Customer Reviews

Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This book isn't as bad as some reviewers have written or as good as others have raved about. This book isn't for salespeople and because of that I was disappointed. This book is for professionals that have to "book themselves," such as public speakers, lawyers, accountants and the like. In some ways if you don't already know what this book teaches you better get a job. However, as the E-Myth points out there are plenty of people that are good at what they do but are clueless about how to get themselves business. If you fall into this category this is a good book to read and implement.

Port's book is long and at times wordy but a fun and easy read. There are diamonds here but you have to mine through a lot of ore to get at them. The book is well written and conversational. I can see why Mr. Port has a successful career. This book is perhaps a good first read if you're considering starting your own business or want to get more clients. For a solid and measurable program I recommend "Get Clients Now" by C. J. Hayden or "Get Business to Come to You" by Sarah and Paul Edwards.

I met Michael Port live at a conference and have heard him on several teleseminars. I've seen him on Sex and the City (he got to give a somewhat brotherly kiss to Sarah Jessica Parker after they lounge around the cushions of Bed Bath and Beyond.

Therefore I read BYS knowing that Michael Port is good-looking, charismatic and smart, with a warm, well-trained voice. He could read the phone book and sound convincing. And he's a brilliant marketer. Who wouldn't kill for package names like Book Yourself Solid and Think Big Revolution.

So readers approaching Book Yourself Solid may well be wondering, "Will hanging out with the Beautiful People make me beautiful too? If we take Michael's courses and buy his books, will we also become charismatic and wildly successful?"

Maybe.

BYS works best as an overview: what's involved if you're thinking of starting a client-driven website-based business. For a true newbie, or even someone in the started-but-struggling phase, BYS will give glimpses of what might be, not a stand-alone how-to.

I recommend starting Book Yourself Solid (BYS) on page 31. Chapters 3 and 4 are the best in the book and I would recommend the book to my own clients just to get those chapters.

Chapter 2, Branding, takes readers through a set of self-awareness exercises that (while a bit touchy-feeling) can help newbies differentiate themselves from the pack. Chapter 4, how to talk about what you do, showcases Port's strongest point: relate your business to the client's needs not your own processes.

Skip the pages of testimonials, which don't seem to come from people who actually used the BYS program as clients. I believe pages like these actually detract from a book's credibility (although the decision to include them may be the publisher's, not the author's).

Chapter 1, Red Velvet Rope Policy (now there's a brilliant phrase), will be helpful for those who have already started growing their businesses. Newbies take awhile to learn how to differentiate the duds.

Chapter 2, Finding a Target Market, offers good advice, but I would have liked to see stronger warnings against targeting a market that might have a need but not a willingess to buy. In my experience, choosing the wrong market is the number one mistake most newbies make.

For most of the rest of the book, Port presents a selection of mostly excellent tips and ideas. Apparently he (or his editor) had trouble choosing what to include and what to omit, so reading through the chapters can feel like seeing the world through a telescope that quickly becomes a microscope, and vice versa. For example, on the one hand, we're given great detail about the level of handshake to offer at networking events; on the other, we get a general list of networking groups with no how-tos for choosing among them. We're given detailed advice on choosing an article topic but a short paragraph on submitting queries to magazines -- a topic that has filled many books.

"Choosing a web designer" gets a short paragraph and a reference to the listing on the BYS resource site. I would recommend starting a website project with a copywriter (sure - I'm biased!)and making sure the design doesn't overwhelm the copy.

The BYS section on ezines includes a number of useful micro-tips, but I'm surprised Port didn't refer readers to Alexandria Brown, the Ezine Queen, the way he refers bloggers to Andy Wibbels. Some exercises seem a little forced: "What format would you use for your ezine."

And likeability -- a topic on which Port should be the quintessential expert -- actually gets only one example: a contrast between an outgoing on-time person and a careless person who arrives late. An author who ends teleclasses with, "I love all of you, and not in a weird way, I promise" can do better than that.

