Millennials are the crucial consumers of today and tomorrow—and marketing to them requires a brand new approach.

The numbers cannot be ignored: eighty million Millennials wielding $200 billion in buying power are entering their peak earning and spending years. Companies that think winning their business is a simple matter of creating a Twitter account and applying outdated notions of “cool” to their advertising are due for a rude awakening.

Marketing to Millennials is both an enlightening look at this generation of consumers and a practical plan for earning their trust and loyalty. Based on original market research, the book reveals the eight attitudes shared by most Millennials, as well as the new rules for engaging them successfully. Millennials:

• Value social networking and aren’t shy about sharing opinions
• Refuse to remain passive consumers—they expect to participate in product development and marketing
• Demand authenticity and transparency
• Are highly influential—swaying parents and peers
• Are not all alike—understanding key segments is invaluable

Featuring expert interviews and profiles of brands doing Millennial marketing right, this eye-opening book is the key to persuading the customers who will determine the bottom line for decades to come.

Jeff Fromm is Executive Vice President at Barkley, with over 25 years’ experience working with major brands including Hallmark, Sears, and PayLess.

Christie Garton is a lawyer, entrepreneur, (and Millennial) whose U Chic Media company and best-selling college guidebook for women have received national attention.

NetGalley is a service for people who read and recommend books, such as book reviewers, journalists, librarians, professors, booksellers, and bloggers.

There are a number of different reading options for this e-galley:

• Quick Browse. Preview the galley using NetGalley’s web-based reader.
• Download Galley. Read a Protected (DRM) galley on your computer, Sony Reader, B&N’s Nook, Kobo Reader, or other device. You’ll need Adobe Digital Editions (free software). You can also read on your iPad or iPhone via the Bluefire Reader app.
• Kindle. Send a NetGalley file to your Kindle device, using your @Kindle.com or @free.Kindle.com email address. Make sure to follow the instructions here. Note: The Kindle button works for Kindle devices only. By pressing the orange Kindle button for a NetGalley title, you can send the file to your Kindle device. You will not be able to share that file with any Kindle apps (like Kindle for PC or iPhone).
• Email Publisher. This button will allow you to email the publisher directly to request a reading option not currently enabled.

You can find all of AMACOM’s e-galleys on NetGalley HERE.

You can review how to get AMACOM’s digital galley request approval on NetGalley HERE.

Why is it that some consultants and independent professionals have all the business they need, while others struggle? Is there a secret no one is telling you? There are plenty of experts who try to convince you they have one surefire method to build your business. But every one of those methods is different! How do you know which one is right?

Don’t despair — there are some simple answers. Here are three secrets to finding all the clients you’ll ever need.

1. Choose a set of simple, effective things to do and do them consistently.

A key to successful marketing is picking just a few things to do and then doing those things over and over. This is how you can build your business more quickly by doing less.

Imagine trying to fill a water barrel with a drinking glass. You’d have to keep running back to the faucet over and over. In marketing, this is like trying to use every possible approach at once: networking, social media, publicity, public speaking, article writing, advertising, etc.

Instead, why not use a bucket to fill your barrel? You can carry more water while making fewer trips. Rather than struggling with a dozen different marketing strategies, you could choose a simple plan. For example: attend a few live networking events, give some talks, and then follow up with those you meet. Use just three strategies: networking, public speaking, and following up. Your barrel of prospects fills much faster, and you’re a lot less tired.

2. Take advantage of the Persistence Effect.

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you get serious about marketing in a focused, consistent way. You begin to get results in unexpected places.

The phone rings, and it’s a prospect you spoke to months ago saying they are suddenly interested in working with you. You go to a networking meeting that seems like a complete waste of time, and run into a hot new prospect in the elevator on your way out. You get an exciting referral from someone whose name you don’t recognize. It’s almost as if the universe has noticed your dedication and decided to reward you.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these out-of-the-blue opportunities are accidents. There is a direct connection between the level of effort you put into marketing and the results you get out of it — even when it seems like the results are completely unrelated to your efforts.

This marketing phenomenon is so common that I call it the Persistence Effect. If you persist in making ten calls a day, every day, you will get business, but it won’t all come from the calls you made. If you consistently attend one networking event per week, clients will appear, but not necessarily from the events you attended. Don’t worry about why it works; just know that it works.

3. Ask the people you already know for help.

One of the most overlooked secrets to successful marketing is getting a hand from the people you already know. Maybe you are waiting to become more successful before telling people about your business. Or perhaps you have made up a rule that your personal life is supposed to be separate from your business. But the truth is that the people who already know you are likely to be the best contributors to your success.

