An excellent guide for anyone wishing to achieve better brand recognition.
Professional ghostwriter Lisec presents a systemic approach to success in this marketing guide.
In the modern marketplace, it’s not always enough to do good work for one’s clients. Instead, the author—who’s written more than 80 books for CEOs, celebrities, and other clients—asserts that talent must have a voice that can be heard over the noise of social media. A strong strategy, he says, can help one transition from being a silent expert in one’s field to being an undisputed authority with a reputation for consistent results. The key to his strategy is deceptively simple: systemization. Lisec asserts that most people are simply unaware of the full scope of their skills or the specific steps they need to take to achieve success. Without this knowledge, professionals can’t communicate their full value to others or reliably instruct others about their techniques when necessary. To address this, Lisec presents a straightforward approach to breaking down achievements into replicable frameworks. He points out that bold outcomes and great success may attract skeptics; however, he argues, criticism can be as effective as praise for increasing notoriety. Overall, Lisec offers an approach to professional advancement that’s valuable and logical. At one point, for instance, he simply notes that those who can’t deliver results will lose opportunities to those with less talent and better marketing. Still, he says, those who can deliver consistent, transformative outcomes will ultimately triumph. Although Lisec’s use of the word genius to describe this aptitude may feel intimidating, he suggests that many people possess a capacity for excellence already. Nonetheless, this guide doesn’t contain quick fixes or hacks to achieving fame in one’s field. Instead, he stresses hard work, using a “System Design Table,” recommended research, and exercises to clarify his points. Lisec also offers advice on topics ranging from writing and developing a book to fee negotiation. His actionable advice and real-world examples offer tangible benefits from the first chapter.
An excellent guide for anyone wishing to achieve better brand recognition.Pub Date: June 15, 2023
ISBN: 9798988347422
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.
Want to get ahead in business? Consult a dictionary.
By Wharton School professor Berger’s account, much of the art of persuasion lies in the art of choosing the right word. Want to jump ahead of others waiting in line to use a photocopy machine, even if they’re grizzled New Yorkers? Throw a because into the equation (“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”), and you’re likely to get your way. Want someone to do your copying for you? Then change your verbs to nouns: not “Can you help me?” but “Can you be a helper?” As Berger notes, there’s a subtle psychological shift at play when a person becomes not a mere instrument in helping but instead acquires an identity as a helper. It’s the little things, one supposes, and the author offers some interesting strategies that eager readers will want to try out. Instead of alienating a listener with the omniscient should, as in “You should do this,” try could instead: “Well, you could…” induces all concerned “to recognize that there might be other possibilities.” Berger’s counsel that one should use abstractions contradicts his admonition to use concrete language, and it doesn’t help matters to say that each is appropriate to a particular situation, while grammarians will wince at his suggestion that a nerve-calming exercise to “try talking to yourself in the third person (‘You can do it!’)” in fact invokes the second person. Still, there are plenty of useful insights, particularly for students of advertising and public speaking. It’s intriguing to note that appeals to God are less effective in securing a loan than a simple affirmative such as “I pay all bills…on time”), and it’s helpful to keep in mind that “the right words used at the right time can have immense power.”
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063204935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper Business
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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