Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Entrepreneurs, sales reps and managers, small business owners, home-based business owners, and those just plain interested in how the world works.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The book reveals the 12 attributes of “800-Pound Gorillas”, or the dominant players in any market who get the largest share of the business.  Whether you’re an individual looking to become a larger presence in your sales career, or a company that needs to find a different route to beat the competition, the stories and examples in the book will help you discover several ways to improve your status and success in the business jungle.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: My 25+ years in broadcast advertising sales, combined with the need to become a more dominant player as I went off to start my own company, gave me the desire to learn more about how others had become the 800-Pound Gorillas in their respective categories.

Through dozens of interviews, hours of research, and refining of the information, the 12 attributes of dominant players came to the surface.  The book has already helped many others to become a more dominant player in a wide variety of business categories.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The book is different than others because it explores several business categories no one has written about in great detail.  We’ve all heard about Starbucks, Google, and Wal-Mart; who’s the dominant player in the school bus sales industry, and what can an individual learn from their success?  How about nursing homes for underprivileged people?  Promotional specialty products?  Travel Websites for hotel properties?  The sports ticket sales industry?  These are just a few of the categories that are highlighted and revealed in this book – stories you won’t find anywhere else.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Successful corporate executives who, after 10-30 years in the business world, believe they may be ready to do something on their own but aren’t sure if they have “the right stuff” at the right time and want to find out.

Q: What is the book about?
A: As the American economic landscape shifts, seasoned corporate executives are looking at independent business ownership as a way to secure and control their futures, and franchised businesses are growing in their appeal.

But pouring a large amount of money into a franchise does not guarantee success. In this book, you’ll find out:

• How to determine if you can succeed as a franchise owner;
• What dangerous pitfalls to avoid as a buyer;
• The potential rewards of owning your own business;
• Whether or not the numbers make sense;
• Ways to raise money for your venture;
• And much more!

If you are tired of the corporate world and want to escape the rat race, then let Mitchell York, a successful franchisee and professional certified coach, guide you through the many steps involved in deciding whether or not to buy a franchise and how to do it right. As the former president of LendingTree Inc. and other major companies, he now owns a profitable and growing franchised business, and he’s sharing his secrets for success in Franchise: Freedom or Fantasy?

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), credentialed by the International Coach Federation, so I know how to coach people in a process like this. Moreover, I had a very successful corporate career myself, including being president of LendingTree Inc., so I’m not just a dillatante offering advice. And finally, I own a highly profitable franchised business myself, having re-invented the franchisor’s business model to suit my needs and in the process becoming its highest profit-margin franchisee. I am also a certified job search and career coach through a company called The Five O’Clock Club (www.fiveoclockclub.com), a national coaching and outplacement firm, so I am able to help people determine whether a business, or perhaps just a better job search, is the right path for them. I also am a featured blogger for www.AllBusiness.com, writing about franchising, and I write my own blog at www.e2ecoaching.com

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Other books tell you how franchises operate but not whether the entire concept is right for you.
This is the only book that targets successful corporate executives as potential franchise owners.
This is the only book written by a former senior executive of a major corporation who traded pinstripes for a Hawaiian shirt and a tiki bar, and who is also a certified business coach.

Q: Anything else we should know about this book?
A: The author offers a no-cost consultation with readers who may be thinking about business ownership after their corporate careers to help them determine whether it is the right path for them, and if so how to proceed on to success.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: The target audiences are primarily those individuals who have an interest in the economy, finance and/or investing and are or may be personally financially impacted by the state of the economy. The secondary market includes those who would like to learn about the finance and investment world and/or are interested in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures within finance and/or real estate.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Standing in the Rain takes the complex subject of the economic crisis which has been experienced in both the United States and throughout the world and helps to explain the situation to the general public in layman’s terms.  It offers a well-rounded perspective from Thomas J. Powell, a seasoned financial authority.  The book takes a detailed, up-to-date (it will be updated again at the end of the Summer or when relevant when it becomes apparent in which direction the economy is moving at that time) snapshot of the current economic state in the country by addressing three specific areas:

