Holy IT! The Amazing power of ClarITy – by SCOTT WITTIG.
‘Holy IT!’ – Is a Guide to Finding and Doing Your Thing – Your ‘IT’. This book is written to help you identify, and start acting on, that thing that you (and those around you) know that you should be doing, but aren’t. We all have one. Scott asks “What’s yours?”.
In scott’s own words – “I identified my purpose in life – to HELP OTHERS ACHIEVE.” Main Contents of the Book IT Identify
They Can’t Eat You.
Wat If…You Don’t Do It?
DO Determine
‘fessing up
Great Expectations
Always Positive
Execute.
Baby Steps
Change Agents
The Law of the Squirrel NOW Rocks!
It is a very small book, with 84 pages(excluding the Appendix etc) of content.
It talks about finding the passion inside us – and takes us through some steps to identify our passion. It helps us to examine whether the chosen IT is really our passion or just a short term interest.
What I like about the book
Goes to the point directly – no added fluff.
Good Writing – catchy structure of the content.
Use of Inspiring Quotes.
From the very beginning(Introduction) itself Scott starts to say what he actually want to say with this book.
This book will surly help you find your passion(if you have it), and it guides you what to do and what not to, to achieve your IT.
I couldn’t come up with a single chapter and say it as my favorite – in fact every chapter is packed with some good stuffs to learn.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. It costs $14.99(amazon) and is a best investment to a great source of information.
One of the quotes I read in the book:
“Death isn’t the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside of us while we live.” – Norman Cousins.
My testimonial:
“I am Having IT, and I am Doing IT. Now you have IT and Do IT.”
“There’s no point in Getting Things Done or aspiring to a 4-Hour Workweek until you discover your IT! You need to know what drives you, compels you, fills you with passion. Holy IT! is a must read for anyone struggling to figure out their passion in life!”
– Andy Beal, co-author of Radically Transparent.
Its one of the most complete book ever written about Personal Branding – which explains everything from finding our passion to the entrepreneurial conquest, and the ways to fight back when things go wrong.
Me 2.0Build A Powerful Brand To Achieve Career Success – by Dan Schawbel.
So he knows what he talks about in his book Me 2.0 so is a goto person/authority in Personal Branding niche.
In his own words and voice – about Me 2.0
Table of Contents The book is very well structured, logically divided into parts and chapters for easy understanding. Introduction Part I: The Rise of Personal Branding Chapter 1: The Brand Called YOU! Chapter 2: Millennials Enter the Workforce Chapter 3: Introducing Commander YOU! Chapter 4: The Many Aspects of Personal Branding
Part II: Command Your Career in Four Steps Chapter 5: Step 1 – Discover Your Brand Chapter 6: Step 2 – Create Your Brand Chapter 7: Step 3 – Communicate Your Brand Chapter 8: Step 4 – Maintain Your Brand
Part III: Now You Have Command Chapter 9: Your Entrepreneurial Conquest Chapter 10: Life-Changing Results Acknowledgments About the Author
As you heard from Dan Schawbel himself in the above video – Me 2.0 includes a precious, proven four step process for discovering, creating, communicating and maintaining your personal brand.
The main take away message from this book is – “Every individual can create a brand for himself similar to that of a big corporate, using Internet(social media, social networking, blogging etc).”
Dan also teaches how we can make use of YouTube and other social media sites to endorse ourselves to the world at least cost, if not for free.
We all know how people have started searching for their own name in search engines – commonly called as Ego Searching! or Ego Surfing! Its been evident that more and more people are using this method to know more about what others are talking about them and their company – in 2007, 47% searched for information about themselves online, compared to 22% in 2002 and the numbers are only growing.
Dan shows ways to control the results and to use it to our advantage – in professional as well as personal life.
Me 2.0 stress on being authentic and transparent, and a word of caution for those who try to create a false image, to fit others expectation. As it would cause more damage later, than the short term success.
