Prescribe a book to a bizmate

In my first book (Love Is The Killer App), I advocated sharing knowledge as a gift.

The best way to do that is to recommend great books you've read to your bizmates. Many times, those books offer highly relevant advice that solves a real business problem. If one of your colleagues is struggling with a leadership issue, recommend a great leadership book to them. Same goes for marketing or even management.

The key is that you've personally read the book and digested it. You believe the book has value for the person you are suggesting the book to. One of the best ways to recommend a book is to tell someone about the "big idea" of the book and a few of the actionable takeaways you got from it.

If you want to take this exercise one step further, buy the book you are recommending and give it to he/she as a gift. I've done this and the price of the book pales in comparison to the perceived value.

Comments

[Matthew Cornell]

Tim, this is an excellent, *excellent* tip. I've started doing this in the past few months, and it feels really good. And I've been humbled when I receive books from others.

And giving yours is one of my favorites. :-)

[Rob]

Tim,

A friend of mine did this to me with Love is the Killer App a few years back.

I am sure you have heard this before, but it has changed my life.

Of course, I have done this many time and agree the price is nothing compared to the value of the gift.

[Leah]

I did this before I read Love is The Killer App, but have done so with much more intention since reaing it. I'm in charge of a weekly global email to my entire company and quarterly I include book recommendations or reviews/summaries. I get a lot of feedback on those particular notes.

[Scott Cunningham]

Tim,

This is a great way to really impress your customers too. I've started giving away a book to all of my customers as a 'thank you' gift.

Since I help people grow their business by referral, I often talk about how I do that. In doing so, I give them some tips that they can put into use right away.

If I really connect with someone I meet, I'll sometimes just send them a great book on referral marketing.

This always blows them away!

Thanks...as always.

Scott