Business Money Books

Become the Squeaky Wheel is a very simple and easy to understand credit & collections guide book. I have read several credit & collections management books throughout my career but I found this book most resourceful. Michelle Dunn has based on her own experiences and gives the reader valuable advices. She has provided everything useful for collection business in her book, from basic business letters to debt collection related Acts & Laws. I would recommend everyone planning to start their own agency to read this book.

Being a collector for the better part of a decade now I have read many books on the subject. I was very impressed with Michelle Dunn's "Become the Squeaky wheel." Michelle has written a book that will help you make an immediate and lasting impact whether you are starting your own agency or you want to clean up your receivables. Michelle not only gives you great advice and guidelines to follow, she has also included many forms needed to get results. If you are a collector or you extend credit or you are planning on starting your own collection agency, you need this book. Michelle Dunn's "Become the Squeaky wheel" could very well be one of the best investments you will ever make.

If you are a new business owner and have trouble with delinquent accounts, this book would be helpful.

Michelle Dunn offers most of the "how to's" necessary to be a successful collector. This is a quick-reference guide that is essential for any collector regardless of experience! Ms. Dunn shows how to get the debt resolved effectively and efficiently without beating people into it,the way it should be and CAN be for every collector! As the owner of a consumer collection agency I highly recommend this book and am having my staff read it as well!! Thank you Michelle!

The credit, collection and phone calling policies and procedures are a must if you are starting a credit and/or collection department or agency. Credit and collections letters and forms are a must and Michelle Dunn provides a variety to choose from. There is also a large section devoted to the laws. Another must.

Understanding the essence of Lou's Client Creator model and implementing it in your business, allows you to gain 'trusted advisor' status with your clients. He walks you through the process of developing your own style/script so that you can be the first class version of yourself rather than a second rate version of another successful sales representative.

If you are serious about bringing value to your clients and learning what matters most to them, read this book.

It's highly recommended for clients of Battson Coaching who are selling products or services.

Absolutely essential reading for the new school salesperson. Sales trainer, Cassara, makes the point we need to be authentic people providing value to those we sell. The value is not so much the product or service we offer which is often a commodity from the marketplace's stanpoint, but is our unique positive character traits which will align with client needs. The book contains worksheets designed to identify qualities in us that customers will find attractive and build conidence in ourselves knowing we are really helping others. Overlook the too cute acronyms for the excersises and worksheets.

This is a hands on guide to your career. I am brand new in the business and found it to be extremely helpful. It is almost like having a veteran agent/rep. sitting in your back pocket ready to give you all the advice, tips, and lessons you need at a moments notice. He give you the tools necessary to succeed and do well in this extremely difficult business. At the end of every chapter is a lesson for you to think through and work on. I loved it! You're not just reading the words, but you are actually putting those words into action and taking that first step towards building your practice. I loved it, I love Lou Cassara (I heard him speak once), and I think you will love it as well. :)

Lou Cassara is by far one of the best producers in the financial security industry. Just like he handles his clients, he has come through for the rest of us with this truly powerfull book that will give you not only the resources, but the insight necessary to create new and better relationships with your clients, friends and families on a very caring and intimate level. After reading this book and developing what Lou calls your Personal Value Statement, I imediately saw results in the conduct and content of the conversations I was having with EVERY single indivudual I came in contact with. This book is about much more than what might apear to be on the surface. I truly believe that if you apply the deep wealth of clear information into your life, you will be a much happier, effective, and caring individual. As Stephan Covey would put it, I have had a major paradigm shift after reading the book and completing its excercises just once. I plan on studying the book many times over, and strongly reccomend that if you are having trouble identifying in your relationships that you need to read this book. It will help you pick up priceless advice you will get NO WHERE else. I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I have, and a sincere thanks to Lou and all the work he has put into this book, it is truly a life impacting work.

Edward K.

Employee X is obviously very good at thinking up ways to cheat his employer. I am a Controller at a company that has about 75 expense filers. After I read the book I reviewed some old expense reports and realized that we had no way to catch some of the fraud the "author" recommends. I dug deeper and looked at the sales department expenses and was floored by the amount of errors and outright cheating. Thanks to Employee X we looked at ways to improve our auditing. We ended up going with a web product called expense expert and our employees suddenly started submitting smaller expense reports and we could easily spot "mistakes". Read the book if you are in finance but keep it away from your sales people.

The videos are excellent, it's as if a friend was showing you how to do the business and be successful. Even if you are not planning to do a BBQ concession this package will show you "tricks of the trade" on marketing, operations and using ready-made products with your own twist.
Thanks to the author I learned a lot.

To address some of the questions that the reader might have:

* This course is very easy to digest but will take about 4-5 hours of your time.
* It covers a great deal of many different subjects related to concession sales.
* Previous experience in this field is not necessary.
* The Dvd's give several good menu suggestions next to full instructions on preparing a variety of barbecue meals.
* Mr. Robertson shows a lot of experience and enthusiasm in his field.
* There is an Index of links as well as recipes towards the end of the book.

The author did an excellent job at describing ways how to get started in your own concession vending business. I have been operating a ball game concessions stand for over 8 years, next to my day job as a teacher and I have become quite experienced in this field. I know that there is a lot of money to be made with food sales. At sports events, the food and drinks are an essential part of the whole fun, no matter how pricey they are. The only drawbacks are the ever increasing concession fees to set up at the games. This is yet another reason, why owning a business as an independent operator makes a lot of sense.

After reviewing this course, I was able to learn a great deal more about concession sales. If you are thinking about starting out in this field, I can highly recommend it!

I originally bought this for my husband and ended up watching the DVD's with him. They are really packed with a lot of information and with valuable tips from a real professional.

Now BBQ became our first choice of foods to sell. The recipes in the film are truly wonderful and turned out well the first time we tried them. We also will focus on Tex-Mex foods that are very popular in our area.

The book gave us lots of good ideas that we will use in our own business. The author is right: cooking for fun is one thing- cooking for money is another! It was good to watch someone else do it first. Probably saved me from making lots of mistakes!

Overall, I am extremely happy with this purchase and I am glad I found it!

This was by far the best purchase I made on amazon this year. I enjoyed watching the DVD's that covered far more than I expected.

I have always wanted to have my own restaurant, but never have been able to get it together. The trailer food business is more my thing, as I can leave it parked in my backyard when I don't want to sell. I had trouble finding information on the subject of mobile food vending and I wish I would have seen this course earlier. It has taught me a lot about this business. The film showed interesting background info and a lot of food being prepared for resale. The ribs looked delicious and I now always cook my ribs this way. Watching the procedure is like being there and much better than just reading about it...

The book is easy to follow and covers pretty much everything I needed to know. I am not much of a chef, but people were all impressed by the food I prepared the way it is described in the book. I fed over 300 people in one day by myself at our block party and made good money doing it. This guide was very helpful to me in my rural area. It also made me feel like I can actually put a business like this together in my spare time.

This book was very difficult to read from the beginning. I also do not appreciate having religion shoved down my throat which this book likes to do. Ignoring that part of it and skipping around made parts of the book bearable.

I can see why another woman would love to hate Ellie Kay! She tells a great story, loves her husband and kids and tells us how to save money on top of it all! I'm a guy who found this book to be incredibly full of helpful information and the only reason I can see for a nick picking review is that others may be jealous! I didn't see the God factor in this book, although it's plain her family goes to church. I was also impressed by the debt reduction tips and how to find a good financial counselor. If you want to save money and be entertained at the same time, then ignore the sour grapes and you'll find this book to be sweet pickings!

I'm sorry but this is just not good! I mean, her money saving tips are creative but honestly , it takes hours to cut enough coupons to save that much money off of a grocery bill -- I don't know what her time is worth an hour but it's more than 10 dollars in my life. I also grew up wearing thrift store clothes (before it was cool) and hearing the kids taunt "your mama shops at K-Mart" -- if only my family had the money to shop at K Mart!

The point is, this woman is rediculous and incorrect in her statements at the least. If you can handle the god references and obsessive coupons and rebates (if you got that kind of time) than this IS the book for you. It's definitely NOT the book for me. I want my 10.50 and the two hours of my life back that this book cost me.

I stumbled across this one on my library shelf.

I like how the author writes alittle story about what she is talking about before she helps you with ideas on how to save on all different subjects.

She give web addresses for the internet and how to save, and at the end, she has letters from readers and how she has helped them.

Great fast read, with useful information.

Ellen

This book did have a few good ideas but the more I read the more I was put off by her constant plugs for her other book and her website, this occurs on nearly EVERY page. There are also several biblical references, which are fine I guess since that is her audience but will put off the non-Christian reader. "More with Less", "Extending the Table", "Tightwad Gazette" are by far better choices. I checked this out at the library and would suggest you do that before purchasing for yourself.

Written by the coins and medals experts of the British Museum, this handsomely designed work succinctly but comprehensively explores the entire history of money, from its earliest beginnings to the electronic transactions of the 1990's.
The book features over 550 beautiful color and black-and-white illustrations, with essays covering ancient and modern coinage in global perspective, and relating the moral, political, religious, and social meanings inevitably associated with so powerful a force. Highly recommended as an excellent introduction to a complex subject, or just for enjoyable and informative browsing.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

This book is a must have for those taking the necessary steps to a bright financial future. This book provided necessary information on all aspects of investment clubs from startup to management. I highly recommend this book.

The author based this book on the official gude from the National Association of Investors Corporation, which is like the bible to organize investment clubs. But this book adds a lot of practical experience from other investment clubs that the official guide doesn't have. Go ahead and buy it if you are thinkiing of getting a good hold in organizing your investment club.

Let's face it. Personal finance is a drag. So many books, so much advice, and so much confusion. That is until you read the Millionaire's Club. Surprisingly, the author Brown does an excellent job. I say surprisingly because most personal finance writers seem to be just as dense as the very books that they keep churning out to the general public. Brown's book, however is short, clear and helpful. She's a straight shooter that believes in serving up no fuss and no muss personal finance. Millionaire's Club has got to be one of the best how-to investment club books currently on the market. I should know. I started an investment club three weeks after reading the book.

churning out.do a poor job of explaining difficult of little to of cutting through the morass of information involved in started starting ersonal finance jargon boiling down difficult concepts and Starting an investment club is Brown's book is not original, but it certainly is

This is the most comprehensive book I've found on the subject of alternative or complementary currencies. It outlines what is wrong with current money systems, gives some historical examples of alternative currencies, talks a little bit about different types of alternative currencies and different properties such systems may have, and then proposes ways to improve upon existing systems and implement new systems. I think it succeeds on most points, but falls somewhat short of the quality of scholarly literature at times. I think its final advocacy falls somewhat short of its purported goals...but overall, this book is still a must-read.

The exposition of what is wrong with the current money system (Part I) is very easy to read and extremely compelling. Although it is a stance that many mainstream economists would take issue with, Greco's argument about what is wrong with society is remarkably airtight. I wish, however, that he would make more of an effort to tie his work in with the relevant economic theory, and also with work that has been done in sociology on the topic of poverty, in order to address possible objections that economists would raise. The book falls somewhat short of being scholarly research on this topic as its level of rigor and citing the literature is somewhat lacking; at times the book comes across more as a political advocacy piece than anything else. These weaknesses may explain why the book was not published in a mainstream press.

The discussion of historical complementary currencies (Part II) is by no means comprehensive, as the other reviewers pointed out, but I don't think this is a shortcoming of the book. Greco discusses some systems that were successful and compares them to a few which were not, as a pedagogical tool (in Part III), in order to highlight the effects that certain properties or certain types of management (or mis-management) have on these systems. I don't think Greco intended to make this book a comprehensive historical survey of all alternative currency systems ever used--that would be a massive undertaking.

In terms of the practical and advocacy part of the book (Part IV), which discusses how to improve on existing systems, and how to implement a complementary currency system, this book is more or less on target on most points, but I don't agree with the final conclusions. I feel like Greco recognizes all the key issues, but does not quite solve them (even though he argues that he does). The chapter on complementary currencies for impersonal markets is short and I think what is advocated there (relying on backed currencies for impersonal markets) is a cop-out. I think Greco would do well to explore a bit farther "outside the box", or, if he does not feel qualified to do this, at least end the book saying that more work is necessary. Greco's current stance seems to be that the solutions to the world's problems have already been invented and just need to be implemented--this is not entirely true, as there are a number of complementary currency systems in operation similar to the ones he advocates, and they have not grown to a large enough scale to solve any of the real deep problems that Greco highlighted in the initial part of the book.

Bottom line? Read this book; there's no better book on the subject. This one is well-written, entertaining, and has a huge amount of information that cannot be found in any other single place.

This book is a fruit of the author's "warm heart and cool head." The value of this book is to demonstrate a theory and a method for democratizing the power to issue money. We can understand the necessity for local currencies in order to decrease the concentration of power in monetary and financial system.

This book has lots of good information in it, but the author's enthusiasm for local currencies leads him to order the book in an ineffective way: rather than highlighting particular currency projects, he should highlight the issues with and potential solutions to our monetary system. The most useful information -- currency formation, interest basics, suggested improvements (e.g. returning to a separation of on-demand and savings/investment accounts) -- was buried in the second half of the book.

The current monetary system has several problems -- (1) distribution of wealth from poor to rich through payment of interest, (2) environmental degradation by necessitating continuous growth in order to repay interest, (3) increased risk of war since governments can print currency instead of increasing taxes, and (4) devaluation of currency through illegitimate creation of money.

These are legitimate concerns. Another concern, that the banking system can lead to shortages of money, seems refuted by the phenomenon of deflation/falling prices. If limited to a small subsection of a larger economy, local falling revenues (and rising currency value) would still present difficulties when goods must be imported from outside the locality; but use of local currency (that the outside suppliers wouldn't accept) is irrelevant to the situation.

I would also disagree with the author that the wealth distribution and the partial reserve problems are linked. The wealth distribution problem stems from needy people paying wealthy people for use of currency. There is no difference in this regard between borrowing cash directly from a person (i.e. 100% reserve) and taking out a bank loan (i.e. creation of new, illegitimate money), despite what the author seems to believe. The borrower will (or, rather, should) only do so if the intended use of the money yields a benefit greater than the agreed interest rate. Whether interest goes to both bank and depositor or to the bank only (solely to cover administrative costs), this will be the case (driving an unsustainable need for growth, liquidating the real wealth of our natural environment).

Repayment risk coverage is not much considered in this book, though later chapters do admit a need for a reserve to cover chronic debit accounts. Discussion of the effects of higher interest rates for poorer people is not to be found, instead treating all borrowers/consumers equally. Loans herein are always "monetization of assets" (e.g. mortgages), but unsecured loans are (and should be) a possibility. Should all borrowers (or all citizens, for that matter) pay equally for insurance against defaults? The author would seem to imply so; whether good or bad an idea, some justification for doing so would be helpful.

All in all, this book is a worthwhile read -- but definitely not the only book you'll need to read on currency or flaws in our economic system (e.g. subsidized pollution, tax code that favors property ownership, etc). Incidentally, if anyone knows of a good book on currency exchange (which is not covered in the above book), I would like to hear from you.

Contrary to the enthusiastic reviews, I have to forewarn possible purchasers of this book. It is a mix good information and superficial, misleading, and wrong information which together are likely to result in un-necessary difficulties if not disaster for projects supporting community based currencies.

Without being tasked to rewrite this book let me cite a few examples. In the context of asset based currencies no mention is given on American Colonial script, the issuance of the Continental Congress's "Continentals," The US Civil War Greenbacks, or of the currently existing right of the US Treasury to issue silver certificates. A first lesson would be to examine successful commons centered currencies.

It doesn't really deal with the various banking and monetary scams, including the Great Depression, version 1.0, that have been inflicted upon the US economy to serve private interests. It doesn't deal with the fact that credit cards are a way of generating debt, and thereby money, particularly when debt as extended in violation of existing fractional reserve laws relative to banking operations.

Often what is described as "brief" historys or descriptions get immediately side tracked onto tangential material of little importance. The basic definition of money is all over the map, and there is little analysis developing a clear definition.

