Reviewed by Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

Data Driven: Harnessing Data and AI to Reinvent Customer Engagement by Tom Chavez, Chris O'Hara, and Vivek Vaidya is a business book that every company or organization that engages customers digitally should have. Data is key in identifying and maximizing business opportunities, building a strong customer base and enhancing customer experience with data-driven insights. The authors of this book state that: “We’re living in an increasingly connected world, and digital experiences… are the mechanism by which a brand engages with people. What differentiates this new normal from what came before is the two-way nature of the interaction.” In this book, they offer tools for data processing and tips on how to use the latest technologies―cloud, mobile, social, internet of things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI)―to engage customers, efficiently interact with them, drive sales, and keep customers loyal.

The authors of this book offer readers years of experience working with data and unearth gold mines that will revolutionize the way business owners use data to make decisions, connect with customers, and create their brand. From processing to analyzing and refining data, they offer useful tips that make a huge difference. The writing is packed with exciting information and proven paths that have been behind the success of numerous online business models. Data Driven: Harnessing Data and AI to Reinvent Customer Engagement offers the essentials that readers, business owners, and organizations need to drive customer engagement, make winning decisions, and scale their businesses. Written in a professional tone and in language that is widely accessible, this book is an indispensable tool to transform any business.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Corporate Superpower: Cultivating a Winning Culture for Your Business by Oleg Konovalov is a slim book packed with wisdom and tips to help businesses stay ahead of the cut-throat competition by prioritizing their business culture. I have read a lot of books in the area of business growth and success and most of the books focus on strategizing, but Oleg Konovalov makes a strong case, one that some of the most successful businesses have discovered over the years, for building a winning culture. The culture effect in business is an aspect that can’t be overlooked and this book shows readers why. In this book the author explains in clear and accessible language the place of culture in any organization, and illustrates how loyalty, innovation, and success can be won through consistently building a positive culture that allows employees as well as managers to feel a deep sense of respect and belonging.

Written in a style that grabs the reader’s attention, with great economy of words, clarity of thought, and simplicity of expression, Corporate Superpower: Cultivating a Winning Culture for Your Business will help business owners identify their business needs and build a culture that could be, for both employees and customers, the face of what is positive and good about the business. The book is well-researched and the author offers examples that are fitting and that derive from real-life situations. The writing features a strong voice and an authority that is built on expertise. This book contains the strategies that businesses need to build a clientele of loyal customers and ensure that their employees stay with them. Highly informative and loaded with information for business growth and success.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Get to Aha! Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition by Andy Cunningham is a business book that offers an original, groundbreaking idea to branding and claiming a unique and dominant space in the business landscape. This guide is written by a marketing strategist who helped Steve Jobs launch the original Apple Macintosh, so the book is as compelling as it is informative. This book answers the oft-neglected questions: What should companies consider when positioning themselves? What are the core factors to think about before approaching the science of branding a company?

In this book, the author encourages readers to ask the one basic question that determines the kind of branding approach to use, the question that helps them identify their corporate DNA, creates a positioning that aligns with that DNA, and comes across to consumers and clients as true and convincing: Who are we? Andy Cunningham identifies three types of corporate DNA: Mothers who are customer-oriented, Mechanics who are product-oriented, and Missionaries who are concept-oriented. The underlying thought behind the DNA concept is that for companies to execute the right branding, they should work with the right corporate DNA, otherwise they will be positioning something that is largely different from who they are.

This is a book that uncovers a unique method of positioning and branding, offering readers the tools to create compelling and factual positioning statements that are sticky and that grab the attention of readers. Get to Aha! Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition is the one book to read before doing anything related to branding; it is informative, insightful, and downright revolutionary.

Reviewed by Renee Guill for Readers' Favorite

Gundi Gabrielle’s Influencer Fast Track is a 7-step program that will teach you how to become a #1 influencer in your field. She gives you details and examples on how to use these 7 steps, and offers extra help from videos and other sources as well. Gundi Gabrielle talks about how to find famous influencers in your field and how to interact with them. She also talks about how to find your fans and keep them wanting to come back for more of your products and books. This is mostly for people who write non-fiction books. She also discusses ways on how to find fans and more income without having to do a lot of work, aka passive income.

