Worth A Buck...At Least!
A brilliant man, my friend Austin Hill. Check out The Million-Dollar Blog Post, his Holiday Gift to the World. A great salesperson selling a great idea makes for one easy sell. Austin, I'm in, and here's proof!
Categories
People I Dig
- Vlad Stesin
- Valeria Maltoni 2
- Valeria Maltoni 1
- Tom Hayes
- Tim Sanders
- Steve (Shardy) Hardy
- Seth Godin
- Saul Colt
- Roger von Oech
- Rick Spence
- Paul Smethers
- Patrick Hughes
- Nolan Bushnell
- Nick Rice
- Mitch Joel
- Mindblob
- Michael Wagner
- Mark McQueen
- Mark Goren
- Joseph Jaffe
- Gavin Heaton
- Drew McLellan
- Dan Ward
- Bryan Person
- Austin Hill
- Andy Sernovitz
- Aidan Nulman
- Adam Lawrence
Books Beside My Bed
Chip Heath and Dan Heath: Made To Stick
Roger Von Oech called this one months ago; "The next 'Tipping Point'," he enthused. While I don't think the Brothers Heath will make as much of a social dent as Malcolm Gladwell, their book is much more relevant as a "hands-on" tool for any marketer (and makes a compelling case for the infusion of Surprise. Thanks guys!). Taking their own advice, Chip and Dan make a handful of powerful points, and do so simply, interestingly and eloquently. Along with the Sernovitz book, this is my bible for many of my new business endeavors, as well as for the fundraising campaign my wife and I are leading for our son's school. A real find! (*****)
Andy Sernovitz: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking
Andy is smart. He's getting people like me, and hundreds of others I suspect, to talk about his book. How? By being simple, to-the-point, no-nonsense, but most importantly, pertinent. Fewer anecdotes than "Citizen Marketers," but more of a practical How To manual. He's the reason every one of my posts have an "Email This" link. (****)
Daniel Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness
More than I bargained for here. Thought it would be another treatise on "How To Be Happy," but this is more of a "Why" and "How Come." Incredibly well-documented and a breezy, whimsical writing style that almost speaks out loud. His Harvard students must have a blast. (****)
Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba: Citizen Marketers
A lot of common sense and stuff I aready knew, but I love the way they neatly package the User-Generated Comment movement. McLuhan would be proud--we have become the message. (****)
Paul Allen Smethers & Alastair France: Five Myths of Consumer Behavior: Create Technology Products that Consumer Will Love
Read this? I devoured it in two days (interrupted only be the need to sleep). Very specific, but incredibly relevant to anyone creating tech products, like we do at Airborne. Written in a breezy, accessible style (despite its subject matter), the authors' melding of the standard product S-curve and a broken-up consumer adoption funnel is pure genius. What a find!
John Perkins: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Just started, but needed a tale of international greed, corruption and badness to get over Mitch Albom.- Mitch Albom: For One More Day
Give it up, Mitch. You had a good run with Morrie, but this is lame. I read this on the seventh anniversary of my mom's untimely death, and couldn't even force half a tear through my ducts. One's gotta know when the cow's out of milk, and your moo factory has run dry. (*) 
Tom Standage: A History of the World in Six Glasses
Not as eye-opening as The Victorian Internet (his previous), this is still a wild romp through history, showing the progress of man via six vital liquids. Blood would've been an interesting #7... (****)
Gavin Weightman: The Frozen Water Trade
Brilliant and unsung. The story of Frederic Tudor, who chopped up the frozen lakes of Massachusetts and sold the result to the West Indies. Ridiculed, committed to an asylum and bankrupted, he eventually saw his dream come true, introduced the concept of refrigeration and changed the world. Thanks to him, I can play hockey indoors. (*****)
Seth Godin: Small is the New Big
I am a Seth Godin junkie. I buy just about everything he puts out. While I get off on a lot of his ideas, I get off even more on the way he has built himself into a cottage industry. At this point, he could get lazy, but I'm amazed at his consistency in coming up with gems and staying poppin' fresh. (****)
Recent Posts
links
« Straight To The ZZ Top | Main | Theory 3--Picking Up, and Picking Out, The Pieces »
December 18, 2006
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/1107673/7209234
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Worth A Buck...At Least!:
Andy - thanks for participating, it means a lot to me and Austin, and we're glad you appreciate the project!
Posted by: Ben Yoskovitz | December 18, 2006 at 03:44 PM
You are a gentlemen and a scholar good sir.
Thanks for the support. I'm showing my girlfriend Kelly your receipt (Since you mentioned the SPCA getting the sponsorship).
Thanks so much for being the first sponsor.
Hopefully we can make this big enough that when I say "I got a million emails this year" it's true (One for each wish attempt) and then you can say "I was the first outside sponsor for the entire project".
Not as much fun as almost killing George Burns, mind you :)
Posted by: Austin Hill | December 18, 2006 at 03:49 PM