And the Passion It advices to take up the niche in which we are passionate about, so that the work becomes more enjoyable and we become more productive, because people find their greatest enjoyment, not when they’re passively mindless, but when they’re absorbed in a mindful challenge – in which they are really passionate.
To help beginners, Dan also gives some blueprints and some self assessment methods to find out our passion and to stick to it and find a job which suits our passion.
It also outlines most of the methods using which we can promote our brand and also cautions not to over do it, as it may annoy the person we are pitching or the audience we are targeting.
It contains valuable information about the marketing strategies, proper timing and the target audience – which may help any business to promote itself strategically.
It also gives many real life stories as examples/case study to prove Dan’s point. All the stories come with some important lessons to learn, which are outlined for us – for effective understanding. It also contains quotes from successful people which inspires us and keeps the attention going to read more.
Recession and bad times – Graduation, Competition, Job, promotion, entrepreneurship With the recession and bad times going on for job seekers, Dan gives effective plan to stand out from the crowd. He emphasizes the importance of Internet to create the personal brand to achieve career success and business success.
In his own words:
I’ve seen many individuals embrace their own passion, in the workplace and socially, through the power of personal branding. They are excited to wake up each day with the confidence to live the life they always wanted to live – and that is exactly how I want you to feel.
Some of the things which caught my attention – in the book:
It’s not what you know, it’s whom you know. With personal branding, this phrase changes to “Its not whom you know, its who knows you.”
Entrepreneurship is more tied to imagination than age or education.
Don’t live your life in the passenger’s seat. Take command of your life – be the commander YOU!
Dan Schawbel: Before, I would wake up every morning and say to myself, “I want to make the largest impact in the least amount of time.” Now I say, “I want to help others avoid the mistakes I made and find real success and happiness in their lives.”
The Book covers, some other effective and important topics like:
Personal Branding ToolKit.
Personal Press Kit.
Pitching the main stream media and ways to make main stream media search for you.
Maintaining the Relationship.
Reputation Management.
Importance of Networking.
Tips for effective networking.
Developing Confidence in ourselves.
Tips for making our resume stand out from the crowd and compel the recruiter not to ignore your resume.
How online life can be a positive or even a negative thing for our recruitment and in achieving our dreams.
Identity theft and its consequences.
and many more..
Conflict with the Dot Com Mogul Lifestyle While reading some chapters about how to dress and behave – if you are a easy going blogger who follow Dot Com Mogul Lifestyle, then you may feel the suit and dress sense things as lot of work! But hey, to be practical, it all still matters in corporate world. Ofcourse, things may change in the future(as Dan himself points out in the book, to catch up with the latest trends in your industry and not to lag behind), and may be allowed to wear jeans and t-shirt at workplace(as Google Inc and some other companies allow.)
Personal Favorite Your Entrepreneurial Conquest and the Life-Changing Results are my favorite chapters, as it inspires to apply what we have learnt from the book and helps boost the confidence.
Its one of the most complete book ever written about Personal Branding – which explains everything from finding our passion to the entrepreneurial conquest, and the ways to fight back when things go wrong.
I recommend this book to everyone, and I think its a must have for students and employees, and even for recruiters.
At $11.53 available at Amazon, its a bargain to such a valuable resource available out there. You must simply grab a copy yourself or present one for your teenage child or a coworker, and they will thank you for the book.
Trust Agents – Using The Web To Build Influence, Improve Reputation, And Earn Trust.
I think Chris Brogan and Julien Smith are the people who don’t need an introduction. But still, if you don’t know, here is a small snippet: Chrish Brogan’s blog is ranked by Technorati as one of the top 100 blogs in the world. Advertising Age’s Power 150 ranks him in the top 15. He has been blogging since 1998. He is also co-founder of PodCamp and part of many other online projects.
Julien Smith has been connected to computers since the age of 12. He helped run early BBSes. He was one of the first people on the web to use podcasting in 2004, as well as being one of the first web personalities to get broadcast by traditional radio. He has since worked with and been interviewed by numerous media organizations such as CNN, CBC, CTV– and a bunch of others.
