Enterprise Books

This book is a great reference guide and is very easy to read. Anyone thinking of starting a business in crafts should be encouraged to read this book!!

This book definitely earns five stars. Its easy to understand, inspirational and great for people just getting started in the craft business. I felt she was talking right to me. I've been hesitating for a while about starting a craft business and have been inspired to go ahead and go for it. I found this book extremely helpful.

This book was very useful when I was starting my business. I really like the design of the book it is very cute. I also like the stories and interviews of small business owners. I plan to keep this book as a reference.

This book is amazing, it covers business forms, what to bring at craft fairs, how to name your business, advertising, publicity... you name it! I bought one to share, but I had to have my own it's so valuable. Thanks!

What a motivator! This book is jam-packed full of good advice for starting up your own art/craft-related business. In the midst of a major DIY and craft movement, this book is just the ticket for anyone who has ever thought, "Hey...I could do that."

As an graduate from a fine arts college, I left school feeling overwhelmed about how to make it on my own. Taxes, laws, startup, recordkeeping -- it was all a blur, too much to handle at the time. But now I have (almost) everything I need in one little handy book. And trust me, I had looked everywhere for a book like this.

The interviews are great offered me the most insight for starting up a business. Much of the marketing advice was pretty common sense to me, but might be helpful for those who have no idea where to start. And of course, the design of the book is wonderful. Pardon me for a moment for focusing on aesthetics, but the rounded corners and simple graphic design is very appealing!

I would actually be interested in seeing another volume of this book that would be entirely about legal issues and recordkeeping -- this is the area where most of my questions are, and Craft, Inc. just grazes the surface of it. It would be awesome to read a simple, no-nonsense guide to business and legal matters, written in the same clear and entertaining style of this book.

This is a fabulous book! Right up there with Radclyffe. Great story! You won't be able to put it down. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Fast paced and tightly written.

The hero, Jo, is one of the most entertaining and well defined action heroes I have read. I could read 30 novels with her as the main character.

The scenery and location are vividly written.

The romance is lovely and warm.

Don't miss the sequel 'No Ocean Deep' that picks up 3 weeks later.

Jo is the skipper of the SeaWolf. Cadie and her partner's friends spend their vacation with Jo and crew. Cadie and Jo have a special deja vu going on and their hearts and minds are one. But beware of the witch...oh I mean senator Naomi (Cadie's partner).

Between booze, drugs, mobsters, the action doesn't stop. The end is sweet!

Jo Madison is a yacht skipper who squires tourists around the Great Barrier Reef area in Australia. Jo has a violent past that she has walked away from - almost. Her latest group of guests are a US Senator and her entourage. There is an immediate attraction between the skipper and one of her clients.

Cate Swannell has written a first-rate story. She slowly builds the attraction between the skipper and her client. She has the environment be a strong character in her story so much so that you feel the heat of summer in Australia. She has characters that you love and characters that you love to hate. You find yourself cheering for the couple, and when Jo's past shows up literally on her doorstep, you turn the pages so rapidly it creates a breeze.

If you like your stories to slowly unfold, your characters strong, your setting stunning, then this is the book for you.

The main characters may look like the TV characters, and some of the general characterization is similar, but you quickly forget that you are reading an Uber and are drawn into the human dynamics. The complexities of relationships are not glossed over, and you sure wonder how you are going to get that happy ending, but Cate comes through. Australia Bonus: The location is a character in itself.
Smart writing, clean plotting, fast paced action. And lovers who you are rooting for. This book has everything you could ask for in a lesbian romance.

Definitely on my recommended book list. A must read for women in business.

Susan Bock
The Success Coach for Women in Business
www.SusanBockSolutions.com

A fabulous book full of insight into women who are creatively self-employed and employed for companies and adding a feminine touch.

I am enjoying this book very much. I don't feel so alone in my disappointments and revelations about owning my own business. It is nice to read about other women's choices and how they run their businesses. I realize now that I am doing everything the best I can, even though I am flying by the seat of my pants most days. I have also picked up another book called "Zero to Zillionaire," by Chellie Campbell. She is one of the women interviewed in "How to Run your Business Like a Girl". Both are excellent reads and I highly recommend them.

