Posted by Elena del Valle on January 22, 2020
Mapping Out Marketing
Photos: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Ronald Hill, Ph.D. and Cait Lamberton dedicated two years to editing Mapping Out Marketing Navigation Lessons From The Ivory Trenches (Routledge,$39.95), a book targeting marketing students and marketing practitioners. The 193-page softcover book co-edited with Jennifer Swartz, a graduate student, features 55 entries (23 men and 22 women) from multiple academics. Submissions were limited to 500 words each as was the introduction. Proceeds from the book were earmarked for scholarships for underrepresented doctoral students.
“The American Marketing Association played a significant role in helping us find a publisher for our work,” Hill said by email (when approached by email Lamberton referred questions to Hill). “That is an important step that required putting their reputation on the line for our idea.”
When asked what prompted them to search this topic now Hill said “There is so much accumulated wisdom among marketing professors from around the world that does not get to folks interested in marketing practice. Most the self-help books have one good idea that they expand into an entire book. Why not have a book with many such ideas that cover a vast terrain!
Why not now? This wisdom is as necessary today as it ever will be. Let marketing professionals learn what we have to say and use what is most relevant!”
Referring to the meaning of the subtitle he said, “Ivory trenches are the difficult environments professors must navigate every day. So many outsiders think that we stay in our ‘ivory towers’ and ignore the world around us. Instead, we are embedded in a very difficult environment to maneuver and the lessons learned are profound!”
Beyond the distribution of a press release how has the book been promoted? “Our hope is that all contributors will tell two friends and so on and so on … It should be in every class and executive program around the world!”
Ronald Hill
Another book may follow. Hill said, “I’d like a new volume on marketing ethics that takes practice and infuses it with values. For example, marketers are good at deciding who they want to sell to, but does it align with all the people who could gain from purchase despite societal prejudices, poverty, and other forms of restriction? We CAN make the world a better place and still thrive as an organization. We just need to consider deeply what that means.”
When asked by email about the scholarship funds an American Marketing Association spokesperson declined to respond on the record. When asked the same question Hill said, “All royalties received from sales of this book go directly to the AMA, and we have no other financial connection with the publisher.”
Hill is a visiting professor of Marketing and holds a Dean’s Excellence Faculty Fellowship at the American University, Kogod School of Business. He is chair, Transformative Consumer Research Committee and recipient of 2019 American Marketing Association Wilkie Marketing for a Better World Award. He has authored over 200 journal articles, books, chapters, and conference papers on impoverished consumer behavior, marketing ethics, corporate social responsibility, human development, and public policy.
Cait Lamberton
According to promotional materials, Lamberton is associate professor and Ben L. Fryrear Chair in Marketing at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business, where she researches and teaches consumer behavior and applied behavioral economics at the MBA and Ph.D. levels, in addition to providing consulting services in government and the private sector.
In 2018, Swartz was a full-time MBA student at George Washington University with a focus on operations, strategy, and brand management. Prior to George Washington, she worked in Corporate Communications at Marsh & McLennan Agency in San Diego, overseeing various aspects of digital media strategy, branding, public relations, and non-profit fundraising efforts.
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Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 6, 2019
Drying Up
Photos: John Dunn, Susan Dunn
Florida is approaching a crisis. The peninsula surrounded by water on three sides and with more coastal miles than any continental state save Alaska may not have enough water to serve the needs of existing residents, new residents and tens of millions of visitors in the coming years. While water issues are not new they have grown worse, according to John Dunn, author of Drying Up: The Fresh Water Crisis in Florida (University Press of Florida, $24.95).
Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and years of research he points out that pollution, failing infrastructure, increasing outbreaks of toxic algae blooms, and pharmaceutical contamination are worsening water quality. Climate change, sea level rise, and groundwater pumping are spoiling freshwater resources with saltwater intrusion. Shortages have prompted fights over rights to the Apalachicola River, Lake Okeechobee, and the Everglades among other important watersheds.
Population growth is accelerating a difficult situation, he says. In the not too distant future water scarcity may force municipalities to offer residents toilet-to-table “reused water.” In the book, he outlines the history of water in the Sunshine State and some of the most salient fresh water concerns.
“I am a native Floridian, veteran freelance writer, teacher, and environmental activist,” the author replied by email when asked what prompted him to write the book now. “With these perspectives it hasn’t been hard for me to detect the degradation of our water resources over the years. They aren’t new. They are only growing worse. A friend of mine Cynthia Barnett, a former staffer with Florida Trend Magazine, caught the attention of many Floridans about a decade ago with her book, Mirage. Unfortunately, there has been little improvement addressing our water issues.