Before reading my review, know the fact that, Trust Agents the Book, in its first month, hit:
– the New York Times bestseller list (#13)
– the Wall Street Journal bestseller list (#8)
– the Amazon top 100 list (#30)
Trust Agents is a book which has 261 pages + some pages in the introduction part. And contains 8 chapters:
Introduction: Hey, I know You. Have We Met? 1. Trust, Social Capital, and Media. 2. Make Your Own Game. 3. One of Us. 4. Archimedes Principle. 5. Agent Zero. 6. Human Artist. 7. Build an Army. 8. The Trust Agent.
Index
In the first chapter, it starts with ringing the bell — “We read articles about how the person beside us at the bar ordering the Miller Genuine Draft is actually a paid buzz generator.” Shaking the Trust! and showing how this Trust factor can also be used to deceive people.
The book contains stories and examples of different kind of people, from mafia to gaming and wine shows and to Microsoft etc….a lot actually, and it connects all of them to the topic Trust Agent.
( Its a great idea to take a peak into their knowledge and years of experience, by just paying $16.47 )
There are some action tips in each chapter, which are packed with Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s experience, with the web(and humans) all these years.
Some lines from the book:
Communities don’t want to be managed: They want to be cared for.
Those who succeed tend to be the ones who allow themselves to fail.
Be there, before the sale.
The Book also warns – By the end of this book, you’ll probably be a trust agent, too. Just don’t call yourself one.
One of Us:
Chris Brogan and Julien Smith have shared their story, of how they made the mistakes — and I must say, they showed a good example to be “One of Us“.
And reminds us to use the 3 A’s, when things go wrong – Acknowledge, Apologize, Act.
Chris the Social Media Guy: If you are looking for pure social media related things, and the tools that will help you in rapidly building your social media, then this is not the book you are looking for. This book contains, how to be humans in using social media. How to treat people(online) like humans. Giving social media a different touch.
The downside: 1. The Book uses a lot of names, who you may not know, so it becomes difficult to catchup with the stories, if you get distracted. 2.Personal opinion: The language could have been simplified.
Other than that, the book is awesome and worth your time and money.
I am going to order some more books to some of my friends address, who badly need this book!
If you run a company/organization, then please get a copy of this book, spend some time to read and understand it and order some more copies for your employees/members/co-workers if you think its of use for them.
While I was reading the book, I felt like, I am practicing many of these things all these years, unknowingly. But the book is really a inspirational and motivational thing. It quotes some of the best examples of Trust Agents, and how they attained that status and how we can be Trust Agents too.
I know you want to know more, you can get your copy of the book at Amazon($16.47). I am sure, you will not regret.
Still not convinced ? Then read this Testimonial:
“Wow! Every once in a while you find a book that is a sit up in your chair, take notes, tell your friends, change your life breakthrough. This is that book. No kidding, you can trust me.” — SETH GODIN
If you have read the book. Please share your thoughts about the book.
The Power of LESS — the fine art of limiting yourself to the essential…in business and in life. This book was on my desk since a month. I had read lot of reviews and knew that the book is packed with lot of value. But my exams dint allow me to go through the book calmly. Still, with the curiosity and exam tension I read page after page(whenever I got sometime), in a hurry. Dint find the book of any use!
After my exams, I was just lazy to start reading the book. I kept on postponing.
I had planned to start two new online projects in my vacation, so kept on working(24×7) on them and started getting stressed. So finally I was looking for some info online, to reduce stress. Luckily I remembered that I had the book “The Power of Less”, which highly emphasizes on reducing or eliminating the non-essential and becoming more productive and less stressful. So finally made my mind to give the book a second try!
Basically the book is divided into two main parts: 1. The Principles [theoretical aspects]. 2. In Practice [principles in action].
In the second part all the things that are in the principles are explained with some live examples. This makes some people to think that many ideas are repeated, through out the book. But every repetition is bundled with some new concepts to learn. If you read it in hurry, then I am sure you will miss many concepts and will find only the repetition!
