Mr. Achievement - Stanley F. Bronstein - Personal Development BlogPersonal Development Blog of the Founder of the Achievement IQ Movement and Creator of the Laws of Positioning

Lately, I’m being asked to review more and more of other people’s books. For that reason I’ve started a new category called just that, Book Reviews. One thing I want to say is that these are unpaid reviews and I do not have a financial stake in the author’s success, so my intent is to be as independent as possible.

This first book in my review series is titled The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing. It was co-authored by a friend of mine, Ilise Benun. Ilise and her co-author, Peleg Top, are co-founders of The Marketing Mentor.

Title of the Book - The subtitle of the book suggests that it is all about winning clients and knowing what to charge them. Consequently, as i review this book, I’m going to focus on how well it covers those two areas.

Structure of the Book - The book is broken down into two major parts, Marketing & Pricing.

Marketing - Under Marketing, the authors ask you to begin by determining, who is your market? They focus upon first determining your foundation and then specializing in certain areas that are connected with your foundation. I find their discussion interesting, as a major area of discussion these days seems to be whether or not you should focus in a particular niche area, or if you should try to focus on as many different areas as possible. The authors obviously come out on the side of specializing, but at the same time, they point out that it helps to have more than one area of expertise. So while they are suggesting that you specialize, they are also suggesting it helps to have more than one specialty. Personally, I can identify with that position, as I have had to do that throughout my career because I am an attorney, CPA, author and public speaker.

Finding Clients & Prospects - The authors suggest that there are multiple ways to find clients, such as attending events, using mailing lists, etc. Most importantly I love that they focus on “cherry-picking” your prospects. In other words, they don’t feel you should just accept every single prospect, you should cherry-pick and focus on the best ones.

Branding - The authors indicate you must come up with a personal brand. They stress its importance on the future success of your business.

Tools to Use - They stress that there are a variety of tools available to you and you should consider using them all, as appropriate. Those tools include networking, email marketing, having an online presence, cold calling and distribution of promotional materials.

Other Advice - The authors even give you advice on how to speak with prospects and how to follow up with them.

Pricing - I know from personal experience that pricing can be a very delicate subject. There are always tensions between our customers who want us to charge too little and providers who want to charge more. This book carefully bridges that gap. It does so by starting with the basics. It gives the reader advice on how to manage their money and how to change their beliefs about money.

Understanding What You Are Selling - The book provides guidance on helping the reader understand specifically what is being sold. For example, are you selling your services by the hour, or are you selling the value that is to be provided as a result of your services. I know in my own legal career, I will often find work that I can do in 2 hours that will provides thousands of dollars of benefits to the client. The book suggests that if you are going to provide thousands of dollars of benefit, perhaps your compensation structure should be based upon that realization. They bring this point home by reminding the reader that you are not selling your time; instead you are selling your knowledge and expertise.

Talking About Money - The book provides valuable guidance to the reader about ways to talk about money. Talking about money can be a difficult subject. I know from personal experience that sometimes the best way to talk about money is to simply do it. I had to do that yesterday when I called two clients to remind them to pay their bills. It’s not always fun, but it’s certainly necessary.

Writing Proposals - The book provides some valuable insight into not only the writing of proposals, but also on presenting those proposals and in “closing the sale.”

Negotiating Contracts - The book stresses the importance of a properly structured contract that is designed to protect your interests. As an attorney, I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of having a knowledgeable attorney review and/or design your contracts. It may cost a little in the beginning, but they will save you major grief and aggravation in the future. One point I would like to stress about good contracts is that they should be “win-win.” In a good contract, all sides win; all sides are protected. That is what you should strive for.

Growing Your Business - Lastly, the book provides guidance on how to grow your business.

Summary - All in fall, I found The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing to be a well written, concise book that covered most of the important points involved in the marketing and pricing of your goods and services. I look forward to a potential sequel where they pick up on each of these individual areas and go into great detail on them.