All You Need is a Good Idea!: How to Create Marketing Messages that Actually Get Results [Hardcover]

Jay H. Heyman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

In All You Need Is a Good Idea, Jay Heyman shows you how to create powerful marketing and advertising ideas that will dramatically increase sales for your business. Perfect for entrepreneurs and small business owners?or operators of any size business, for that matter?this valuable marketing resource will help any business stand out in the marketplace, build bigger market share, gain publicity, and scare the pants off the competition. This book is the perfect guide to creating truly powerful marketing messages.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

If you're not in marketing at a big corporation, you probably don't have the luxury of hiring a big ad agency, or have the big budgets often required for successfully spreading your message far and wide. But how do you make your business grow without the resources of a bigger firm? Fortunately for you, all you really need is a good idea.

Jay H. Heyman's All You Need Is a Good Idea! shows you step by step how to create powerful marketing and advertising ideas that dramatically increase sales without having to invent new products, increase sales forces, find new distribution channels, or spend a ton of money you don't have. No matter how small your business is, this insightful resource will teach you how to stand out in the marketplace, build bigger market share, garner high-exposure publicity, appear larger than you really are, and make your competition extremely nervous.

Informal, conversational, and totally practical, All You Need Is a Good Idea! guides you with simple, easy-to-follow principles that stress fun and creativity. It takes the mystery out of building your business, providing unique, hands-on marketing guidance, from generating the first fuzzy notion to perfecting the final idea, and includes informative, relevant case studies of actual marketing campaigns.

If you're a marketer, business owner, or entrepreneur who wants real bang for the buck, All You Need Is a Good Idea! presents the ins and outs of creating truly effective, powerful marketing messages that will propel your business to the next level of growth and success.

From the Back Cover

Praise for All You Need is a Good Idea!

"I had the privilege of working with Jay Heyman for many years, and I can honestly say that he's one of the brightest, most talented admen around. Anyone working in advertising should buy Jay's fantastic new book. It's chock-full of illuminating case histories and real-world advice on how to hone and unleash the creative voice from within. Written with clarity and wit, All You Need Is a Good Idea! is one great idea, indeed."
—O. Burtch Drake, President and CEO, American Association of Advertising Agencies (1994–2008)

"What marketers need most these days is a good idea that actually works! Jay Heyman has written a guide to creating these ideas, and put it all down in a wonderfully clear and creative book that should be part of every successful marketer's how-to library!"
—Robert Passikoff, Ph.D., founder and President, Brand Keys, Inc.

"A fun, easy-to-read how-to with practical advice for small businesses struggling to develop good marketing ideas. Heyman's voice is conversational, inspirational, and wry at just the right times. His message is always encouraging—you can do it!—and his book will show you how."
—Regina Kahney, CEO, Marketorial.com, Web site Design & Marketing

"Jay Heyman has written a great book that all entrepreneurs can benefit from. The experience Jay offers readers will guide them in creating the marketing ideas that will better position their company's products and services against their competitors. I will be recommending this book to all my clients."
—Monte Rosenthal, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase Small Business Banking

"Who needs a good idea? Anyone who plans to get ahead in business. Jay's engaging style helps take the fear out of the creative process, and ensures that whatever you create is on target strategically. His style and 'no big words' philosophy makes for an easy read of some very essential marketing principles."
—Peter Friedfeld, Executive Vice President, ClearVision Optical

"All You Need Is a Good Idea! is an excellent guide to both creating good ideas and how to use them to promote your business or service. I am making it required reading for all of my clients."
—Jim Fell, Principal, ENCOMPASS Strategy + Development

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470237910
• ISBN-13: 978-0470237915
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,002,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My entire career has been spent working in the creative departments of agencies large and small, creating local, national, consumer, collateral and business-to-business communications.

Currently, as the co-founder and creative director of Porte Advertising, a nineteen-year-old advertising agency in midtown New York, I continue to generate the kind of idea-driven advertising that has built clients' businesses in the past.

