Bookshelf
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on February 24, 2010
Learning on the job? Protecting Profits in Any Economy is for you. Small business consultant Don Crist directs his lessons at entrepreneurs without formal business training. Says Crist, "I have been in many businesses where basic financial and organizational concepts are replaced by seat-of-the-pants management styles. The owners are skilled at the tasks but not at managing the business." A Managing for Profit tutorial makes up section one; section two is 12 Things Your CPA Didn't Tell You About Running Your Business and the Secret to Success is section three. The text includes first-hand examples, plus a "no cost" incentive plan to replace bonus payments, a sample "flash report" and tax ideas
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on January 21, 2010
Get motivated every day -- Literally. 365 Ways to Motivate and Reward Your Employees Every Day: With Little or No Money, published by Atlantic Publishing, includes advice from real-life companies about how to retain your best workers and keep morale and productivity high even when raises, bonuses and other monetary incentives are limited or totally off the table.Quint Studer’s Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top (Wiley, $24.95) teaches employers how to create and use a Standards of Behavior contract to boost morale, customer satisfaction, and profitability. He recommends that organizations: seek input from all employees in creating the document, align desired behaviors with desired outcomes so success is measureable, be very specific in wording, hold a ceremonial Standards of Behavior "roll out"...Read More
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on November 25, 2009
You're not alone. But now there's help. No, it's not a pill or a psychic friend, it's Chaotics: The Business of  Managing and Marketing in the Age of Turbulence, by Philip Kotler and John A Caslione. The authors present a system for insuring against risk, taking advantage of uncertainty and nagivating through turbulence without being caught up in it. This includes early warning systems, worst case, best cast, and most likely scenarios and a shorter time cycle in three-month intervals. Strategies include pushing for more market share, investing in more customer research, increasing the marketing budget, providing customers with a feeling of safety, quickly drop...Read More
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on November 18, 2009
Yes, there really is a chapter on flipping a coin. (It's number 16). But there is a lot more to it. Michael E. McGrath, the author of Business Decisions! Making Winning Management Decisions in Today's Economy covers hot topics such as managing risk, wishful thinking and other reasons people ignore important choices, focusing on the short-term and forgetting long-term consequences, throwing good money after bad, indecision and other pitfalls. One risk you may not have thought of? Like minded thinkers. A decision making group that agrees too often may not have enough diversity to see all the alternatives. ...Read More
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on November 11, 2009
Maestro of Crystal by Brian F. Havel, tells the story of Miroslav Havel and his role in Waterford Crystal. For a
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on November 4, 2009
"The economy doesn't matter," according Pricing for Profit: How to Command Higher Prices for Your  Products and Services. Author Dale Furtwengler, takes the contrarian view that small businesses can raise thair prices despite the economic climate, provided they learn how to quantify and communicate value. ...Read More
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on October 29, 2009
Who's Your Gladys?: How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer Into Your Biggest Fan, by Marilyn  Suttle and Lori Jo Vest, profiles 10 companies in a different industries that offer exceptional customer service, something that in these challenging times can make the difference between profit and loss. The Gladys of the title was a real customer (names have been changed to protect the innocent), a feisty 87 year old whose movers broke her marble topped table. But when the repair wasn't good enough, her salesman personally drove her to pick out a replacement, on the house. Now she rec...Read More
Posted by Meredith Schwartz on August 7, 2009
If you've ever asked that about a customer, Inside The Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing by Herb Sorensen offers the next best thing to telepathy: a scientific look at all the unconscious and habitual patterns that make up the contemporary shopping experience, together with practical advice on how to use that knowledge to maximize both retailer profit and customer satisfaction. ...Read More 
Posted by Caroline Kennedy on June 18, 2009
For the gourmet, the backyard grill master, the party-planner, the time-pressed mom or the budding baker, cookbooks are always welcome gift suggestions. Merchandise them along with food products, housewares and home entertaining accessories.
Posted by Caroline Kennedy on June 4, 2009
For baby shower wishing wells, add-on gifts or "just because," gift books offering practical advice, inspiration and/or a humorous look at motherhood should be a part of any gift retailer's baby gift merchandise mix.
Posted by Caroline Kennedy on May 18, 2009
Posted by Caroline Kennedy on April 29, 2009
Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, by Paco Underhill, should be required reading for retailers, and maybe  consumers too. As much as why, Underhill covers the "how" of shopping: why consumers move through stores the way they do, why they notice what they notice and pick up what they pick up, and how retailers can minimize roadblocks and maximize ease to improve the customer's shopping experience, and the bottom line. From making the shopping cart bigger to eliminating the "butt-brush" factor, his ideas will make you say "why didn't I think of that?"
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Waterford retailer, selling the book could vary a display and produce an add-on sale at an affordable price point that complements, without competing with, crystal offerings. 
Friendships are among the most special and treasured of relationships and t; friends have a very special bond that can be stronger can any other. There's a lot more to the sentiment of BFF than just hype. Why not set up a friendship corner with gift books and other gift items honoring friends and friendship. Here are a few gift book suggestions to get you started: