I just received an INCREDIBLE review for my third book, Achievement IQ Moments and I wanted to post it as soon as possible:

Achievement IQ Moments

50 Extraordinary Stories About People Who Transformed VISION, ATTRACTION, READINESS AND ACTION Into Massive Success

Testimonials

“A gift of optimism in a society where everyone is trying to climb the ladder of success while using anyone in their way as the next wrung.”

Stanley Bronstein’s book appears by its format to be one which is intended to be read in small intervals, at one’s leisure, and yet it is hard to put down this feel-good collection of motivating stories. Not only has he offered for the reader a cornucopia of entertaining stories, but a fusion of inspiration, self-help and philosophy rolled into one. In a literary market flooded with inaccessibly written books on success, Bronstein offers an easy read while providing a product of depth and consequence.

While most people are waiting for opportunity to knock on their door, often when they open it disappointment or futility walk in. Reading these brief reflections from varied subjects reminds the reader that a healthy attitude can overcome many a circumstance.

If Ecclesiastics is correct and there is “nothing new under the sun” and history then repeats itself, then what a better way of smoothing out the rocky terrain of life than by learning from others’ journeys.

The questions of life (highlighted by the “if” being the core of the word itself), have multiple answers — what works for one does not necessarily work for another — the trick, as Stanley Bronstein reveals, is to keep working at it.

Cantor Steven Stoehr
Northbrook Illinois

Are You Willing To Review This Book?

If you are willing to review this book and post a review of it on your website / blogsite, please contact me by:

Clicking Here

Please tell me about your website / blogsite and we can talk about getting a copy out to you.

I really want your opinions. Thank you.

Stanley Bronstein

The reviews are starting to come in for my  third book, which is now available by clicking below or on the image of the book cover:

Achievement IQ Moments

50 Extraordinary Stories About People Who Transformed VISION, ATTRACTION, READINESS AND ACTION Into Massive Success

Below, you will find links to the reviews I have so far. Stay tuned, as there are a bunch more coming.

Testimonials

A.IQ Moments is a compilation of 50 individuals who share personal success stories, which are inspirational and motivational. If one has ever played sports, the stories are reminiscent of a pre-game locker room speech. If you find it hard to get going, “A.IQ Moments” will fire you up.

• Willie J. Alexander
• Former Defensive Back in the National Football League
• Houston Oilers
• 1971 to 1979

Online Reviews – Written

• MarketingAgencyTalk.com

• 2020Unleashed.com

• DrDeClutter’s Blog

• HotelECommInsights

• CommonSenseRevisited.com

• Noel Heikkinen’s Blog

• BookStrumpet

• BaldEagleBlogs.com

• Writing For Life

• 3Stairs.com

• Beautiful Summer Morning

• Jaye Maynard’s Blog

Online Reviews – Audio

• KnitSpirit.com (Audio Review)

• TheWritingCast.com (Audio Review)

If you are willing to review this book and post a review of it on your website / blogsite, please contact me by:

Clicking Here

Please tell me about your website / blogsite PLUS your mailing address and I can send you a hard copy of the book.

I really want your opinions. Thank you.

Stanley Bronstein

I’ve had the recent good fortune to strike up a dialogue with Willie Alexander, a former member of the Houston Oilers football team for 8 years in the 1970′s from 1971 through 1979.

Mr. Alexander was so kind as to provide me with a copy of his recent book, Entering the Promised Land.  I’ve finally had the chance to review it and thought I should share my thoughts about it with you.

Having grown up in Houston, I was always impressed by Mr. Alexander’s story. The reason I’ve been impressed is that he was one of the earlier “breed” of football players who were wise enough to realize that they need to create careers for themselves that extend past their football playing years. Mr. Alexander did that and he did it very well.

If you want to read more about Willie Alexander, you can visit his website by clicking here.

What Is This Book About?

Mr. Alexander shares much of his life story.  In effect, this book outlines his personal journey of how he went from a poor black youth growing up in Montgomery Alabama, all the way to having had a successful professional football career and moving on to a life as a successful businessman.

Throughout the book, Mr. Alexander talks about two of his personal passions.  The first is how the black man in America needs to become more successful and the second is about his strong religious beliefs.

In this review, I’m going to focus primarily on the first; about the black man in Amercia becoming more successful and living a better life.  THAT IS WHAT I BELIEVE IS THE OVERWHELMING MESSAGE BEHIND THIS BOOK.

Why Is Mr. Alexander Qualified To Write About This Subject?

Two reasons:

1)  He has lived everything he’s talking about.

2)  He’s educated enough to write about it.

Those two things are all that is necessary, IN MY BOOK, to qualify Mr. Alexander to speak about this most important subject.

What REALLY Makes This Review Timely?

I find it an interesting coincidence that I’m writing this review about a black man in America who wants to help other black men in America succeed, ON THE SAME DAY, that a black man (Barack Obama) was nominated to be the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party).

In other words, while the black man may still have a long way to go, progress (if you define progress as achieving one’s goals) is obviously being made.

I suspect that if Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today, he would be VERY PROUD as this moment in history takes place.

The Chapters In The Book

Chapter 1 – A Speech To Giants – This profiles one of the biggest speeches in Mr. Alexander’s life, where he had a chance to pore out his soul in front of the Greater Houston Partnership in 2002.  He spoke about major issues facing the black community and people actually listened.  It took guts on his part to do this.

Chapter 2 – The Parallel – In this chapter, Mr. Alexander talks about parallels in his life and those of previous generations, including Dr. Martin Luther King.  I’m not totally sure what he was getting at, but I believe the point of his chapter is that history often repeats itself.

Chapter 3 – In Whose Image? – In this chapter, Mr. Alexander brings religion further into the picture and talks about what it was like growing up as a young black man in America and the overwhelming part religion played in his life.

Chapters 4 through 6 – Mr. Alexander talks about several key moments in his life when certain revelations came to him in the course of normal events.

Chapters 7 through 13 – This is where the book becomes heavy in its religious overtones.  While I am not necessarily a fan of bringing the subject of religion heavily into the conversation, I read through it anyway.  I paid less attention to the way the message was said and more attention to the message that was being said.

Willie Alexander explained how circumstances, both intentional and unintentional have conspired to make the black man in America less powerful than he might have otherwise been.

Just look at this POWERFUL example that illustrates 244 years or 12 generations of slavery in a typical black family of today with an American heritage:

1. Parents were slaves.
2. Grand parents were slaves.
3. Great-grand parents were slaves.
4. Great-Great-grand parents were slaves.
5. Great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
6. Great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
7. Great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
8. Great-great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
9. Great-great-great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
10. Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
11. Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.
12. Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grand parents were slaves.

So What Is The Point Behind This Book

Willie Alexander says that the black man in America needs to develop a strategic plan for their success.  He quotes Dr. Martin Luther King on this:

The Negro will only be truly free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive selfhood his OWN emancipation proclamation.  With a spirit straining toward self-abnegation and say to himself and the world:   “I am somebody.  I am a person.  I am a man with dignity and honor.  I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been”.

THIS IS THE POINT BEHIND THE BOOK.  MR. ALEXANDER’S POINT IS THAT IT IS UP TO THE BLACK MAN TO DO IT FOR HIMSELF. HE MUST EMPOWER HIMSELF AND THE TIME TO DO THAT IS NOW.

Once again, I find it interesting that this all happens as, for the first time, a black man in America is receiving the nomination of one of the two major political parties to run for president of the United States.   Furthermore, while it is far from guaranteed, he has an excellent chance of winning.

What Does This All Mean?

I’m not sure what it means. But if we all stick around, and pay attention, I’m sure we’re going to find out.

I am looking for qualified people, with excellent websites to review ADVANCE copies of my book:

Achievement IQ Moments

50 Extraordinary Stories About People Who Transformed VISION, ATTRACTION, READINESS AND ACTION Into Massive Success

If you are willing to review this book and post a review of it on your website / blogsite, please contact me by:

Clicking Here

I did NOT want to list my email address simply for SPAM purposes.

Please tell me about your website / blogsite PLUS your mailing address and I can send you a hard copy of the book.

I really want your opinions. Thank you.

Stanley Bronstein

I just received yet another INCREDIBLE review for my third book, Achievement IQ Moments and I wanted to post it as soon as possible:

Achievement IQ Moments

50 Extraordinary Stories About People Who Transformed VISION, ATTRACTION, READINESS AND ACTION Into Massive Success

Testimonial

Award winning businessman, Dr. Shan Nair, co-founded Nair & Co. which is headquartered in U.K. with offices in India, China, U.S. and Japan and with over 700 client operations operating in 40+ countries. With a staff of 350+, Dr. Nair has been recognized in the U.S., U.K. and India by business associations for his incredible ability to build a company from the ground up. Dr. Nair has lived in 13 countries speaks several languages and holds a PhD from Oxford University.

–Review–

As the world is experiencing such turbulent times, A.I.Q. is a lighthouse beacon of hope across the stormy seas. Written by Lawyer-cum-author, Stanley F. Bronstein, A.I.Q. indentifies fifty inspirational stories about various remarkable people who strive and achieve success. Although success is broadly defined, it cites individuals driven to do productive work in society to help themselves but mostly others. Many of the stories are thought-provoking and will lead readers to seek their own answers and self-truths.

Written in simple prose that leaves the achiever’s words in raw form, Bronstein vividly delivers each story in a short format where readers are able to grasp the big picture and not get lost in the smaller details. Each story comes with a message that sparks the reader to turn the page to read about the next message.

The purpose of writing this unique piece of work is clear; inspire a nation or perhaps a world. Bronstein achieves his own success in authoring A.I.Q. and it seems poised to inspire many others to achieve their best potential as well.

This is an excellent book for those looking for inspiration, those who are at a crossroads in their life or career or someone who wants to learn more about what makes humans and humanity such a wonderful gift. Readers will laugh, gasp and weep alongside the profiles featured in A.I.Q. It is a book worth reading.

An opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.

Every so often, life presents us with opportunities. High AIQers instinctively know this. SO, when life presents us with such an opportunity, it is our privilege to take advantage of them.

I had such an opportunity on Friday, May 2, 2008. Dr. Ken Blanchard was speaking at Grand Canyon University here in Arizona to introduce his newest book, The One Minute Entrepreneur.

I had lots of other things to do and plenty to keep me busy, but I made sure I put this event on my calendar. It turned out to have been a very wise decision.

Quite simple, I heard more words of wisdom come out of Dr. Blanchard’s mouth in 2 hours than most people utter in a lifetime. That was not intended to be a slam against most people, but a compliment as to Dr. Blanchard’s experience and talent as a professional speaker.

So, What’s The Book About?

Dr. Blanchard dedicated the book to the thousands of entrepreneurs who have braved countless obstacles and hung in through good times and bad to create successful companies.

What stands out to me is that he mentioned that these entrepreneurs hung in, even through the bad times to create successful comnpanies.

Another thing that stands out to me is that Dr. Blanchard constantly mentions Charlie “Tremendous” Jones throughout the book as being one of his mentors. He also mentions how Mr. Tremendous (as they call him) has impacted the world, one life at a time. This has special importance to me as I was fortunate enough to have met Charlie this past October at his home in Mechanicsburg, PA. All I can say is that Charlie is quite probably the most unique individual I have ever met. I have several videos available of him on this website, if you simply put him name into the search box they’ll come up.

So, let’s dive into the meat of the book

Building A Firm Foundation

The book stresses the importance of building a firm foundation. After all, any building built on a weak foundation is doomed to collapse, sooner or later.

The book stresses that at any given time, we are becoming the average of the five people with whom we are most closely associated. The moral of that story is that we should do our best to associate only with high quality people, as they will help us to become someone better.

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones puts it a different way. He says: In five years, you’ll be the same person you are today, except for two things: the people you meet, and the books you’ve read.

So, hang out with good people and read good books. Doing that will provide you with a firm foundation upon which you can grow AND it will help you gain the knowledge you will need in order to succeed in life.

Helping Others

Another point Dr. Blanchard stresses is that if you help enough people in life get what they want, you will get what you want. This point is often stressed by Zig Ziglar in his incredible programs. This is a lesson I have endeavored to incorporate into my life and I hope you will do the same.

Mastering The Basics

Next, the book stresses that you must master the basics of any field before you can rise to the top of it. It also stresses that you should visualize your desired outcomes, IN ADVANCE, so you can achieve them. I agree with these two points completely.

Are You An Entrepreneur?

This is perhaps the most important question posed by the book. Are you an entrepreneur? Do you have the entrepreneurial bug? In order to answer that, let’s define just exactly what an entrepreneur is.

Entrepreneur – A person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

To me, the most important part of that definition is the one that talks about CONSIDERABLE initiative and risk. IF you have considerable initiative, AND you are willing to deal with considerable risk, then you might just have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Getting Valuable People To Join Your Team

The book stresses the necessity for valuable people to come into your life in order to help you accomplish your goals. Entrepreneurs have found (myself included) that the people who tend to come into your life are the ones you need in order to help you achieve your goals.

Dream Big And Doors Will Open

Don’t bother to dream small. It takes just as much energy to dream small as it does big, so you might as well dream big. You just might accomplish your dreams. If you have the guts and the courage to dream big, you will find that doors will open in front of you and tremendous opportunities will walk right in. HOWEVER, as any good AIQer knows, you must position yourself to be ready to act upon these opportunities when they come and you must indeed get off your rear end and act upon them when they do.

The Best Way To Increase Your Income

The book moves on to talk about an area that stems out of one of my favorite sayings of all time. The best way to make more money is NOT to decrease your expenses, it is to increase your income. After all, you can cut expenses all the way down to the bone and you will have nothing left. If you increase your income, you will make plenty of money and the expenses are less of a problem. That doesn’t mean you should waste money, but increasing income is where you should focus most of your energies.

Being Better Than All The Rest

The book stresses that in order to achieve the type of success to which you are entitled, you must provide service that is better than everyone else out there. If you are the best and become known for being the best, you will achieve the best results. It’s just that simple.

Helping Others In Your Organization To Succeed

If you want to create a successful organization, you have to create an environment where your organization’s personnel all feel like they’re your partner, not just your employee.  People don’t want to be managed, they want to be led.  If you create an environment where people buy into the program and feel like they are sharing in its success, your organization is much more likely to be successful.

Being Generous

The book stresses that the more you give, the more you will receive.  Helping others is indeed the path to helping yourself.

Summary

This book is an easy read.  It is the type of book that will easily hold your attention and it can be read in just a few short hours.  HOWEVER, during those few short hours, you will either come to the realization that you are already on the right path, OR you will realize that some things need to change.  Either way, only good will come out of your reading this book.

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.