Accounts I've worked on include Skippy Peanut Butter, the Stage Deli, Oxydol detergent, Trix cereal, Cocoa Puffs cereal, The Curacao Tourist Board, Anacin, Texaco, Drambuie Liqueur, Beechnut Gum, Frigidaire Appliances, Burgie Beer, Total Cereal, Fruit Stripe Gum, Thrill Dishwashing Liquid, Hardee's, Kangol Hats, Sharp Watches, the American Arbitration Association, Bistro le Steak, ClearVision Optical, Bounty Resorts, Hero Dog Food, Old Spice Deodorant, Rapid Park Garages, The William Kaufman Organization, Dallas BBQ restaurants, Tony's Di Napoli restaurants, Prevent Blindness NY and Host Apparel.

Honors I've received include the prestigious CLIO and ANDY awards; my commercials are in The Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio of New York).

My creative ability and strategic sense, such as they are, have been honed by a career that has one basic objective: come up with the simple but unexpected idea that links the strategic core of the product to the consumer's needs. I've learned that every client, no matter the size, has the same need for powerful creative marketing ideas. Smaller businesses, however, don't always have the resources and large staff to develop these ideas. That is why I've written my book.

I try to take the mystery out of using marketing creativity to build your business by providing comments, critiques and countless suggestions to help you create better marketing communications. You will clearly see the path from generating the first fuzzy notion to the final idea, all presented in an informal, conversational manner.

It is not a lecture; it is a dialogue designed to get you involved.

If you agree that it is never the research, rarely the product and seldom the pricing that makes the real marketing difference, then All You Need Is A Good Idea! is the book for you.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another how-to book for marketers; it's a small business marketing book. June 7, 2008

By Jeff Lippincott VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I liked this book. I can't say it is anything special. And I can't say that anything in particular included in it stood out for me. But the book is very practical, informal and easy to read. It's written by a seasoned ad man who has written this book to help marketers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs stand out from their competition. This book is all about how to create GOOD marketing communications. And that process starts with having good ideas. Hence, the title of this book: All you need is a good idea.

Good ideas result from novelty and cleverness. They give your business a different and lasting identity. And you'll get good ideas if you spend some time looking at what your competition is doing (and not doing). Build on what they do so you'll be better. And it is important to remember that GREAT ideas are not necessary. If you consistently pump out good ideas you will do just fine.

This was kind of a short book. It has small pages, large type, 1.5 line spacing, and the margins were not small. And it was padded with blank pages, too. But there is good content included. The long list of 21 chapters is geared toward helping the reader get his or her marketing creativity working. And I particularly liked the "Good Idea" sidebars. There were many bullets included throughout the book that helped me grasp points better as I read.

I would have liked the book better if was not as conversational as it was. The book felt a little like the author had not really written it. But instead, he had dictated into a digital recording device and had someone type his dictations into paragraph form. Maybe this explains why the author kept telling me what was to come later in the book. I generally don't like that style of writing. I like books that are well outlined and written. The kind where every word has a purpose and none are wasted. 4 stars!

PS. Take a look at the Search Inside information Amazon provides for this book. The TOC provided there will let you know specifically what this book covers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience the satisfaction and success of getting great results from putting your own (good!) ideas into action August 22, 2010

By Don Snyder VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Too many people stall and stare at walls instead of taking action. Why? Because they're trying to come up with a 'great' idea when all you really need is a 'good' idea (that gets put into action.)

Jay H. Heyman knows this and explains to the reader how they can do it too. The real-world examples and case studies taken from his career in advertising demonstrate these are no pie-in-the-sky theories that "might" work -- they are valuable war stories from the creative front designed to give you insight into how you can experience satisfaction and success by getting great results from putting your own (good!) ideas into action.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for solo entreprenuers February 17, 2010

By Christopher Duggan

Format:Hardcover

Jay Heyman is known for helping businesses stand out from the competition. Without developing yourself as a brand you are basically invisible. Jay is chock full of good ideas to help you make your brand conspicuous.

I love marketing and am always trying to see things from different perspective. Jay Heyman is one of the smartest people I know and has a keen eye for seeing things from the customer's point of view. You've got to speak the customer's language when marketing your product. Jay Heyman knows how to do that and showed me how in this book.

I'm always in search of new and fresh ideas that won't cost me alot. "All you need s a good idea" is overflowing with them.