can effectively tune out ad campaigns. But as Rob Walker demonstrates, this widely accepted misconception has eclipsed the real changes in the way modern consumers relate to their brands of choice. Combine this with marketers' new ability to blur the line between advertising, entertainment, and public space, and you have dramatically altered the relationship between consumer and consumed.

The nearly three billion people living on two dollars a day are not just the world’s greatest challenge - they represent an extraordinary market opportunity. The key is what Paul Polak and Mal Warwick call Zero-Based Design: starting from scratch to create innovative products and services tailored for the very poor, armed with a thorough understanding of what they really want and need, and driven by what Polak and Warwick call "the ruthless pursuit of affordability". Polak has been doing this work for years, and Warwick has extensive experience in both business and philanthropy.

Paco Underhill, the author of the hugely successful Why We Buy and Call of the Mall, reports on the growing importance of women in everybody’s marketplace - what makes a package, product, space, or service “female friendly”. Underhill offers a tour of the world’s marketplace - with shrewd observations and practical applications to help everybody adapt to the new realities.

Charm is good business. It can increase your income, boost your status, and establish and maintain your reputation. Most businesspeople don't fully understand the concept of charm. It ought to be a reflex, a conditioned response, to "turn on the charm" when dealing with customers, clients, associates, and employees, but it isn't. Charm draws customers. Charm gets noticed. But charm is only partly innate. Much of it is learned.

Negotiation is a skill people need to use every day. In this audiobook exclusive, learn the negotiation skills required to navigate difficult work situations. We are often unaware when we enter a negotiation; a conversation takes a turn, we're unprepared, and suddenly we've agreed take on a new role at work without additional compensation. In today's economy, we are more burdened than ever, and it is increasingly important to identify the red flags that signal a negotiation is about to commence.

When Guerrilla Marketing was first published in the 1980s, Jay Levinson was the first person on the block with an innovative, take-no-prisoners approach to marketing for the small business owner. In this updated '90s edition, Levinson has expanded and revised his wisdom to include the fastest-growing markets in the '90s with tips on how to reach and keep them.

Guerilla P.R. Wired transports Michael Levine's legendary street-fighting P.R. tactics to the wide-open domain of the World Wide Web. Motivating, brilliant, and filled with invaluable strategies for getting maximum attention regardless of your budget, Guerrilla P.R. Wired will show you how to get noticed now and help you craft a message that is both powerful and profitable in today's fast moving, wired world.

The introduction of new medicines has dramatically improved the quantity and quality of individual and public health, while contributing trillions of dollars to the global economy. In spite of these past successes - and indeed because of them - our ability to deliver new medicines may be quickly coming to an end. Moving from the 20th century to the present, A Prescription for Change reveals how changing business strategies combined with scientific hubris have altered the way new medicines are discovered, with dire implications for both health and the economy.

Every Fortune 500 corporation, movie star, and scandal queen knows that a good publicist is essential to building success and maintaining public support. But if you're a small-business owner, an entrepreneur, or an undercapitalized beginner seeking an edge in a highly competitive arena, it's unlikely that you have your own high-powered publicist. Guerrilla P.R. 2.0 offers all the resources necessary to mount your own campaign and get the media exposure you need.

The Selling Edge explores the changing business environment of today's marketplace and identifies the tools and techniques to make you more efficient, more responsive, and, as a result, more successful in this highly competitive sales environment.

What Is Marketing and Sales? explores the fundamental elements of a brilliant marketing plan. If marketing is not your area of expertise, then listening to this audio series from handpicked speakers and authors is just the thing you need to build a profitable revenue stream in your business. This real-world look at marketing and sales will illuminate powerful opportunities in your business. From structuring your marketing plan to setting up your website to sell, this product is guaranteed to help you capture leads and convert them to sales.

The Negotiator in You: Sales is for people who sell anything and everything! Salespeople negotiate constantly in today's increasingly competitive marketplace - making negotiation one of the most vital skills. Take this audio with you on the road, listen to it for timely advice before important meetings, and rest assured that it will provide you with the tools you need to become a more effective negotiator.

"There are two birds, two sweet friends, who dwell in theselfsame tree," says the Upanishads. The first bird, dwelling on the lower part of the tree, lives "in sorrow and anxiety." Unable to see beyond the branches, it hops around compulsively indulging its appetites, eating every fruit, sweet and sour.

The other bird, higher up, can see the whole tree and the wider world - this perspective puts it in touch with its innate sense of being, the quality of existence that it shares in common with all other living beings.

With virtually nonexistent oversight, the Internet can easily become the judge, jury, and executioner for anyone's reputation. Digital attacks and misinformation can cost you a job, a promotion, your marriage, even your business. Whether you've done something foolish yourself, are unfairly linked to another's misdeeds, or are simply the innocent victim of a third-party attack, most of us have no idea how to protect our online reputation.

Here's the first book to apply guerrilla sales and marketing tactics to the unique, high-pressure environment of electronic communications. This groundbreaking resource is packed with valuable tips, expert advice, and insider secrets on finding, closing, and increasing sales by phone and fax, as well as via e-mail and the Internet.