Go through your address book, checkbook, holiday card list, club roster, and alumni directory, and count up how many people you know that aren’t yet aware of your business. Begin reaching out to those people with cards, letters, e-mails, or phone calls and let them know about what you do.

Treat these people as part of your network. Think of them a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. You can expand your network by asking the people you know who they know, and contacting the people they refer you to.

Always look for how you can make a relationship reciprocal. If you don’t know what the other person might need, ask, “What can I do for you?” Get a network of people out there working for you so you don’t have to work so hard.

To put all these ideas together, create a simple marketing plan that includes a few activities that you can do well, then use that plan consistently. Make sure your plan includes talking to people, not just launching a website and getting active on social media. The real path to success in marketing is neither trying to do everything nor limiting yourself to just one approach that someone tells you will do it all.

C.J. Hayden is a Master Certified Coach, popular speaker, and principal of Wings for Business, LLC, a firm that teaches self-employed professionals to make more money with less effort.

The face of business is getting a serious makeover.

More women are running major companies than ever before. While still far too few in number, these female heads of industry are the forerunners of a radical shift in power now underway. During the past few years, women’s groups have been coalescing in every major American city. Formidable ladies across professions are convening at unprecedented rates, forming salons, dinner groups, and networking circles—and collaborating to achieve clout and success. A new girls’ network is alive and set to hyperdrive.

Stiletto Network is about those groups: the “Power Bitches,” “Brazen Hussies” and “S.L.U.T.S.: Successful Ladies Under Tremendous Stress.” It’s about what happens when bright, extraordinary women—from captains of industry to aspiring entrepreneurs—come together to celebrate and unwind, debate and compare notes. But it’s also about what happens when they leave the table, when the talking stops and the action starts. It’s about how they mine their collective intelligence to realize their dreams or champion a cause, how they lift up their friends and push them forward, how they join forces to ensure each woman gets what she needs—be it information, an introduction, a partnership, or a landmark deal.

This is the first book to shed light on this groundbreaking movement. Sharing story after story of women banding together to help other women, Stiletto Network is both a call to action and an inside look at a better way of doing business.

Pamela Ryckman has written for The New York Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, The New York Observer, The New York Sun, and other publications, as well as Fortune.com/CNN Money. Prior to becoming a journalist, she performed strategy work for Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.

Achieving Intelligent Leadership
May 22, 2013
12:00  – 1:00 PM EST
Complimentary
Meeting Number: 17815-00001
REGISTER HERE

What makes a truly great leader?

In today’s business world of fast-and-furiously changing global competitors and precarious economic conditions, determining the answer to this question—and finding people who embody it or could—is urgent.

One of today’s most respected experts on identifying and developing high-potential leaders, John Mattone defines great leaders by the strength of their strategic and tactical capabilities as well as their character.

In this webcast you’ll hear about his unique leadership self-assessment and development tools and discover how leadership is built on a foundation of three equally critical components: outer-core competencies, inner-core values, and maturity.

Click HERE to sign up for John Mattone’s AMA Webcast.

John Mattone is the president of JohnMattonePartners, Inc., a global leadership consulting firm.  He has  written for The Huffington Post, CEO Magazine, CLO Magazine, CIO Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and Harvard Business Review, among others. Mattone teaches in the executive MBA program at Florida Atlantic University and is the author of Talent Leadership and Intelligent Leadership.

We want to know: who is the woman who most inspires you?

UPDATE: The contest ran from May 13 to May 19 and is now closed.

Four winners have been selected in a random drawing by AMACOM staff, and notified by e-mail.

The face of business is getting a serious makeover.

More women are running major companies than ever before. While still far too few in number, these female heads of industry are the forerunners of a radical shift in power now underway. During the past few years, women’s groups have been coalescing in every major American city. Formidable ladies across professions are convening at unprecedented rates, forming salons, dinner groups, and networking circles—and collaborating to achieve clout and success. A new girls’ network is alive and set to hyperdrive.

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered.

By 2015, millennials will outnumber boomers in the workplace. This is a must-have toolkit for the new generation of leaders.

Millennials mean business, and they are shaking up the workplace as they enter management roles for the very first time. They are tearing down the corporate ladder, communicating on the fly, and bringing play to work. Millennials are creative, big thinkers, and they will change the face of leadership—IF they can bridge the gap between the hierarchical management style of senior executives and the casual, more collaborative approach of their peers.

