Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies: 307 Awesome MoneyMaking Strategies for Savvy Entrepreneurs – By Marilyn Ross, Published by Communication Creativity, November 2000, 384 pages
Reviewed by – G.A. “Andy” Marken, Marken Communications Inc., andy@markencom.com
Men may be from Mars and women may be from Venus but if you’re a male don’t let Ms. