Book: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Author: Seth Godin

The Pearls

1) Inspiring if you create content for a living, “Linchpin” is about creating your own success by putting in the emotional labor of an Artist in everything you do. It’s an amalgam of other, more innovative works, like “The Gift” and “The War of Art.”

2) The first half of the book is an argument for becoming a Linchpin. If you don’t need to be convinced that you are awesome, then start at page 150 to get into Art as a gift.

3) It feels contradictory, on the one hand Godin disparages the industrial systems of better, faster, cheaper. On the other he praises people who master the system and victimize the other folks who can’t ( or won’t) work their way out. From page 86, “The real artists are the people who dreamed up this system…But not the painters. They’re virtually helpless victims of a large system that pays them very little for the talent they bring to work each day.”

The Transcript

Talmadge Boyd : Hi, everyone this is Talmage Boyd and I just got done reading LINCHPIN by Seth Godin and Linchpin is about success.

Talmadge Boyd : It’s about engaging the emotional labour of an artist in order to escape being a cog in the mass industrial complex.

Talmadge Boyd : He does spend the first half of the book making arguments for Linchpin, so things really don’t start getting good until about page 150 where he brings in the gift culture using art as a gift, which is really not a new idea but it is an integral part of this argument for being a Linchpin.

Talmadge Boyd : I find the book inspiring yet, contradictory because in one instance he will say that we need to throw away the complex but at the same time the artist, the true artist engages those systems and actually creates systems that victimize the very people that are subject to the complex and need to escape. So I find that contradictory but you know I am not a great smart guy like Seth Godin.

I just read books.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Title:The Benefits of Looking Ahead
Source: www.archive.org
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Producer:Coronet Instructional Films

Title: Design For Dreaming
Source:www.archive.org
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Producer: MPO Productions

Title:Applause
Source:www.archive.org
Collection: Ourmedia
Producer: Apple

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Book: Professional Services Marketing: How The Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success

Author: Mike Schultz and John E. Doerr

The Pearls

1) If you are looking for facts and evidence to prove the effectiveness of marketing and lead generation for PS firms, then this is the book for you.

2) For branding help, work through Chapters 8 – 14. It will give you a step by step approach from Value Props to One-sheets.

3) Great list of resources a the beginning of the book for your inbound marketing efforts.

4) It is a little dense and not a quick, skimmable read. You’re going to have to commit to it.

The Transcript

Hey, this is Talmadge Boyd and I just got done reading “Professional Services Marketing” by Mike Schultz and John Doerr.

If you want an argument for lead generation for professional services, then this is the book for you.

It is absolutely filled with facts and figures from the Wesley Hill’s group as well as RainToday.

It is a little dense; you do have to work your way through it in order to get to the meat, but there is a great list of resources at the beginning, and there’s a really nice section in the middle about branding, which really helps me rethink the way that I’m doing a lot of different things.

It gives you a step by step approach from thinking about your core competencies and your value props, and then all the way down to the messages.

So, great job by these guys. They have been doing this well for a very long time and they really know what they’re talking about.

Hey, this is Talmadge Boyd with TalmadgeBoyd.com and I quite literally have things in my head, but I know you’ve got some pearls of wisdom to share as well and I’d love to hear them.

So, drop me a line at www.TalmadgeBoyd.com or get on the RSS feed.

Love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks, bye-bye.

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Book: Get Seen, Online Video Secrets To Building Your Business
Author: Steve Garfield

Steve Garfield’s book, Get Seen is absolutely inspiring for the new content marketer.

Note: Steve is donating some of his books and will be speaking at VideoCamp Austin, which I am helping to spearhead. But, seriously, this is a great book.

The Pearls:

1) The depth and breadth of Steve’s knowledge is staggering. I don’t think there is a piece of new video software that he hasn’t touched.

2) The interviews within the book contain true nuggets of wisdom for creating video that gets found and shared.

3) Buy the book as a real, honest-to-god, book. You’re going to want to take notes and keep coming back to it as a reference.

The Transcript

You can download the Get Seen book review video transcript on Scribd.

TALMADGE BOYD: Hey everyone, it’s Talmadge Boyd, with talmadgeboyd.com, and I just got done reading “Get Seen” by Steve Garfield, and, whether you want to call him an evangelist, uh, or a prophet, the, the depth and breadth of knowledge that Steve has about online video is absolutely staggering.

TALMADGE BOYD: What “Get Seen” is really about is exactly that, right, it’s about you getting seen with online video, and, Steve’s premise is very basic and very fundamental, and that’s pick up a camera, figure out if its got video on it, and then go shoot something.

TALMADGE BOYD: And then, from, selecting that camera, selecting the right audio equipment, selecting the right lighting equipment, and then through the myriad of software that you can use to distribute, the book covers it all.

TALMADGE BOYD: He sits down with Amanda Congdon, with Izzy Video. I mean, he asks them, you know, what is the secret to producing video that gets found, or video that gets seen, and without a doubt, the resounding answer is, persistence.

TALMADGE BOYD: Get your video out there, get it distributed, but keep producing content. And, I think that comes back to his fundamental premise of: don’t be afraid of the camera, and just shoot something.

TALMADGE BOYD: This is Talmadge Boyd, with talmadgeboyd.com. I hope you enjoyed this book review of “Get Seen”, and have a great week.