I found Gundi Gabrielle’s book to be very insightful and fun to read. I admit I am not writing non-fiction, but I am writing fiction and starting a business. I am going to try a few of her techniques; she made it sound easy enough for an introvert and a technophobe like me to be able to do it. I have a speech impairment, but thanks to her, I want to start looking into doing YouTube and podcasts, at least. I loved how helpful she is and her style reminded me of that smart bubbly friend we all have. My favorite part is that she says 6 months, but she reminds you that not everyone will do it that fast; some of us may take up to 12 months, it all depends on our situation and products. It’s not one of those annoying get rich quick schemes you see so often, and is very refreshing. Thank you, Gundi Gabrielle, I am looking forward to trying your techniques and reading more of your books.

Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite

Honestly, I only read this book because I was a little murky on what consulting even is. I felt there was a piece of the puzzle that I must be missing and The MECE Muse by Christie Lindor seemed to be a book where I could find out everything that I needed to know about consulting in one organized reading. At least that’s what the subtitle implied: 100+ selected practices, unwritten rules, and habits of great consultants. This is one of those rare occasions where you get exactly what the book cover says you will. I learned everything that I need to know about consulting and, if you want to know more about this form of work, I can’t think of a better place to start than with this book.

The first thing any book must be that is going to teach us something is well organized. This is a huge area and there is a lot to learn. Christie Lindor does a great job of breaking this intimidating subject down into easily managed parts that can be absorbed much easier than the whole topic. That’s because she does such a great job of breaking the subject down. If you want instant proof of this, just look at the table of contents. Once things are organized, you must have good writing to make your points effectively and, again, this is an area where Christie Lindor excels. The writing is great. It fits the tone of the subject matter and author attitude perfectly. I don’t know why you are considering buying this book, but all I can tell you is that if you buy it, it is money well spent.

Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius answers one of the most important questions that business owners need to ask in order to grow and take the lead in a competitive market while being most responsive to the needs of their customers. In today’s eclectic culture, it is not surprising that businesses encounter surprising changes in the business environment, including the shift in customer needs, the introduction of new products into the market, and competition.

In this insightful and intelligently written book, the author offers a new way of approaching business management, offering business owners, directors, and managers the tools they need to drive positive change, meet the ever changing needs of their customers and stay ahead of cut-throat competition. It is an agile approach which is more cooperative than sequential. In this book, readers will find the tools that enable them to deliver products in the most appropriate and cost effective manner, master the management model that relies on iterative and incremental deliverables, drive competitive advantage, and effectively manage change.

This is a relevant book, filled with common sense and a clear step-by-step guide on implementing Scrum in a way that is practical and easy. The language is devoid of jargon, fluid and engaging. The visuals and the timely paragraph breaks make for an enjoyable reading experience. Scott M. Graffius writes with confidence and brings into the work a lot of innovative ideas. The clarity of thought and the ease of expression demonstrate the author’s mastery of the subject. Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is packed with information, a treasure trove for businesses looking to make the most of today’s unpredictable market environment. Highly recommended read.

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Growing Weeders Into Leaders (Leadership Lessons from the Ground Up) by Jeff McManus is a business finance book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of young adults and adults who have an interest in growing into the best leaders that they can be. This book shares the author’s own experiences, successes, and failures at leadership, along with the lessons the author learned during his own leadership experiences. Do you have what it takes to be willing to learn how to be a leader?

Growing Weeders Into Leaders (Leadership Lessons from the Ground Up) by Jeff McManus is a well written book that does not follow the traditional self-help book outline. Instead of being lesson after lesson of what to do or not to do, the author shares his own experiences with leadership in a way that allowed me to learn the lessons alongside him. I felt like this book was more than just all talk because the author was not some politician, famous person, or millionaire, but instead a landscaper who learned the lessons from experience and grew because of those experiences. This made me feel that even failures could be a part of my success as they would allow me to learn and to better succeed next time. I liked that the lessons could be applied to any job that requires leadership characteristics. Overall, I felt like this book taught me how to make myself into a successful leader and I would recommend this book to anyone looking to truly succeed at leadership!