I originally queried the editorial staff of the University Press of Florida (UPF), wanting to write a Florida-specific book on climate change. UPF already had such a book in production. But the editor asked me if I’d like to write a different one on Florida’s water woes instead. I’d written on water issues for magazines in the past. In addition, I’d worked with various conservation groups. So, I had a background in water issues and experience which I could draw on. I submitted up a book outline and got a contract.”
From idea to publication the hardcover book took Dunn two and a half years to complete. He wrote for general readers, relying on a magazine style of writing to make it reader friendly. The book struck a cord because he has received many invitations for book presentations across the state, including the Miami Book Fair this month.
“During the Q&A at these presentations, I’ve noticed that many people, especially those that have recently moved here, are either surprised or shocked to realize how impaired our waters are,” he said.
How soon should we expect the toilet-to-table water stage in Florida? “Experts told me it will be at least a decade from now, if that soon, before many Floridians are able to get over the ‘yuk’ factor associated with drinking recycled or ‘reuse’ water. One way of reusing waste water is the indirect method. This is the what many people in Tampa would like to explore; that is, pumping treated wastewater deep into the ground beneath the ‘shallower aquifer’ (from which we extract drinking water). There, presumably, the sunken, treated water will mix with existing ground water and get an extra dose of filtration as it moves through the subterranean world before it is extracted topside as drinking water.
The other method is to treat wastewater with advanced methods and then pipe it directly to a facility where it is blended with the utility’s water supply. Astronauts use this method in outer space when they treat and recycle their own urine. The people of Singapore, facing critical water shortages, now drink this direct potable ‘reuse’ water, which they call NEWater.”
John Dunn, author, Drying Up
When asked what he would like to accomplish from writing the book he said, “I hope my book provides a ‘primer’ for readers which will give them the confidence to become citizen water activists. Anyone contemplating a move here, especially those hoping to do business in the state, should investigate both the availability and reliability of water supplies.They also need to evaluate the impact their own possible arrival could make on Florida water. Americans are used to thinking about their ‘Carbon Footprint.’ Increasingly here in Florida and the world, people are realizing they must also now calculate their ‘Water Footprint.’
As I’ve explained in Drying Up, Central Florida is already drawing water faster from the ground than it is being recharged by rainfall. South Florida is not far behind in being in the same situation.”
What can Florida residents do to secure clean water in the coming decade? “The biggest problem to Florida’s water supply is our growing population, along with public indifference and the current ‘business as usual’ approach to economic activity,” the author said. “For too long, the Florida Growth Machine, developers, bankers, realtors, and their compliant political allies, have viewed Florida as a commodity, a place to be consumed for a profit. Currently, the Miam/Dade (Miami/Dade) County Commission is paving the way for construction of the largest mall in the country. The $4 billion retail and entertainment complex will be built on the edge of the Everglades. It will even provide artificial snow so shoppers can ski. This, in a subtropical setting that will face water shortages in the near future! Such insanity runs rampant in our state.
In my lifetime, I’ve seen Florida’s population jump from 2 million to 22 million. We now receive over 120 million tourists annually. The 1000 Friends of Florida 2017 study suggests that if present demographic trends continue, Florida could add another 15 million by 2070. By then, much of the state is likely to be swamped by sea level rise.
Floridians who worry about securing fresh water need to be mindful of the plight of their water supply right now. It’s amazing to me that the nation gets excited about spending billions of dollars looking for a drop of water on Mars or the moons of Saturn with the hope it could suggest the existence life, while simultaneously wasting fresh water on earth with abandon.
All of us are guilty of squandering water. Floridians use 50 percent of the state’s fresh water supply irrigating their lawns every day. Every time we flush a toilet and fertilize our yards we contribute to the ‘nutrient’ contamination of fresh water by fueling algae growth. Every time we soak our lawns with pesticides, we pollute groundwater. Every time we clear-cut Florida’s forests, wetlands, and natural vegetation, or dig canals, change the contour of the earth, and plaster the ground with asphalt and concrete, we cause the greatest damage of all to our fresh water supplies. That’s because we destroy Florida’s natural hydrologic systems. When we do this, we literally disrupt the natural evaporation, drainage and percolation of water to the aquifer.
