Business Money Books

I was disappointed - from the title I thought there would be advice on managing cash flow and instead it's the same advice on increasing sales. Just read the Business Coach book instead.

Great book for small business owners who want to learn a wide variety of marketing and selling techniques. Also helps clarify how to convert leads into buyers, and lots of other important details such as understanding ways to improve your profit margin.

This is the best business growth book I have ever read. If you are sitting at your desk wondering how to increase your cashflow...buy this book NOW. Oh yea, and you have to follow the advice too!

As anyone in business knows, cash is KING! This book is a "must-read" because it provides a thorough overview of the most important aspect of business--how to keep the cash flowing in. There are literally hundreds of usable ideas and strategies that can be put to work in any business right away, many involving no out-of-pocket cost. Brad challenges the reader with "common-sense" approaches to building your business while providing practical solutions. Keep a note pad handy while you're reading so you can remember the ideas you will want to implement.

Why on earth would someone who writes cozy cat mysteries want a book that deals with managing a business? [I'm reluctant to use the term "duh!" but it seems to fit here.]

My work as a writer, editor, and speaker, generates income. Ergo, I have a business. Sure, I don't have employees, but so what? The general principles are still the same, despite the common belief that writers must be starving artists until they hit the big time.

Because I've never owned a traditional business, I'm not one to judge whether or not INSTANT CASHFLOW gives valid advice about deductions and such. Yes, there is MUCH in this book that I cannot use. But the story of the mechanic, the encouragement that I can shift my thinking (and my actions) to profitable means, the concept of buying customers -- all these are ideas I can use.

Check back with me in two years and see how well it's worked.

Almost everyday I meet an adult who is having problems controlling their money. (They make mistakes like using credit cards to purchase items they can't afford or they don't really need.) This book gives teens practical information about how to control their money before their spending gets out of control. This information is crucial for teens to learn while they are young because sadly one of the major causes of divorce is one or both spouses not being able to control money. This is the required book for the Personal Finances course of Teen U.

I recommend this book to all you teens out there who are interested in money. A few topics the book discusses are

*How one can go about earning money
*Budgeting
*Investment
*Discusses the difference between banks accounts

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens by Susan Shelly is really easy to understand especially for teens. Lots of useful tips on how to earn, save and spend money. Thumbs up to this great book that will continue to help teens out there to get a head start and be financially healthy!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens by Susan Shelly is a book for people who want to take control of their money. It presents information on topics such as why money is so important in our society, how one can go about earning money, and other topics such as budgeting, debt and investing. The author provides concrete information that is beneficial for any teen who wants to become familiar with the basics of financial management. Shelly writes on the level of a teen-ager, short and to the point. She leaves out the extra, useless information that would cause narcolepsy in most of today's teenaged population. Shelly goes into detail about how to "make your money work for you." She talks about the benefits and disadvantages of different types of savings accounts, checking accounts, and money market accounts. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Money for Teens is a great book for anybody who wants to be more financially savvy. The essential information it provides will send any teen on his or her way to a financially successful future.

If you are working in Retail or Direct Selling the techniques for framing and closing a sale are all here.This little book is literally worth thousands of dollars in sales commissions if only you would stop and apply some of the well proven ideas in this book.

The ideas are simple, well proven and easy to apply.I have trained literally thousands of sales people in the Retail Electrical Appliance Industry in Australia to sell extended warranties. I encourage them to use some of the techniques in Brian Tracy's book and have literally watched individuals sales figures skyrocket over night as a result.

If I was a business owner or sales manager working in sales I would give a copy of this book to every team member and then use it as a focus for team meetings and skills development.

Highly recommended

I am a big fan of Brian Tracy and have purchased many of his tape programs and books. His previous books on selling, Advanced Selling Strategies and The Psychology of Selling were b rillantly done, contained a lot of useful content and were easy reads.

When I heard about this new book by Tracy I rushed to my bookstore to buy it. Unfortunately I was told that there has been a delay and the book will not be released to bookstores untill June 4th.*

** This note added October 6th. I actually bought this book at my local bookstore after it's release on June 4th and absolutely love it. I used the "fish or bait" close and closed a huge sale. Thank you Brian.

