Here are the best selling marketing and sales books from Amazon.com:
1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
2. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, 2nd Edition by David Meerman Scott
3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) by Robert B. Cialdini
4. Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series) by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, David Meerman Scott
5. Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd by Youngme Moon
6. Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick Lencioni
7. Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
8. Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead
9. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne
10. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
If you’ve gotten past the title of this post, you may be thinking: This guy wrote about a basketball book for a real estate blog? How self-indulgent is that? The answer: very self-indulgent. I admit it. But let me say two things in my defense. First, I didn’t start this book with the intention of covering it in The Weekly Book Scan. It’s something I’m reading in my free time, just for fun.
Second, although he didn’t intend to do it in The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons inadvertently delineates the conditions for a cohesive, high-performing real estate brokerage. He does this in the course of his discussion of the characteristics of great basketball players and teams, which are, as it turns out, very transferable to brokerages and the associates who work for them.
According to Simmons, professional basketball is today afflicted by an obsession with numbers. Too many team managers, coaches, journalists, and players have an unhealthy fixation on individual statistics, and don’t pay enough attention to the most important stats of all: team wins and championships. For instance, Allen Iverson led the NBA in scoring four times, while Tim Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to four NBA championships. So who’s the better player? Iverson, on paper. On the court, where the game is actually played, it’s Duncan.
Similarly, in a brokerage, several associates may have good individual numbers, but if you don’t have the right mix of personalities, experience, drive, and specialization, any success you have may be short-lived. Effective broker-owners — and basketball managers and coaches — should aim to build a great team, not just a haphazard assemblage of talent. Continue reading »
Looking for the perfect book to help guide clients through their home buying journey? Check out columnist, radio talk show host, and real estate expert Ilyce Glink‘s latest book: BUY, CLOSE, MOVE IN! How to Navigate the New World of Real Estate–Safely and Profitably–and End Up with the Home of Your Dreams (HarperCollinsPublishers, 2010). The book walks prospective buyers through the process step-by-step and answers commonly asked questions. Readers will also gain tips and insight into making real estate decisions that are right for them.
Excerpt:
Why Buy This House over That House? Learning Selectivity
First-time and repeat home buyers often feel as if they are looking for that one elusive property that can only be the house of their dreams. It’s as if they’re looking for a needle in a haystack. The reality is so much better than that: there are plenty of needles and plenty of haystacks. Unlike your parents or grandparents, you probably will not live the rest of your life in the first house you buy. You’ll move two, three, or four times or more over the years because of a transfer or a promotion or because you want different amenities or a different neighborhood.
Experienced investors understand that there are many properties that fit their particular financial parameters and can work as successful and profitable investments over time. But understanding why one property will work as an investment and another will not is a skill that you’ll want to develop over the years. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
If you’ve ever lived in a condo or worked with condominium buyers and sellers, you might recognize some of the characters in Condo Divas and get a laugh or two at community-living antics. The fictional story, based on author Diane Kinman’s experiences serving on home owner boards, involves four strong “diva” board members in a building where everything seems to go wrong. Kinman explains how Condo Divas came about, and what real estate practitioners might find appealing (and get a few chuckles) from her new book.
Tell me about your background and how you came to serve on condo association boards.
KINMAN: After I finished my degree at Oregon State University, I sold my home and moved to Seattle in the early 1990s. A friend was managing a condo building on Mercer Island and she had a rental available. In 1995, I bought my first condo, but I soon found out that the board in place was ineffective. After about a year, the president stepped down. I decided to run and I won. We completed a slew of maintenance projects, including an interior renovation, roofing, parking lot repavement, and landscaping. I was working as a marketing consultant and writer from home and I found tenants knocking on my door all hours of the day. After about 10 years, I moved to a new condo. In that building, the association was in debt and they were trying to replace the property manager. I swore I wouldn’t be association president again, but agreed to be vice president. I served about 3 years on that board. As you might imagine, I’ve pretty much seen it all. Continue reading »
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