Small Business Management Series
Brush Up With Brand-New Books
Marc Kramer
05/08/07 - 10:50 AM EDT
All too often, we fall into the trap of reading the same sources of information over and over. Let me give you an example of my own reading habits.
Every day I go to the gym at 5:15 a.m. to get my corpulent body moving so I might shed a few pounds so I can enjoy a square of dark chocolate the size of a postage stamp after dinner. While I'm on the elliptical trainer, I read the
Wall Street Journal.
After I finish the
Journal, my wife, who looks like a fitness trainer, makes me a healthy breakfast of Egg Beaters and whole-wheat toast and a cup of green tea. I am from Philadelphia so I read the
Philadelphia Inquirer and
The Evening Bulletin, two Philadelphia dailies. Usually, I am running late for the train, so I run out the door like an Olympic sprinter, jump into my Prius, and drive off like Jeff Gordon.
I run up the steps of the train station and just manage to get on the train. I open my backpack and pull out
Business 2.0 going into the city and
Inc. coming out. Through out the week I read
Fortune,
Forbes,
Success and the local weekly business publication,
The Philadelphia Business Journal. Throughout the day, I read
TheStreet.com for up-to-the-minute news on the stock market and opinions and advice from other columnists.
Some of the magazines give me ideas, but for the most part I am reading news about what other people are doing. What I am not getting enough of are new ideas, concepts, processes and in-depth personal stories about successful people that will provide me with the tools to improve my performance and, by extension, that of my company and clients.
Reading books is essential to short- and long-term success. I have written five books, and just the process of writing the books made me remember things that I had forgotten. Some seasoned executives feel there is no point in reading when you have "experienced it all." That's nonsense, and here's an example of a guy who knew that.
I once worked for Warren "Pete" Musser, the founder of
Safeguard Scientifics, who either co-founded or was the first investor in companies such as
Comcast,
Novell and
QVC, to name a handful. When I worked for Pete, he was in his 70s, and he read a new book every month. If this guy didn't know it all, then no one does; there's always something else you can learn. I have found from talking to successful leaders that they are all voracious readers.
Here are some of the books I am reading that I hope will improve my performance:
Ladies Who Launch, by Victoria Colligan, Beth Schoenfeldt and Amy Swift. Why should a guy read a book targeted to women? Well, I have two daughters, and I think entrepreneurship is the safest way to make a living because you can control your financial future. Plus, it lets women have both a career and a family. I also read this book because I wanted to understand how women viewed business and how I could target them as potential clients. There are a lot of good, inspirational stories in the book, along with practical information.
Beyond Buzz, by Lois Kelly. This book provides insights backed by case studies on how to communicate the value of your product or service in a way that makes people talk about it. The best recent example I can recall is Apple's iPhone: secretaries in my synagogue were talking about buying them! It's not about spending millions on advertising; it's about understanding what makes the market take notice.
Selling Blue Elephants, by Howard Moskowitz and Alex Gofman. I am not a believer in focus groups, because people often tell you what you want to hear. Coca-Cola was told the original Coke needed to be put out of their misery, and that New Coke would bring in billions. We all know how that story ended. This book takes you through examples of how successful companies developed products for which there was no immediate demand, but which inventors believed had a practical purpose. The book takes readers through a process for enhancing their chances of developing a commercially viable product.
Blooding at Great Meadows, by Alan Axelrod. Alan Axelrod is one of the best writers at taking a leader's successes and failures and condensing them into an easy-to-read, substantive book. I have read everything he has written, and his books are all well done. This book talks about George Washington's time as a young lieutenant colonel in the British army and the defeat he suffered at Great Meadows, Pa. Every great leader will tell you they learn more from failure than success.
Take advantage of the beautiful spring and summer weather and enjoy a good book. Make it part of your routine and you will notice an increase in your performance and in those around you.
