You have the best of intentions of choosing thoughtful, practical gifts. So why do all your clients get the same cheesy keyring with your contact information printed on it? In this world of overconsumption, who wants to clutter up their brand new house with useless tchotchkes?
This book was gift-wrapped by artist Zakka Inspired to look like a house.
And, in a world increasingly dominated by Kindles and iPads, there’s some downright homey about a real book on a shelf.
The first items I pack when moving are my books. In fact, before I’m even sure I’m going to move, I first try to purge and donate as many books as I can, knowing I’m going to have to pack the rest. And they certainly aren’t the first things to be unpacked when I’m setting up in a new space. What does that give me? A long timespan living with empty bookcases. What could be more satisfying than sliding a new book that reflects my ambitions for my new home onto those empty shelves?
Consider the books on this list—paired with some hard-to-shop-for personality types—as a jumping-off point for finding the perfect literary closing gift for your clients.
And when you find the perfect book, be sure to leave a handwritten note congratulating the new homeowners (including your phone number or e-mail address) on the front flyleaf. Then, when they start looking through their bookcases for donations before their next move, they’ll remember your thoughtfulness, and know just how to reach you.
Perfect for artists wondering how to decorate their new, empty loft space:
The Art of Living (Random House, 2009, $65)
Accompanied by stunning photography from Barbel Miebach, Claudia Steinberg writes about how famous artists decorate their homes. Continue reading »
No one likes to think their successes are the result of pure chance. Most cite their hard work and diligence first, giving the roll of the dice last billing in the achievement department. Why give all that credit to something beyond our control?
In their new book, Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business, Thor Muller and Lane Becker argue that luck is not only within your control, it’s something you must harness as your own personal ally. We’re not talking about “dumb luck” here, but rather something the two successful entrepreneurs call “planned serendipity,” or the ability to take chance experiences and distill them into eight skills: motion, preparation, divergence, commitment, activation, connection, permeability, and attraction.
In this portion of the book, Muller and Becker show readers how to practice the skill of divergence, making difficult decisions in order to take advantage of challenging, serendipitous environments. They use the separate paths of two major book retailers to illustrate their point. Read on to find out how Barnes & Noble was able to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace, and how Borders’ response to the same problem left customers cold.
EXCERPT:
We all like to think we’d jump at a brilliant idea if it smacked us in the head, but few of us or our companies ever do. This, more than anything, is why people like to say that ideas are cheap. In truth, great ideas are priceless, but we only know which ideas are great with the benefit of hindsight. Without a mindset to try out divergent paths, uncertainty and inertia conspire to keep us ignorant. Continue reading »
Deadline to Enter: March 15, 2012
Did you publish a real estate-related book in 2011? This competition is for you!
The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) is now accepting entries for the fifth annual Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Awards Competition.
Authors of books published in 2011 in the broad field of real estate — including finance, mortgage lending, foreclosures, investing, green building and sustainable design, as well as home buying and selling and commercial real estate — are invited to enter. NAREE, a non-profit association founded in 1929, will name gold, silver and bronze award-winners. In addition, NAREE will give a special award to a first-time author.
The awards, which include $2,000 in cash prizes, will be presented at the NAREE Real Estate Journalism Conference in Denver, Colo. in June. The Bruss Awards presentation will be a highlight of the 46th Annual NAREE spring conference, June 20-23, headquartered at the historic Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver.
The deadline to enter NAREE’s Bruss Book Awards Competition is March 15, 2012. Entrants should submit three copies of their book and a 5,000-word excerpt (many authors pick a key chapter or two).
Download a Bruss Call for Entries brochure (PDF)
NAREE also has a separate journalism competition for news and feature articles published in newspapers, magazines, and online. The Journalism Awards Call for Entries brochure is available in a PDF format — www.NAREE.org under the Journalism Contest tab.
NAREE’s book awards are named for the late Bob Bruss, syndicated real estate columnist, prolific writer and NAREE leader. Bruss frequently wrote reviews of realty books.
For more information: Mary Doyle-Kimball, NAREE Executive Director 561-391-3599 MADKimba@aol.com
NAREE DATES TO REMEMBER
FEBRUARY 9 – ORLANDO, NAREE Media Reception at IBS - 5-6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 9, Room: W202C at Orange County Convention Center, Orlando. Building Products Editor Jean Dimeo will speak on: “What’s the Real Scoop on New Products at the Show? Are the Headline-Grabbers Green or Over the Top?” RVSP for this complimentary networking event by e-mailing Mary Doyle-Kimball at madkimba@aol.com.