Finally, I would like to discover more about Michael Port himself. When a book's cover art is the author's full-length photo, readers expect biography. We do learn his father is a psychiatrist, he started working as an actor and he quickly became a business person with a Midas touch. But where did he go to college? What made him consider acting? And what obstacles did he encounter along the way?

Bottom Line: Most likely anyone who's selling a service through the Internet will find something of value here. It's more of a Michael Port sampler than a how-to book, a potluck buffet rather than a sit-down dinner. Delicious surprises, but you have to put them together on your own. A few items that should be served only to small dinner parties and yes, just a few that should have remained in the kitchen.

The idea Michael Port puts forth about integrity is eye opening. He teaches that, if you work for people whom you cannot serve with your full ability, you lack integrity. In other words, if you have clients who sap you of energy because they are not "your" kind of clients, you cannot do as good a job for them. This is enlightening - even if you don't fully agree with it, it makes you think about your clients and work in a different way.

Some of his ideas are available elsewhere, but I haven't seen a gathering of these ideas together into a system as well structured as this. I really believe this book is the best you can get if you're a service professional. I'm beginning to restructure some of my own marketing plans based on the lessons taught in the book.

As a final thought, the idea of attracting clients with a no-cost-of-entry offer that leads to a low-cost-of-entry offer that leads the client deeper into your solutions and offerings is worth the cost of the book times ten thousand. If you are a service professional selling your own services, you have to read this book this summer!

Tom Carpenter, Author: Wireless# Certification Official Study Guide and CWSP Certification Official Study Guide

I've just finished Book Yourself Solid, and then checked out the reviews on Amazon. My jaw dropped. I can't believe people gave this book 4-5 stars. I started to wonder if I was reading the same book as these folks. A slick sales job promoting many of his products and websites under the guise of offering information, the only person this book helps is Michael Port.

Michael misses at a number of levels in this book by either going too deep into information ("have a firm handshake"; "have a website". Wow! Thanks, Mike), or by not going deep enough "have an affiliate program.")

Unless you're intested in lining Michael's pockets with more money, I would recommend avoiding this book. Or, if you use Michael's approach as a template for your own business, that'll work too ... if you can avoid the pitfalls.

After seeing the last review, I must ask: Did We Read the Same Book Yourself Solid??? I not only have a marketing and sales background, but I have read almost all the books on getting clients for service professionals, including CJ Hayden's book and the works of Harry Beckwith. Not to mention Seth Godin, Michael E. Gerber, Robert Middleton and other marketing experts. Obviously, Michael's style is remarkable - and that unique approach prompted the support of Tim Sanders, Michael Gerber and Seth Godin. Taking a unique and novel approach will always attract some scoffers, yet that does not speak to the work itself, but about the preferences of each individual reader.

Book Yourself Solid has transformed my business and the businesses of my clients. Why? It helps service professionals get it right from the start - by building a strong foundation, a core message and a clear picture of the clients they want to serve. And, unlike many marketing books out there, Michael has demystified what it means to market your services. As a business coach, I have observed that the large majority of coaches and consultants despise the idea of having to market and sell their services. After discovering Michael's Book Yourself Solid principles, my whole perspective shifted. Now, marketing and selling is something I truly enjoy - because it means that I am reaching out to the clients I am meant to serve. Book Yourself Solid not only teaches you the marketing strategies every successful business owner knows, but it invites you to pursue you true calling by standing in the service of others.

Businesses especially small businesses expect employees to do more than their main job and this often includes sales and marketing. Book Yourself Solid contains activities that business people most likely already know. However, Michael Port brings these activities together and organizes them using lists and questions to help the reader find the answers.

The author writes that he gathered the ideas from multiple resources to build his Book Yourself Solid system. Port shares first-rate advice like dropping clients that sap your energy leaving you with more stress than enthusiasm. Let go of clients? How can you afford that? Think of how much work you'd finish if you enjoy working with every client. Maybe you'd be able to add a few more by letting go of deadweight clients.