Every day our fresh water is also being polluted from industry, storm water runoff, and aging sewage systems and water treatment plants. Meanwhile, climate change is causing extreme flooding, rising sea levels, and perhaps occasional periods of drought. All of these forces contaminate fresh water wells.
Finally, I think, Floridians need to adopt a more enlightened ‘Soft Path’ approach to water which I’ve described in the book. These means restoring wetlands and natural hydrologic systems, mimicking nature, and increasing the use of conservation and recycling. It calls for the water management districts to stop giving out new water pumping permits like library cards. It also means a shift in values. Water shouldn’t be a commodity. It is, after all, the unique, perhaps, divine substance that gives rise to life on earth.
Floridians must elect only those who also understand the natural world and will fight to protect our natural resources, not exploit them. Otherwise, developers, big business, fracking interests, and large-scale agriculture operations (ranging from the growing of sugar cane to raising cattle), will be the main water policy makers.
I hope my book will help bring about these goals.”
Dunn, a native of Miami, is a working freelance writer and journalist and a veteran high school history teacher. He has published over 350 articles for more than twenty periodicals as well as young adult books. A member of the Silver Springs Alliance, Dunn has worked for years with other volunteers to address many of Florida’s pressing environmental problems. He lives with his wife Susan in Ocala, Florida.
Minuscule commissions earned from Amazon. Links included mostly for reader convenience: Click to buy Drying Up
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Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 25, 2019
Entrepreneurship The Disney Way
Photos: Routledge, Zeller Photography, Ball State University
In Entrepreneurship the Disney Way (Routledge, $59.95) Michael Goldsby and Rob Mathews discuss their ideas about leadership and entrepreneurship modeled on the Disney company. They follow Disney’s rise from startup to media giant, highlighting how they believe the company’s leaders “carry on the legacy of Walt Disney’s mission and core values, enabling the company to continue growing and innovating.”
The 308-page softcover book published in 2019 is divided into seven chapters and two main parts: Walt Disney, Entrepreneur and Corporate Entrepreneurship at the Walt Disney Company.
“The book was written for a wide audience, but the two parts of the book target A) entrepreneurs and leaders, and B) owners, leaders, and managers of/ in mid-sized to large companies and other organizations,” Mathews said by email in response to a question about the primary target audience for the book.
When asked how long the project took from idea to publication he replied, “Mike and I developed a love for Disney Parks and Resorts in the last 15 years. We spent the last 10-12 years researching the company and specifically its parks and resorts. We started started talking about and planning a book about 10 years ago. The actual writing and editing process took about a year.”
Each chapter includes end notes and highlights Lessons, 30 in total. The first part of the book is dedicated to Walt Disney and his vision. The second part focuses on the transition from a family business to the company it is today.
Rob Mathews, co-author, Entrepreneurship The Disney Way
“Most jobs, businesses, and projects go well when they match your passion and psychological talents. Writing is no different,” Mathews said when asked why he and his co-author selected Disney as the model company for the book. “Mike and I had great knowledge of Disney as a business model, we had friends in the company, we love the company as a consumer, and we connected with the story of Walt’s vision, perseverance, and legacy that lives on today. I would also add that the way we approach our lives and business matches up with Disney very well. We value innovation, heritage, professionalism, intentionality, attention to detail, and great leadership. Disney is an exemplary model for those principles.”
In what ways does a mission developed in the 1920s remain relevant today? “Disney’s mission is timeless,” Mathews said. “It essentially hasn’t changed since Walt’s initial vision. The company’s overall mission–essentially to be the best in entertainment–and the parks and resorts mission–basically to create happiness–have more or less remained the same. Those missions are simple, inspiring, and easy to get behind as a leader, cast member, partner, or vendor. And the customer can feel and experience the Disney difference, as we like to call it.”
When asked to share examples of Disney entrepreneurship and innovation in the past three years he said, “Most of Disney’s recent innovations that come to mind have surfaced in the theme parks. Attractions like Tron Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai Disneyland, Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom, Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios, and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run are truly cutting edge. The parks and lands that house those attractions, Shaghai Disneyland, Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Pandora – The World of Avatar, are breathtaking innovations that remove guests from the realities of their lives. Pandora literally looks like we saw it on the movie, and the Star Wars land makes you forget that you are in a theme park. Beyond attractions and theming, less noticeable, yet highly impactful system and process innovations, such as waste management at Magic Kingdom, the most visited theme park in the world, have changed the way Disney does business.”