Note:My opinion: This book doesn’t make any sense for those who read it in a hurry(my own experience!). My advice would be, to read this book whenever you find a calm time. Understand, concentrate or focus while you are reading, otherwise you will not notice many good things that are said in the book, even if you read it fully.
Some concepts like Simple Email, seem to be meaning less for many! as you might have never imagined that a person can receive hundreds of emails per day. But the Simple Email is one of the best concepts in the book. Emails can really be frustrating over time, if you start getting a lot of business emails, demanding information from your side.
If you are into any kind Online Business, then you might have experienced it.
Simplicity is shown in the design of the book itself. I love the design very much. It illustrates the simplicity that it teaches.
A review about the book “The Power of LESS”, wouldn’t be complete, if I don’t mention the topics it covers: Introduction
PART I: The PRINCIPLES
1. Why Less Is Powerful. 2. The Art of Setting Limits. 3. Choose the Essential, and Simplifying. 4. Simple Focus. 5. Create New Habits, and the power of Less Challenge. 6. Start Small.
PART II: IN PRACTICE
7. Simple Goals and Projects. 8. Simple Tasks. 9. Simple Time Management. 10. Simple E-mail. 11. Simple Internet. 12. Simple Filing. 13. Simple Commitments. 14. Simple Daily Routine. 15. Declutter Your Work Space. 16. Slow Down. 17. Simple Health and Fitness. 18. On Motivation. Acknowledgments.
Some of my favorite read was 13th Simple Commitments, 14th Simple Daily Routine and 17th Simple Health and Fitness.
Now I know, how and why to say “NO” to others when they demand a simple commitment from my side, which doesn’t provide any or much of value. Usually I use to commit to most of the things thrown at me, thinking that they are very small commitments, but now I realize the importance of focusing on less and important commitments, and making the committed things more valuable. And removing the unwanted commitments from my life, to get room for doing things that I love.
With this review I would like to share just a few lines from the book, which stuck in my mind while reading: 1. Flow concept: “People find their greatest enjoyment, not when they’re passively mindless, but when they’re absorbed in a mindful challenge.” 2. Start Small: If you start out with a small success, you can build upon that, and so on — until you have a series of small successes that add up to a very large success. And that’s much better than a large failure. 3. And I agree everything that is said about the Simple Commitment. Everything in this is worth knowing and practicing.
There are plenty of things that I would love to share with you, but don’t want to offend the book publishers!
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. Sit in a calm mood, and read this book and you will understand or rather realize a lot of things. I am slowly improving my life style, with the help of tips given in this book and I am very happy about it. I recommend this book to everyone. And its worth lot more than $13.56 .
You can purchase the book from Amazon for $13.56 – “The Power of Less“.
My sincere feedback about the book is: “The Power of LESS doesn’t teach you anything extra or anything from out side. It awakes the inner wisdom that we already have and makes us conscious of it, which otherwise most of us wouldn’t bother to recognize.”
As the saying goes: “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself.” — Galileo Galilei
Some time ago I had written a review about a book by name “Blog Blazer“. Its a book where 40 popular Bloggers share their Secrets, to Creating a High-Traffic, and High-Profit Blog!
Update:Winner announced. Congrats to @jagan123 for winning the book. Below this article we have added a small video which we shot during the lucky draw, to make the process more transparent.
Thanks for all the participants. We are coming up with another contest soon, and ofcourse with more number of prizes this time.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who seriously want to know and learn from people who have already learnt.
A famous English proverb states — “A wise man learns by the mistakes of others, a fool by his own”. The book includes the interviews of most famous guys like: Aaron Wall Seth Godin Stephane Grenier(Author of the book.) Yaro Starak etc!
You can read a short review about the book for more details.
I had an extra book in the shelf, so thought to arrange a giveaway on my blog and give it to one of our readers.
So, without wasting much of the time. Here are the quick rules for entering the giveaway: 1. Follow me @technotip 2. Tweet about this contest. Use below standard format.
