Customer Reviews

Ballsy: 99 Ways to Grow a Bigger Pair and Score Extreme Business Success

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a heap of drivel! This stuff makes Jack Handy look like Socrates.

The entire book is just dime store pep-talk and empty platitudes wrapped in tortured decoration. Each page is nothing more than a line or two pulled from a fortune cookie set in some jaunty type font and surrounded by vintage clip art and broad swaths of earthy color. If you set the type in 10pt Helvetica and got rid of all the window dressing, the actual content could be printed on something that would fit in your wallet.

You know that ol saw Style over Substance? Well it was created to describe works like this one.

Here is a startling insight from the book.

... in this uber-competitive career market place, if you only give 100% you will only get an okay career. If you want a fantastic career you gotta give 150%"

Seriously, this is the stuff that fills out the pages of this ridiculous tome.

All I can say is that Ballsy is what the writer was when she pitched this book,and SUPREEMELY Ballsy when the publisher stuck a $14.99 price tag on it.

I wish I could give this 2.5 stars. I'd read a bit about the author and was intrigued by her style. This is the first book of her's I've read. I have no doubt that she is quite talented, but this book is only half finished. I read the whole thing in 45 minutes. Not because it was a page-turner, but because it was basically fluff with no ideas. She gave 'tips' and then offered no ideas or solutions. She just put a summary after each tip, but how hard is it to summarize a 1-2 line tip? I'm not quite sure that this is the fault of Ms. Salmansohn. I looked at other books by the same publisher. They were similar in that they were light information and heavy on distracting graphics.

I read the other reviews and may be in the minority as I don't think I'm the target audience. I bet Karen is a wonderful writer, but the book really left me aggarvated that I pad for it. I don't feel as though I received much from it.

I love this new business book -- it's bold and to the point - with truly helpful techniques -- and it puts you in a psyched ballsy state of mind right after reading it! Thank you to the author -- who's book HOW TO BE HAPPY DAMMIT is a gift I keep giving to all the important people in my life. Now BALLSY will also be a gift I want to give!

This is certainly a page turner. Fun and funny. Then it's done and you have no idea what you wasted your time on. Not that it took much time.

I simply love these kind of books written by sales people and marketers. They get me to buy a book that just isn't worth the price. But it sure looks cool and gave me a few laughs.

If you mostly read books for entertainment value this book is for you. If you read them to actually learn something useful, leave this one be.

Cheers,
Jeremy

Some of the advice is silly and doesn't make sense to me, but other advice is very good.

Each page spread has a tip and a summary; sometimes the summary seems to have nothing to do with the original tip, and I wonder how the author made that jump.

But it's a very visually pleasing book to read, because each page has a unique design. That is my favorite part.

This book is a fun read and reminder of a lot of things you may already know, as well as new info. you can use to get your career in high gear. The creative layout also makes it a great gift book. I enjoyed it very much.

I loved this book for its aesthetics; it is beautifully over-designed and I spent a good while admiring its visuals. But after the initial attraction wore off, the book and the author didn't have much to offer. This is just a collection of trite motivational maxims without any practical information. Beautifully presented, mildly amusing but ultimately useless.

Have read most of her books. Read them to the kids. Fun sayings, easy to read and apply. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this one most of all for its breezy approach to the topic. Although some of the tips missed the mark in their attempt to be snappy, the collection was well thought out and beautifully presented from the graphic arts standpoint. Many people were looking over my shoulder at the illustrations. It was both an affirmation that I had been doing some things right and a wake-up call to work on a few things as well. Anyone who sells anything from intellectual property to "widgets" can benefit from the advice here. I particularly like the way that the issue of time was dealt with here; workaholics, and those with poor time management , or overly needy clients will love the tips. Moreover, it reminded me that my mornings really need to be harnessed and helped me reassess my network ( broken and maintained) .

I gave it one less star because some of the tips are a bit repetitive, but then again, there is a tip that readers restate their main point in order to be well understood .

Highly recommended for the modern professional eager for self-help that gets to the point!

This book was a lifesaver -- given to me by a friend who know I was having some tought times. I read the book very quickly. Its fun and to the point. There were many helpful tips like how to cold call and when to best cold call (early in the mornign and late at night when assistants are not around and bosses with bigtime work ethic are there to answer their own phones.). I loved this book and recommend to anyone who is feeling stressed out and confused about their job.