I highly recommend this book along with Brian's other classics, Advanced Selling Strategies, Be A Sales Superstar and The Psychology of Selling.

To the person who said he saw this book on May 22, I believe he was confusing the release of Brians best seller "The Psychology of Selling" in paperback in which case his comments would make sense as it was the same book only in paperback format.

The Art of Closing The Sale was released after June 4th. GREAT BOOK for all serious sales people and those who want to join the Mega-Buck Sales Pro category!

My local Brian Tracy distributor indicated as well that the book is not available yet and the content will be different from Tracy's previous books. In fact, this book will be based on Tracy's best selling video programs specifically targeted on closing the sale with powerful closing techniques.

I am not sure why the reviewer indicated that he saw this book in his bookstore or why he feels the book is the same content as Tracy's earlier work. Perhaps he saw Tracy's earlier books and got confused.

As a very satisfied Brian Tracy fan, I can't wait untill June 4th and read this great book! No doubt another winner by Brian Tracy.

I grabbed a seat in my local bookstore today and spent about a half hour reading through this book. I own Tracy's "The Psychology Of Selling" (a pure classic, right up there with Zig Ziglar's "Secrets Of Closing The Sale") and "Advanced Selling Strategies" (a good add-on to the principles found in "Psychology Of Selling"). As a result, I give the two previous books "5 star ratings" and this one a 3, because Tracy really covers no new ground here. My strongest possible recommendation goes to "Psychology Of Selling." If you have to choose between that book and "Art Of Closing The Sale," go for the former. It's a much better book.

In "Art Of Closing The Sale" Tracy advocates the principle of "making 100 sales calls in the shortest amount of time possible." Doing so desensitizes you to the inevitable rejection you'll encounter as a sales person, and you WILL...eventually...close some sales. But once again, those familiar with Tracy's work will know immediately that this isn't the first time he's proposed this game plan...or the second, or the third.

But therein lies the problem with this book. All of the info you'll find in "Art Of Closing The Sale" is extremely valuable, wise, practical...please understand that the ONLY reason I'm being critical here is that there's NO new ground covered. The "Key To Making More Money Faster In The World Of Professional Selling" is simple: Get up every day, work as hard as you can, believe in yourself, feed your mind with positive thoughts and never give up.

I got that message from Tracy's previous books. This book has no new message.

I have been a fan of Brian Tracy since 1989 when I accidently came across his tape series, "The Psychology of Success" in my local library. I quickly became a "Brian Tracy Addict" and listened to his other programs offered at my library including "The Psychology of Achievement", "The Psychology of Selling", "21 Secrets of Self Made Millionaires" and more.

In 1993, I added his book "Maximum Achievement" to my library. Nobody compares to Brian Tracy for content or value.

Using Brian's techniques in "The Psychology of Selling" and his other programs, I was able to move up at sales position in 1993 from 67th place to 3rd place in only 1 month increasing my sales from $200 a day to $1500 a day and from $1500 per month in sales to over $20,000 in sales per month. While I was no superstar, I made rapid improvement in record time all thanks to the techniques I learned from Brian's tapes.

Need less to say, whenever a new book with Brian Tracy's name comes out, I usually buy it without question.

Brian's newest book, "The Art of CLosing The Sale" just arrived in our bookstores today and I unreservedly bought it and have already read through most of it. While some of what Brian has discussed in his previous books, "Advanced Selling Strategies" (1995), and "The Psychology of Selling" (2005) is repeated here, there is also much new information.

The Art of Closing Sales is chock full of proven, real world-tested closing strategies such as:

- The Invitational Close: A sinple, powerful way to close 90% of sales
by issuing an irrestible motivation to buy.

- The Sharp Angle Close: How to take any objection, turn it around, and
make it a reason for buying.

- The Ultimatum Close: How to force a hesitant or indecisive buyer to make
a decision, one way or another.

- The Directive Close: How to keep the initiative, assure the sale, and
wrap it up quickly and painlessly.

- The Sandwich Close: A proven way tor educe price sensitivity by
emphasizing benefits and results.

- The Lost Sale Close: When you've tried everything and nothing has worked
this technique discovers the real objection and overcomes it.

Abd there are more closes to like

-The Just Suppose Close

- The Change Places Close

- The Instant Reverse Close

- The Remaining Objection Close

And more.

Tracy also takes a close look at the psychology of the selling process and reveals the 9 Most Common Objections every successful salesperson must answer. He teaches the keys to boosting productivity by eliminating 11 Time Wasters in the sales process. Action exercises at the end of each chapter help you translate what you've learned into real-world results.

Everythong you need to take your sales to the next level is in this great new book by Tracy such as:

- Overcoming Price Resistance

- Uncovering Unstated Objections

- Building Buying Desire

- Recognizing Buying Signals

The Art of CLosing Sales provides the methods, techniques, and strategies to launch your sales career into the stratsphere.

In addition, Brian's other books, "Advanced Selling Strategies", "The Psychology of Selling" and "Be A Sales Superstar" along with his Nightingale-Conant tape programs "The Psychology of Selling" and "Advanced Selling Strategies" are also highly recommended.

This book arrived in new condition and all of my expectations were met or exceeded. Thank-you kindly!

I was very much impressed by the book. It had all the information you would ever need and to find it in one book was great.

I have been a fan of this series from WSJ since 1995 during college. its very simple and easy to read. Yet again in the updated version it made macr/micro economics real easy to grasp.

A very well written guide, put in true layman's terms. Easy to understand, with just the right amount of explanation and information. Great book!

I had high hopes for this simple book since I am totally a visual learner. The pictures and colors greatly appealed to me, and they are indeed very nice.

That being said, I felt like the organization of the book was lacking; too many concepts were explained out of order or in such a way that a smooth flow didn't occur. Also, knowledge was assumed on the part of the reader in a manner that I found unacceptable. It was like, "Jeese, I'm reading this kind of book to find out WHAT such and such is, not just to read ABOUT it." Kind of like being told lots of details about a 401(k) without ever being told what it really is.

Overall: Helpful as a supplement to another book, such as _Retirement Bible_, by Lynn O'Shaughnessy. Good for reinforcing your learning.

Yes, this is a must have. Written by S&P auther, it is the definitive guide, no question should be asked. cause they are credit king.

Many details on how to measure risk, quantitative methods in detail. Ideas and industry practice all in great detail. I could imagine some quants will use it as a cook book for their project.

overall, well written for easy read. both good for a glance at credit risk and for in depth learning of industry standard.

In Measuring and Managing Credit Risk, the authors provided a robust, complete and comprehensive treatment of several aspects of modern credit risk measurement and management. Written by two high talented practitioners, this book will become certainly a reference both for academics and practitioners thanks to its careful treatment of several not so known empirical issues which practitioners have to face everyday. At the same time, do not consider the book as a new recipes book for managing credit risk. Both authors already proved their deep knowledges of financial theory and establish once again, through this book, how advanced knowledges of theory combined with significant practical experience make leading researches. As a PhD candidate in Finance, actually writing on credit risk, I definitively adopted this book and higly recommend it for anyone dealing with credit risk issues either through a practical experience or through a theoritical work.

If you are Banker/Banking Consultant then this book is the closest you will get to understanding Credit Risk from a Basel II perspective. Its clear & lucid style helped me understand the gamut of techniques used in Credit Risk Measurement. Unfortunately the Book does not get into the details of bulinding models so if your looking for a model building cookbook, look elsewhere.

Now I'm convinced.

After reading this book, my main concern was "can I do this". After reading, I'm not only excited, but truly convinced that almost anyone with a brain can do what the book reveals.

Thank you Amazon and thank you Ray West.

JC

I just finished reading the book and I'm beyond stunned! It's undoubtedly the most actionable, simple, surefire program I have ever seen. You could not pay me 10 times to give it back!