I enjoyed this book very much, especially since one of the profiled entrepreneurs has a very similar business to what my dream is; it was a surprising peek into the work I aspire to create and integrate into my daily life.

As far as information goes, this is not an all-encompassing "what to do" to check off your list as you go about starting a business; but rather, an uplifting and inspiring read that affirms the burning desire within yourself to launch a venture of your very own. Wanna-be-business-owners need to be inspired from time to time as our very creative natures overanalyze details to the point of discouraging ourselves from even making that first step.

Upon beginning the read you are welcomed with the profound statement that if you have a strong desire to start a business, very few things will satisfy that desire, other than starting a business. What a refreshing thing to hear! - that I am not simply obsessed for some odd reason - reading this book helps me come to an understanding of my own entrepreneurial spirit.

We all long to make our mark on this world in some small way, and for some, that mark is to create a company from one's own passion and ideals and vision. At the VERY least, this book is a must-have to reach for again and again for inspiration.

This was a nice book. It points out that women and men typically have different motivations for starting their own businesses. The author says men are usually starting a business for their healthy ego and to make money. And women instead start a business so they can have more control in their lives. There might actually be some truth to that - at least for the older generation of men and women who start businesses.

I'm actually part of the younger generation of men and women born in 1962 or thereafter. And I don't think men and women (my peers) are all that different today when starting a business. Both sexes in my generation are faced with job opportunities that lack security, pension plans, and wages that can be lived on comfortably. Both sexes are faced with escalating gasoline prices without a commensurate jump in their salaries. And both sexes are competing for the same jobs. Both sexes are quitting the corporate world and starting their own businesses today because they see more opportunity AND CONTROL in doing that instead of collecting a W-2.

This book talks about the unique strengths of women, and the author may have a point there. But I don't think (1) trusting intuition, (2) focusing on relationships, and (3) putting more emphasis on life balance are strengths that women have a lock on.

But what men of my generation have an abundance of is male role models in business. And the wonderful thing about this book is that the author has interviewed a few successful women entrepreneurs and documented their stories so women in my generation can read the book and benefit by hearing from female role models in business. Female readers can gain words of wisdom from other women who have been there and done that. And that's what makes this book so good. 5 stars!

PS. A nice companion book to this one is Small Business Big Life (ISBN: 140160336X). Consider giving it a read.

What have different thinkers said about capitalism during the last 250 years? That is the topic of this book. The author is better at describing certain thinkers (e.g. Smith) and you wonder why others were included, but that always happens in a book like this. Overall the author is very knowledgeable and interesting

Where this book REALLY STANDS OUT is the engaging style of writing. It is a sheer joy to read this book. That is not always the case even if you like a book. So even if you are just moderately interested in the topic, I could fully recommend this book. It is excellent.

This is essential reading for anybody who is seriously interested in the tradeoffs between capitalism and socialism. As Hugo puts the matter in "Les Miserables", socialism is a great system for distributing wealth, but poor for creating wealth. Capitalism is a great system for creating wealth, but poor for distributing it.

Muller documents very well, and very fairly, the fact that this basic conundrum was well understood by most thinkers since the 18th centry. Muller presents the various solutions proposed by thinkers from all sides of the political spectrum to solve the conundrum.

In a way, the book is depressing, because it shows that all possible solutions have already been thought of, and tried.

This book is an amazing book and goes through and discusses exactly what many of the previous economic philosophers believe. Muller writes this wonderfully, and is typically an easy read. I wouldn't mind reading this book for fun actually.

This is a remarkable book. Besides the usual variety that appears in most books on economic thought (Smith, Marx, Keynes, Hayek, Schumpeter) it includes a nice selection of non-economists such as Voltaire, Burke and Marcuse. Muller is a master of situating intellectuals in their respective context and presenting them in lively detail. Having read Voltaire's "Candide", it was remarkable to find out about his personal adventures with financial speculation. When dealing with Smith, Muller takes pains to retain all the nuances, such as Smith's claim that division of labor, no matter how productive, could make human beings "as stupid and ignorant as it possible for a human creature to become". As Muller is a specialist on conservative thought, his treatment of a variety of criticisms of the market by conservatives is very intriguing. Furthermore, although chapters are written in a way to make them independent of each other, Muller links them nicely using common themes and referring back to already discussed, older ideas. One of such themes is the identification of capitalism with Jews. One might find it surprising how old and often recurring this identification was in European thought.

