In-your-face and with a definite entrepreneurial edge, Mischief Marketing shows readers how to employ highly unusual and creative marketing strategies and plans to achieve their business or career goals. Filled with tons of creative, off-the-beaten-path tactics, lessons, and tips culled from the notorious exploits and ingenious high jinx pulled by many famous and successful folk, from Steven Spielberg to Estee Lauder and Mother Teresa.

Marketing is a very diverse discipline, dealing with everything from the costs of globalization to the benefits of money-back guarantees. However, there is one thing that all marketing academics share. They are writers. They publish or perish. Their careers are advanced, and their reputations are enhanced, by the written word. Despite its importance, writing is rarely discussed, much less written about, by marketing scholars. It is one of the least understood, yet most significant, academic competencies. It is a competency in need of careful study. Writing Marketing is the first such study. It offers a detailed reading of five renowned marketing writers, ranging from Ted Levitt to Morris Holbrook, and draws lessons that can be adopted, with profit, by everyone else. Although it is not a `how to' book – there are no lengthy lists of dos and don’ts – Writing Marketing reveals that the `rules' of good writing are good for nothing. Written by Stephen Brown, whose own writing skills are much commented upon, Writing Marketing is insightful, illuminating and iconoclastic. It is a must read for every marketing academic, irrespective of their methodological inclinations or philosophical preferences.

Explains the concepts of online marketing, features the trends that will inspire new ideas in the future, and profiles some of the companies and individuals who developed innovative ideas that changed the field.

Praise for THERE'S A CUSTOMER BORN EVERY MINUTE "Joe Vitale has created an entertaining, educational, and motivational manual-with the help of P.T. Barnum-that belongs in every hotel room alongside the Bible. Then, guests might read his inspirational book first, and give thanks to God for this worthy discovery." —Alan Abel, media hoaxer, author, consultantand lecturer on "Using Your Wits to Win" "If you're going to excel in business, learning about a showman like Barnum and applying some of the lessons he taught can give you valuable insights. Joe Vitale has captured ten of these lessons (he calls them 'rings of power') and shows how you can apply them in a way that will open your eyes and stretch your imagination. There's a lot of money-making and fun wisdom here." —Joseph Sugarman, Chairman, BluBlocker Corporation "Finally someone does it!!! Joe Vitale reveals the REAL P.T. Barnum! Vitale highlights the outrageously astute marketing of Barnum. Barnum's driving belief certainly was that there IS a customer 'born' every minute. You will glean a number of useful 'new' marketing ideas that you can instantly use in your business. And you will learn about one of the savviest marketers of a time gone by. Fun, exciting, insightful, and packed with ideas! Genius!" —Kevin Hogan, author of The Science of Influence and The Psychology of Persuasion "I love this book. If you'd like to know the real story about one of the most fascinating characters in American history, told by a master storyteller (and the person who probably knows more about him than anyone else), read this book. Barnum is not the guy portrayed by the legend attached to his name. He is much, much more, and Vitale tells his story with the can't-put-it-down passion and excitement he's become so well known for." —Bill Harris, President, Centerpointe Research Institute

Excellent service is the foundation for services marketing, contend Leonard Berry and A. Parasuraman in this companion volume to Delivering Quality Service. Building on eight years of research, the authors develop a model for understanding the relationship between quality and marketing in services and offer dozens of practical insights into ways to improve services marketing. They argue that superior service cannot be manufactured in a factory, packaged, and delivered intact to customers. Though an innovative service concept may give a company an initial edge, superior quality is vital to sustaining success. Berry and Parasuraman show that inspired leadership, a customer-minded corporate culture, an excellent service-system design, and effective use of technology and information are crucial to superior service quality and services marketing. When a company's service is excellent, customers are more likely to perceive value in transactions, spread favorable word-of-mouth impressions, and respond positively to employee-cross-selling efforts. The authors point out that a service company that does relatively little pre-sales marketing but is truly dedicated to delivering excellent quality service will have greater marketing effectiveness, higher customer retention, and more sales to existing customers than a company that emphasizes pre-sale marketing but falls short during actual service delivery. The focus of any company, they insist, must be customer satisfaction through integration of service quality throughout the entire system. Filled with examples, stories, and insights from senior executives, Berry and Parasuraman's new framework for effective marketing services contains the key to high-performance services marketing.

Contains monthly column of the Sequoya League.

Indispensable perspectives on America's top documentary filmmaker and political commentator

From performers who bask in the spotlight to those who find inspiration in the midnight glow of a computer monitor, the world has no shortage of creative people. While the day-to-day realities of a ballerina may be quite different from that of a novelist, actor, graphic artist, musician, or software developer, they share many things in common. Chief among these is the desire to make a living with their art. Maybe you’re working to build a sustainable, full-time creative career. Or perhaps you're happy in the corporate world but would like to turn your love for music, dance, painting, or programming into a steady stream of extra income. Either way, if you’re like most creative souls, you tend to focus on your passion to the exclusion of all else—and you may scorn the details of business and promotion. Yet as Have Fun, Get Paid: How to Make a Living with Your Creativity shows, developing business skills couldn’t be more important for those who want to achieve success and generate steady income from their work. With decades of professional experience in creative fields such as music, software, writing and speaking, bestselling author Christopher Duncan demystifies the path to getting paid for your artistic talents. With lighthearted stories and down-to-earth advice, he starts with the basics and shows you how to build a solid, dependable career. All that’s required is consistent effort and a bit of commonsense. In Have Fun, Get Paid you will learn how to: Find paying work and get the gigs Market your talent without selling your soul Build an image as a highly sought after professional Manage the business details of your creative career Harness the power of relationships for long term success With advances in technology and the global reach of the Internet, creative people are empowered today as never before. Have Fun, Get Paid will show you how to take control of your dreams and bring them to life. What you’ll learnAfter reading Have Fun, Get Paid, you will learn: What success means to you, no matter whether it entails becoming rich, earning personal validation from your work, or gaining the freedom to do things your own way How to avoid focusing on your passion to the exclusion of all else so that you have the time and energy necessary to manage your business Who your customers are, what value you provide to them, and how to keep them coming back for more How to become an authority in your field by teaching others to do what you do The ins and outs of sales and marketing, from the basics to new strategies Who this book is for Whether the goal is a full time living or a steady stream of part time income, creative people of all disciplines will gain the practical insights necessary to building a reputation as a professional. This image, coupled with effective promotion and the ability to foster lasting relationships, is the key to a rewarding career in the arts. Success is not reserved for the fortunate few but rather for those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the effort required to achieve their goals. In Have Fun, Get Paid, you’ll learn how to do exactly that. Table of ContentsThe Creative Mindset This Is Business Becoming Self-Sufficient What Do You Want? Think Like a Startup Image Building Spreading the Word Going the Distance The Power Behind the Throne Paying the Bills Taking Care of Business Your Personal Style