Business Reviews

Synopsis: With £25,000 in his pocket from the sale of his flat, Conor Woodman travels across four continents, trading in all kinds of products with the aim of doubling his money.

Economist Conor Woodman used to buy and sell companies for hundreds of millions of pounds in the City of London. But even before the economy crashed, he’d had enough. He wanted to trade real things that he could touch and smell not just type numbers into a computer. So he’s chucked in the job, sold his flat and is off in search of adventure and fat profits on a round-the-world trip.

He’s taken £25,000 from the sale of his flat to invest in all kinds of products – animal, mineral and vegetable – which he trades across four continents and 16 countries. His aim is to make some serious money, but if it goes wrong, he could lose the lot.

Despite his City contacts, international trade proves hard for Conor. Unperturbed, his eventual deals include selling 4,000 bottles of South African chilli sauce to India; horse trading with cut-throat dealers in Kyrgyzstan and investing £5,000 in Chinese jade, confident he can treble his investment by selling to a rich Taiwanese collector.

Synopsis: Get the business leader's guide to using Twitter to gain competitive advantage.

Since 2006, forward-thinking companies like Apple, JetBlue, Whole Foods, and GM have discovered the instant benefits of leveraging the social media phenomenon known as Twitter to reach consumers directly, build their brand, and increase sales. Twitter is at the leading edge of the social media movement, allowing members to connect with one another in real time via short text messages called "tweets" that can be received either via the Twitter site or by e-mail, instant messenger, or cell phone. Many companies have started building entire teams within their organization dedicated solely to responding to tweets from consumers about their brand. And this is just the beginning.

In Twitter Power, Internet marketing and Web innovation expert Joel Comm shows businesses and marketers how to integrate Twitter into their existing marketing strategies to build a loyal following among Twitter members, expand awareness for their product or service, and even handle negative publicity due to angry or disappointed consumers. The book also presents case studies of companies on the forefront of the Twitter movement, to help you develop your own social networking strategies. Twitter Power is the result of extensive testing and participation in the social networking community and is a must-have for any business that wants to keep up with the social media movement. Twitter Power features a foreword by Tony Robbins.

Hot Brands Verdict
Without doubt Twitter has had a phenomenal growth in public awareness in a very short period of time. In this fascinating Book Twitter Power Joel Comm examines the growth of Twitter and how Twitter can be used in a business context. His very comprehensive content includes the following:

An introduction to the Social Media Landscape
What is Twitter and Why is it So Powerful ?
Getting Started the Right Way on Twitter
Building a Following on Twitter
The Art of The Tweet
The Magic of Connecting with Customers on Twitter
Leveraging Twitter for Team Communication
Using Twitter to Help Build Your Brand

And much, much more, including A 30-Day Plan for Dominating Twitter
and a Directory Of Twitters.

If you are intrigued by the potential of Twitter, you will find this book fascinating, it really is a very helpful A-Z of how to get the best out of Twitter. Highly Recommended as an essential guide for every one interested in social media.

Buy Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time from Amazon.co.uk

Hot Brands Verdict:If you are looking for inspiration and want to learn from an expert, Mike Smith has been involved in the creation of several one billion pound businesses including FirstDirect and Egg. This is a very down to earth approach drawing on Mike’s extensive experience.

The detailed and helpful content includes how to move from dream to reality, how to use customer insight to generate ideas that meet customer need, how to get funding and how to create an action plan. Once you are successful and as your organization grows he shows how to create a powerful culture, how to build talented teams and how to inspire great leadership. Most businesses have rocky moments and there is a useful chapter on how to assess and manage that risk. The final chapter is a summary of the principles raised in the earlier chapters. This is a really useful and practical A-Z of how to take a business idea and make it successful.

www.findyourlightbulb.com

Hot Brands Verdict :This is a great book, Julie, a successful entrepreneur and mother offers the word “ParentPreneur” as a way of describing entrepreneurs who are also parents. In this book she provides a winning formula for everyone looking to embark on their own business adventure-or take their existing business to the next level-while still making time to balance a family life. She describes five key traits that give parents an edge in their careers, whether they are running their own business or working in a larger organisation: resourcefulness, perseverance, patience, passion and vision.

