Duct Tape Marketing is the small business marketing road map – A collection of proven tools and tactics woven together in a step-by-step marketing system that shows small business owners exactly what to do to market and grow their businesses. This guide combines insights gained from over twenty years of successfully working, in the field, with real-life small businesses.
The book plods through basic marketing precepts such as finding your ideal client, honing your message, being memorable, and making your Web site work for you. The chapters that draw from the author’s Web expertise provide a solid overview of creating productive Web sites and automated referral systems.
But too many chapters provide only a bland overview of familiar material without providing interesting case studies to illustrate the author’s prescriptions. For example, chapter 10, on garnering media attention, starts with a 24-year-old example of a man who got a rush of publicity from offering to sell the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by boilerplate advice on writing press releases and updating media lists.
John Jantsch knows what it takes to create marketing that sticks and ultimately leads to quantifiable results. His up-to-date advice shows small business owners numerous strategies they can implement to create a systematic approach to marketing. For companies selling into the business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, pay particular attention to these chapters:
Chapter 5: Produce Marketing Materials that Educate: Corporate decision makers today are turned off by self-serving promotional materials. This books points out numerous ways you can create high value, educational marketing collateral that will really make an impact.
Chapter 6: A Website that Works Day & Night
Chapter 12: Automate your Marketing with Technology Tools: Most small business owners have no idea how valuable their website can be. Why not? Because they’re not doing the right stuff. In this book, you’ll learn the basics you need to know in order to maximize technology for business growth.
Chapter 10: Earned Media Attention and Expert Status: To crack into corporate accounts today, it’s imperative to become a thought leader in your field – even if you’re a one-person firm.
If you’re just setting up a company, this book provides an excellent overview of how to get your marketing machine in gear.
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- Principles of Marketing, 12th Edition – By Philip Kotler
- Business : William M. Pride
- Business Law: Text and Cases (West’s Business Law) : Kenneth W. Clarkson, Roger LeRoy Miller, Gaylord A. Jentz, Frank B. Cross
- Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution : By Jeanne W. Ross
- Understanding Business : James M. McHugh
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book – By Don Miguel Ruiz
- Accounting For Dummies – By John A. Tracy CPA
- Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs) – By Ellen Lupton
