Recommended Books

Here is a book that I will heartily recommend for anyone who is operating an eCommerce site – or thinking about operating an eCommerce site.  Managers and entrepreneurs alike will benefit from Shirley Tan’s wisdom in Ecom Hell: How to Make Money in eCommerce Without Getting Burned.  The book is also less than $7.00 for the Kindle, but it is also FREE from the Kindle lending library – so no excuses!  Shirley has been through many battles and has the scars to prove it.  I first met Shirley at a marketing conference as she was seeking help for her website.  Over the next few years our friendship developed as she learned how to manage and market her eCommerce business – to the point where she sold it and was able to profitably walk away.

Bob Burg’s book The Art of Persuasion: Winning Without Intimidation is only $4.99 and is  essential for anyone who has to influence other human beings (is that extensive enough?),  understanding persuasion theory and how people respond to certain influences can greatly increase your ability to develop creative and influential campaigns.

Not marketing related – I loved the TV series, and the book has even more tidbits of trivia and information, How the States Got Their Shapes is available for the Kindle for only $2.99.  Fun facts, light trivia, and possibly new information about the place where you live.

Around the ‘net

A Common Sense Solution to Slow Airplane Boarding  Bag Fees and Bad Profits.  An interesting view of bag fees and profits that make customers feel coerced or mislead.

The 12 Cognitive Biases that Prevent You From Being Rational An interesting list of psychological phenomena that affects our thinking.  In other words, we tend to see what we want to see, and those biases affect our ability to make a ration decision.  Our thinking and decisions are usually affected by some sort of bias from our experiences, desires or other people.

Why is Facebook Blue? The Science Behind Colors in Marketing I love articles like this.  It is fascinating to learn how color can create a cognitive reaction.  Even more, how subtle things like fonts, buttons and colors communicate trust and feelings beyond the actual words being used on the page.