Ashley G. Velez

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Book Review – The Boss of You

May 26, 2009 | entrepreneurial endeavors, press, Zona Rosa

Congratulate me – I finished a book yesterday.

No, I’m serious.

I haven’t finished a book since I read Jenny McCarthy’s book Belly Laughs over the Christmas holiday.

When I was working my old job, I never had the time to read. And when I did, I didn’t enjoy it, because it felt like work when I wasn’t mentally stimulated enough to sit and read.

So yesterday, stuck in the car on the way home from Florida for six hours, I finished a book. All 285 pages. And it felt great.

What’s better, is that book is invaluable to my entrepreneurial endeavors. It’s called The Boss of You by Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears, and they blog over here.
I bought the book back around the same time as Belly Laughs, and am now just getting around to finishing it. NOT, dear reader, because the book was boring. No sir.

To be honest, It made me anxious reading about creating this amazing business that I hadn’t actually hatched yet. It felt like I was paddling in the air rather than in the water. Thankfully, my layoff forced me to grab my paddles and get to the other side.

The Boss of You is outlined in easy-to-grasp chunks (i.e., perfect for a reader like me):

Getting Started
In which they try to help you define your vision

Marketing
Developing marketing strategies and helping you determine how to reach your target market

Growing and Maintaining
This section goes over hiring new employees and customer service practices

The marketing section was particularly helpful to me, especially the following, which I sticky-noted (taken straight from the book):

The super-important, priceless principles of marketing, according to us:

1.) It’s all about telling the world that you exist – and just how fabulous you are.

2.) Would you talk to your mother like that? Speak to your target market with an appropriate voice (It may not be the same one you’d use to speak to everyone else.)

3.) Don’ try to please everyone. Forget about the customers you don’t want. In fact, you may want a plan to get rid of them!

4.) One size never fits all: Not every marketing technique is appropriate for every business.

5.) Make your customers feel like they’re a part of something (a.k.a. brand your business).

6.) Once they know your name don’t let them forget it. Make sure your target market knows when you’ve done something new and/or noteworthy.

If you’ve read My So-Called Freelance Life or The Anti-9-to-5 Guide by Michelle Goodman, you should have a clear idea of how these ladies operate (Michelle is also highlighted in this book, and all three titles are published by Seal Press*). The book gave me a clear idea of what I have to do to jump start Literally Efficient without getting lost in a bunch of entrepreneurial jargon.

Once I finished it, I dove right into finishing My So-Called Freelance Life, hoping to break the cycle of starting a book, reading up to the second chapter, and then not finishing it.

*Seal Press is also the publisher of DESIRE, in which Connie and Rosemary are both featured.

2 Comments

  1. Lauren Bacon on May 26, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    Hi Ashley,

    Thank you so much for your very kind words about our book — it’s lovely to hear that you found it both helpful and readable. And it’s extra-lovely of you to take the time to write about us on your blog.

    Best wishes with Literally Efficient! We’re rooting for you. 🙂

    Lauren

  2. Ashley on May 26, 2009 at 8:21 pm

    Lauren,

    I’m a little starstruck! 🙂 Thanks so much for popping by.

    Happy to spread the word – I’ve got a few friends who are now itching to borrow the book.

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