A spring buying/reading list

Seth Godin is one of my favorite business/idea/marketing writers.  If you don't already you should subscribe to Seth's blog.  I thought I would share with you a list of books and other items he is recommending this spring.  Let me know your thoughts.

The Online Myth

Saying you are an online company, or a digital company is the hip thing to do today and certainly the internet  does play an important part in our economy.  The problem I have with the internet as a business model is that some companies forget that "going online" is just a distribution and sales channel, it's not a panacea for a poor product, service, or business.  Business is still about sales and service.  Whether you are a brick and mortar, online, or mixed business, the fundamentals haven't changed.  Provide a great product at a fair price, provide superior service and you will win.  That was true yesterday, today and I promise it will be true tomorrow as well.

Communication

Whether in business, or in life nothing is more important than communication.  I also strongly believe that it is on the person communicating to make sure his/her message is heard accurately and in the way it was intended.  I recently spoke to a large group of people on a conference call with the objective of motivating the group toward a common goal.  I left the call feeling like I hit a home run, but 10 minutes later I got a phone call where I was told that I was not positive enough toward a specific company department.  I can sit here and tell you that I didn't think I was less positive in my praise toward this group, and it certainly wasn't my intent, but at the end of the day if that's what that group thought I said or meant that's what happened.  It's my job to communicate more effectively.  if anyone doesn't get a message the way I intended it means I screwed up and need to do better.