I read so many books on breaking into the adult film business...I even spent $1,297 on this course from www.adultfilmmaking.com, the "only" online adult film school, which was a total rip off. This book by Ray West and one other one that I downloaded off the internet for $80 have been the ONLY two books I've read that actually give legitimate, usable information on how make money in this business. I don't understand the negative reviews on this book. Yes, the book has grammical and spelling errors but if readers aren't able to overlook that for the information it offers then they probably should stick to their 9 to 5 job anyway. If you're interested in getting into the adult business profitably and successfully, you need all the resources you can get. This book is one valuable resource to get you started. If you're a bible-thumper looking for ways to condemn this industry then you're probably the ones who are degrading the content of this book. Why waste your time? Get this book if you want to make money in this business.

The book was great to read and very informative. the speed of Delivery was also a plus. It was at my door with in a week. can't complain about that. GOOD JOB!

This book was a blast to read. I heard about Ray West from a forum as being a guru to adult film making. After reading, I know why! Eventhough his book is 2001, I am going after his new stuff. I just can't imagine as a film maker how much fun this book has brought to my life. Ray West, you are a true genius.

I had no idea this book would be so informative. Very good read, changed my perspective.

This book is great and quick overview of how money became the physical currency of modern times. Starting with trade of goods, and then to shells and cocoa beans, and then to minted coins and finally to the form of paper money across various countries. While the complaints about specific historical event being wrong maybe true, the social aspects are the importants points of the book. With America, in the early times of the nation, the decision to use a decimal system ultimately impacted how numbers were used for other subjects outside of currency. This changed science and business. This book is very good and filled with interesting tidbits of trivia around the history of money.

This is the sort of book you get when an author writes on a subject with which he has only a passing familiarity, and lacks the confidence that the subject matter is inherently interesting enough to hold the reader's attention. The result is a book that is ultimately unsatisfying.

One symptom of the problems described above is that large portions are devoted to subjects other than money. For example, the author uses the first three pages after the introduction to describe Aztec ritual sacrifice in literally gory detail before proceeding on to the use of cocao beans as commodity money. I think that's meant to be what they used to call in show business a "grabber," but for the reader expecting to learn about money, it's a distraction. Another problem is that the author's grasp of modern economics is shaky at best, and especially in the latter part of the book, he'll make a point and then repeat himself, much as an undergraduate trying to extend the length of a term paper that's run a few pages short.

And yet, there's also some interesting and oddly convincing tidbits of information here. The author states that L. Frank Baum's 1900 book "The Wizard of Oz" is really a parable about the need for a bimetallic dollar based on both gold and silver. But even as it strikes you that this is an interesting bit of trivia, you realize that it's only a bit of trivia and has little larger significance.

If you're looking for a economic history of money, you should look elsewhere. If you're interested in the cultural and sociological impact of money, this may be more to your liking, though I think it still falls short.

I guess I only finished it becuase I always finish a book I start reading (especially if I paid for it).
It was so hard to read, the style is tiring, resembling a ranting inner dialogue more than a book on an economic category, even iof it is from a cultural and anthropological perspective!
At the end of the day I can say I know what Aztecs used for money (and how they tortured children to death as children's tears were considered some sort of "rain magic". damn, I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW THAT!!!) and that coins were invented by Lydians (and a number of simiral pieces of information) but I also have a HEADACHE and am feeling frustrated and nauseated and extremely unhappy.
I don't think that is how you are supposed to feel after reading a book on history of money! I don't feel informed or enlightened at all.
Having read other people's reviews I guess accuracy of information presented (unless it refers to social or cultural aspects of money) might also be problematic?!

As many other reviewers noted, his history is shaky. Not only that, his anthropological knowledge and understanding of social fabric of many of the societies he reviewed are also weak. It seems that Mr. Weatherford wrote his book without always checking his sources, as if 'out of his head'. My personal favorite flop was his continuous insistence that Lydia was a country located by IONIAN sea. Has he checked his map? Ionian sea is on the other side of Greece and, naturally, modern Turkey in the region where Lydia was located has access to Aegean and Mediterranean seas. I am a little upset with writers who undertake to write sprawling historical analyses without having a solid historical base. He would have gotten a C- in my class. Still his style is entertaining and once you get used to inaccuracies and are willing to overlook them, then it could be an enjoyable read.

