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 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 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 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

Mayur Ramgir's Evolve like a Butterfly: A Metamorphic Approach to Leadership is a groundbreaking work on leadership with powerful lessons inspired by the life cycle of a butterfly. A butterfly! The title of the book got me intrigued and I was wondering “Why a butterfly” when there are thousands of complex and beautiful creatures that can be used as an example. But, surprisingly, it turned out to be the most excellent and succinct metaphor I have encountered in works on leadership. Starting with an unusual definition of leadership, the author shows how the life of a butterfly can be the perfect example of the kind of leadership that brings lasting change, highlighting powerful elements of leadership that are visible in the growth process of this insect. This is a book that will change the way readers look at life, at leadership, and how they approach problem solving and their business.

Evolve like a Butterfly: A Metamorphic Approach to Leadership is written in a light, popular style, accessible to readers with different reading skills, filled with real life examples that make the concepts easily digestible. This book is replete with the wisdom that readers need to lead their lives and to lead others, and the author writes with confidence, which indicates his mastery of the subject. I particularly loved the Leadership Development Framework, modeled after the different stages of the evolution of the butterfly. Readers will understand the different stages in their growth toward effective leadership and find the tools that will allow them to grow in confidence, trusting in themselves, and taking control. There are wonderful thoughts that can accompany readers in this book and one of my favorites was: “Convince yourself that you can do it and the rest of the world will automatically be convinced.” Mayur Ramgir's book is a gift for leaders and everyone who wants to make an impact on the lives of others.

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In an excellent new work by author, serial entrepreneur, recruiter and speaker Rikka Brandon, Hire Power: Everything Entrepreneurs Need To Know To Hire Awesome People is a guide that business owners will find themselves turning to time and again, as they strive to develop the teams that they want and need. This book provides an excellent set of principles for anyone in hiring, from those who are relatively inexperienced in the human resources field to seasoned professionals. The book is loaded with practical and easy to follow advice on how to attract, find, and engage the workers you need, as well as information on the very best way to conduct interviews so that you know you are getting what you truly want in a new employee.

I very much enjoyed Hire Power: Everything Entrepreneurs Need To Know To Hire Awesome People. Author Rikka Brandon has done a stellar job in imparting a wealth of information for her readers, and has certainly written a book that will be useful to anyone that takes part in the hiring process, both now and well into the future. The book is extremely well laid out and provides step by step advice in finding that perfect match for your team. Many leaders would find this book to be the exact thing they are looking for if they are struggling in any way with their hiring process. I am pleased to be able to highly recommend Hire Power: Everything Entrepreneurs Need To Know To Hire Awesome People, and will certainly be on the look out for any other helpful books written by Rikka Brandon in the future!

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Madison Avenue Manslaughter (An Inside View of Fee-Cutting Clients, Profit-Hungry Owners and Declining Ad Agencies) by Michael Farmer is a non-fiction book on business and finance. This is a book that would appeal most to an adult audience of those who either work in or are interested in the advertising industry. Advertising agencies are facing destruction due to increased workloads and declining fees, but there is still hope for them. Michael Farmer exposes the real problems that advertising agencies face in the modern world, and shows how to overcome these problems in order to fix the advertising industry and make it sustainable. What would happen if the advertising industry collapsed on itself with no hope of revival?

As a blogger and freelance writer, I found Madison Avenue Manslaughter by Michael Farmer to be a very interesting book. Michael Farmer clearly displays both his knowledge and expertise in writing this book in such a way that those without professional advertising or marketing experience could still understand it. Prior to reading this book, I had not considered just how close the advertising and marketing industries are to collapse. I liked the way that the author not only unveiled the problem and potential problems, but offered ways to solve the crisis in a realistic manner; his writing style made the material both easy to understand and interesting. The fact that everything was backed up with clear evidence only added more proof to the author’s ability to not only recognize the problem, but also come up with real solutions. After reading the book, the only question I was left with was: why have these solutions not already been implemented?