1.      How did we get here?

2.      How do we get through this?

3.      What will the other side look like?

In addition, the book addresses each state and provides a snapshot of major economic issues occurring in them. We have already heard back from several business leaders and governors stating they found the information to be both relevant and appropriate.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Thomas J. Powell felt compelled to write this book not only because of the obvious financial crisis being felt by every business sector and individual, but also because it is a perfect marriage of his expertise in Economics, Finance and Real Estate.  He is an instructor in Real Estate Finance at Harvard University, has recently completed his MBA in Real Estate and is considering pursuing his Ph.D at Edinburgh University in Scotland.  More important, Thomas has real-life experience of more than 20 years belly to belly in the topic, not just within the academic world, which can often shelter individuals from the reality of what is occurring in the marketplace.

Because Thomas works everyday in the marketplace through his company, ELP Capital, Inc., and produces a weekly newsletter titled:  The Powell Perspective:  Observations on the Economy, Real Estate, Finance and Investing, he is able to easily update the content of the book as necessary to take it to market through a major publisher and still have it be fresh and relevant to the general public.

How is this book different from other books on this topic:  Examples of key competition and differences are as follows:

¨      Cooper, George, The Origin of Financial Crises (Vintage, 2008)

¨      Shiller, Robert, The Subprime Solution (Princeton Press, 2008)

¨      Soros, George, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets (Public Affairs, 2008)

¨      Zandi, Mark, Financial Shock (FT Press, 2009)

Standing in the Rain is unique from the examples listed above in that it takes the economic crisis and brings it to the individual’s level of understanding, application to one’s life and how to turn one’s personal financial challenges into success.  It is not just about understanding the market, it is about understanding how the market impacts the person and what he or she can do about it to help themselves both get through it and excel in the process.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: Thomas Powell has been a speaker on Economics and Finance for several years.  He speaks 10-15 times per year to groups of sizes ranging from 50-250 on the topic.  Tom’s speaking engagement list is included in this package which illustrates his various audiences and speaking locations, including a recent presentation in Buenos Aires in conjunction with one of his Harvard professors.  Tom has a weekly newsletter and podcast, The Powell Perspective, which can be found at www.thepowellperspective.com.  The current distribution is approximately 10,000 since its inception in March 2009; the goal is to have the distribution up to 100,000 by the end of the year.

Both Thomas and his wife, Tonya, have significant business circles that extend throughout the country and world.  In addition to Tom’s multitude of Harvard contacts throughout the world, he serves as a National Trustee for Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), which has many Fortune 100 CEOs on its Board of Directors and Board of Governors.  Tonya is also heavily involved with BGCA and has built a very solid sphere of business owners and directors from her time with AT&T and her numerous wealthy and noted clients within the Powell’s financial investment company, ELP Capital, Inc.

Please see www.standingintherain.com or www.thepowellperspective.com for further information!

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: This book is for people in the business and corporate world who are unsure about how best to introduce and implement social responsibility in their businesses.

It is also for everyone and anyone who is interested in being socially responsible and making the world a better place.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This is a powerful workbook for being socially responsible in business, and contains powerful questions that will change business people and their businesses forever.

The book has been described as the hard nosed business person’s guide to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), to do good in the world AND make a profit. Since the world today faces huge challenges such as economic meltdown, world recession, climate change, poverty, sustainability and social injustice, more than ever before we need world changing answers and we need them fast. This book asks the right questions to enable the reader to find his or her own answers.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: Having worked in a number of different organisations and businesses and having coached many business people, I am seeing a huge desire everywhere to do the right thing for the world and for themselves. I have enabled 100’s of people to find their own “right” thing and have brought my learnings into this book.

I am on a mission to help business people and their companies find some right answers before it is too late. I hope to do this through my book.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: There are lots of “heavy” books out there which explain in depth how and why companies should adopt CSR principles and they are much needed. However there is very little out there that will take individuals on their own emotional journey of self-discovery; to discover their values and what motivates them. Knowing themselves better allows them to work out for themselves just what the right thing to do is.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: It is time for individual responsibility – even President Obama has talked at length about how he hopes to usher in “a return to an ethic of personal responsibility”.

As we increasingly question the way we live our lives, this timely book forces business people to ask themselves powerful questions to convert their good intentions into positive actions. It is all about not just doing things right, but doing the right thing.

As I say to my readers – “Come from a place of being socially responsible – you owe it to our future generations.”

To learn more visit www.PersonalSocialResponsibility.com

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Law students, lawyers, particularly associates and solo practitioners, and members of the broader legal community.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The Opportunity Maker is about standing out in today’s stagnant economy. It provides a variety of techniques for defining a personal brand, leveraging creativity, and maximizing success. Each chapter addresses genuine strategies for connecting with people and establishing meaningful professional relationships. It is written for law students and lawyers, but its principles are universally applicable.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am passionate about helping others create opportunities and have been honing these techniques throughout my entire career. I practiced law with large firms in New York City for nearly nine years and during that period published 125 articles. I served as a legal commentator for CNET Radio, hosted a public access cable television show in Manhattan, taught Internet law at Baruch College, and was interviewed on CNN. I am also the recipient of Apex awards in 2007 and 2008 for feature writing.

I address professionals internationally about the mechanics of getting published and dynamic networking, and have had the privilege of speaking at some of the largest law firms in the world. I teach techniques for leveraging writing and other activities as the foundation for business development through in-house training programs, personal coaching and strategic writing assistance.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Most books on this topic identify all of the things you need to do to be successful, but few, if any, of them tell you exactly how. The Opportunity Maker teaches you practical techniques for distinguishing yourself in a genuine and positive way. It offers strategic perspective from over 100 people cited in the book, ranging from the president of MetLife International to the author of the Four-Hour Workweek.

It makes the case that business development is similar to investing because the earlier you start the greater your ultimate return. In professional services, particularly the legal industry, students and junior professionals are taught to hone their technical skills long before tapping their talent for business development. Ironically, this delay makes showcasing their finely tuned abilities much harder and more frustrating than it needs to be.

The Opportunity Maker discusses creating a public access cable television show, using Second Life and branding yourself, among many other methods for realizing your career potential and building client relationships in the future.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This book is meant to encourage students and professionals to harness their ability to connect their work to their communities by customizing a platform on which to grow within their chosen fields. It is designed for all personality types and can be tailored to any area of practice.

Also, TheOpportunityMaker.com, which is constantly being updated, has mini-interviews of about 2-3 minutes with many of those featured in the book. Learn more about the author at AriKaplanAdvisors.com.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Entrepreneurs, female business owners and professionals.

Q: What is the book about?
A: The book introduces a new and simple system for organizing contacts to reach goals quicker and easier. It’s based on the premise that you have an entire staff hiding in your address book (if you knew who they were).

Along with a step-by-step how-go guide, the book includes over 100 networking and marketing tips and resources, real examples and success stories, as well as a link to a site with free resources.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I’m a former Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and have been professionally networking (meaning I get paid to make business and professional connections for people) for the last six years.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: The book is different because it introduces a system for organizing your contacts, then shows you how to use the contacts to meet specific goals such as securing new clients/customers or putting into motion a marketing plan. It includes the “ideal e-mail campaign” which shows readers how to use a simple, but specific e-mail to generate leads to desired result.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: This the first mainstream book to promote Chambers of Commerce – an entire chapter shows readers how to use their Chamber to speed success. I introduce the model for the Ideal Network Club (action-oriented/results-driven) networking club designed exclusively as an income-producer for Chambers of Commerce.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Anyone who wants more repeat business and more referrals can benefit from this book. Whether you’re a company owner, manager or a customer-facing employee, there is something useful in this book for you.

