Monopolize Your Marketplace: Separate Your Business from the Competition - Then Eliminate Them

In 1994 I decided that I needed to learn as much as possible about sales and marketing for my business. I met Dan Kennedy at a seminar and he inspired me. I studied everything I could, trying to find my way with no clear direction until I heard about Monopolize Your Marketplace through a radio advertisement. Since then I've become a raving fan. The concepts and ideas in this book work. The Marketing Equation works. The concept of reticular activator and using hot buttons in headlines will make a huge difference in the response you get from any advertisement. The deal is this. It aint easy. But, once you "Get It" a whole new world of success will open up. Mr. Harshaw has got to be one of the greatest marketing minds ever and I'm not drinking MYM cool-aid.

I can only guess that the initial reviews are from former disgruntled employees or associates. The only negative I could find was the lack of examples. There were several, but the examples had a "hand picked" quality to them. Now for the good stuff. Harshaw's explanation about why advertising has changed over the last 50 years is absolutely spot on. His explanation as to why advertisers go for slogans and jingles is lucid and well written. His "Marketing Equation" is a clever twist on the A.I.D.A (attention interest desire action) formula. But it is so well put together that it reads as a new idea. Assume this book is $25. For that price you get several proven ad examples that can be used as templates, a complete method to create profitable headlines, a complete system for writing ads that will keep you from wasting money in unprofitable advertising, and a damn good read. For most advertisers, this book is a brisk slap in the face that will wake them up to what marketing IS. The only point I may dis-agree with is his method of advertising that pulls in everyone despite where they are in a buying cycle. On the surface this seem like THE way. But if you direct your advertising to the customers who are almost ready to buy, you will get slightly lower results at a much lower cost. His method is more useful for direct mail than for retail. He concentrates on lead generation to build a list that will buy with several contacts. This is very useful for direct mail offers, lead generation for a sales force, or a high end retail store. Where the "these methods won't work" reviews come from, I don't know. I've been using almost exactly the same copywriting methods for several years in my retail business with phenomenal success. My strong suspicion is that the people who say these methods don't work, have never tried them. Added 01/13/10 I would also recommend The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual Subtitled; How to use Newspaper, Direct Mail, Radio, Cable TV, Yellow Pages, and other advertising ... profits in your retail or service business. This covers advertising from a different angle.

This book is packed with real world advice, principals and strategies to grow you business, no matter what size it is. The bottom line is you have to be willing to DO IT! We have applied only a few of these concepts into our business and are finding it to be the most comprehensive, cost-effective system for growing our business and increasing revenues we have used. As a side benefit it has helped generate more successful operations too. This powerful system provides business innovation and strategic marketing in a systemized approach.

Too many books and journals purport to be the one true authority on business success and performance. The only problem is that pubs like Harvard Business Review and Fast Company are rich in style and theory, but pretty bare on application. This is where Harshaw's book stands tall. Rather than wax eloquent on marketing strategies and boring best practices in business, Monopolize Your Marketplace leads you through strategies that are not only easy to implement but that work! Monopolize Your Marketplace is an instruction manual for people who want to succeed in marketing and elminate their competition at the same time!

I've always felt advertising and marketing fail for the most part, out of lack of consideration of the customer. According to Rich Harshaw, that's only half of the failure. It's vital to understand both the inside reality and accurately convey it so that customer's outside perception not only matches, but he comes to the unmistakable conclusion that you're the most logical choice to handle his business. Although I find most of the principles groundbreaking, I see the templates as useful tools. Not necessarily as guidelines handed down from God. It's useful to use the ideas along with proven advertising principles. The main thing is keeping your target audience in mind. MYM has groundbreaking principles to differentiate your brand, but it doesn't stop there. this meaty book is full of nuts & bolts, practical tools, templates, hopper and lead generation systems.... It's actually so full of ideas that anyone wanting to monopolize their marketplace would be an absolute fool to go looking anywhere else for this advertising and marketing toolbox.