Manager 3.0 is the first-ever management guide for Millennials. They will master crucial skills such as dealing with difficult people, delivering constructive feedback, and making tough decisions—while gaining insight into the four generations in the workplace and how they can successfully bring out the best in each.

Packed with interviews and examples from companies like Zappos, Groupon, Southwest Airlines, and Google, Manager 3.0 will help these new managers enhance their unique talents while developing an effective leadership style all their own.

Brad Karsh is President and Founder of JB Training Solutions and JobBound, companies dedicated to helping professionals succeed. A workplace and generational expert, he has appeared on CNN, Dr. Phil, and CNBC, and been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today.

Courtney Templin is the Chief Operating Officer at JB Training Solutions, and a Millennial herself. She sits on the board of the Chicago Society for Human Resource Management, where she leads the Emerging Leaders Initiative.

NetGalley is a service for people who read and recommend books, such as book reviewers, journalists, librarians, professors, booksellers, and bloggers.

There are a number of different reading options for this e-galley:

• Quick Browse. Preview the galley using NetGalley’s web-based reader.
• Download Galley. Read a Protected (DRM) galley on your computer, Sony Reader, B&N’s Nook, Kobo Reader, or other device. You’ll need Adobe Digital Editions (free software). You can also read on your iPad or iPhone via the Bluefire Reader app.
• Kindle. Send a NetGalley file to your Kindle device, using your @Kindle.com or @free.Kindle.com email address. Make sure to follow the instructions here. Note: The Kindle button works for Kindle devices only. By pressing the orange Kindle button for a NetGalley title, you can send the file to your Kindle device. You will not be able to share that file with any Kindle apps (like Kindle for PC or iPhone).
• Email Publisher. This button will allow you to email the publisher directly to request a reading option not currently enabled.

You can find all of AMACOM’s e-galleys on NetGalley HERE.

You can review how to get AMACOM’s digital galley request approval on NetGalley HERE.

As a student in a master’s degree program, I am learning a lot about the library—especially that it is a much different place nowadays than it used to be. A professor in a class I recently completed took us to the Pratt Institute library for a tour. We all, including the professor, thought we were going to be shown around the stacks—for example, where the books and journals relevant to our subject were located. Instead, the librarian sat us down in a conference room, projected her computer’s browser on a screen, and proceeded to show us how to use various databases.

The librarian discussed which databases contained the information that was likely to be most useful to us and which were the most (and least) user friendly. We learned search techniques, including using a “thesaurus”—no, not a list of synonyms and antonyms for the purpose of aiding a writer but a database’s guide to preferred terms. For example, when looking for sources on “Business expenses” in the database Library Literature & Information Science Full Text, a quick search in the thesaurus advises using the phrase “Operating costs” instead. Therefore, checking the thesaurus before beginning a search saves valuable time that would be wasted by trying the wrong search terms.

CC Image courtesy of melanzane1013 on Flickr

Many databases are available from the New York Public Library’s Online Public Access Catalog, or OPAC, under the “Research” tab from the library’s home page. Some can be accessed from home as long as you have a library card, but for others you need to be in certain branches of the library. Two that are accessible from home are Readers’ Guide Abstracts and Readers’ Guide Retrospective (1890-1982). When I was in high school, we used The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature to find periodical sources by going to the library and taking the big green volumes, one for each year with articles indexed by subject, from the shelves. Now, though older print volumes can still be found in the Stephen A. Schwarzman building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue (otherwise known as the building with the lions in front), the online versions offer advanced searching capabilities. You can narrow your results by date range, preferred type of resource (e.g., scholarly journal or newspaper), and other factors (e.g., article or book review). Some results link to the full text, so you do not even have to go searching for them elsewhere. Others come up with an “abstract”—a handy summary that lets you know whether the article is relevant to your research.

One of my professors told a story about a study that was done where students were sat in front of computers and told to research a topic. When they were able to find the full text of an article online, they used the information from the article. When they found only the title or an abstract and were informed that the article was in a hard copy of the journal on nearby shelves, they typically stayed in front of the computer and went looking for another article rather than getting up and going across the room. I have to admit that, although I did make many trips to the library in researching my most recent paper, I ended up not using a promising-looking source that would have required a trip down to the Pratt Manhattan Campus library to dig up the hard copy. At least, though, thanks to the OPAC’s capabilities, I know it is there.