When asked: The Millennial generation is said to be the most diverse generation yet. In what way does the model you propose take into account Millennials, diversity among workers and customers? he replied, “Our Entrepreneurial Leadership Instrument (ELI), like most assessment tools in my belief, bridge generational gaps and provide a common language for people. These tools demonstrate the value of each person, and empower people to be themselves. For a generation that was told to behave a certain way, think very specifically, and take orders, genuine and authentic use of such tools is extremely refreshing and encouraging. Millennials appreciate that kind of approach to leadership and team building. Good assessment tools also highlight the value and critical importance of cognitive diversity, along with building diverse teams. As for customers, the ELI points to the need to speak differently to different players. Not everyone will respond to marketing, mission, branding, brand promise, etc. the same, and companies need to know that and build appropriate strategies. The days of push marketing are largely over. It’s a lot like how good teachers make sure they are addressing the various learning styles in the classroom.
The Disney Company has done an excellent job of creating a very diverse culture that welcomes and provides opportunities for all people. Millennials like working at Disney because the mission is clear, positive, and constantly supported and reinforced. Millennials are very mission-centered, so Disney’s extreme emphasis on mission and investment in people in very attractive to them.”
Michael Goldsby, co-author, Entrepreneurship The Disney Way
When asked about allegations of gender parity issues at Disney (see Underpaid and undervalued: 10 women claim systemic discrimination at Disney from September 18, 2019, The Guardian, theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/18/disney-lawsuit-gender-pay-gap-abc?), Mathews replied: “I can’t really speak to the media side of the company too much, as we don’t have contacts there, nor has it been our research focus. The Parks and Resorts division seems to treat all cast members extremely well, so it does not impact the concepts we shared in the book.”
Only Mathews responded to email questions. Goldsby is chief entrepreneurship officer and Stoops Distinguished professor of Entrepreneurship at Ball State University in Indiana. Mathews is the director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise at Ball State University.
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Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 9, 2019
Katherine Eban, author, Bottle of Lies
Photo: Roberto Falck
A podcast interview with Katherine Eban, author, Bottle of Lies (see Investigative journalist reveals troubling side of generic drugs) is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, she discusses her book with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Katherine Eban is a Fortune magazine contributor, and has also written for Vanity Fair, Self, and The Nation. She is the author of Dangerous Doses: A True Story of Cops, Counterfeiters and the Contamination of America’s Drug Supply. She formerly worked as a staff writer for The New York Times and the New York Observer. Educated at Brown University and Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Katherine Eban” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home from the RSS feed. Some software will not allow flash, which may be necessary for the play button and podcast player. If that is your case, you will need to download the file to play it. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the September 2019 section of the podcast archive.
Click to buy Bottle of Lies
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 12, 2019
Bottle of Lies
Photos: Ecco, Roberto Falck
Investigative journalist Katherine Eban dedicated 10 years of her life to researching and writing about the generic drug industry boom in the United States. Along the way she read official documents, spoke with whistleblowers, lawyers and government employees, uncovering disturbing truths about the quality and trustworthiness of the drugs that many would prefer remain in the dark. This year her findings became available to the public in Bottle of Lies The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom (Ecco, $28.99). There is also an audio edition narrated by Eban. A paperback edition is due May 2020.
The 482-page non fiction book is easy to read and engaging, more like a novel than a non-fiction expose. It outlines the events that led to the blossoming of a huge generic drug industry in the United States and the myriad problems she uncovered. It is divided into 28 chapters and seven main parts: Shifting Ground, India Rises, A Cat-and-Mouse Business, Making A Case, Detectives in the Dark, The Watershed, and Reckonings.
“The book is entirely non-fiction, Eban said by email. “Every detail in the book is supported by documentation, interviews, or source recollections, and no names have been changed.”
When asked about her personal motivator, she replied, “My reporting on the generic drug industry actually began a decade ago, when I was contacted by the host of an NPR radio show, The People’s Pharmacy. The host, Joe Graedon, said that patients were contacting him with complaints about side effects from their generic drugs. He suggested I look into the question of what is wrong with the drugs. It quickly became apparent to me that just documenting patient concerns would not get me very far in answering that question. I realized the answers most likely lay in the manufacturing plants and boardrooms of the companies making our drugs – which meant in India and China.
My effort to answer that original question — What is wrong with the drugs? — turned into a global mystery that kept me reporting and digging.”
Katherine Eban, author, Bottle of Lies
The primary target audience for the book? “Anyone and everyone, the author said. “The story is real-life global thriller with big money and life-and-death consequences at its core. Anyone who enjoys a page-turning detective story, who wants to learn about the dark side of globalization, or who takes any medicine at all, is the ideal reader.”
About the book project overall the author said, “The biggest challenge was: how was I, as an independent U.S.-based journalist — without a newsroom, a team of colleagues, or other resources at my disposal — going to be able to penetrate an industry, and companies, that were based on another continent? The difficulties of a global investigative project were unrelenting.
The most rewarding was finally being able to get real insight into those distant manufacturing plants, and to convey that to readers. The reaction has been immense. I am flooded with emails from grateful readers, almost all of whom are consumers of generic drugs. They feel enlightened by the book.”
Eban said that since the book came out, she has been contacted by Congressional committees, interested in investigating the problems she raised. One measure of success, the author said, would be to help fix the problems her book exposes.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on July 22, 2019
Todd Caponi, author, The Transparency Sale
Photo: Todd Caponi
A podcast interview with Todd Caponi, author, The Transparency Sale How Unexpected Honesty and Understanding the Buying Brain Can Transform Your Results (see Sales specialist touts importance of transparency) is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses his book with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Todd is also a keynote speaker, workshop leader and trainer as well as principal and founder of Sales Melon.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Todd Caponi” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home from the RSS feed. Some software will not allow flash, which may be necessary for the play button and podcast player. If that is your case, you will need to download the file to play it. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the July 2019 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on July 11, 2019
How Clients Buy
Photos: Carlie Auger
Convinced that selling professional services is different from selling products Tom McMakin and Doug Fletcher dedicated a year to writing and publishing How Clients Buy A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services (Wiley, $29), a guide to business development for expert services such as accountants, lawyers, human resources consultants and strategy advisors.
“Wiley has done a nice job of supporting the book with online sellers and by offering rights overseas,” McMakin said by email when asked how they marketed the 262-page book. “Augmenting that, we launched a How Clients Buy website, distributed complementary copies to key influencers in the professional services industry, and placed books with airport booksellers.”
Doug Fletcher, co-author, How Clients Buy
“How Clients Buy was my first book, but hopefully not my last,” Fletcher said by email when asked about the book. “It’s been a wonderful experience. One of the highlights of my professional career.”
The hardcover book, published in 2018, is divided into 19 chapters and four main sections: The Problem, Obstacles, How Clients Buy and Putting the Seven Elements to Work.
“Doug and I believe that high end, highly customized expert services are sold to clients in very different ways than, say, an iPhone, which is sold on features, attributes, and price,” McMakin said. “Indeed, it is not even useful to think about selling services. A better paradigm is to think about ‘how clients buy.’ We concluded that most clients engage with would-be consultants by way of relationships, referrals, and reputation. The question that fascinated us, both solo practitioners and members of large consulting firms, is how one systematically drives those three R’s.”
“The trend toward fewer companies (which are larger and able to serve global markets) is fueling double-digit growth in the $1.7 trillion global professional services market as companies seek to outsource (either nearshoring or offshoring) non-core functions,” McMaking said to a question about how the offshoring of professional services jobs and the reduction in the number of publicly traded companies impact professional services in the United States. “Large companies face two challenges: they need to compete in a global war for top talent, and they need to remain agile to be able to pivot strategically as disruptive forces undermine markets and business models. By hiring just-in-time senior leadership in the form of a consulting or advisory contract, companies can sustain and build competitive advantage in a fast-moving, ever-changing marketplace.
The future for those who offer specialized insight born of sector specific experience is strong. In the course of our research, we were told by rainmakers that expert service practice areas are growing more global even as they are becoming more focused. A company no longer hires a local accountant to do all their work, but instead hires different accountants, who may be geographically disbursed to help them solve specific problems where they have world-class domain expertise.”
Tom McMakin, co-author, How Clients Buy
Marketers describe Generation Z as the most diverse generation in our country’s history. When asked in what ways, if any, they anticipate this will affect how and what clients buy, McMakin replied, “Just like the country is becoming more diverse, so too is the world of expert services. To succeed, professional service firms need to shrink the pond and narrowcast to specific groups of people where their experience and expertise most applies. This can be a step-up for bands of experts who might have found themselves left out of the corporate mainstream in the past. Not only can they speak to the advantage inherent to their diverse backgrounds – think consultants who rolled out of the Kenyan banking sector advising multinationals on east African trade – but true expertise, informed by a long set of relevant experiences and thoughtful reflection – floats free of the kind of constraints that have hindered diverse professionals in the past. At the same time, increased diversity in large companies is driving a thirst for more diverse input into those companies opening the door to groups of consultants with different and valuable points of view.”
