Product Description
Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf.
Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses.
What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way. You'll learn how to be more productive, how to get exposure without breaking the bank, and tons more counterintuitive ideas that will inspire and provoke you.
With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach,
Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of "downsizing," and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Exclusive: Seth Godin Reviews Rework Seth Godin is the author of Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, and Permission Marketing, as well as other international bestsellers. He is consistently one of the 25 most widely read bloggers in the English language. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Rework:
This book will make you uncomfortable.
Depending on what you do all day, it might make you extremely uncomfortable.
That's a very good thing, because you deserve it. We all do.
Jason and David have broken all the rules and won. Again and again they've demonstrated that the regular way isn't necessarily the right way. They just don't say it, they do it. And they do it better than just about anyone has any right to expect.
This book is short, fast, sharp and ready to make a difference. It takes no prisoners, spares no quarter, and gives you no place to hide, all at the same time.
There, my review is almost as long as the first chapter of the book. I can't imagine what possible excuse you can dream up for not buying this book for every single person you work with, right now.
Stop reading the review. Buy the book.--Seth Godin
Customer Reviews
(223 customer reviews)
Great ideas and lots of inspiration, 2010-09-08
Lots of short chapters each with one key idea. Count me as someone who was not familiar with 37signals. I'm a fan now.
Many of the ideas won't apply to your business. So what was the last business book you read where that wasn't the case? Some of the chapters may leave you cold. That's okay too.
That leaves lots of gems. As an intentionally one-person professional firm, here are a few of the gems for me:
Everything is marketing. Every word on your web site, every answered call, even your e-mails are marketing. That is so obvious, yet I had never thought of it that way. After reading the book, I had the idea to rewrite the signature blocks on my email to increase visibility of one line in the block that is directly marketing. (Aha, that would be application of the last chapter - inspiration is perishable - do something while you are highly motivated to get it done.)
Out teach your competition. As a small outfit, you can teach, educate, and help your clients and potential clients easier than the big guys. I recently started blogging as a marketing approach and to help my client base. The out-teach-competition chapter gave me ideas for several series of posts beyond the updates and news I had already planned.
Sell your by-products. The recent blog postings by 37signals is marketing (see above), which is also building an audience (another chapter), and was then turned into this book, which is an illustratin of selling your by-products. Great idea! I need to think about how to do that in my firm.
Those gems for me may do nothing for you. Lots of other ideas that didn't do much for me may be the Aha! inspiration you need.
Be forewarned the authors sometimes use strong language. They do so to good effect, but if that is a concern for you then don't say you were surprised.
essential business reading for capitalists everywhere., 2010-09-07
as others have said, the concepts are clear, concise, and of critical importance to any business who doesn't completely own their market (everyone?). for much of the book, you could expand 'business' to apply to everyone with career aspirations -- you don't have to be an owner or Chief Something Officer.
the real beauty of the book is that it's anecdotal. this is not the end of all business wisdom, it's just a lot of really excellent experiential observations. I don't agree with every statement, but that's not the point. it gets you thinking. you second guess what you thought were business requisites. as with their S vs N posts, the ideas bring you back to common sense and away from MBA school.
you'll remember the lessons they've learned because they get right to the point. and if you forget something, just read the whole book again -- you'll be done by the end of the week if you're a slow reader.
if I were rating the illustrations (as a whole) I think I'd offer 3 stars at best. the style is fun and casual (like the writing). a few are fantastic and you'll want them posted 6 feet tall in your office. many, however, are just the chapter title written out in sketchy lettering (which is then repeated in type on the opposing page). not very helpful. the constraint of one illustration for every chapter (often as little as 1 page of text) did not add value to the project. I would've preferred a slimmer volume to all the graphic noise.
Eh, it was okay at best., 2010-09-07
If you want a quick read that confirms what you think a fairytale workday should be, then buy this book. It helps keep things in perspective instead of getting caught up in the details. But, if you're looking for an in-depth book with insights and true-life examples from other companies (instead of just 37signals) then don't purchase this book -- or just purchase a used one for less.
I found this book fine for a time filler. But if I really wanted to learn more about being a successful entrepreneur (or, "starter" as this book calls us), then I would have preferred a more intelligent book. By "intelligent," I mean something that peaks my interest beyond the pages.
The book is excellent - great advice for early stage entrepreneurs, 2010-09-06
This book provides excellent insight for launching and running a new company. The authors did a great job in conveying their wisdom for what works and why. Almost all the expressed concepts are rooted in common sense and practice... versus business theory. I highly recommend this to read for any early stage entrepreneurs or business owners.
An absolute must have for anyone interested in business, 2010-09-04
Simple, clear, and to the point. Rework is easily the best book I've read in awhile. I would HIGHLY recommend it to any entrepreneur or small business owner.
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