My main qualm regards Muller's treatment of the left. Although all of the selections are understandable (Marx is a must, Lukacs is representative of 20th century communism and easy to juxtapose with Freyer, while Marcuse is representative of the New Left), large strands of interesting left-wing thought are omitted. Karl Polanyi who wrote the classic about the industrial revolution and the nature of the market ("The Great Transformation") and who seems like a perfect addition to such a book is only mentioned in one of the hundreds of footnotes. Anarchists seem non-existent. The reader might walk away with the feeling that the only things the left has to offer are nagging and central-planning. In the meantime, Hayek and Schumpeter - classical liberals with overlapping ideas (e.g. the role of the entrepreneur) are both given separate chapters. On an unrelated note, some might find the treatment of Keynes inadequate as well. In the first page of the Keynes/Marcuse chapter, Muller states that "[Keynes] provided an economic rationale for governments to try to actively combat unemployment by raising the level of government spending" (p. 317). You will hear the same reductionism in an intro to macro college course, but Keynes' insights were way more nuanced (the role of uncertainty - see: Duncan Foley's "Adam's Falalcy"; the need for a fundamentally different monetary policy - see: Allan Meltzer's and Geoff Tily's work) and often cannot be described as "Keynesian" (or rather, what came to be viewed as "Keynesian").

Despite these flaws, this is a very well-written, insightful and stimulating book. If you are interested in the history of economic thought and more broadly - the different attitudes toward the market economy, make sure to check it out.

The world of capitalism is presented to us through the eyes of the greatest European thinkers. Muller examines the relationship between the individual and the state though the prism of the marketplace tapping into the writings from thinkers such as Adam Smith, Marx, Voltaire, Schumpeter and Hayek. The depth and breath of this economic treatise on the marketplace presents perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum while taking the time and care to place that thinker's perspective within its proper historical context.

The thinkers that are tapped into come from a very broad swath of history. Their perspectives trace how western civilization left the feudal period where commerce and finance where frowned upon as immoral or dirty and how Europe eventually developed market-based institutions that we are so familiar with today. This book clearly shows how thinking men viewed the development of markets and how societies dealt with the social and moral benefits and costs of markets. Muller also describes how different societies in different time periods came to different conclusions on how a market should be regulated and managed as a result of the efforts of these great thinkers.

The way we operate today is linked inextricably to the past. Market-based societies are a product of western European history and culture. The answer to why things are like today can be found in the past and Mueller provides the key.

Professor McMillan has written an eminently readable book on the markets. He uses short sentences, rarely makes use of technical jargon and has thrown in numerous real world examples. As a reader, you will be surprised with the sheer depth of material that he covers.

It is a real pity that he passed away in March, 2007. Perhaps, if he were alive today and were inclined to update this book, he might have added a chapter on Google and its search/ads market place; maybe, even commented on the recent brouhaha surrounding on "Cap and Trade" systems (which have been installed to reduce carbon emissions but in turn might reduce growth!); and most important to me, he might have thrown in an analysis of the role of speculators in oil markets. But all of this is mere speculation on my part because Professor McMillan is no longer with us.

He spends the first half of the book exclusively on the five aspects that are needed for designing a market. They are:

1. Information must flow smoothly.
2. Competition must be fostered.
3. People who form the market must be honest and stand up to their end of the bargain.
4. Property rights must be protected but not overprotected.
5. Side effects on third parties must be reduced.

I've decided to commit these principles to memory as I design my market simulator.

a fantastic review of the idea, basic history, and pros and cons of market economies. McMillan writes in a very accessable and yet erudite way, and his personal experieces (which he shares) demonstrate his authority on the subject. In looking for a good, basic introduction to macroeconomic ideas this is a helpful read. If you ever encounter leftist or rightist ideologues or a college student who is enticed by communism (a great IDEA, even McMillan agrees), this is a good reference book to silence unfounded criticisms. McMillan is empirical in his reasoning and his potent examples from history and real life are very helpful.

