From the bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind comes an exploration of the power of selling, which each of us does every day—whether we know it or not.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. More than fifteen million people earn their keep by convincing someone else to make a purchase.

But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales—but so do the other eight out of nine. Whether we’re entrepreneurs persuading funders, employees pitching colleagues, or parents and teachers cajoling kids, we spend our days trying to move others. Today, like it or not, we’re all in sales. Or as Daniel H. Pink puts it, everyone is in the “moving business.”

In this provocative book, Pink offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. He shows that sales, whether pushing a product or peddling an idea, isn’t what it used to be. Because of powerful economic changes, the glad-handing, truth-bending form of sales is a relic. In its place is a new approach to moving people that involves three very human qualities and four surprising skills.

As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Pink lays out the science for his counterintuitive insights, offers vivid examples and stories, and provides readers with tools to put the ideas into action. Smart yet accessible, bold yet well argued, this is the first book on sales for people who’ve never read a book about sales. It will change how you see your world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

The man Business Week calls "the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age" explains "Permission Marketing" -- the groundbreaking concept that enables marketers to shape their message so that consumers will willingly accept it.

Whether it is the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on the hope of snatching our attention away from whatever we are doing. Seth Godin calls this Interruption Marketing, and, as companies are discovering, it no longer works.

Instead of annoying potential customers by interrupting their most coveted commodity -- time -- Permission Marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily. Now this Internet pioneer introduces a fundamentally different way of thinking about advertising products and services. By reaching out only to those individuals who have signaled an interest in learning more about a product, Permission Marketing enables companies to develop long-term relationships with customers, create trust, build brand awareness -- and greatly improve the chances of making a sale.

In his groundbreaking book, Godin describes the four tests of Permission Marketing:

1. Does every single marketing effort you create encourage a learning relationship with your customers? Does it invite customers to "raise their hands" and start communicating?

2. Do you have a permission database? Do you track the number of people who have given you permission to communicate with them?

3. If consumers gave you permission to talk to them, would you have anything to say? Have you developed a marketing curriculum to teach people about your products?

4. Once people become customers, do you work to deepen your permission to communicate with those people?

And in numerous informative case studies, including American Airlines' frequent-flier program, Amazon.com, and Yahoo!, Godin demonstrates how marketers are already profiting from this key new approach in all forms of media.

The book that completes Positioning. . . 

Thirty years ago, Jack Trout and Al Ries published their classic bestseller, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind a book that revolutionized the world of marketing. But times have changed. Competition is fiercer. Consumers are savvier. Communications are faster. And once-successful companies are in crisis mode. 

Repositioning shows you how to adapt, compete—and succeed—in today’s overcrowded marketplace. Global marketing expert Jack Trout has retooled his most effective positioning strategies—providing a must-have arsenal of proven marketing techniques specifically redesigned for our current climate. With Repositioning, you can conquer the “3 Cs” of business: Competition, Change, and Crisis . . . 

BEAT THE COMPETITION: Challenge your rivals, differentiate your product, increase your value, and stand out in the crowd. 

CHANGE WITH THE TIMES: Use the latest technologies, communications, and multimedia resources to connect with your consumers. 

MANAGE A CRISIS: Cope with everything from profi t losses and rising costs to bad press and PR nightmares. 

Even if your company is doing well, these cutting-edge marketing observations can keep you on top of your game and ahead of the pack. You’ll discover how expanding product lines may decrease your overall sales, why new brand names often outsell established brands, and why slashing prices is usually a bad idea. You’ll learn the dangers of attacking your competitors head-on—and the value of emphasizing value. You’ll see how consumers can have too many choices to pick from—and what you can do to make them pick your brand. 

Drawing from the latest research studies, consumer statistics, and business-news headlines, Trout reveals the hidden psychological motives that drive today’s market. Understanding the mindset of your consumers is half the battle. Winning in today’s world is often a matter of repositioning. It’s how you rethink the strategies you’ve always relied on. It’s how you regain the success you’ve worked so hard for. It’s how you win the new battle of the mind.

Even if you've created marketing plans before it doesn't matter. The rules have changed. With the advent of Web 2.0 business strategies like Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking, Pay-Per-Click, and dozens more, it may seem like you need to start from scratch. But with the brand new and completely updated fourth edition of Bill Luther's classic "The Marketing Plan", you'll learn how to navigate this perilous new landscape while actually generating a working marketing plan for your business. By answering questions in each chapter, readers will identify their marketing objectives and deploy specific strategies for every stage of the marketing cycle, from competitive and market analysis to planning, budgeting, brand development, and management. Featuring case studies and examples from major brand successes of the last ten years, the newest edition of "The Marketing Plan" is undoubtedly the most practical and the most up-to-the-minute - marketing strategy resource available. Complete with access to online software to aid in decision making, pricing, budget calculations, sales projections, and more, this one-of-a-kind guide provides everything you need to produce an impressive and professional marketing plan.