Have Realistic Goals.

This is a kind of double-post of sorts, so hope you can follow!  You’re smart readers, I’m sure you can :).

Every year, I plan my New Year’s Resolutions. Although some I never actually keep, (who can actually get to the gym four days a week, every week?) I have successfully completed -and even gone above- my goal to read twelve books this year, one for every month. I kept track of them all on a post-it in the back of my planner, joyously writing each down as I closed the back cover after each finish. I’m sharing this small achievement of mine because it’s important to reach towards your goals, no matter how little they are, and to reward yourself when you meet them!

Book List:

1. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
2. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
3. Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson
4. Blink by Malcom Gladwell
5. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
6. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
7. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
8. Cocktails for Three by Madeline Wickham
9. Falling out of Fashion by Karen Yampolsky
10. The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett & Amanda Pressner
11. Half the Sky by Kristof and WuDunn
12. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
13. Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

I feel like this book list is almost an extension of my personal brand, taking aspects that I enjoy learning and having fun with. Many of the fun quick-read books were on vacation or during the summer, and I have to recommend reading The Time Traveler’s Wife. Although you’re almost guaranteed to cry at the end (even my uncle admitted to shedding a tear) it is an enjoyable read about love.

To stay up to date on the volunteering world, I suggest Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson. More to follow on him after an upcoming class presentation, but this book is unbelievably inspiring and uplifting. Also, in case you were concerned, it is my personal opinion that you can bypass his original novel, Three Cups of Tea. I think Stones into Schools is easier to read, even though its longer, and you won’t feel left out because you missed the prequel!

For Business Books, my must-read for everyone is really Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone, which I have mentioned before, which talks about the importance of networking and how best to do it without feeling like a scumbag. I also enjoyed, and just finished, Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing. In part of my own desires to become a knowledgeable Social Media Marketer, I decided to read up on popular professional opinions. The book was easy to read, relevant, and helped the average person understand the concepts behind Godin’s train of thought.

Of most interest to me was the last few chapters of the book, discussing FAQs and what you can do for your company to start using Permission Marketing. There are two funny blurbs I’d like to point out, which I think illustrate Godin’s most relevant points.

“It doesn’t matter what the bait is as long as it is relevant to your audience and enhances attention and responsiveness. Just because someone is a professional doesn’t mean he isn’t selfish! Make yourself a little sign and post it on your wall. America’s favorite radio station is still WII-FM (what’s in it for me), and if you don’t acknowledge that with the professionals you’re interacting with, they won’t give up their valuable time to respond.” (225)

In the end, people will only pay attention if what you offer has something that they want or could benefit from. Whether this be your product/service itself, or better yet, a promotional activity to increase your permission to contact them, it needs to explicitly help the consumer.

“An Interruption Marketer is a hunter. A Permission Marketer is a farmer. Hunting prospects involves loading a gun with bullets and shooting until you hit something. You can take a day or a week or a month off from this endeavor and it won’t take you long to get back into successfully bagging a few. Farming prospects involves hoeing, planting, watering, and harvesting. It’s infinitely more predictable, but it takes regular effort and focus. If you take a month off, you might lose your entire crop. On the other hand, farming scales. Once you get good at it, you can plant ever more seeds and harvest ever more crops.” (227)

Technology is making it easier, less time consuming, and cheaper, to build and sustain a relationship with clients and potential clients. But it takes time to form these relationships, and persistence is needed to see these relationships reach fruition.

Next up on the book list is Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, but I’d love to hear any suggestions for my twelve books in 2011!