Duct Tape Marketing - Must Read

John Jantsch was kind enough to send me a copy of his book and I've been remiss in writing it up. That's partially his own fault though... There are so many good ideas in here you will likely be busy yourself for a quite a while after reading it!

If you own a small business, I'd put this one on your Must Read list. To give you a clue of the book's credentials, the foreword is by Michael Gerber and the afterword by Guy Kawasaki. Duct Tape Marketing gives you a systematic plan for developing a marketing strategy for your business, but don't panic!

The ideas are very practical and do-able. Each chapter ends with a clear list of action steps for you to take, which are clearly explained in each chapter. The beginning of the book teaches you his basic foundation, which is:

1. Identify your ideal client
2. Discover your core marketing message
3. Create an image to match the message
4. Create products and services for every stage of client development (I think this is great!)
5. Produce good marketing materials
6. Build (or rebuild) a good web site
7. Get your team involved

That's just the first 1/3 of the book. The next section cover contact and referrals, including advertising, media, building your rep as an expert, and create a sytematic referral system. The final section of the book is on feedback. You need to monitor your efforts and do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

If you don't already ready his blog, make your over there for further ongoing wisdom as well.