Erika Spelman is an associate editor and copy manager at AMACOM. She shepherds books through the production process, helps set house style, and serves as a resource regarding style, word usage, and grammar for the company. Prior to joining AMACOM, Erika worked as a principal manuscript editor at West Group and as a proofreader at Counsel Press.

Earlier Posts:
Erika on the Top Ten Copyediting Mistakes
Erika on Eight Things That Are Not Actually Copyediting Mistakes
Erika on an Associate Editor’s Role in Interior Book Design
Erika on the Noble Art of Proofreading
Author Tips: What to Submit with Your Final Manuscript

How Leaders Build Virtual Trust and Influence
June 5, 2013
12 PM – 1 PM ET
Complimentary
Meeting Number: 17817-00001
REGISTER HERE

Creating Trust and Trustworthiness in Virtual Relationships

Increasingly, managers lead teams that are part global, distributed, or virtual. Yet, traditional management best practices are based on high-touch, in-person techniques.

How do virtual managers build trust, engagement and influence without being physically present?

In this webcast, leadership development experts Charles H. Green and Kristi Hedges, explore how successful leaders are using influence best practices in creative and unique ways suited for managing in a virtual environment. You’ll hear “from the trenches” perspectives that explain common issues in leading virtual teams with concrete advice for solving the problems that arise from them.

As virtual management becomes the new normal, this webcast equips you with practical tools to be a trusted, present leader in any environment.

Click HERE to sign up for the AMA Webcast.

Kristi Hedges is an executive coach and leadership development consultant. Her proprietary presence coaching model has been utilized by clients spanning Fortune 500 corporations, global professional services firms, entrepreneurial businesses, national associations, and the U.S. government. She’s a leadership contributor to Forbes.com and Entrepreneur.com, and a speaker for Vistage International and The Founder Institute.

In the book trailer for Stiletto Network: Inside the Woman’s Power Circles That Are Changing the Face of Business, (coming out this month) author Pamela Ryckman discusses the nationwide trend of women’s groups – whether informal dinner groups or networking circles for business women – coming together to achieve success, change communities, and improve lives. Watch the trailer, and share it with one of the women in your network.

Get Clients Now!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals, Consultants, and Coaches by C.J. Hayden

“The newsletters or blogs of colleagues can also be good places to get exposure for your writing. Once you have had a few items published, you can graduate to better-known venues. Don’t rule out these tactics if you’re not an expert writer. A ghost writer or professional editor can help turn your words into publishable prose.” (page 24)

Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service, 3rd Edition by Chip R. Bell and Ron Zemke

“‘ How do I empower my employees?’ is a question as flawed as ‘How do I motivate my employees?’ It may even be more flawed since eliminating ‘boss control’ is at the core of empowerment and the ‘how do I’  part of the question, no matter how well intended, still reeks of ‘boss control.’ So where and how does real empowerment start? And what can a manager do to see that it starts at all?” (page 167)

The Performance Appraisal Tool Kit: Redesigning Your Performance Review Template to Drive Individual and Organizational Change by Paul Falcone and Winston Tan

“As you can see, the benefits of getting your employees into the mode of outlining their goals can  lead in some pretty insightful directions, and questions like these are healthy to share in general because they cause some well-deserved career introspection. In short, no one wants automatons who come to work  every day, clock in, beeline it to their desks, and then just perform rote, repetitive tasks. While some individuals will no doubt fit that profile, the real value and gift that the workplace offers true leaders lies in helping employees see their greater potential, volunteer creative and innovative suggestions (no matter how seemingly minor) and develop a greater awareness of the opportunities your company offers them. ” (page 129)

Stiletto Network: Inside the Women’s Power Circles That Are Changing the Face of Business by Pamela Ryckman

“Hyatt Esserman Research Associates was  one of the first market and social behavior research companies in America to focus on children, if not the first. Soon the firm had thirty-five employees, almost all of them female, and the bosses created a ‘lifestyle-friendly’ environment before such a term existed. After school and during vacations, they would set up two rooms with toys for their children. As kids got older, they put them to work, paying them to tally questionnaire results. Clients never questioned the presence of children in the office. In the late 1960s, Hyatt and Esserman noticed changes happening in the workforce. Suddenly, women weren’t available to do focus groups during office hours because they were working or going back to school. Hyatt started to get calls from women saying ‘I’m a friend of so-and-so and I need ten minutes of your time. I would like to get a job, or I’m thinking about starting my own business.’” (page 186)

Want to sample other AMACOM books? Check out our Random Quotes from New Books series.