5 comments about eBay Business All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)).

1. Although you will find yourself needing a lot of time to read it, I think this book has all what you need to know about ebay. either to buy or sell. It is very informative and easy to read. I recomend it.



2. This author is one of the current gurus in the area of making a ton by selling stuff on eBay. I've been registered there for almost a decade myself, buying books and stamps at first, and then selling them. I was never out to amass a fortune, the way Collier and so many others seems to be, but I've made a slow and steady income and I've been happy with that. Since I taught myself how to do all that stuff back when eBay was still a relatively site, I've never felt the need of a how-to book, but a colleague recommended this one so I decided to take a look at it. Not bad, not bad at all. While enthusiastic (because it's required by the publisher of this series), Collier manages not to get carried away too often. For instance, she will suggest good online business practices, then confess that she seldom follows this one or that one herself. I didn't find anything I didn't already know in the "Basics" section (which was kind of a relief), but she has some interesting things to say about researching goods on the Web, whether you're buying or selling, and some subtle points about the way PayPal works which I hadn't really thought about, and so on. The author also has a strong background in marketing and sales and what she has a number of thoughtful things to say regarding the application of that experience to eBay, things that us humanities majors have never had to learn. So, while I won't follow her advice on using QuickBooks, and I don't expect to open an eBay Store, I certainly put a lot of bookmarks in this fat volume for future reference and rereading.



3. If you are trying to get started in eBay you gotta get this book.



4. This is a great book with all of the information that I was looking for. The product was received on the date specified. The service was excellent. Thanks again!



5. This was the best and most helpful of all of the For Dummies books I have purchased. I have found it so helpfull that I thought about emailing the author.

2 comments about Milady's Standard Cosmetology 2008: Hardcover: Hardcover (Milady's Standard Cosmetology).

1. This text is excellent for review and for basic updates on new technology in the industry



2. I am very happy with the Milady's Standard Cosmetology 2008 book. Because it covers new trends that have taken place in the industry.If you are a Stylist that graduated from Cosmetology School many years ago I strongly advise you to get this book.

5 comments about Hot Prospects: The Proven Prospecting System to Ramp Up Your Sales Career.

1. I started as a financial advisor with a major full service investment firm in May of 1983 and "grew up" with Bill Good's cherries and pits training and tapes (before "downloads!"). I began his Gorilla Marketing system in September 1987 (a few weeks before the crash) I guess I was doing around $250,000 gross at the time. He said I could double my production or work half as much. Well.... I'm glad to report that he helped me do more than both :) I've been doing over a Million for the last 10 years, averaging around 1.5 million a year. AND never working on Thursday or Friday afternoons or nights or weekends. And I guess barely during the day!
   
   As good as all that looks on paper, the reality is my clients have gotten older. For the last 10 years I've been at a bit of a plateau at this 1.5 level. I was feeling like I've been going in circles without a compass lately and then I saw his new book. I figured it's basically the same book that he wrote 20 years ago. And in a way it is I guess, but he has TOTALLY inspired me with this new book! It's all been completely rewritten reflecting our world in 2008.
   The number one reason his training helped me in the 80's and is helping again now is his way to take the emotion out of our prospecting and therefore make it possible to do the activities that are necessary to "happen upon" interested people. For me, it really makes the process almost fun (!) ... (have I lost my mind?)



2. Hot Propects, is a must for new recruits, easy to understand basics for a good foundation, I read HOT PROSPECTS in two days, in over 32 years of sales and now as sales director, it's amazing how much of the basic's we forget, we are constantly in training, HOT PROSPECTS is also a must for the seasoned agent. Who you are shouts out at me, Bill Good I hear you !
   THANK YOU !
   ERIC GARCIA
   Director of Sales
   www.playadelparaiso.com



3. Bill Good lays it out in detail. The writing is entertaining and useful. I have his earlier book and this is really a necessary adjunct to bring it up to date. It is not a rehash at all, though there are similar ideas. There is a myriad of additional information on his website with passwords strewn throughout the book. It is more than just a read -- there are step by step instructions to implement a prospecting system for your business. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.



