I am re-reading this marketing classic by Ries and Trout.

I was at Value Village shopping for my H'ween costume a few weeks back and saw a beat-up first-edition from 1981. I decided to get it so I could see how accurate the authors' analyses have been over the years and how their core positioning and marketing concepts have held up through the years. I am very impressed - this book is a must-read.

Good - spam is irritating.

Quoted: A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail.

It's great to see web entrepreneurs developing new systems to help the novice investor/buyer get into the foreclosure market.

I myself am too conservative to dip into foreclosures. I believe that in a healthy market, like the one we have, most owners will try to sell their property prior to foreclosure in order to make some profit, or they will short-sale prior to foreclosure in order to wipe out debt and take a smaller impact on their credit rating. That's not to say there isn't the occassional good deal, just that one must be very careful during the entire process. Liens and judgments can generally be found on the title report (sometimes they can be hidden and that gets complicated), but the inability to properly inspect a foreclosure property prior to sale can lead to big structural nightmares.

Quoted: With foreclosures rising nationwide, can the average house hunter compete against professional investors for a good deal with no hidden land mines? A new Web site may help.

Hmm. . maybe I can market myself as Kung Fu Rich, chopping down the the complexities of the real estate process!

. . . or maybe not.

The entire game of marketing and business is changing. This book teaches how to change with the times and that our customers may no longer respond to Pavlovian psychology.

Finished this book:

This is my slogan - figure I should read the book too (which I did in Nov 06).

This book is excellent, definitely a classic of fundamental marketing. Differentiating your product applies more now than ever, as the number of choices and the speed with which new trends/companies/products rise has increased greatly. It explains how certain companies that pioneer a certain product/technology (e.g. Friendster) should play off of being the originator of a concept, and how companies that follow (e.g. Myspace, LinkedIn, etc) should have a strategy for providing a new service/concept/set of features, instead of competing directly with the pioneer.

The book also lays out the method by which a company should prepare their differentiating market strategy. The essence of the process can be defined as:
Improve. . . Upgrade. . . Reinvent

How does the system work and how do you utilize these three key concepts in your own marketing? Read the book! It's short and very clear.

The web may be big, but we're always battling our competition for more ground. Need this to show me how.

Another Al Ries must read. I started it but didn't finish it. The book is long and can be dense.

A marketing must-read, which is why I must read it. . . soon!