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Start-Ups are hard. The Start-Up J Curve: The Six Steps to Entrepreneurial Success by Howard Love is a comprehensive guide that speaks about a start-up’s evolution and helps readers to know what to do and what not to do, and makes the path to success efficient and smooth. The book shows the pattern in which a start-up unfolds so that entrepreneurs are aware of the pattern and their odds of success will increase. Reading this book will have a positive effect and assure you that other entrepreneurs have faced the same difficult issues. The Start-Up J Curve suggests how the value of the enterprise tends to decline over the first few phases, and the primary value creation develops during the latter stages.

The concept of The Start-Up J Curve is helpful and useful to all those who are on a start-up program and need to communicate it to a wider audience. I found the ideas and suggestions valid and valuable, and they will prepare you to meet the inevitable challenges as and when they arise. The author also speaks about the many myths that are associated with start-ups, and points out areas where the thinking patterns and beliefs need to be altered to become successful. This book will definitely help readers become familiar with the start-up path. It is a good read for all those who are planning to start up a business. The book is honest, direct, and insightful, and touches on all the topics required when it comes to start-ups.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Don't Sell Me, Tell Me is a non-fiction business/finance book written by Greg Koorhan. Koorhan is a filmmaker and the founder of a digital marketing firm that specializes in creating marketing content for entrepreneurs and businesses. With so many businesses out there competing for the same limited market, what can a company do to stand out of the crowd? Koorhan suggests storytelling, and his argument is based on mankind's centuries-old love of stories. The public is wise to even the most inspired sales pitches and spins, he argues, so why not entertain them as you build your customer base? Stories can get your customers personally involved in your story, your product and your company, and creating that story is not nearly as difficult as most believe. Koorhan discusses the benefits of creating a story, the different basic types of stories, and how to get started with your own. He explains what structure and plot are, and shares the universal plots that most stories share. Then he shows the reader how to mine his/her personal/professional life and business experiences to create a compelling story that will get customers involved. Koorhan provides a number of downloadable worksheets as well as a workbook for working on the topics and suggested assignments within the text.

Greg Koorhan's non-fiction business/finance book, Don't Sell Me, Tell Me, is proof in itself of how a well-told story can engage and excite even the most skeptical audience. Most of us, business owners and self-employed professionals alike, love stories, but actually creating one is viewed as a totally different matter. Koorhan's story shows just how easy it can be to write that story. He breaks down every step in the process and gives convincing arguments why those pesky things like structure and plot really do have to be ironed out a bit before sitting down and creating your masterpiece. This book is a must-read not only for business owners, but for anyone who's dreamed of seeing their work published or even hoped to pass that compulsory English 101 course. Best of all, Koorhan's easy teaching style and enthusiasm for his topic make the process of story-telling seem a lot less like suffering and more of a fun, creative exercise. I had a great time reading Don't Sell Me, Tell Me and working through the author's suggestions. Don't Sell Me, Tell Me is most highly recommended.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite

The Invisible Advantage: How to Create a Culture of Innovation by Soren Kaplan is a book on business organization and management centered around creating a culture of innovation, as the title suggests. The Invisible Advantage begins with a brief introduction on the topic of what it actually means to be “innovative” and the importance of it in today’s business world, especially the technology industry. The book is then broken down into several chapters, each focusing on a certain aspect of this such as how to be a “disruptive innovator,” how to motivate people and employees, how to create a culture of free thinking, how to strategize and be effective at creating this culture, measurements and metrics, and much more. Throughout the book, Soren provides real examples of companies who have successfully created such a culture, along with a detailed explanation and background information on each.

I think innovation is necessary to thrive in the modern business world, especially in an ever-changing IT industry, where trends and advances seem to happen daily. The Invisible Advantage by Soren Kaplan provides a map on how to do so and create a culture of innovation. Soren emphasizes the importance of maintaining a competitive edge and the crucial role that innovation plays in this. I also liked how Soren has presented real, live examples of this in organizations which I found very helpful. The writing is crisp and the content is broken down into easy-to-grasp chunks. It also is clear that Soren has a lot of experience in this area and that comes across in the case analysis of some of the examples.