4. Bill's book has helped me realize a few things that I had forgotten when you are cold calling prospects. One of these is that when someone says they aren't intertested, don't push them too hard, otherwise you ruin your chances to "hunt" them another day. Also, don't try to call prospects and be the salesperson too. This IS a waste of your valuable time because you cannot gain any momentum. Bill uses real world examples of what doesn't work any why AND the correct approach to gain more sales.



5. Extremely practical, easy to follow, the absolute best resources are provided on his website for us to use to apply the principles.. I'm so glad I bought this book..

2 comments about Master Data Management (The MK/OMG Press).

1. I am very proud to have put this book together - it is essentially a compendium of best practices and guidance from our corporate experience working with clients on master data management, data quality, data governance, and metadata management projects. My objective for writing the book was to fill a gap in establishing a core set of processesfor successfully planning, implementing, and managing an MDM program, and I hope that you'll find the material engaging and interesting. I have also put together a companion web site ([...]) where I will oversee a community of practice in providing update and new insights associated with Master Data Management, Customer Data Integration, Data Governance, and Data Quality. I look forward to your participation!



2. David Loshin has been writing and consulting on MDM for years, and he used this experience to write the most comprehensive, ambitious and valuable book on MDM. Companies are struggling to understand what their data means across applications and systems, but the impulse to view MDM as just "the next great technology" is wrong and possibly dangerous. Loshin spends the a good portion of the book on the "softer" side of MDM - the people, processes and infrastructure needed to support a master data effort. This is the part that people often overlook, but they pay for it eventually.
   
   This book is a must-read for any company considering, planning or implementing a master data management initiative. You'll learn things that can save you months (or years) and untold financial resources. More importantly, you'll get the expertise you need to design a workable framework for MDM that works.

5 comments about The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.

1. I just finished my thesis on mentoring child care center directors. The Mentor's Guide was the best resource. My thesis quotes many authors but there was non better than Lois Zachary. Her book is the easiest to read and she puts into words what I was thinking. I can't say enough about the wealth of information, ideas, quotes and straight comments that I found useful in this book. If you are embarking on a mentoring relationship this book is a must read. Thank you Lois.



2. This book provides the best definition of a mentor that I have come across thus far with the statement "...and at there best they inspire us to reach beyond ourselves; they show us how to make a positive difference in a wider world". It is an easy to read reference tool filled with applicable information about how to prepare for and what to watch for during your journey as a mentor. The author does an excellent job of inspiring a can do attitude by giving the reader the ability to use this book as a workbook to be able to work through real life experiences. This book is a must have for anyone desiring to be in a mentoring relationship.



3. This book provides mentors the tools they need in order to develop and maintain a mentoring relationship. In order to develop a successful mentoring relationship, it is important that the mentor have a good foundation in the purpose of the mentor/mentee relationship and then how know how to develop the relationship. The Mentor's Guide, by Lois J. Zachary, gives mentors this foundation and provides them with support in developing the mentor/mentee relationship.

   Learning, according to Lois, is the primary goal of the mentoring relationship. In order for learning to occur, the relationship must be learner centered. The book provides guidelines on creating a learner-centered environment.

   The book provides information as well as worksheets that help mentors develop their mentoring skills. Worksheets on developing goals and priorities, confidentiality, boundaries, planning, cross-cultural mentoring, assessing the quality of interactions, skill assessment, as well as strategies to develop successful reflections are a few of the worksheets provided by the book.

   This is an excellent book that provides mentors will the tools they need in order to be successful.




4. This book provides mentors the tools they need in order to develop and maintain a mentoring relationship. In order to develop a successful mentoring relationship, it is important that the mentor have a good foundation in the purpose of the mentor/mentee relationship and then how know how to develop the relationship. The Mentor's Guide, by Lois J. Zachary, gives mentors this foundation and provides them with support in developing the mentor/mentee relationship.