Julie has herself developed a multi-million-dollar business while raising her young children, she includes a wealth of practical advice on launching, growing and running an entrepreneurial business. One of the very interesting points she makes, is the similarity between parenting and being an entrepreneur is that you are building a legacy. As parents we want to raise children who are happy responsible citizens.

As entrepreneurs, many of us create companies that we hope will make a contribution to our customers, our employees, and our community. If you are a parent, or an entrepreneur, or want to run your own business, this book is inspiring, packed full of ideas, good advice and resources.

www.parentpreneuredge.com

Hot Brands Verdict This is an engaging, practical down to earth guide to running your own business. It covers business plans, raising finance, financial planning, getting ready to open, working capital, growing your business, premises, staff, branching out, preparing for exit and much more.

Martin Web presenter of Channel 4’s Risking it All has guided many new businesses through the start-up process. This book is a very reassuring hand holding guide to how to do it. Its also a very honest account of what can happen if you don’t get it right as Martin talks through his own experiences.

Full of practical examples and illustrations of key actions and ideas, this is a great book to get you started thinking about running your own business.

www.amazon.co.uk

 Hot Brands Verdict

Famous for his appearances in BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Duncan Bannatyne is also one of Britain’s most successful and unconventional entrepreneurs. We really enjoyed this book it’s a down to earth account of his childhood growing up in post-war Clydebank, and its like watching a  fascinating documentary as Duncan charts his life, from his early beginnings to his creation of very successful businesses.

It tells of his successes, his failures, his principles, and all the time its like being in an intimate conversation with him. It is a fascinating look at the life of the man we have come to know through Dragons Den, as well as a behind the scenes look at Dragons’ Den.

Available from >> www.amazon.co.uk

Hot Brands Verdict
This is an absolutely fascinating book, which we loved here at Hot Brands, Vajlgaard adopts a step-by-step approach to investigating trends; the difference between trend creators and trendsetters and how trends begin and grow. The book is packed with detail, but written in a very accessible style as he analyses how trends emerge and the famous and not so famous people behind them. Many our well known brands are analysed, giving the background to how they first evolved, for example Ugg boots were ‘originally created by shearers who wrapped Merino sheepskins around their feet to keep them warm’… ‘In the 1970s Australian surfers began using them to warm up their feet after surfing.

American surfers who had been to Australia also started wearing the boots in the 1970s. In 1978 an Australian surfer named Brian Smith went to the United States with a few pairs of Ugg boots in his rucksack. He tried to sell them in New York, but with no success, but when he went to Los Angeles he found his market”. Vejlgaard then goes on to chart the history of the development of Ugg brand and their subsequent adoption by celebrities. He uses this example to make the point “There are only a limited number of cities that have the characteristics that will make a trend spread nationally, or globally” He suggests that the cities that are the most influential in affecting global style and taste, are Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Paris, London, Milan, and Tokyo.

If you are interested in trends, this book is essential reading, we loved it and would highly recommend it.

Available from >> www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk

Synopsis We all face challenges in our lives which feel like boulders that stop us achieving our goals. It can be anything form feeling nervous when entering a room, to clearing up a misunderstanding, or trying to get our point across. All too often we react to these boulders by avoiding them, or pushing and shoving in the hope of shifting them.

Hot Brands Verdict
In this book Julia encourages us to deal with these obstacles to work around what we can’t walk through and make real changes in our lives. Full of wise advice, and step by step advice the techniques in this book can be used in a variety of situations.

There is also a very useful chapter about relationships including some valuable lessons about knowing when not to get involved with someone which is as relevant in a working relationship as in a personal one, and choosing when to walk away from a situation rather than confronting.

The final chapter is about managing silence, and how we need more of it in our lives. A great little book, full of wisdom.

Available from >> www.kylecathie.co.uk