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain a Thriving Organizational Culture by Kerry Alison Wekelo is an insightful guide that speaks about improving the culture in your company and encouraging employees to work better. Apart from the nine principles, the author shares her own personal and professional journey that made her write the book. Her lessons are motivational and readers learn how she steered her life towards contentment, peace, and harmony. The nine principles in the book build on each other and can be incorporated into readers' personal and professional lives. The questions throughout the book and the exercises in the Mind-Expanding Experience section at the end of each chapter are useful and work as a good tool to learning.

The approach to the topic is engaging and will make readers reflect on the importance of building and cultivating relationships. This relevant topic is helpful to all those who want to make positive changes in themselves and in the workplace. The author’s personal journey, her clarity while speaking about the topic, and her wisdom are inspiring to readers and will make a difference in their lives if incorporated at home and the workplace. The 3 A’s - Accountability, Acumen, Aspiration - and the 3P Method - Pause to Pivot to Positive -are interesting to note and will guide readers to handle challenges in an effective way. The book is thought-provoking and is well written, making it easy for readers to comprehend and use the tips and techniques for a better organizational culture in the work place as well as enriching life personally.

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Bigger Than This: How to Turn Any Venture Into an Admired Brand by Fabian Geyrhalter is a guidebook for companies that need a reboot on branding, driving home the importance of (re)creating a commodity brand that consumers can connect with. Geyrhalter's book exposes eight successful brand traits, a case study for each based on a strong, well known company that employed the trait, and their "commandments". His words leap from the page - and I mean, they actually feel like they are clawing at you for attention - with large fonts, bold sections and highlighted features. More than just advice on how to get results with gimmicks and giveaways, Geyrhalter instead teaches how to campaign for and play the long game, with practices that have proven to be lucrative.

Honestly, I feel like I just drank an energy drink and went to one of those seminars where there's a light show, loud music, and a motivational speaker with a headset microphone. I'm pumped! Bigger Than This by Fabian Geyrhalter will, within the first few pages, make it clear why the author is such a branding and marketing guru. It draws you in and unlocks something that you're a little afraid to let out. Potential? Creativity? Drive? If you're interested in starting, or taking your existing business to the next level, I'm absolutely certain that Bigger Than This is the very best place to start. Read, absorb, apply, build your tribe, and thrive. It's as simple and as difficult as that.

Reviewed by Randy B. Lichtman for Readers' Favorite

As a professional concierge, Steve Sims is in the business of helping people achieve their dreams. He shares his techniques of success in his book, Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen. More than just another inspirational and motivating book, in Bluefishing Sims has provided a valuable tool chest of authentic techniques that can improve individual lives and guide the reader in developing more meaningful personal and professional relationships. As he relates his own experiences in one job after another, Sims relates how the advice he encapsulates in his new book helped him transform his own life to one of greater impact and fulfillment. The book is loaded with wonderful stories that leave the reader smiling, while giving them valuable advice they can use in their own lives.

In one of his stories, he illustrates his principle of “Nothing’s ever going to happen if it benefits you. Work for win-win every time.” As a teenager, one of his clients played guitar in a band which featured songs by Journey, a band he greatly admired. When he asked Steve Sims just to set up possibly meeting Journey, Steve Sims went bluefishing to find an even more valuable experience. He discovered that one of the musicians in Journey and his client had something in common—a family member who was autistic. As a result, the client not only met Journey, but also played in a concert benefiting autism. This realization of how to be more meaningful also illustrated another one of Sims’ principles. “Ask why at least three times: the first why is what they think they think, the second why is what they think you want to hear, the third why is what they feel.” This example of searching beyond the surface is only one technique of what he calls “bluefishing.”

The value of Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen not only lies in the insightful principles the author relates, but in the enjoyable manner in which he illustrates them. The audio book version, which I also enjoyed, clearly shows he writes in the same manner in which he speaks, talking to the reader directly as a personal coach. He mixes humor and wisdom in a very effective manner throughout the book, offering many pieces of wisdom, while entertaining in his own inimitable style. I highly recommend both the print and audio versions of this valuable book where we can learn how to become better bluefishers in our own personal and professional lives.