I happened to read excerpts of the book and I think this is one gutsy woman we are talking about -- but with a caveat: Reality is not an illusion. Let me state that in terms that Christine would understand, seeing as how she knows Bill Gates. Reality is the Operating System. Our lives are the Programs running under its control. (And programs have been known to ABEND - Abnormal(ly) End). To say this differenly, each individual life is a "program" or an instant of existence in Reality. One cannot push against Reality. Every time one pushes, Reality recoils and in doig so gathers strength. And when it can't recoil any more, it will spring back with a force that can destroy you. But if you use Reality as a sounding board or a point of reference, it will never let you down.

Contrary to the Merkin-class quality of promotion which serves to promote 'Rules for Renegades' by way of its jacket blurb and associated websites, it is actually commendably sober in its breeziness. Team America: World Police - Unrated (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition)

It is full of good humour and was not particularly salacious, as some other commentators have suggested. I very much liked the criticism of the Underpants Gnomes' school of entrepreneurship, since it is so often the downfall of many a good idea which fails to achieve a profit. 'I hate people like that, they remind of me' (Body Heat, William Hurt :-)Body Heat

The book can be gotten through pretty quickly as a read, is straightforwardly laid out, has exercises to work through at the end of each chapter including URLs to download examples, worksheets, etc.

Although 'Rules for Renegades' does not dwell especially on such details, it does allude to the collegiality and bottom up management advocated as good management practice in Kenneth and William Hopper's 'The Puritan Gift', for example. The Puritan Gift: Triumph, Collapse and Revival of an American Dream

That said, this is definitely one of the strangest business books I've read in a long time - and this is the genre I read about 95% of the time. About half way through the book I was saying to my friends "can you believe she's writing about sleeping with Bill Gates in this book?" - but you know what? I was talking about it, I was creating buzz for the book and I certainly couldn't put it down. I don't know if you'd describe the author Christine as likeable, nor would I say she's trying to be: she's flawed, but she knows it (and aren't we all), she's a character (wait a minute, she's a monk, a geisha, a burnout, a tech-head, an investor, an entrepreneur - make that she's multiple characters), but by the end of the book I really connected with the message that she was trying to put out. Interesting and slightly shocking reading, definitely not predictable.

Kirsty Dunphey, Author - Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can

I used to review business books for a management magazine, so I've read a ton of books like this -- the "secrets" to getting ahead. Unfortunately, this book reads like more of a kiss-and-tell than a business how-to guide to success (the author lost all credibility when she started name-dropping about her affairs with Bill Gates and Larry Ellison).

I was eager to read this slim volume because the author -- a model-turned-monk-turned-programmer-turned-millionaire -- seemed to have a heck of a background to draw from. But instead of this being a concise instruction manual, it's a catch-as-catch-can recounting of various "rules" the author learned over her somewhat schizophrenic life. I wasn't sure if it was "do as I did" or "don't do as I did." Nothing was presented in any sort of cohesive fashion, so I found it nearly impossible to follow. Also, often major pieces of the story seemed to be missing (what was up with her guru-turned-criminal??).

I would skip this book unless you want a bit of an insider's look at how Bill Gates' mom used to plan his life (via whiteboard).

TD's review was absolutely correct. This book is not a business resource book, but rather a self-serving, ridiculous recount of this author's affairs with wealthy businessmen. I bought this book because it was recommended in a trade magazine that I believed had credibility. No more! Ms. Comaford-Lynch's only business advice seems to be to promise to deliver on a business venture you know nothing about, start a company to provide that service, and - gosh darn it! - hope for the best. If you fail, you fail. Sleeping her way to the top seems to be the only surefire recommendation she has to offer.

Despite it's seemingly specialized, historical subject, Good Money is really both very topical and very important. The story it tells--of private coinage during the Industrial Revolution--directly challenges the conventional wisdom that's at the foundation of all modern monetary systems, namely, the belief that only government's are fit to supply coins and paper money. Selgin shows that this was far from being the case in 18th-century England. There the government proved itself perfectly unfit to coin money, until private mints showed it how to do its job right! The story of how they designed the world's first successful industrial-scale coinage system, and of how the government ultimately put them out of business, is absolutely spellbinding! No one who reads it can ever look at a central bank or government-run mint without wondering how much better off the world might have been without it!