I hope I can express how excited I am about this book. As an economics amateur, I recommend this book to anyone with even a sliver of interest in politics, international development, or contemporary social issues. John McMillan's book, Reinventing the Bazaar, presents in a logical and detailed manner the inner workings of markets: both their strengths and weaknesses. McMillan demonstrates very compellingly the idea that markets and all of their necessary appendages are simply tools used to facilitate efficiency. In his words, "the market system is not an end in itself, but an imperfect means to raise living standards. Markets are not magic, nor are they immoral." Usually the goal is increased economic efficiency and therefore increased standards of living, but those same principles which promote efficiency in markets will increase efficiency almost anywhere they're properly applied.
The key, he explains, is to establish the framework and the rules in such a way that the principles acting through the actions of the market participants can work to create an efficient outcome. It's basic economic theory to state that markets are the best way to coordinate the actions of millions of people, but McMillan explains further. Those essential building blocks of market economies, that is prices, and the pursuit of profit, and competition, are necessarily sustained by a good market design. Good "market design" he explains, entails well defined property rights, the free flow of information, and other critical ingredients. In today's modern and incredibly complex economy, more often then not this requires that the government take some hand in establishing this efficient market design.
One of the most exciting things about this book is that I truly feel it gave me a rational basis on which to judge government policies. If anyone, from the right or left, has any desire to gain a greater grasp of what constitutes good public policy, I recommend they read this book. For example, both China and Russia have privatized in the past several decades but with completely different results; chaos and economic stagnation in Russia while smooth growth in China. The difference is how they implemented their market policies. The same with an example of California's privatization of energy in the 1990s; inefficiency and price gouging because of stupidly designed government policies. McMillan's point is that some things work, and other things don't. The key is to have the right supporting market conditions, either by government policy or by culture, or else the market economy can't work.
Anyways, this book is amazing. Click the button, buy it, read it, ponder it deeply, and walk away with a new perspective on the world around you.

Well organized, very well researched, surprisingly readable prose for an academic, and a well balanced mix of case studies from a wide variety of actual markets and more abstract reflections based in good part on these studies. I'm not giving it the full accolade of 5 stars because of some repetitiousness and a "target audience" problem: most readers will either find themselves reading relatively long passages that teach them nothing new (if they're already well-grounded in microeconomics) or else faced with some concepts that are pretty hard and not adequately taught in this book (if the readers lack any previous study of microeconomics) -- that's a difficult problem to solve, and I don't claim to know a solution, but Professor McMillan hasn't found one either. Nevertheless, I'd recommend the book to all levels of readers, as just about everybody will get many useful notions and ways of thinking from it, and it is, all in all, quite pleasant to read from cover to cover.

I had never expected to give a 5-star review to a book about markets. But this book is a very even-handed description, favoring a case-by-case approach to "market design". Government is neither all bad nor all good, and markets are neither all good nor all bad, in this view. Nor does McMillan wrap markets in the mantles of politics and/or religion, a la Milton Friedman, George Gilder and others. The writing style isn't as felicitous as Tim Harford's "The Undercover Economist", which covers a lot of the same economics theory as this book; nor is this book quite as quick a read. But it has more real-life examples and more intellectual depth overall, while still being very much a popular, non-technical book. Like Harford's book, this one gives orthodox neoclassical economics theory (Arrow-Debreu, equilibrium, supply and demand, and other "Econ 101" stuff) more credence than it merits, but McMillan's pragmatism and professional humility somewhat compensate for this defect. Sadly, John McMillan passed away in March 2007 from cancer while still in his 50s. This book assures us that such a reasonable voice won't vanish completely -- which is lucky for us, since such voices have always been in short supply.

I bought this book because in my business, if you don't prospect regularly for new clients, you won't be in business for long and I wasn't prospecting.
When I got it, I thought I was afraid of rejection but what I learned is that I'm afraid of success. Did that ever piss me off! Now I'm in action and prospecting 2.5 to 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. I learned that I didn't have a fear of rejection at all. I could care less if someone said no. They probably aren't qualified anyway. What I thought was fear of rejection was something else entirely.
This book could be largely to credit for saving my career, one that I really love. It's a simple book, very helpful and I'm thankful to the "force" for leading me to it. Go in peace!

Are you sitting in front of the phone, but can't stand the thought of making your daily sales calls? Are you extremely nervous before a speech you must give tomorrow and afraid someone will humiliate you? Are you feeling down because a customer criticized your product? Feeling bad because you've been voted off a desert island?

