How to Become a Marketing Superstar

May 19, 2003
Fox's fourth entry in his How to Become series proves again that he has mastered the short format, advice-driven business book. The book contains 50-odd short chapters boasting a surprising amount of useful information delivered in a street-smart style. In the chapter entitled"Banish All Buying Barriers," Fox advises readers to eliminate anything that makes it difficult for customers to buy. About merchants featured in Visa ads for not accepting AmEx, he says,"Not accepting the American Express card is dumb. Bragging about it is even dumber." Fox lists words to avoid in advertising (e.g.,"lifetime" and"quality") and questions to ask when drafting a marketing plan. Four"instant challenges" describe a marketing problem (e.g., how to sell shoe shines during a downpour) and ask readers to solve it. (Try a sandwich board reading:"Acid Rain! Save your shoes. Get a shine. Ask about the Rainy Day Special.") Throughout, Fox never loses sight of what he sees as marketing's ultimate goal, the"super marketer's anthem: It don't mean a thing. If it don't go ka-ching!"

May 1, 2003
Fox's fourth entry in his How to Become series proves again that he has mastered the short format, advice-driven business book. The book contains 50-odd short chapters boasting a surprising amount of useful information delivered in a street-smart style. In the chapter entitled"Banish All Buying Barriers," Fox advises readers to eliminate anything that makes it difficult for customers to buy. About merchants featured in Visa ads for not accepting AmEx, he says,"Not accepting the American Express card is dumb. Bragging about it is even dumber." Fox lists words to avoid in advertising (e.g.,"lifetime" and"quality") and questions to ask when drafting a marketing plan. Four"instant challenges" describe a marketing problem (e.g., how to sell shoe shines during a downpour) and ask readers to solve it. (Try a sandwich board reading: "Acid Rain! Save your shoes. Get a shine. Ask about the Rainy Day Special.") Throughout, Fox never loses sight of what he sees as marketing's ultimate goal, the"super marketer's anthem: It don't mean a thing. If it don't go ka-ching!"

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2003
Fox is a definite challenge to any professional or industry promising counsel and future success. In this case, the five-time author [including " How to Become a CEO" (1998)] and entrepreneur investigates the marketing of small and large companies alike, and--no surprise--finds many lacking. His basic premise is that all marketing and sales efforts must ring the cash register. In approximately 50 short chapters, he sets forth his rules (along with five "solve these challenges"), ranging from the mandate to sell inside first to characteristics of killer-competitor companies. Many of his regulations may seem simplistic, attributable to just plain common sense. Who would, for example, argue that innovation and new products are key levers to growth? Or that people buy to feel good or solve a problem? Yet Fox's little book bears reading . . . again and again.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)