Q: What is the book about?
A: This book is full of practical things you can do to improve customer service so your customers will come back. It has hands-on tips and tools as well as strategic ideas and concept to improve service to your customers. This book helps you discover what your customers want and how to give it to them.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I have developed a 3 step system that helps organizations increase customer loyalty by improving customer service. It’s based on making changes that are tactical, strategic and cultural. These changes help your organization move to a higher and more permanent level of service. This book contains many tools and ideas from this system, which is why it’s so useful.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: This book contains both concepts to help you plan and tactics you can put to work right away. It’s useful for both leaders and customer-facing employees. And it’s simple, direct and to the point.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: It’s full of useful and actionable ideas yet it’s a fast read so you don’t waste anytime getting to the good stuff.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Every month more than 200,000 women launch new ventures — that’s more than 2.5 million women a year. The audience for Birthing the Elephant is growing and evergreen. It ranges from experienced female corporate executives facing job insecurity, layoffs or outsourcing to baby boomers who are entering the small business arena for the first time, either by choice or necessity, to mothers seeking more control over their work and family lives.

Q: What is the book about?
A: Part portable success coach, part step-by-step guide through a small-business launch, Birthing the Elephant is the ‘what to expect when you’re expecting’ for aspiring women entrepreneurs. It offers them a practical road map to the rocky emotional terrain they’ll face during the critical first 22 months of their start-up, showing them smart moves to make and pitfalls to avoid. Packed with frontline advice from cosmetics company founder Bobbi Brown, maternity-wear pioneer Liz Lange, and more than 25 other entrepreneurs and experts, Birthing the Elephant also offers checklists, action steps, and a helpful resource guide.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I am an entrepreneur, marketing consultant, and expert on start-up strategies for women. In addition to Birthing the Elephant, I am the author of How to Succeed on Your Own and 3 other how-to guides. I served as spokesperson for Avon’s Corporation to Cottage program and have been featured as a guest expert on women-owned businesses on ABC TV’s Good Morning America, CNBC, and WCBS, among others. My co-author, Bruce Freeman is nationally known as The Small Business Professor and has run a successful public relations firm for more than 15 years.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Most women’s start-up guides focus on 3Ms: money, marketing, and management. But there’s a 3rd M that’s at the heart of small-business survival: motivation. That’s where Birthing the Elephant breaks new ground. Only Birthing the Elephant charts the emotional challenges a new women business owner faces after quitting her day job and giving up a paycheck mentality to reshaping her identity and acting like an entrepreneur.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: The biggest obstacle women entrepreneurs face isn’t economic, it’s emotional. It’s winning the small-business mind game. It’s substituting brains for bucks. The advice in Birthing the Elephant can mean the difference between success and failure. It arms women mentally so they can:

• Make the shift from employee to entrepreneur
• Anticipate problems and push past barriers to success
• Renegotiate their relationship to money
• Avoid 10 costly pitfalls

Understanding the predictable patterns and problems that arise during a start-up and how to handle them can help women beat the odds, take control of their financial futures, and deliver on their dreams.

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Anyone in sales or ANY relationship-based business, whether you’re an interior designer, franchise owner, manager, etc.

Q: What is the book about?
A: When you introduce a social aspect into your business relationships, it works to bond you with your clients, elevating the relationship to a higher, more intimate level. The book stresses the importance of building solid relationships, then shares how to do that productively. Sharing a meal is a great way to get to know someone and become friendly—people prefer to do business with people they like.

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: After hosting more than 3,000 client lunches, I saw my sales increase by more than 2,000%, Because I appreciated the value of lunch done right, I was often booked out for lunch up to three or four weeks in advance. My clients started calling me “The Queen of the Business Lunch.”

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: While there are many books on the topic of building strong business relationships, my book is the first one that shares the importance of breaking bread with clients as a means of building more productive relationships. Plus, my book covers the nuts-and-bolts of how to accomplish one’s lunchtime goals. Everything in the book also applies to breakfasts, dinners and networking events; there are chapters that cover networking events, the job interview business lunch (a growing trend) and do’s and don’ts: from being prepared for casual conversation to whether or not it’s okay to drink alcohol in front of clients.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: It has been sold in TEN languages worldwide. It seems EVERYONE wants to know how to do a business lunch the RIGHT way!

Question: Who is the intended audience?
Answer: Small Business Owners

Q: What is the book about?
A: As a business coach, after 3,000 live one-on-one sessions, I found many commonalities in the mistakes business owner’s make to limit their success. I spent the last 4 year formulating these lessons into The 51 Fatal Business Errors. Each error contains a detailed description of the error, a real-world example (after all, business owners learn from stories), and the recommended solution. Unlike many theory-filled books, 51 Errors focuses on meaningful action needed to take a business to the “next level.”

Q: Why are you the best person to write this book?
A: I have made every one of these errors myself because I too am a businessperson. Every day, I help clients improve their lives and their profitability from the lessons learned and explained in this book.

Q: How is this book different from other books on this topic?
A: Most business books are full of theories. Theories may be great cocktail party banter, but small business owners are action-oriented. They like the theory as much as anyone, but they want more. They want the “then what?” Each of the 51 errors contains an action step so the businessperson can easily but it into action.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about this book?
A: For over twenty-five years, I have seen entrepreneurs, including myself; learn the only way they knew how: from the School of Hard Knocks. Let’s face it, business is not learned in school or at an MBA course. Business is learned by doing, from the School of Hard Knocks. The frustrating part is that the School of Hard Knocks is expensive and slow. Entrepreneurial CEOs have no patience for either. I have written The 51 Fatal Business Errors to help you learn some of the lessons from the School of Hard Knocks the easy way instead of the hard way.

Most business books are like gym memberships, lots of initial enthusiasm and not much meaningful action. These books are great in theory, but useless unless put into practice. We all “know” we need to exercise. I do not want to be another business person selling you on the benefits of a health club membership. Done right, a business book should energize you AND leave you with tangible action items to make your business better. Done wrong, it is nothing more than theoretical generalities that get you “juiced up” but have no real impact on you or your business.

The purpose of this book is to debate whether or not to go to the health club, but what to DO when you walk in the door. I want to move past the temporary excitement of a new idea and into permanent gain created by making meaningful, lasting changes. My goal in this book is to give you specific tools for using “the gym equipment” thereby empowering you to get your business in good shape. I want to energize you about the boundless possibilities of your business while giving you practical action steps to move forward to the next level.

This book is designed to be used as a reference that you can come back to repeatedly as new issues arise in your business that need “toning.” The 51 Fatal Business Errors fall into four categories: Myth-Busters, Improving your personal effectiveness, Using best practices, and Mule-kicks.

As you can probably guess, with a name like Muehlhausen, my nickname as a kid was “Mule”. In my current career as a business coach and writer, I found myself giving clients a few kicks in the butt. Combine the two and you have a Mule-kick. I will give you many Mule-kicks in this book. I don’t give a Mule-kick out of mean-spiritedness, ego, or humor. I will give you a Mule-kick out of compassion, empathy (I have been-there-done that), and desire to see you succeed. To me, watching a CEO fall short of their full potential is far “meaner” than giving them a Mule-kick. A Mule-kick is designed to give you the little nudge you need to change your mode of operation, change your perspective, or simply do that uncomfortable task.

Each individual error is divided into sections highlighting each problem area beginning with a description of the “error,” followed by a real life example and concluding with a concrete solution. All of the stories in this book are real-life examples. Many of the errors contain a bonus. These bonuses are available for free on my website for download. The names and circumstances in the book have been changed for illustration purposes.