Review by a non Nobel Prize winner:
Dirty details of the progress of our United States Currency are the theme of this book. If you like the arithmetic to pop out as you look at text, and are one who likes absorbing and detailed accounts which provide tools for thought, you should like this collection of papers and essays on money. I did.

Milton Friedman is simply the best. So far I've read a couple of chapters and already am extremely enlightened.

Milton Friedman is a great teacher because he has the rare ability to explain complicated subjects in clear understandable language. This book in particular will give the reader insight into the mysterious world of money. At the end you will understand money so well that when you watch CNBC you will start questioning the actions of the Federal Reserve. I highly recommend this book. Also, be sure to youtube and charlierose 'Milton Friendman' for some great videos. We have lost a great human. R.I.P.

Milton Friedman is best known for his 2 monumental books: "Capitalism and Freedom" and "Free to Choose". Money Mischief is less well known, but equally great.

Friedman provides a fascinating and easy to understand explanation of what "money" really is and how it works (or fails to work) in society. In addition to bills and coins, money can take the form of gold, cigarettes, or even large rocks. If this seems strange to you, read the book for a clear explanation. This book also provides the clearest explanation I have ever seen about the complex connection between money supply, growth, and inflation in an economy.

Complete with fascinating real world case studies, I found Money Mischief impossible to put down.

I will concentrate this review of Friedman's book on the the time period 1900 onward and cover Friedman's analysis in this book as it applies to the banking system set up in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act.Friedman has an excellent discussion of the problems resulting from the attempt to introduce a bimetallic standard in the USA that occurred in the late 1870's and culminated in the 1896 election between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley that resulted in the defeat for bimetallism.He has a number of other interesting discussions on other episodes involving attempts to inflate the money supply,however defined.However,it is in his discussions of post 1913 monetary policy that he gives a misleading impression about the central bank's powers .The Federal Reserve System(FRS),consisting of the 12 Federal Reserve District Banks of which the New York Federal Reserve District Bank has by far the most power ,is not a government agency in the usual sense of the word.THe Federal Reserve Board chairman is not a member of the President's cabinet.The United States government has only partial control the FRS.The FRS is subject to no government audit.The FRS is subject to no government budget constraint.The FRS is a quasi public,quasi private entity.The set up of the FRS,both in 1913 and 2008, reflects the tremendous economic and political power of the private profit maximizing(sometimes sales maximizing)commercial banking industry.Time and again in this book(as opposed to his coauthored 1963 Monetary History of the United States,1867-1960)Friedman gives the misleading impression that the government of the United States controls the money supply(as defined by Friedman, which is M1 or M1A)or the FRS controls the money supply.This is very misleading.The Federal Reserve System controls ONLY the monetary base.This is defined as the amount of notes(Federal Reserve issued currency)in circulation,plus vault cash,plus the FRS mandated bank reserves,based on a reserve requirement that all member banks must meet.The FRS can impact the amount of reserves available by open market operations but can't force the banks to make the additional loans if the banks do not want to use the expanded reserves.The banks can refuse to make use of the added reserves and hold them ,for safety first or precautionary reasons,as excess or free reserves.This is precisely what happened in the United States in the 1930-1934 period ,in Japan in the 1994-2003 period,and what has been happening in the 2007-2008 period.Ben Bernanke,in his desire to bail out Wall Street and the private commercial banking system ,has made hundreds of billions of additional loans available at special very low interest rates to the banking system.No additional private commercial bank loans have been forthcoming.The money supply increases or decreases as the private commercial banking system decides to expand loans or decrease loans according to their own private decision making calculus based on profit(sales) maximizing criteria.If commercial banks do not wish to lend then it makes no difference what the FRS does with respect to the monetary base.It can expand the base all it wants to.Nothing will happen unless,as J M Keynes so aptly put it,confidence is restored to the economic system as a whole so that expectations,a function of Keynesian uncertainty and not Friedmanite risk(Friedman always used the standard deviation of a hypothesized normal probability distribution to denote risk), of the future become optimistic.