Selling the Dream (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Evangelism is the process of convincing people to believe in your product or idea as much as you do..." (more)
Key Phrases: tactical enemies, conceptual enemy, conceptual enemies, Windham Hill, The Body Shop, National Audubon Society (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Kawasaki, a writer, consultant, entrepreneur, and former product manager for Apple Computers, offers a new selling concept that he calls "evangelism." He defines this as "the process of convincing people to believe in your product or idea as much as you do." Drawing on his own experiences promoting the Macintosh computer and the case studies of both profit and nonprofit organizations, Kawasaki analyzes the characteristics of successful evangelists. Among them are: MaryAnne Schreder's Centre for Living and Dying, Mary Furlong's SeniorNet, Anna Roddick's The Body Shop, and Bob Hall, manager of product planning research for Mazda. Kawasaki presents guidelines for finding a cause, preparing a plan, writing promotional material, and recruiting and training. Appendixes include the Macintosh's original product introduction plan, a bibliography, and a list of sources. This is recommended for public and academic collections who should also own Kawasaki's The Macintosh Way (Scott, Foresman, 1989).
- Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Clearly expresses what it took us years of mistakes to learn. I would have paid many times the cover price to read it ten years ago." -- Steve Jobs, president, NeXT Computer

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (August 3, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887306004
• ISBN-13: 978-0887306006
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #238,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book in Need of an Update, March 3, 2004

By	C. T. Mikesell (near Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I recently attended a conference where Mr. Kawasaki was the keynote speaker. He gave an excellent presentation, and because he writes like he speaks this is a very good book.

Unfortunately, what keeps it from being a great book is that it was written in the early 90s. It needs a Second Edition to look at what went wrong in the dot-com era, for instance, and whether more (or less) corporate evangelism could have made a difference. It also needs to analyze the Mac Product Introduction Plan and address what went wrong (or at least acknowledge that the document had some flaws in predicting the outcome of the Apple-IBM war). Some Twenty-First Century examples of how corporate evangelism still works would be helpful, too.

The book has a very light tone. If you're a fan of the Dilbert (anti)management books, you'll appreciate Kawasaki's approach. Occasionally the anti-IBM bias strikes the wrong chord (especially since very few of the jibes are directed at Bill Gates and Microsoft). Apple takes its lumps too, mainly in the area of their corportate structuring.

Coming from 1991's perspective, the examples in the book are showing their age. Should a new edition be published, including the suggestions noted above, expect it to be a four- or five-star book. As it is, it's a nice, relatively-inexpensive read that demonstrates there's still hope for the Davids of the world to overcome their own personal Goliaths.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but over hyped, July 14, 1999

By	Troy Glasner "pamtroy" (Canada) - See all my reviews

Selling the Dream is an excellent book and so don't mistake what I am about to say. I think Guy, as he points out in his book, had his Macintosh buddies write the first three reviews. While Selling the Dream is a good blueprint on what to sell and what to do in an "In Search of Excellence" way, it lacks "How" factor - as Geofffrey Moore said about Crossing the Chasm -- and I paraphrase - this is WHAT to do and Inside the Tornado was HOW to do it. Selling the Dream needs a part 2 - the HOW.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If A Journey of 1000 Miles Begins With The First Step:, March 29, 2001

By	Jamey Key (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...this book should get you about 150 miles down the road real quick. If you are about to undertake a major project, no matter what, this book will give you some inspiration and encouragement. Again, he speaks in concepts more than laying down a numbered list of steps to follow which is why his ideas will still apply many years from now. This book seems to be written specifically to those in a non-profit organization, but the principles can again (like most of his books) apply to anyone, anywhere, doing any kind of project requiring lots of hard work and who are looking for an edge or will consider using some unconventional thinking. Heck, Im pretty lazy and wasnt really looking for a project to work on, but after reading this book, Im ready to GO FOR IT. Out of my way, Im going to conquer the world now!! (I liked it)