The Way of the Guerrilla: Achieving Success and Balance as an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century (Guerrilla Marketing) [Hardcover]

Jay Conrad Levinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 1997 | Series: Guerrilla Marketing

The face of entrepreneurial business has changed drastically in this century. From the mom-and-pop undertakings of the past to the extensive workaholism and profit-seeking of the eighties to the current fashion of technological upgrading and employee downsizing, entrepreneurs have constantly been forced to reinvent themselves in an effort to adapt to marketplace changes. In The Way of the Guerrilla, best-selling author and entrepreneurial guru Jay Levinson guides both new and seasoned business owners into the next century, preparing them for the inevitable changes and helping to ensure their continued business and personal success. He covers everything from preparing a focused mission statement and hiring responsible employees to delegating effectively, responding to technological advances, and sustaining flexibility. It's time, Levinson says, to take another look at how guerrillas measure their success. By following The Way of the Guerrilla, enlightened and successful entrepreneurs wi

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

According to Jay Conrad Levinson, to flourish into the next millennium companies must encourage managers and employees to achieve equilibrium between their personal and professional lives while they simultaneously develop relationships with customers and suppliers that build trust and loyalty. The Way of the Guerrilla: Achieving Success and Balance as an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century outlines his blueprint for this corporate future through four distinct sections: The Goals, The Setting, The Tools, and The Secrets.

From Publishers Weekly

Levinson, who has written 12 books on various "guerrilla" business techniques, writes in a brash, staccato style, setting up and demolishing various 20th-century straw men-workaholics, for example. He postulates that 21st-century entrepreneurs will find success more assuredly than today's counterparts. The entrepreneurs of the future, he promises, will better blend work, health, family and fun, and they will enjoy the longevity required to appreciate their achievements. Levinson predicts customers will become all-important, and business will respond to and anticipate their every need, paying strict attention to quality and details. The author's dynamism carries the reader along, and he emphasizes that, to thrive, one must above all be flexible. And guerrillas never make changes simply for the sake of change. Balance is crucial: between changes and the status quo, between doing and delegating. Downsizing is key, from narrowing the focus of one's mission statement to decreasing the number of hours one works. Those looking to gear down from the fast track will find Levinson's encouragement bracing.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (January 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395770181
• ISBN-13: 978-0395770184
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,803,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of the best-selling marketing series in history, "Guerrilla Marketing", plus 27 other business books. His guerrilla concepts have influenced marketing so much that today his books appear in 41 languages and are required reading in many MBA programs worldwide.

Jay taught guerrilla marketing for ten years at the extension division of the University of California in Berkeley. And he was a practitioner of it in the United States -- as Senior Vice-President at J. Walter Thompson, and in Europe, as Creative Director and Board Member at Leo Burnett Advertising.

He has written a monthly column for Entrepreneur Magazine, articles for Inc. Magazine, and writes online columns published monthly on the Microsoft Website -- in addition to occasional columns in the San Francisco Examiner. He also writes online columns regularly for Onvia.com, FreeAgent.com and MarketMakers.com, and InfoUsa.com in addition to occasional columns for Guru.com.

Jay is the Chairman of Guerrilla Marketing International, a marketing partner of Adobe and Apple. He has served on the Microsoft Small Business Council and the 3Com Small Business Advisory Board. His Guerrilla Marketing is series of books, audiotapes, videotapes, an award-winning CD-ROM, a newsletter, a consulting organization, an Internet website, and a way for you to spend less, get more, and achieve substantial profits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Passion is the Way!, August 27, 2000

By 

Peter A. Kindle (Kansas City, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Guerrilla: Achieving Success and Balance as an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century (Guerrilla Marketing) (Paperback)

Levinson's fans will find this book particularly interesting. On the surface it purports to be a business book about guerrilla entrepreneurship in the 21st century, but in reality it is a statement of Levinson's personal philosophy of life. As one who has successfully escaped the confinement, regimentation and bureaucracy of the corporate world, he is one of my heroes. Reading this book may force you to confront your self-imposed limitations. Reading this book may move you to change the way you think. You have been warned - read this book at your own risk!

Levinson divides his subject into four subject areas: The Goal, The Setting, The Tools and The Secrets. Frankly, this structure is largely artificial. Almost everything he has to say is said four times in four slightly different ways. There is a great deal of redundancy and duplication, but like an evangelist, Levinson is not writing to inform, he is writing to persuade.

And the message that he is trying to get across is that your life is not your work. Work should neither control not dominate your life - your life should control and dominate your work. This book is not about how to make more money. It is not about how to organize your business, or how to work harder. This book is about finding your passion, focusing on your passion, and balancing your passion with the rest of your life.

Written in short chapters, the longest is eleven pages, this book is designed for quick, daily snack-like consumption. If you struggle to make it through each work day, read this book. If you end each week too tired to take your loved one dancing, read this book. If you dream about doing something more with your life, read this book. Levinson does not have all the answers, but I can guarantee that he will ask you the right questions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A usuable book on the future, February 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Rialto, Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Guerrilla: Achieving Success and Balance as an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century (Guerrilla Marketing) (Hardcover)

I've read dozens of books on the future of business and marketing. This is one of the best. Levinson understands the net, thinks like a business person and has suggestions to implement. He won't blow your mind with new ideas... but will show you how to do some things better.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars inspirational but some times lack of consistence, November 1, 2005

By 

Vinicio Valencia (MIAMI, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Guerrilla: Achieving Success and Balance as an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century (Guerrilla Marketing) (Hardcover)

I live in a country that has a guerrilla in the past and also I have been experiencing the "oportunity" to be entrepeneur, so I was kind of curious about this book. I'm sorry to say but the book is far beyond reality. My appretiation is that this book can make sense only if you have "good will" clients and teach you to work in the same way. Where is the "surprise" factor? where is the "unpredictable behaviour" change that reflect all the well know guerrilla methods? If I had wrote this book I should have included something like "attack with surprise, exploit their weaknesses, make everything unpredictable and sustain your position with the best quality while reducing to zero your opponent's abilities". Doing things in the guerrilla way is as following Machiavelo, Napoleon or even Mao Tse. The idea behind guerrilla is to make everyone follow a "system" not a person, so there is an outstanding advice in this book: mutiply yourself. It is really good because a lot of entrepeneurship books talk about YOU making everything while this one advice can make your business have long continuity depending on other's people efforts (as it call "the network"). I found most of the frustation while becoming a entrepeneur is managing your cashflow, standing invoices, delayed payments and the need sometimes to accept a low rate in order to get the project. I call this "fat cows" and "thiny cows". This book is not about how to manage your "thiny cows" period or procedures in order to avoid being less paid than you want, or even more procedures to get your money right on time. I don't know if such book exists but the real life teaches you good and bad experiences. If you're thinking global be sure things are not easier outside your country (or even in your own country, for example dealing with government projects). It's not a glamourous world and your profits won't come regularly during the first or the second one year of operations. Unless your mind is been set with some kind of evilness doing business, you'll dissapear soon. So, I think the book needs more consistence on this idea.