   Lois goes on to provide mentors with the information they need in order to be successful. Learning, according to Lois, is the primary goal of the mentoring relationship. In order for learning to occur, the relationship must be learner centered. The book provides guidelines on creating a learner-centered environment.

   The book provides information as well as worksheets that help mentors develop their mentoring skills. Worksheets on developing goals and priorities, confidentiality, boundaries, planning, cross-cultural mentoring, assessing the quality of interactions, skill assessment, as well as strategies to develop successful reflections are a few of the worksheets provided by the book.

   This is an excellent book that provides mentors will the tools they need in order to be successful.




5. I spent my summer researching mentoring as an independent study project for my PhD program. This guide incorporated much of what I found to be essential in an effective mentoring program: incorporation of adult learning theory, focus on the responsibilites of the mentee, practical exercises and reading for the mentors, and much more. I have used the exercises with great success and highly recommend this book to anyone considering implemeting a mentoring program.

No comments about Practical Idealists: Changing the World and Getting Paid (Studies in Global Equity).

5 comments about The Hr Value Proposition.

1. These guys are amazing. Puts HR in its proper perspective of adding company value. Wonderful.



2. After the transactional work of HR has been automated, centralized, eliminated, or outsourced, what is left, and of greatest value, forms the core of this book. In brief, the book is about creating a business-oriented HR function. The book's springboard is a range of future-focused questions such as:
   - Why does HR matter so much today?
   - How can HR get line managers to be concerned about HR issues?
   - What can HR do to connect with the interests of all stakeholders?
   - How to create a strong line-of-sight between business strategy and HR.
   - How does HR contribute to intangible value creation?
   - What are the evolving roles of HR? How can HR be organized to be strategically focused?
   The authors confront these challenges with clarity and insightfulness. The central message is that HR must deliver value in the eyes of line management, investors, customers, and employees.
   
   The book is organized around an "integrated HR blueprint" consisting of five elements:
   - external realities;
   - stakeholders,
   - HR practices,
   - HR resources, and
   - HR professionals)
   From these the authors have set forth 14 criteria that profile an effective HR function. To bring these criteria to life the authors present a four-phase process for transforming the HR function-this process integrates and applies the book's central themes. The book is broad-ranging and compelling. We very highly recommended this work. Every HR practitioner should consider this book must-reading.'



3. If you're an HR practitioner, skip this book. If you're an external HR consultant, read it and use the terms and ideas to sell your services.
   
   The authors want HR to get out of the HR business and into being management consultants with an HR background who solve business problems. The book encourages HR practitioners to become adept at the business by knowing its financials, customers, products, etc, so that they can solve a myriad of business problems or give input to other departments. The value proposition is that "HR aligns with the requirements of internal and external stakeholders." The example that is intended to illustrate this HR value proposition tells of an oil company with a shrinking market share, where marketing didn't take the lead on a customer survey but HR did. By doing so, HR was able to show that service was a key differentiator, thus proving HR's value to the firm. However, this isn't really HR, and most of the examples are would fall into general management consulting.



4. Anyone in HR who doesn't feel their job is in peril is probably delusional. In order to preserve one's position, and more importantly, contribute at the highest possible level to an organization, HR pros MUST transform themselves into strategic partners. For many, that is a daunting task. Ulrich is the father of strategic HR thinking, and this book, written with Brockbank, is a superb roadmap. Along with explaining the concerns that inform strategic thought, the authors provide a step by step means to assess and address the strategic concerns of one's organization. HR professionals who are motivated to leverage their own value and deepen their organization's real strategic strength could not do better than starting their study here.
   
   Amie Devero , Author of Powered by Principle: Using Core Values to Build World-Class Organizations



5. Once again is a great experience to read something about David Ulrich. If I could summarise this book is something like to upgrade the previous knowledge regarding "Human Resource Champions".
   