Fletcher said, “With regard to Gen Z – one other point we make in the book is how clients buy today vs. how they might buy in the future. Today, generally speaking, decision makers in larger organizations are not Gen Z – or millennials. Today’s clients still prefer to hire people that they know, respect and trust or who come highly recommended by a colleague. Tomorrow’s leaders may be more willing to buy expert services more digitally – using online reviews, Skype, Zoom, and other digitally formed relationships. It’s hard to say. With today’s large expert services projects – often in the hundreds of ‘000s or millions $, these are purchased typically after long, face to face relationships are established. How clients buy ten or twenty years from now may be very different?”
McMakin is chief executive officer and partner of Profitable Ideas Exchange (PIE). Before joining PIE, he was a co-founder and managing director with Orchard Holdings Group, a private equity firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Fletcher splits his time between teaching at Montana State University’s Jake Jabs, and speaking, writing, and coaching about business development in professional services and consulting. He serves on the board of directors of The Beacon Group in Portland, Maine.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on June 6, 2019
Crack the Code
Photo: Somos
Louis Bezich, senior vice president of Strategic Alliances at Cooper University Health Care, is a passionate men’s health advocate. So much so that he dedicated four years to writing Crack the Code 10 Proven Secrets That Motivate Healthy Behavior and Inspire Fulfillment in Men Over 50 (Somos, $19.99), his first book. The 284-page softcover book, 100 percent self-financed, was published this year.
He hopes to motivate men over 50 to establish their own healthy lifestyles. He is already working on a follow up title on a topic he declined to disclose.
“The project involved concept development, initial focus groups, the national survey, interviews, probably a year or so of writing and editing, then post-writing development of the title, cover and other publication tasks,” he said by email when asked how long it took him to publish the book.
When asked why he wrote the book in 2019 he said, the combination of three factors inspired him to write the book: his personal experience, his belief that existing approaches to foster healthy behavior have failed, and his belief that the value-proposition is too strong to ignore.
“I discovered the power of motivation during my time as a single dad,” he said. “Exercise was my means of coping with the stress of raising two sons, pursuing a career and ensuring that I was fit so I would always be there for the boys. I witnessed first-hand the connection between happiness and healthiness. For me, what started as a coping mechanism as a twenty-something dad became a passion as a fifty-something man when the boys were off on their own.
When I became a health care executive, I was alarmed to learn that that only 3 percent of Americans lead a healthy lifestyle and 40 percent are considered obese. Even more concerning is that men over 50, my demographic, are the poster child for poor health practices; we refuse to see a doctor and have what experts call a health attention gap. All this in the context where our own behavior is by-far, the most significant influence on our health and we spend more on health that any other industrialized nation in the world. This represents a failure of our current systems and cry for a new unconventional approach.
Healthy behavior powered by social motivators is a win-win, personally, culturally and economically. As individuals we can improve our health and increase our happiness. As a society we have the ability to make a change with huge significance. And, from a health-care perspective, we can impact the need and ultimately the cost of care. (i.e., examples—seat belt use, smoking cessation, recycling). The case for healthy behavior is just too strong to ignore.”
Louis Bezich, author, Crack the Code
When asked who is the primary target audience for the book he explained he expects it will appeal most to men over 50 and the people that love them; their wives, partners, children and grandchildren. Additional audiences could include health care providers, insurers, policy makers and “anyone who has struggled with their health.”
The “10 Proven Secrets” mentioned in the book’s subtitle refer to his research on healthy behaving men 50 and over that included a survey of 1,000 men nationwide and 30 interviews. He believes his findings are consistent with the literature on behavioral health.
When asked to share advice with readers who struggle adopting healthy behaviors such as adjusting to changes, making new friendships and relationships he replied, “Before your purchase that gym membership, order the exercise equipment or start that new diet, build your personal motivational platform based around your social relationships following these three basic steps: Conduct Your Social Inventory. Think about what’s most important in your life. Really consider, I mean really think about what’s ahead in the years to come, and what you’d like to be doing this week, this month or this year with your wife, partner, children, grandchildren, your job, your volunteer work whatever. Think about the rest of your life; what’s ahead for you, and perhaps more importantly, what the future holds for the ones your love. Think about the joy of active participation, versus restricted or perhaps even no participation in their lives. When you’ve completed your inventory, think about how your aspirations match your current lifestyle and recognize the gaps.
Build Your Social Platform. Second, based on your inventory, and those gaps you’ve identified, build your personal social platform. The healthy men have clear social goals and robust calendars and activities that give them purpose and meaning, and most importantly, the motivation to stay healthy. Do the same and engage your loved ones in the process. It can actually be fun.
Third, work your strategy. Find your rhythm. The healthy men use routines, rituals and habits as guardrails of their behavior and are in a position to bounce back quickly if they are drawn off course. Rhythm feels good and provides a level discipline.”
With more than 40 years of executive experience, Bezich also serves as an adjunct professor in the Graduate Department of Public Policy Administration at Rutgers University. Bezich has published numerous articles in the field of public administration and health and is a contributing author to Corporate Lawbreaking and Interactive Compliance.
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Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 8, 2019
The Transparency Sale
Photos: Todd Caponi
Buyers want to know what the flaws are in a product. So much so that they favor bad reviews over good ones, according to Todd Caponi. He cares about sales methodology, learning theory and decision science. He is convinced that the key to sales success is transparency. In his first book, The Transparency Sale (Ideapress Publishing, $24.95) published last year, he seeks “to arm the modern seller with the knowledge, ideas, tools and actionable techniques to ready themselves for the future of sales; radical transparency.”
“The short answer is eighteen months, however, it’s not that simple,” Caponi said by email via his publicist when asked how many months or years the book required. “I first wrote about the idea for a publication back in May of 2017, and it went viral. The concept definitely resonated, so that signaled the beginning of the process. When you decide to write a book, the first step should always be to write a proposal, even if you’re intention is the self publish. It helps you vet out the likelihood of a successful book, and lays out your plan. I completed the proposal in November of 2017. The contract with my publisher, Ideapress, was signed in February of 2018, which kicked off the full-time writing process. The book officially launched in November of 2018.”
When asked whether is was his first book and what prompted him to write a new one book in an already crowded field he replied, “Yes, it is my first book, and yes, there are so many sales books out there. As a student of those books combined with years of experience as a seller and leader, I recognized a non-obvious evolution taking place in the world of sales. The proliferation of ratings, reviews and the accessibility of peer feedback is changing the way we buy. Beginning with Amazon’s launch in 1995, the idea of providing both positive and negative peer provided reviews appeared to help buyers predict what their experience will be following a purchase. In the twenty-four years since, reviews and feedback have permeated every meaningful purchase we make, from the products we buy, the experiences we select (restaurants, hotels, even Uber rides) and the apps we download. Buyers have come to rely on reviews and feedback, seeking reviews in 95 percent of their substantive purchases.
And, those reviews and feedback are no longer confined to just to B2C purchases. They are now inflating their way into the world of B2B, where a simple Google search allows buyers to easily review peer provided feedback on products through companies like G2Crowd, TrustRadius, and many others. Buyers can also peek inside the culture of the companies they’re considering making a purchase from through websites like Glassdoor.
Sellers have always been taught to sell perfection, that their product or service is perfect for the client. However due to this evolution, you can no longer hide your flaws and expect to get away with it. It must change the way we position and sell our products or services to build the trust necessary to end in a long-term successful outcome.”
Todd Caponi, author, The Transparency Sale
When asked about the title of the book he replied, “The Transparency Sale is about giving buyers all of the information their brain requires to feel confident in making a buying decision. It starts with a better understanding of our buying brain in how we make decisions as consumers. Beyond reviews, building a better understanding of how decision making really works is key to improving your ability to sell anything to anyone. It begins with transparency, in that leading with your product’s flaws, with authenticity and honesty, sells better than positioning perfection.”
The primary target audience for the book? “The concepts of this book, all the way down to the way we position, present and negotiate, are immediately applicable and actionable to anyone who’s role requires them to influence other people to do something different tomorrow than they are doing today. That is primary sales professionals, but the feedback from cross-functional executives, recruiters, realtors, financial planners and marketers has been amazing.”