Dealing with rejection is something we all need to learn. Successfully bouncing back from rejection and staying in the game is crucial to success in business and in life.

If you are looking for ways to strengthen your resolve, confront rejection wisely, and bolster your self-confidence, I highly recommend "Starting from 'No'" Jaffe identifies some of the underlying psychological reasons we fear rejection, including 1) A fear of not being liked; 2) A fear of being humiliated; 3) A fear of success which might force us to "abandon our comfort zone" and 4) A fear of financial disaster.

For each fear, Jaffe offers self-tests and projects to see how badly the reader is affected by the given fear.

For those who fear humiliation, Jaffe suggests taking an acting or dancing class, or even trying stand-up comedy. Jaffe says you should confront your fear where you objectively have little at risk and can afford to look silly. The newfound confidence will probably transfer into your business dealings.

Jaffe hits a key point, when she gives her best advice about public speaking, "When you look out at that huge sea of faces and you are scared to death about your performance, shift your focus from trying to impress the audience to how you can best serve them. When you take the focus off of yourself and place it where it belongs-on the client-you will be much more effective."

Today, this is the hallmark of performance psychology. Once we start worrying about how well we are doing, we won't be at our best. Just as an actor or athlete watching and judging his performance won't be "in the moment," self-preoccupation only makes us more susceptible to feeling rejection and bringing it about.

One of my favorite chapters discusses finding what motivates you in your business. It discusses the value of strengthening your motivation for success to help you overcome difficulties and rejection. Jaffe writes about positive motivation (moving toward a dream goal, for example) and negative motivation (moving away from something, needing to prove your worth to others, for example).

However, rather than just saying negative motivations are bad, Jaffe shows us how some negative motivations can help propel a person toward success. It is a matter of accepting a balance among all of the forces motivating you.

Jaffe writes, "Although positive visualization and goal setting is essential to business success, the drawback to positive motivations is that they can be vague, elusive, and not powerful enough to get you to do what you need to do today to succeed." Too true!!

Peter Hupalo, author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"

This is a great book, with many helpful business ideas. What is great about this book is that in every chapter there is a section that says try this, and some of these ideas are very good and ideas that I am looking forward to trying.

There is much I like about Azriela Jaffe's writing, but what I admire most is her up-front honesty. She uses examples from her own life & from her family to 'tell it like it is'.

There's no writing as though she's a guru on high dispensing wisdom that's nothing more than theory.

When you read anything from Azriela, be it her books, web site, or newsletters, you get a very clear picture of the woman behind the words.

"Starting from 'No'" is a workbook filled with self-tests, charts, checklists, worksheets, quizzes, tips, & strategies. Everything is backed-up with examples, stories, and real life experiences. The suggestions for working though problems are down-to-earth and do-able. No 'pie in the sky' for Azriela.

And the examples come from small business people, sales people, home-business owners, writers, consultants, coaches, and more. These are real people, like you & me, who have come up against the same fears, problems, & rejections & lived to tell about it.

Chapters cover:

=> fear of rejection & why rejection is just the word we use for fears of all kinds -- failure, success, humiliation, approval (or lack thereof), and more

=> how to make yourself rejection proof. What concrete things can you do to overcome the fear that cripples you?

=> what are your limits? Can you stretch them? Are you taking on more than you can handle & setting yourself up for failure?

=> the power of your mind. The only thing you have to fear is fear itself -- now who said that!?

=> resiliency & flexibility -- do you know when to hold fast & when to give in? Do you see yourself as a victim? Do you see negative situations as everyday occurrences, use them, & move on?

=> maintaining detachment -- take a step back & assess situations.

=> asking for referrals, building rapport, keeping yourself motivated, & knowing when to take a break.

=> staying in the game -- do you know the difference between temporary setbacks & when to throw in the towel?

Shall I go on with more examples? Nah. Just know there's much more.

I found so much useful information in this book. One section that caught my attention while thumbing through the book is what Azriela calls "The Jaffe 3-5 Rule".

Many of us were taught the '3-Foot Rule'. It means that anyone within 3 feet of you is a possible prospect.

Talk about pressure! I never could figure out how to bring up products while standing in line at the post office.