   After reading and profoundly living the ideas behind "The HR Value Proposition", you feel enough energised to rediscover the meaning of the HR function.

5 comments about Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web.

1. Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (7/08)
   
   
   The sub-subtitle of this book is "The Complete SE0 Copywriting Guide for Search Engine Rankings and Sales Conversion" which caught my eye immediately. Like anyone else that has an online business, I'm always striving to keep my sites in high rankings with the search engines. With millions and millions of sites and each one of us competing for the top stops, we need to keep on top of the how-to. Jon Wuebben's book is the how-to from beginning to end!
   
   It has been a slow go for me to get through this book because every page, and I mean every page, has something on it that needs to be done or checked out. For example Wuebben says "Here is something you should do right now; jump on to Google and type in "site: www.yourdomain.com" - fill in your domain with whatever your site URL is. What pops up are all your titles and descriptions for pages indexed by Google. Are they all the same? That needs to change! Every page needs unique titles and descriptions." I did this immediately and yes, we need to change. In fact, we are in the process of doing that now. We used a template before that entered the same thing on every page. Well, we are finding out this isn't the right way to go and have to change near 5000 pages manually! This is a big thanks to Jon Wuebben.
   
   There is so much information in this book it could be very overwhelming, however, it is also information that is extremely important for anyone who has a web-based business. Wuebben covers things like SEO website copyrighting, going viral, pay per click, and outsourcing. He also gives case studies as well as resources.
   
   "Content Rich" gives concise and relevant information for today's business world. Wuebben dispels the mysteries and takes away the fears of the "not knowing" about the World Wide Web and how it functions. Upbeat and conversational type of language is straightforward making understanding the concepts a breeze. This is a must-have book by all the millions of website owners.



2. I really appreciate the content of this book. As a business owner who has relied on too many of the wrong people to get a productive website built, I have forced myself to learn everything I can about "being online." It is important to first understand the enormity of what is taking place online and how if you don't participate effectively, your business will become obsolete. I highly recommend this book because it gives you concrete action steps you can implement immediately so you start to see the results.



3. It's not easy to make a book about writing copy to optimize your rankings on search engines (SEO) into a real page turner, but Jon Wuebben makes a valiant attempt.
   
   Writing business books is always a little dicey for the author because the audience is divided between those who know nothing or next to nothing about the topic (that would be me) and those people who are simply looking to add to the information they already have about the business being discussed--that would be my husband.
   
   For me, a novice in the field of web sales, the topic is just plain daunting, but that's my problem, not Wuebber's. The author uses simple, declarative sentences, a laidback conversational tone and plain English where he could be using "technobabble". His examples are straightforward, easy to follow and demonstrably convincing, even for the uninitiated.
   
   I found the apples-to-apples comparisons he uses very effective. By that I mean, he shows the copy as it looks before the improvements and SEO and then again after. The change was obvious, the explanations clear, and the result definitely beneficial. And, if I got it, so will everyone else.
   
   My husband, with a Web history as old as the Web itself found it to be valuable as well. What impressed him most is that Wuebber cites other sources for his statistics, rather than simply personal research. This approach makes his assertions all the more compelling and gives real meat to his data.
   
   If you're looking to find a pot of gold over the Internet rainbow, Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web may very well be your own ruby slippers.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: This is knowledge anyone who wants to generate traffic on the Web should know.



4. Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web
   
   I highly commend this book to your SEO enrichment. Jon does a fabulous job explaining how content brings customers, and how testing your marketing message to adjust to click-thru is critical. While the book may be a little bit over the heads of novice Internet marketers, it tells it like it is. Consider this book to be one building block in constructing a large commercial building that obliterates the competition.
   
   [...]



5. This book is fairly decent on practical real world examples.It is. however, a large commercial for the writers' copy writing services in spots.

5 comments about Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies.

1. If you are a CIO, Head of HR, or other so called "support" function looking for help on how to align with the business, this is not the book for you.
   