When asked about the controversy surrounding fake reviews and review sites that sell ads he replied, “The push for sellers to encourage, or even pay for fake reviews is ultimately doing themselves a disservice. It may sound counter intuitive, but negative reviews sell better than positive ones: As mentioned above, 95 percent of consumers read reviews before making an unfamiliar purchase of substance, and that number is growing; 82 percent of consumers seek out negative reviews, and that number is growing as well, which leads to the fundamental statistic driving the need to change. Purchase likelihood peaks when a product whose reviews are in the 4.2 to 4.5 star range. A 4.2 sells better than a product with a perfect five-star rating!
Sellers that cram as many 5-star reviews are actually eroding the trust they’re buyers have in them. Buyers are smart. They seek out the negative reviews, which actually HELP the buyer make a purchase. It happens with reviews in B2C, but also when we, as sellers, present our solutions as perfect. We’re driving buyers to find the flaws themselves. Own the conversation, lead with the flaws, build trust, shorten sales cycles, win more often.
In other words, in this non-obvious evolution happening in the world of sales, not only is leading with your solution’s flaws a requirement given the proliferation of reviews and feedback on everything we do, buy and experience, as it turns out (backed by brain science), it is also the fastest path to lasting trust, so regardless of reviews, it’s the right thing to do, anyway, having magical impacts on your results.”
The 193-page hardcover book is divided into five sections and 14 chapters. The author is keynote speaker, workshop leader and trainer as well as principal and founder of Sales Melon LLC.
Click to buy The Transparency Sale
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Posted by Elena del Valle on April 3, 2019
Si mi mama fuera ornitorrinco
Photos: Science Naturally
Seventeen years after the publication of If My Mom Were a Platypus Science Naturally published a Spanish translation of the children’s book. Si mi mama fuera ornitorrinco (Science Naturally, $12.95), the 64-page softcover title written by Dia L. Michels, translated by The Spanish Group and illustrated by Andrew Barthelmes is filled with color illustrations and journal style sketches of animal babies and their families on most pages.
Author Dia Michels
“The inspiration for the book came out of pregnancy misery,” said Michels when asked how the book came about. “I was so excited about being pregnant and becoming a mother – but my joy was soon mollified by round-the-clock morning sickness, frightening nightmares, and general wretchedness. I started researching other mammals to see who did pregnancy better than humans. Long story short, I decided that, for the purposes of pregnancy and breastfeeding, nothing could be better than being a platypus. The only way I could survive being pregnant was to could channel my inner-platypus. This desire to know how other mammals reproduced continued past the birth of my daughter, and pretty soon, I knew enough about mammal birth and breastfeeding to create a book. Many years of research went into parsing down which mammals to include. All it all, it took about a dozen years from idea to publication.”
She explained the book is used most frequently in a classroom setting, suggesting it might make a good addition to a home library for nature-minded children or gift for mothers with new babies. It works well as a read aloud option for children ages six to eight and as an independent reading reference text for ages eight to twelve and above. The publisher released free downloadable Teacher’s Guides, with hands-on activities, in English and Spanish.
Andrew Barthelmes, illustrator, Si mi mama fuera un ornitorrinco
“I love learning about patterns and oddities in the mammal world, from hippos being the only mammal whose eyesight is just as good above water as below, to lions being among the only mammals that will wet nurse,” Michels said regarding the weirdes random fact about the mammals in the book. “My favorite random fact is that hooded seals, who spend their lives swimming in arctic waters, will only breed, whelp, and breastfeed on land. Why is that weird? They live where there is no land. The only way the species can survive is by procreating on sea ice—and hoping it doesn’t melt before they’re done!”
An inside page from the book
When asked how they are promoting the title Michels replied, “We are promoting this title at bilingual education conferences, parenting events, and STEM symposiums nationwide. We’ve also circulated a digital press release, advertised directly to our previous Spanish/bilingual customers, and reached out to those who bought the English edition of the book. We also sent an extensive pre-release mailing to libraries, media, and medical professionals. Additionally, we’ve partnered with literacy organizations, including First Book, to make the title available to students in Title I schools at a highly discounted price.”
The title reveals how fourteen mammals navigate the path from helpless infants to mature adults. It was designed for readers ages 10 to 14 and younger Read-Aloud listeners. The seals along the top of cover represent some of the awards it has won. The “NSTA Recommends” designation means it was endorsed by the National Science Teacher’s Association. The yellow seal is an award from Creative Child Magazine, a national publication for parents. The book was chosen by a panel of parents and educators for the Book of the Year award. The blue award is a Young Voices Foundation Seal of Approval, which honors books that inspire, mentor, and/or educate readers of all ages.
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