Azriela rejects this notion, too. Her '3-5 Foot Rule' has no pressure attached & reads like this:

"To prosper in your business, focus your efforts on no more than three to five major target markets, using no more than three to five primary marketing tools, and making the most of your three to five greatest business skills. Be sure you spend your time in three to five major business responsibilities, and if possible delegate the rest." (p. 144)

You're not left in the dust after this statement. Azriela walks you through a step-by-step way to implement the idea so it'll work in your specific business & situation.

Then she shows you how to draw up a chart so you can see what needs to be done & then prioritize your tasks.

I'm not categorizing this book. It's not self-help, though it has those aspects. It's not strictly a management book, either.

Let's call it a success book. It will prepare you for the pitfalls of running your business, show you how to avoid them, and, if you do get caught, how to get out of them.

I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed...

I loved this book. Not only was it interesting and easy to read, the suggestions offered were y useful for life's rejections as well as business. I appreciated the self-tests at the beginning to help me analyze what I am most afraid of (i.e. cold calling, rejection from a friend) and suggestions on how to deal with these. The cartoons were delightful and the "Try this" section at the end of each chapter gave me specific goals to work on to deal with the fears. I admire Ms. Jaffe's openness about her own family's difficulties in starting a business and appreciated the stories gleaned from 120 interviews with business owners. This book was recommended to me by a fellow intrepeneur and I will certainly pass it on to others. Deb K.

I bought this book and another for my father. He was on the USS Enterprise during his time in the navy and has recently started reading old war books. Great price and arrived very quickly. My dad was happily surprised when he opened this gift. I don't expect he'll ever read the whole book but he's read bits and pieces of it since Christmas.

This is one of the best books ever wrote on WWII. I wish it could have gone more into the actual deck operations but you cannot really fault the auther. What astonishes me most is the number of times pilots understood that they had no fuel and would have to ditch into the ocean but still pushed on watching there friends and squadron mates go down in battle. I recommend to everyone.

Two sections in this book stand out in my mind. One was the section talking about the crew as they enter Pearl Harbor immediately after the attack. You could feel the emotions as you read about them and you could imagine how they felt as they saw the destruction. The other is the ending. It was almost as if the author were writing about the death of a person instead of a ship.

This is a very well writen book about a very important ship in our history. There are not too many ships that have the record of the Enterprise and there probably will not be too many more like her. The book reads like a novel instead of a historical book and it breathes life into the ship and her valiant crew.

If you enjoy WW2 History. Specifically US Navy genre, it can't get any better than a book about a ship whose name will live forever(and deservedly so). Got an old 2nd hand book years ago and it remains my prized book.

I absolutely adore this book, and am on at least the third copy I've owned, having worn the others out.

CDR Staffor has written an absolutely magnificient tome. He covers both the scope of the War in the Pacific, and the exploits of the Enterprise herself very thoroghly and in incredible detail.

I've always been interested in the Enterprise, especially considering that my dad was a pilot in the last Air Group ever assigned to the ship.

Her story is the story of the pacific, and the coming of age years of naval aviation. The early giants of naval aviation commanded her, and the greats of this horrible war flew from her decks, and helped to build her legend.

This book is one of the pillars that must be read in order to develop a thorough understanding and appreciation of the war in the Pacific.

It's just a great shame that the campaign to save her from the scrapper's torch failed. It's ironic that the ship that the enemy could never destroy ended up losing her life to a torch a few hundred miles from her birth place.

Having been a start-up company within the past twelve months, BREAKTHROUGH NETWORKING was the perfect guide in developing my personal networking style and identity. Lillian Bjorseth provides clear and easy-to-apply examples of "How to Introduce Yourself" and "How to Work a Room," among many others. I'd recommend it to any businessperson interested in either defining or revising their business identity and actions to maximize success.


Dino Romano
President
www.GreaterCashFlow.com

Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships that last - delivers huge and is considered a must read for the Progressive Intelligence, LLC members. Each page is loaded with an infinite amount of wisdom creatively outfitted with substance that provides you the understanding to unlocking the whole premise to life - building relations. This is one of those books that you most definitely will keep reading over and over again, as you continue to build your networking arsenal in your quest for certainty in your business and personal lives. This book was so inspiring that it has caused to seek further into Lillian's intellect and experience, where we found, and were inundated with a wealth of information not only during numerous seminars, but through her various other books and publications. Thank you Lillian for helping us set the foundation of Progressive Intelligence, LLC as we continue on making our social contribution in society.

