Ready, Fire, Aim

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…at are really great, but who has made no attempt to establish any kind of relationship with the customer. As such, the first book I would recommend would be the classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. Once you've got a handle on that, "Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson talks about the value of moving quickly, selling quickly, and figuring out the finer details as you're moving along. This was invaluable for me, since I used to want to have everything pretty much perfect before moving. This was negative because it took a long time to get anything to market, and also because theory rarely survives direct contact with reality - the adjustment period in the first stage of operations is critical to the overall success of the project. This book also has plenty of enjoyable personal stories and business anecdotes…

…. If you spend some time learning about sales, you'll recognize the "rejection is good - it's one step closer to the next yes!" theme. In this vein, I want to recommend "Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson. It focuses on the same topic (selling subscriptions to information products) but the ideas can be applied to most product businesses. The focus is on getting those first sales, figuring out how to convert, then fleshing out the product.

Others have already suggested the best overall books I'd recommend in terms of philosophy, but in terms of the nitty gritty details of actually doing it, I'd recommend Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat by Michael Masterson. Not everything will be applicable to your situation but it's a pretty detailed guide to taking an idea, launching it, and building the company around it up to a multi million dollar company.

Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat by Michael Masterson is pretty good.

Read _Ready, Fire, Aim_, one of THE best business books ever. http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Fire-Aim-Million-Agora/dp/047018... YOU are the only one properly motivated to sell. You have to do it, until (at least) you have it down to a science. Then you can teach that science to others. It's hard hard hard hard work. I hate marketing and sales. But you have to do it.

…r industry for your company's blog (see FiveRuns' blog for this in action - it's been very successful) In terms of books, some personal recommendations (as in, I've read them and they rock): - Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz by David Seaman (this is like dynamite) - Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden - Any of the "Guerrilla Marketing" books by Jay Conrad Levinson - Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson.

…hing about many "clever" marketing books, such as Seth Godin's (which ARE good), is that they don't help you clarify if what you're building is actually WORTH marketing. Ready, Fire, Aim looks at that side a lot more. You need to work out WHAT your product quite is before marketing it.

…ood strategy unless you have a mass market product. If you have a niche product, you need to be selling it yourself from day one. I would highly recommend a book called "Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson ( http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Fire-Aim-Million-Agora/dp/047018... ). It outlines the whole process of successfully generating a high revenue business from start to finish, and is written by someone who has launched several businesses that have gone on to reach 8 and 9 figure revenues.