   My suggestion is to skip this book, or if you must check it out of the library or buy it used. The book you want is Kaplan and Norton's first book called "The Balanced Scorecard" which is very good and is just repeated in this book. Next I would purchase the HBR article on Strategy Maps (September 2000). Those two works cover all of what is in this book and they have a stronger implementation flavor.
   
   Alignment is a persistent issue facing every organization and operating unit with the organization. This book does not provide the practical or actionable advice needed to give business leaders the tools and techniques need to make progress in this critical area.
   
   If you want to know why please read on.
   
   Kaplan and Norton are the undisputed masters of issues related to scorecards and their ideas in that area are used by leading organizations everywhere with great success. Unfortunately as they have tried to expand beyond scorecards there work in this area (this book and The Strategy-Focused Organization) have not come near the mark in my opinion.
   
   Alignment is a critical issue in today's dynamic and changing environment. Unfortunately the authors approach alignment in a very simplistic way: create a strategy map, then create a scorecard and you will get alignment. Sorry but just using these two tools do not cut it to handle such a tough issue and this book shows it.
   
   Like "The Strategy Focused Organization" Kaplan and Norton seek to use case studies to help illustrate their points. For that they are to be commended. However, the case studies they use are very shallow, read more like corporate press releases and product testimonials. That is a shame and a real weakness of this book as Alignment is a complex issue and simply saying 'we sat down created a Balanced Score Card and a Strategy Map and we were aligned' does not address the issues nor provide insight for the reader.
   
   The reason for such a low score on this book is the lack of help it provides the people who most are in need of alignment CIOs, HR and to some extent finance. Kaplan and Norton dedicate Chapter 5 to "Aligning support functions" and right away you know the mindset they are applying.
   
   For K and N, alignment is a process of completing their deliverables and they treat IT, HR, Finance and any other support function as "staffed with expert specialists whose culture is quite different from that of managers in line operating units. Consequently, support groups frequently become isolated from the line organization ... executives of business units accuse them of living in HQ based silos and being incapable of responding to local operating needs." (Page 120)
   
   Their solution for IT, HR and Finance alignment puts these organizations back into the 1960's as they advise these functions to read the business strategy map and scorecard and then create your own - separate but not equal - scorecard based on the services you can provide. That works if all you want IT and HR to do is provide basic services, but if you want to gain competitive advantage, or if you are a CIO, HR or CFO who wants to link into and align with the business this approach puts you at arms length and something apart.
   
   Kaplan and Norton should know better and more importantly I have to believe that there are case studies that do not treat IT, HR and Finance as support functions but integral parts of the business strategy. The fact that they could not find these cases where there is one strategy map that the whole company could align around, give the impression that they are looking at the issue of alignment with the wrong lens.



2. 
   After their article "The Balanced Scorecard - Measures That Drive Performance" appeared in Harvard Business Review" (January-February, 1992), Kaplan and Norton co-authored four books in which they expand and fine-tune several of their core concepts about the Balanced Scorecard. What we have in this volume is a brilliant analysis of how to use the Balanced Scorecard to create corporate synergies. As they observe in the Preface, they have identified five key principles "for aligning an organization's management and measurement systems to strategy":
   
   1. Mobilize change through executive leadership.
   2. Translate strategy into operational terms.
   3. Align the organization to the strategy.
   4. Motivate to make strategy everyone's job.
   5. Govern to make strategy a continual process.
   