To the extent that it uses material offered by the Federal Reserve it is using material that it deliberately misleading. The Federal Reserve is essential a privately owned and controlled corporation which acts in the interest of its investors and shareholders. Through the strategic political lobbying of the Congress it has obtained the primary right to issue and control our currency in the interest of its share holders and participant banks, not in the interest of the people of the US as a nation. Through the same legislation enabled by the ignorance and duplicity of our bribed politicians it has acquired the branding rights to pretend to be an institution of the US Government. To the extent that the faith in the US Currency is based upon this association it is misinformation.

These are critical times in which we can expect to see a major collapse of the monetary and economic ideologies that have extracted so much wealth from the people of the US and from the World. While I fully support the concept and practice of community based currencies let this book not be your only source of information. Also, check into more serious analyses by sources such as the American Monetary Institute's "The Lost Science of Money." Greco's book seems to be in the lesser sense very much a "new age" sort primer without being serious about monetary history, current policies, or principles.

Given that most people are unable to evaluate financial statements, this sort of feel good, skimming, and muddled presentation could easily lay the foundation for "well intentioned" fraud. On the other side, if these community based currencies are established wrongly it could expose people to a lot of legal and tax related trouble. There is massive irrationality and political ideologies afoot already in the "management" of the US and Global economy. When erecting community currencies it will serve our interests better by developing an understanding of the related material also from more serious sources. Sure this is a cheaper book and appeals to irrational exuberance, but will it provide a solid foundation?

Make an estimate of the amount of time you have spent on preparing yourself to earn money, on getting it, and of taking care of it when you have it. Wouldn't it be worthwile to really understand what it is you are spending all this energy on?
Tom Greco has been doing some of that work for you, with integrity, passion and enormous dedication.
The time has come to shed some light on the mysterious workings of our money. Read why it is a losing game for most people, of why it is our master instead of our servant. More important still: what you can do to change it for yourself and for your own community.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to improve/learn financial literacy. It is written from the perspective of talking to parents about their children's economic situation - esp. those of inner city homes. Very easy to read and understand - great book for children/teens to read too.

Actually, there was nothing particularly shocking. The scandal of Halliburton's involvement in Iraq is pretty obvious, and the author adds no information about that. I would guess the more scandalous aspects will come out in the future. When it is clear that we went to war solely so that Halliburton could have the pipeline work, then I'll be mildly perturbed, but not surprised. There must after all have been some real reason.

If one is looking for dirt on Cheney, there really isn't much. He is completely overshadowed in this book by LBJ, Herman Brown, Alvin Wirtz and others, and actually, Robert Caro's books on LBJ are much more enthralling accounts of all that. Still, it's fun to read about these tough Texas mothers with their whiskey and bags full of hundred dollar bills. In fact, now that I think about it I highly recommend all of Caro's books about LBJ.

Coming back to this one, it kind of fizzles out. Halliburton and Brown & Root have interesting histories. People who naively suppose that modern day public officials are honest and that their words are related to their motives in any way may be alarmed, but I would guess that most people reading this book in the first place aren't expecting a tale gleaming with moral gems. And Cheney as a rogue is a humorless dud. The most surprising thing I learned about him was that he had his first heart attack at 37!

It was a good read. Pretty scary stuff. As far as Chaney goes, the only thing that would have been more of a surprise would have been that he was identified as one of the founding members of the Log Cabin Republicans but for someone who spends so much time at undisclosed locations, stranger things could happen.

Bud Brown

Did I get the wrong book from Amazon.com? The book is advertised to be a book about Cheney and Halliburton - it is about Halliburton but not Cheney. For example, pictures of Cheney appear on both the front and back covers of the book jacket. But that is very misleading. The book is not about Cheney per se; there are in fact only a dozen or so pages dealing with Cheney near the end of the book and he plays only a minor role; he finally appears on page 191 of the 237 added seemingly as an afterthought. Surprisingly, the dominant politician in the book is the former president and Texas native Lyndon Baines Johnson or LBJ. By my estimate and it is confirmed by looking at the index, LBJ takes up three times as much space in the book as Cheney, and furthermore he plays a much more important role in setting any "agenda" at Brown & Root - a subsidiary of Halliburton. Even though the book even if falsely promoted it is still an interesting read about two old US companies and their eventual merger; but at just 237 pages long in medium font is not a 5 star effort, just 3.5 stars, maybe only 3 stars at best.

