Book Review: Small Business Marketing for Dummies

We are back to practical books on the blog today. The one I am bridging you is a cracker.

I have read a lot of marketing books, many of which are truly brilliant. This one is up there with the best. It is so choc full of advice I do not know where to start. This is a comprehensive book, the 24 chapters of which cover every aspect of marketing for small business.

These are broken into six key areas:

1. Getting started with small business marketing

2. Laying the foundation for marketing success

3. marketing in a screen connected world

4. Getting the word out with ads, mailers, promotion and publicity

5. Winning and keep in customers

6. The rule of tens

Within these areas lies a wealth of advice and hints and tips. As with all Dummies books they use icons to reinforce key things which are particularly important. In this case the icon for Remember, highlights key rules for small business marketers. There is also an icon for example, demonstrating the ideas in practice in real life situations. The warning icon highlights areas which should be evaluated cautiously. One warning is setting your prices too low. Unless you are aiming at the bargain basement end of the market then you should aim for quality and set your prices accordingly.

I am looking at this book through the lens of a writer. The advice on pricing particularly resonated with me. In many cases authors are selling themselves short when it comes to pricing their books and many are giving ebooks away for free. Whilst I appreciate why many writers are doing this I cannot help thinking that they are undervaluing themselves and their work. It is certainly an area I need to consider.

On top of the physical book there are also number of online cheat sheets which can be sued with the book. The link to these is included within the book.

This is not a book to read from cover to cover in one sitting. It is one to read over a period whilst putting the advice into practice. Using the book properly should put any small business in a good position in the market. As a writer, and therefore a small business woman, I have found the advice in this book to be invaluable. It is certainly one I can highly recommend.

         


Although I have provided the links for the kindle version you can also navigate to the paperback version and buy that. I feel this book would be better read in paperback as it is one which you will want to access frequently

So that's us for another day bookaholics. I hope all of you who are involved in running a small business find this book invaluable. See you next time and keep reading.