Harry Beckwith

This was a very quick read. It reminded me of a lot of Malcolm Gladwell's work, which to me is pretty good. Harry Beckwith makes a compelling case with numerous examples and anecdotes to show that Americans and humans in general don't really think rationally when it comes to buying things. We follow trends, we like the familiar, but not the too familiar or it becomes boring.

In the book, Beckwith lists three main things we follow when buying things: Childhood, Culture and Eyes.

As a person that isn't a marketer, this book was interesting from the psychology standpoint, but I didn't really care about the tips for improving your brand or whatever.… (more)

About a month ago, my boss asked me to order this book for her. She'd heard it was life-changing. Every day at lunch, she'd read a couple chapters, often commenting on what she'd learned. When she finished, she handed it to me, telling me that I needed to read it to prepare for the marketing we're about to start for our office. As luck would have it, the office closed the following day due to about eighteen inches of snow, so I got the chance to finish it pretty quickly.

Selling the Invisible is a quick read. It's chopped up into tiny sections, each summarized with a compact piece of advice at the end. I had some concerns about whether this book would be relevant to my work in a doctor's office. I shouldn't have worried. Beckwith's advice is applicable to just about every industry you could possibly imagine.

Reading the book, I learned a lot about how prospects think. I was surprised that I'd never thought about marketing this way before. I am, after all, a prospective client for a lot of services. I'd just never thought about what it was that made me choose which service to go with. Beckwith's advice is a lot of common sense, but it's likely things you haven't thought about before.

There's plenty of good information in here. You'll learn how to attract a client. How to keep a client. How not to scare a prospective client away. How to differentiate yourself from your competition. How to develop your brand. How to sell something based on promises alone. It's very useful as a starting point.

Really, the only problem I had with it is that it's seventeen years old. In this day and age, social media marketing is hugely important. More important in most industries, at least, than advertising in trade journals and on the radio. Because of that, I felt that a lot of the information, though good, was outdated. It would be interesting to see the book updated with information on where to start with online advertising, and what to do in terms of getting set up on social media.

But all in all, it's a solid introduction to the world of marketing for someone like myself, with no experience in selling anything.… (more)