The Inside Advantage

The Inside Advantage by Robert H. Bloom with Dave Conti

Bob Bloom was once US Chairman and CEO of Publicis Worldwide, as in advertising firms, BIG advertising firms.  One might think, "how could Bob relate to my company and its whopping seventy-five thousand dollars in sales?"  Bob is of the age and comes from the era where folks from different class and management levels did not associate with each other.  After reading The Inside Advantage however, I get the feeling that Bob would be open and share with others - even if they migrated to the round-table from the levels of subterranean management.

This point is important to me.  If the author is an arrogant snob, I don't care how poignant his message is, I have no use for him.  And I suspect that nearly all Gen X and Y'ers along with a few Boomers feel the same way.

This book is about growing your business.  Bob hooks me on page one.  He says that it is likely every company has at least one underutilized strength that can be the centerpiece of a powerful growth strategy.  This fact so resonates with me.

Now, pull your chairs in a little closer and listen up.  Or, put another log on the campfire and tighten up the circle, because Bob's discourse is conversation over lecture.  In the rest of the book Bob describes The Growth Discovery Process.  It is very simple, clear and not only pertains to both large and small companies, it pertains to the individual entrepreneur.  Basically it involves identifying:

Who is the core customer?

What is your uncommon offering?

How is your persuasive strategy different from others?

Own It! is the series of imaginative acts that will celebrate your uncommon offering and make it well known to your core customer.

The Inside Advantage is a no-brainer for companies of all sizes.  Reading along though, I couldn't help but to think, if applied, how Bob's strategy could help those of us with personal Web sites.  Think about asking these questions with your site in mind and ideas that you hadn't thought of before will come forth!

On one other note.  Good, clean design and graphics enrich my reading experience.  I love what Bob does with the graphic of a combination lock throughout this book.  It begins on the book's cover.  He then dedicates a single page graphic to identify each of the four questions.  It is simple, it is attractive, it is in black and white and it is very cool!

Here is a free e-book download of inspirational quotes from the folks who are helping Bob out.

Comments

[MRockSr]

David, you know your mother would let you stay out as long as you wanted. That may not have been true with everyone, though

[BizBox]

Bob will actually be leading a conversation on his strategy on Friday at 3 pm on BizBox on Slate.

Feel free to check it out here:

http://bizbox.slate.com/