The book provides guidance to find your target audience. Anyone who has read books and researched the target market thing may be skeptical about discovering new information in this book. Port breaks down the process of selecting your target market into doable steps, something few resources do.

At times, the book starts reading like those "hyped up" sales materials you see online or in infomercials. In spite of this and a bit of off the mark advice, the book is a worthy and useful read. If you check out Port's web site, you'll encounter this hype. Don't let the web site influence your decision to read this book. The book and web site have little in common.

Small business owners and employees will find the book's ideas simple to understand and easy to put into action. In fact, they're most likely doing some of the activities, but the author takes the activities a step further with the goal of booking more clients.

The book benefits business people who want to make marketing and sales an everyday part of their job for a couple of hours a week. Some especially new businesses and service-based businesses will value the book as it saves time that's involved with trying to determine how to do marketing and sales.

The owners and employees of client-based businesses often end up doing it all, providing the service or product, managing the office, and handling sales and marketing - often the entrepreneur's least favorite chore. Now, you can learn to love it or at least to do it well with less pain. Author Michael Port cites many applicable marketing activities that you probably already know about, but he pulls them together in an organized manner supported by lists of questions and answers. He begins with the foundation of your business, including your motivation and area of specialization. Then he teaches you how to build credibility with clients. Next, he covers marketing and outreach, including tactics for promoting yourself. The book's concepts are easy to grasp and implement, including advice for conquering online marketing. You may already be carrying out some of these strategies, but this book can take you to the next level. We recommend it to those who want new clients badly enough to make sales and marketing a regular part of their jobs for a few hours a week. If you are a new entrepreneur, this resource will help you learn the art of rainmaking.

Book Yourself Solid is a primer in building a professional services business. Michael takes you through his client-tested approach to grow your business step-by-step. He doesn't make any get-rich-quick promises. Just the opposite. Through a systematic do-a-little everyday approach you'll see how 90, 180, 360 days from now your business will be booked solid.

Michael's chapter on becoming "known for what you know" is some of the best advice I've received. The chapter reads like your sitting with your business coach.

Make an investment in yourself and your clients. Get on the Book Yourself Solid program.

Book Yourself Solid gave me all the tools I needed to take a leap out of the corporate world and into my own business. Michael talks to the reader in a voice so friendly you think you've known him forever, and his enthusiasm never flags. You don't have to know anything about marketing and selling to follow his excellent written exercises and action steps. I've read the book and now I'm ready to work through the exercises with confidence about my ability to find ideal clients and book my time as solid as I want it to be. I especially appreciate the variety of strategies for promoting myself, everything from how to network to how to keep in touch. Michael makes it clear that you don't have to adopt every strategy--just the ones that are aligned with your own strengths. And his approach steps your though the stages of building a clientele. You can follow these stages whether you're new to self-employment or are needing to build your practice.

And here's what makes this book different from all the others I've read about marketing and selling: Michael's method is built on trust and personal integrity. The point of Book Yourself Solid is to let other people know how you can help them, how you can partner with them in a mutual relationship of trust. This book is not about manipulating but about honoring your gifts in the way you approach future ideal clients. I recommend it to anyone just starting out or anyone who needs a different approach to finding and keeping ideal clients.

If you think you've read or heard everything there is about marketing and sales, guess again. Michael's Port's Book Yourself Solid program is a remarkable, standout system in an already crowded genre. What makes Michael's book unique, though, is Michael himself. In a phony, "look at me" world, Michael is one of the most genuine, straightforward people I've ever worked with. His passion and belief in what he is doing comes across in everything he does, and when he tells you that you can do it, too, you have to believe him.

Reading Book Yourself Solid is like having a personal conversation with Michael. He walks with you every step of the way, answers all your questions (including ones you didn't know enough to ask), and puts you on the road to success.

If you're a solo-professional or small business owner, NO MATTER WHAT BUSINESS YOU'RE IN, you're crazy if you don't buy this book. It's the only one you need.

Joan Schramm
The Workplace Solutions Expert
Turn your workplace crisis into workplace triumph!