MARCH 1 - 62nd Annual NAREE Real Estate Journalism Competition Entry Deadline (Entry must be postmarked by March 1 and received by March 6)
MARCH 15 – 5th Annual Bruss Book Competition Entry Deadline (Entry must be postmarked by March 15 and received by March 25)
APRIL 15 – 10th Annual Bivins Fellowships Application Deadline
JUNE 20-23 – 46th Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference, “Covering Real Estate with Altitude,” June 20-23, 2012 - Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Colo. Early Bird Registration on www.naree.org under the Spring Conference Tab until Feb. 15.
The most popular marketing-related books this week from Amazon.com.
1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Kindle Edition (MacMay, Apr 25, 2009) Originally published by The Ralston Society, 1937.
“Think and Grow Rich is a motivational book written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by a suggestion by Scottish-American billionaire Andrew Carnegie. It was published in 1937 during the Great Depression. At Andrew Carnegie’s bidding, Hill studied the characteristics of the high achievers from past and of his day and developed 15 “laws” of success intended to be applied by anybody to achieve success. Think and Grow Rich! condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.”
2. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell, Paperback (Back Bay Books, Jan 7, 2002)
“The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or “tipping point” is reached, changing the world. Gladwell’s thesis that ideas, products, messages and behaviors “spread just like viruses do” remains a metaphor as he follows the growth of “word-of-mouth epidemics” triggered with the help of three pivotal types. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened. (Paul Revere, for example, was a Maven and a Connector). ” –Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information Inc. Continue reading »
The most popular books this week in Business & Investing from Amazon.com.
1. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon
“Schultz’s first book, Pour Your Heart into It (Hyperion; 1997), described the founding and ideals of a young company determined to make its mark. Onward is Schultz’s story of the next and perhaps harder challenge of any entrepreneur’s journey: saving a mature company from losing its way, and rediscovering its purpose.”Pour Your Heart into It (Hyperion; 1997), described the founding and ideals of a young company determined to make its mark. Onward is Schultz’s story of the next and perhaps harder challenge of any entrepreneur’s journey: saving a mature company from losing its way, and rediscovering its purpose.”
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2. The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks
“This is the story of how success happens. It is told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica—how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed. Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred—we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we had in the previous three thousand. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind—not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social norms: the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made. The natural habitat of The Social Animal.”
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3. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
“To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents. In StrengthsFinder 2.0 Gallup unveiled the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more. While you can read this book in one sitting, you’ll use it as a reference for decades.”
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4. The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience by Shep Hyken
“In this sequel to the Wall Street Journal bestselling book The Cult of the Customer, Shep Hyken shares seven powerful customer service strategies that any organization can implement to create greater customer and employee loyalty. In a tough, competitive, and price-sensitive economy, customer service is one of the most essential tools to separate your business from the competition. These strategies work, as evidenced by the more than seventy case studies and examples that Hyken shares throughout the book. The studies, each insightfully dissected by the author, provide dozens of lessons that can and should be implemented immediately—by any organization, large or small.”
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5. Poke the Box by Seth Godin
“Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking— in your job or in your life. Godin knows that one of our scarcest resources is the spark of initiative in most organizations (and most careers)— the person with the guts to say, ‘I want to start stuff.’”
Here are the current best-selling management and leadership books from Amazon.com:
1. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
2. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton
3. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
4. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (Pmbok Guide) by Project Management Institute
5. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick Lencioni
6. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
7. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
8. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
9. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
10. Rework by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Here are the best selling business and investing books from Amazon.com:
- The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
- Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right by Douglas Merrill and James A. Martin
- The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers by Vicky Ward
- Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
- StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
- Bank On Yourself: The Life-Changing Secret to Protecting Your Financial Future by Pamela Yellen
Here are the current top selling real estate books from Amazon.com:
1. The Housing Boom and Bust, by Thomas Sowell
2. The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life., by Robert T. Kiyosaki
3. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It’s Not About the Money…It’s About Being the Best You Can Be!, by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, Jay Papasan, Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, Jay Papasan
4. The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Debt Crisis of 2010 – 2012, by Harry S. Dent
5. What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow… And 36 Other Key Financial Measures, by Frank Gallinelli
6. FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit, by Rick Villani, Clay Davis, Gary Keller
7. Investing in Real Estate, by Gary W. Eldred
8. The Complete Guide to Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens & Deeds: How to Earn High Rates of Return – Safely, by Jamaine Burrell
9. The Housing Boom and Bust [For Kindle], by Thomas Sowell
10. Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time, by Larry Loftis
Here are the top selling sales and marketing books from Amazon.com:
1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
3. Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media), by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, David Meerman Scott
4. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
5. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials), by Robert B. Cialdini
6. Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, by Erik Qualman
7. The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life, by John Hunt, Sam Nhlengethwa
8. The Never Cold Call Again Online Playbook: The Definitive Guide to Internet Marketing Success, by Frank J. Rumbauskas Jr.
9. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne
10. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, by Chris Brogan, Julien Smith
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