   When gathering the information needed to write this book, Kaplan and Norton rigorously examined more than 30 organizations which include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citizens Schools, Hilton, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Media General, and the U.S. Army. Note how different these organizations are in terms of their respective products and services, markets, and potentialities for aligning their management processes and systems to the given strategy. I assume that the diversity of the exemplary enterprises during Kaplan and Norton's selection process was deliberate because they are convinced - as am I - that if the core principles of the Balanced Scorecard are applied effectively, any organization (regardless of its size or nature) can create highly beneficial synergies by getting its management and measurement in proper alignment with its strategy. In this book, Kaplan and Norton explain how to do that. Obviously, it is difficult to achieve such alignment and even more difficult to sustain it. Although a cliché, it remains true that change is the only constant. Moreover, change seems to occur much more rapidly now than ever before. What is in proper alignment today may not be tomorrow...or by the end of today
   
   Nothing within an organization's structure can be in proper balance unless and until it is in proper alignment. Hence the importance of prioritization and, especially, of proportionality (e.g. allocation of resources). Here is a brief excerpt from Chapter 10. "The Balanced Scorecard, since its introduction in 1992, has evolved into the centerpiece of a sophisticated system to manage the execution of strategy. The effectiveness of the approach is derived from two simple capabilities: (1) the ability to clearly describe strategy (the contribution of Strategy Maps) and (2) the ability to link strategy to the management system (the contribution of Balanced Scorecards). The net result is the ability to align all units, processes, and systems of an organization to its strategy." With this brief statement, Kaplan and Norton suggest the interdependence of strategy, alignment, and executive leadership.
   
   In my opinion, this is the most important book written thus far by Kaplan and Norton. In it, they develop in much greater detail many of the same concepts they examined in previous books but they also share what they have learned over the years about devising, implementing, and then sustaining (while fine-tuning) the "sophisticated system" to which they refer in the excerpt just provided. Their collaborative thinking, as is also true of every organization they discuss, continues to be "a work in progress."



3. I ordered this for my boss. He said it gave him some direction for a project he is working on.



4. This book builds on and supplements earlier works by Kaplan and Norton on 'Balanced Scorecard'.
   
   The issue of alignment of those functions seen as corporate can be a continual challenge for senior executives in many organizations. Organizations are dynamic and what may appear as the best fit for corporate functions today may well be redundant tomorrow. Additionally, corporate functions are often viewed as 'overheads' and are frequently not addressed as part of any holistic organizational review. The tendency to group 'support' functions together runs the real risk of a disconnect between overall corporate objectives and delivery mechanisms.
   
   None of this is new. And no single solution will meet the needs of all organizations. Where 'Alignment' and the rest of the 'Balanced Scorecard' suite of tools can assist is by providing a framework for managers to use while they consider what the optimal solution may be within their spheres of influence.
   
   Recommended to those who are interested in trying to make sense of the dynamics and structures of organizations and who are committed to improvement.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



5. I was very pleased with the product and the top of the line service provided.

5 comments about The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards (w/CD) (The Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series).

1. When I purchased this book I thought it might be outdated for my organization. I was wrong - this is an excellent budget WORKBOOK. The author did an excellent job in bringing the complex and problematic issues of budgeting for Nonprofit organizations and takes you step by step into the process. The book covers everything from the start of the budget to financial reporting of the budget. This book also provides numerous samples of budgets. If your a budget manager or director - this book should give a fresh new way to look at the budgeting process.



2. This book has been very helpful to our fiscal staff and me. I have used it to assist our department directors prepare their budgets for the first time. It has saved me hours of work.



3. Being a new treasurer in a newly formed non-profit organization, this book is extremely helpful in planning and executing asset management. It was recommended by the national organization's board and it is well worth the purchase purchase price.



4. The book gives you straight forward step-by-step directions for developing a budgeting process that allows you to move the key budgeting tasks down into the organization to those who will do the tasks being budgeted. You are given informative examples of the key steps in budgeting and lots of forms to adapt and use in your organization. One of the best books on budgeting I have read.



5. Contains some decent tips but disappointing overall. Lacks treatment of the issue of restricted funds, essential to non-profit budgeting. Does not provide insight into effective use of spreadsheet programs like Excel which are essential to budget building. Does not show modern methods for calculating overheads like the FTE system. Contains a plethora of forms that can be used in various stages of the budget building process.