A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow
Iâm Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors by managing their book promotion and publicity. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!).
This week I will be highlighting two books; one author I am currently working with ‘If I’m So Smart, Where did All My Money Go>’ by Doug Warshauer and one book on the social media Amazon list ‘Blog Marketing: The Revolutionary New Way to Increase Sales, Build Your Brand, and Get Exceptional Results’ by Jeremy Wright.
The books I discuss in the Social Media Book List Series will cover a range of topics such as social media, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.
‘If I’m So Smart, Where Did all My Money Go?’
by Doug Warshauer
Book Review by Kirkus Review—-
A realistic, detailed guide to planning for your financial future.
Warshauer was a small business forecaster by trade, skilled at incorporating the myriad of financial factors that make up the universe of a small company and projecting their expenses and profitability. In a burst of insight, he decided to apply those same methods on a more intimate scale. He has thus come up with an excellent set of guidelines in the hopes of ensuring a stable financial future for individuals and families.
The planâfive big steps composed of 18 smaller stepsâis very sensible, and each bears Warshauerâs hallmark: accounting for the different life goals that each person or family will have. He begins by explaining how much of our net income should be saved, spent on homes and auto, and even spent on clothing. He provides a numerical guideline for each area, insisting that if spending in one category goes up, it must drop in other areas.
These short-term goals segue into long-term planning, such as the decision to save for public school versus private, and how to understand how much each family will need for retirement. These insights take the book one step deeper than the average financial-planning instructional. The book is also unique in that Warshauer presents the rules for financial success in the form of a story. Joe, one of the main protagonists, is a generic young adult who spends more than heâs earning, and thus decides to attend one of the authorâs financial seminars.
Other characters include single mothers and young parents. The fiction structure is loose, basically just a tool to help the author dispense his financial rules in a way that keeps readers engaged. Naturally, the dialogue itself tends to get tedious, as seminar attendees ask dry questions about finance, but on the whole itâs more readable than a strictly nonfiction manual.
A helpful introductory guide to financial planning for singles and families looking to get the most out of their money.
About the Book*:
How do you achieve a balanced financial life and lasting wealth?
Conventional advice does not teach people how to balance conflicting demands from living expenses, credit cards bills, mortgages, college funds, and retirement investments. Finally, there is a book that does.
“If I’m So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?” is an engaging look at ten diverse characters who each face different financial challenges. In this story of a personal finance seminar, you will meet the following people:
* Joe, a 23 year-old college graduate who already finds himself with $20,000 of credit card debt, and wonders if he has done permanent damage to his financial future,
* Eric and Sally, a couple in their 30s who bought a home at the peak of the market and who fear they could lose all of their equity,
* Andrea, a 40ish single mother whose living expenses make saving for college and retirement seem an impossible dream,
* Mitchell, a 55 year-old with two children on the verge of college, who wonders how he will ever be able to retire.
They, and others, each learn how to best achieve their own personal objectives: how to save and invest money for cars, homes, college, and retirement.
By following these examples, you will learn how to apply the lessons to your own life. After reading this story you will have learned:
* Exactly how much YOU need to save for your Home, College, and Retirement
* How to prioritize YOUR savings goals
* Exactly how much YOU can afford to spend on everything: your house, your car, food, clothing, and entertainment
* Which debt YOU should pay off and which you should keep
* Whether YOU should buy a home or rent one
* When YOU should invest in stocks and when to choose safer investments
You will learn to balance each of your financial objectives in order to achieve all of them. Most important, you will develop a level of confidence in your financial future that you never imagined possible.
About Doug Warshauer*:
Doug Warshauer is the founder of Kessler Warshauer Ventures, a highly successful private equity investment firm. He developed the techniques presented in this book by modeling the prospects of hundreds of businesses. Here, for the first time ever, he makes these techniques available to families to help them better manage their money. Doug holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, an MA from New York University, and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in the Chicago area. Follow along each week with Dougâs financial strategies or ask him a question on his blog, www.DougWarshauer.com.
You can purchase a copy of ‘If I’m So Smart, Where did All My Money Go?’ online at Amazon or on his website, Doug Warshauer.
*courtesy of book website and Amazon
A book on the social media list on Amazon is ‘It’s Not Just Who You Know’ by Tommy Spaulding.
Blog Marketing
“Blogs will soon become a staple in the information diet of every serious businessperson . . . . Blogs offer an accelerated and efficient approach to acquiring and understanding the kind of information all of us need to make business decisions.”
— John Battelle, Business 2.0
About the Book*:
With an exclusive look inside Google, Disney, Yahoo, IBM, and others, this book shows how your company can use blogs to raise its visibility and transform internal communications
All companies, large and small, know that reaching customers directly and influencing–and being influenced by–them is essential to success. Blog Marketing shows marketing and PR professionals as well small business owners how to do just that without spending a lot of money. Readers will learn how to tap into the power of blogs to create a direct line of communication with customers, raise the company’s visibility, and position their organizations as industry thought leaders.
In Blog Marketing, leading blogging consultant Jeremy Wright explains how and why companies of all types blog and reveals strategies for effectively interacting with customers. Youâll find out how authentic feedback from customers can lead to potential new marketing strategies, innovative new product ideas, and new concepts that will completely transform your business.
Get an exclusive look at some phenomenally successful companies currently taking advantage of blogs including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Google, Disney, General Motors, and others, and find out how you can reap the rewards in your own organization.
Blog Marketing is filled with real-world examples of how blogging can
* Extend company branding
* Create positive experiences with your customers
* Provide real feedback on your company and its products
* Transform the way your company does business
* Simplify a variety of project management tasks
* Impact the bottom line
The business world is undergoing profound changes, redefining marketing, public relations, and customer communications. If you arenât inviting this change into your own business–and keep in mind, your competitors are–then the writing is on the wall. No matter what your business, blogging is essential to your success, both now and in the future.
About Jeremy Wright*:
Jeremy Wright is an author and business consultant with a passion for blogging, communications, time management, and anything else that makes people’s lives easier. He has spoken at dozens of conferences and worked with a wide range of companies — from Fortune 500s to home-based businesses — to understand the power of blogging and online marketing. His blog, Ensight.org, is read by more than 250,000 people every month.
*courtesy of book website and Amazon
You can purchase a copy of ‘Blog Marketing’ on Amazon.
I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.