RT:Joined “Blog Blazer” Book Giveaway @ Technotip.ORG.Want to participate? Follow @technotip & visit http://tinyurl.com/bc8pes
3. Stumble any one of the article from our blog. [Optional].
Condition/rule number 3 is optional and will not affect your chances of winning. But please do not stumble this giveaway post.
Contest will end on March 30th and I will announce the winner and dispatch the book on 31st of March. If I announce the winner on 1st of April, people may think that I am trying to make fool out of them! So I will make it a day early and will announce it on 30th of March.
Now you may be thinking that its a long duration or long wait for the announcement of the winner. Yes I do agree with you. But please bare it this time. And the book is worth waiting 🙂
One of the main reason(or concern) to delay the announcement of the winner is, I need to make sure that there are enough people participating. I have seen many book giveaway which go so unnoticed and so boring, because there are no much people participating in it. I am not sure about the reason though.
Please encourage the book giveaway by spreading the word. A simple tweet will not take much of your time.
Blog Blazer Book had been out of stock many times and was a best seller book in amazon. So I think giving this book, will really motivate people to participate.
To encourage more and more people to participate, we have made the entry to the giveaway so simple. Just a tweet will make you qualify for the lucky draw. Remember, stumbling the article is an optional thing. To make it more easier, you just need to tweet about the contest and need not even comment here. But comments are always welcomed. I will track each and every tweet(in the above mentioned format) in twitter and will hunt for the lucky winner 🙂 As usual the lucky draw will be done using the online service Random.org.
The book will be shipped by myself to the lucky winner, to his regular mailing address. It may take 4 to 5 weeks to reach you(depending on your geographical location), from the day I dispatch it.
Please help me in the good cause of encouraging the book giveaway..
Recently Stephane Grenier from landlordmax.com released his book BLOG BLAZERS: 40 Bloggers share their Secrets, to Creating a High-Traffic, and High-Profit Blog!
As you know we also do interviews of bloggers, entrepreneurs etc on our blog, So we were very much curious to read this book. As we stared reading this book, we could get a lot of very good blogs, which we never knew before. And the book is very interesting and informative. This book is packed with precious information, provided by the most experienced and influential people in the blogosphere. Each interview is about 5 pages long and the book contains 206 pages.
All the interviewee has shared what they have come across, in their way to success.
According to me, its a precious book for all bloggers and internet entrepreneurs. Because its good to learn from the people who have already learnt a lot.
So we highly recommend this book to everyone.
The book includes the interviews of most famous guys like: Aaron Wall Seth Godin Stephane Grenier(Interviewing himself. And its really one of the best think to read.) Yaro Starak
and many more..have a complete look at the interviewee here.
We have got many links to great articles around the web, from this book. We will share some of them in coming days.
Some of the questions asked are:
What’s your best tip for writing a successful blog post?
What are your main avenues for marketing your blog?
What was your most successful blog post ever?
What’s the most common mistake new bloggers make?
What turns you off most when visiting a blog?
What’s the best way to make money from your blog?
Which books and websites do you recommend to new bloggers?
Which five blogs do you regularly read?
and many more!
We are completely satisfied with the book and I am sure you will also get the value out of the book. And as a Xmas gift Stephane Grenier is offering Free shipping for Canadian and US orders and 5$(55%) off for international orders, till Xmas. And to avail this offer you need to purchase the book from the official website.
Note that the ebook version is only available from the official Blog Blazers website. In addition, if you purchase from the Blog Blazer website, you will have the option to select the “bundle package” which includes both the book and the ebook (the advantage being that you can click on the links in the ebook versus having to type them in).
Paperback – $ 16.95 USD (Free Shipping until Xmas)
You can just Google or visit BLOG BLAZERS Review page and see what people around(who have read it) the world has to say about this book. Its worth the money and the time spent on it.
If the shipping offer is expired, you can buy the book either from the Amazon or from the official website.