Ryan J. Lewandowski
Chief of Sales and Marketing
Progressive Intelligence,LLC

Now in an newly updated and expanded second edition, Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last by syndicated columnist Lillian D. Bjorseth is a truly "user friendly" guide to building networking skills in order to control one's own career path and uncover bright future prospects in an era where corporate cradle-to-grave job security is a thing of the past. From presenting the best possible personal image; to staying in touch; to engaging in ice-breaking activities; to dealing with gender-specific discrepancies, and a great deal more, Breakthrough Networking is particularly recommended reading for aspiring and practicing free-lancers in any vocational category or job level.

Breakthrough Networking offers practical, hands-on suggestions for building on networking and communication skills. I have found it a useful and informative resource.

"Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last," by Lillian Bjorseth, addresses problems that many people have with meeting people, building relationships, and projecting a professional image. In an era where cradle-to-grave job security is a thing of the past, it is beneficial to continue building relationships throughout your career.

"Breakthrough Networking" makes it easy for anyone to network. Bjorseth discusses different networking styles, and through a series of questions about everything from appearance to desktops to office enhancements, the reader can establish his or her own networking personality type. Bjorseth addresses each networking style separately, listing strengths, weaknesses and suggestions for improvement. This personalized approach helps the reader understand how to effectively communicate with other networking styles.

In addition to networking styles, "Breakthrough Networking" also examines the effects of the personal and printed images. Bjorseth explores the positive and negative connotations of different colors, gender-specific discrepancies, and even the importance of seating arrangements.

Another valuable tool is Bjorseth's insight on setting networking goals. She includes checklists of questions to help readers refine their target market and networking strategies. Also included are suggestions on how to find groups to join in order to build a networking pool and how to get more specific results from those suggestions.

Bjorseth also includes a section of ice-breaking activities, games, and workshop exercises to flex the networking muscles such as "Networking Bingo" and "Networking Poker."

"Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last" is a guide to networking and building relationships from which anyone, regardless of profession, will benefit.

The recipient was very pleased with this book. The large type was ideal for those well into the golden years.

Great heart warming stories. This is my second copy. Gave the first one to a special friend

Bought book for my 88 year old mother. The large print enables her to read and the great stories and the humor kept her interested in this book. She really injoyed this book and now I have started reading it also and find it to be delightful.

It will bring tears to your eyes ... from many touching stories and a couple that will make you laugh til you cry.

Easy to read ... thought provoking, entertaining. Open the book anywhere and find a interesting, heart warming story.

Some stories will make you appreciate your blessings, some will make you look at life a little differently and some will just entertain you.

Something for everyone.

My mom bought me chicken soup for the kids, preteen and preteen 2's soul. I fell in love with the series. Well, my Grams and Grandpa's anniversery was coming up so I thought a rose bouquet, a card, and a chicken soup book would be perfect. I looked for a chicken soup book that would be for 60+ people and I found this! It's just great. But one thing thats not true: Anyone can read this and enjoy it! I am just a kid and I liked it. My grandparents definetly liked it. I recommend this book for everybody!

Nice looking guy, but no nudity, and all the pictures are of him. This wasn't stated in the sales literature....was expecting maybe many guys, with the photographer's name being Lue. They were unclear.

When I received the calender in the mail that I purchased I was very satisfied. My brother is the biggest fan of Survivor, but I didn't realize hot hot Dan is. He is so good looking. This calender is going next to my bed on my wall so that when I wake up, I can look at him. I was very much satisfied with the calender.

This is one cool calendar if i had a nickle for every really cool calender i saw i wouldn't have many but i'd have one for this because its cool

This is one hot calendar! Definately a must buy for all the guys out there. The photos of Dan are great. My favorite pictures are January thru December.

I don't really watch Survivor, but I have been searching for a calendar with hot Asian men, and I FINALLY found it! Daniel Lue is soooo hot and I love that no only is he half naked in the pics, there is a picture of him in a suit...He looks good with and without clothes!