The first company described is the oil well services company Halliburton started in approximately 1920 by Erle Halliburton in Oklahoma. Erle Halliburton died in 1957 leaving a successful and financially strong and independent business enterprise as his legacy. The second company is Brown & Root (B & R) that developed from being a Texas road construction company that was started around 1917 to become a major defense contractor. The business grew through political connections and after many decades B & R had become the largest engineering and construction company in the USA, boosted by the Vietnam war effort, and fed by a series of domestic and foreign construction and defense contracts stretching around the globe.

The book tells (very briefly) how these companies developed, merged in 1962 with R & B being bought by Halliburton, and how they became a major defense contractor. It also contains many side stories such as the influence of the rising political star LBJ in Texas, dam construction, back room operators such as A.J.Wirtz, political intrigue, the milking of Roosevelt's New Deal money, navy boat building, the fall of Leland Olds who was a bureaucrat blocking their expansion, the Johnson Space Center contract, Vietnam contracts, the LOGCAP contract, the Dresser merger, Henry Waxman's congressional charges against Halliburton and the sole sourcing, etc. Cheney appears near the end of the book and I did learn that Cheney flunked out of Yale and was arrested twice for DWI in his youth. There are a number of insights and comments on the current contracts to Halliburton. But since Halliburton had the LOGCAP contract before Cheney, it seems to me that Cheney played no more a dramatic role - I suspect - than any other good CEO or "rainmaker" might have played at Halliburton to boost its revenues.

As a book I would say it rates just 3 or 4 stars since as the author acknowledges that he uses and number of existing books such as "Erle P. Halliburton: Genius with Cement" and other publications, and most of the book is about the older history - as I said Cheney does not even appear until page 191 out of 237. So even when he appears the information is scant. Having said that it is clear the author has done extensive research, he has a nice reference section for further reading, he brings the story together, but overall it seems like a short collection of historical facts and tidbits. As it stands, it is more of a "gateway" book or introduction and it would have been a 5 star book if it was about 400-500 pages long and was more complete. But some of the references and 40 pages of notes at the back are worth a follow up read.

Author Dan Briody has written a book that goes beyond pundit finger-pointing over the controversial "no-bid" contracts relationship between Halliburton and Vice President Dick Cheney. This is a serious examination of the high-octane blend of profit and politics that fuels the Bush administration's agenda. Briody begins with an extensive history of two Texas companies, Halliburton and Brown & Root (now KBR). He deftly portrays how they made their fortunes despite Great Depression hardships, World War II and political intrigues aplenty. Briody pulls no punches while maintaining a reportorial (if not totally objective) tone, although people who hold different political views might argue with his opinions and conclusions. We recommend this saga to anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the ongoing tryst between corporate America and its politicians. While this book is not presented as a smoking gun, it portrays insider politics that smolder like an oil fire you can't quite extinguish, leaving sort of an ugly haze.

I actually enjoyed his book about Carlyle and it's the reason I bought this book. But there should have been another 300 pages. It did a pretty good job of describing the origins of Halliburton and Brown and Root and described the relationship both Brown and Root and later the combined company had with Lyndon Johnson. But it's other political relationships of the time were not fleshed out, and only briefly mentioned. Basically anything about the companies histories after the late 1950s was brief and I felt shortchanged once I got to this part of the book. (3/4 of the way into it) The change of name to Kellog, Brown and Root was not mentioned, nor were contracts such as Guantanomo or the base on Diego Garcia which sounds to me like it could have warranted quite some ink. Also Kellog, Brown and Root's bankruptcy was glossed over leaving me wondering what the story is on this. The asbestos issue was only briefly mentioned, and Cheney's attempts to reduce these losses by changing the laws wasn't mentioned at all. Information about the companies contracts in Iraq is almost non-existant and the reputed contracts the Company did with countries in Cheney's era under US sanctions (ie Iran) by diverting the contracts via it's overseas subsidiaries gets not even a fraction of a page.

Basically if you after information on these companies after 1962 you're better off researching it on the internet.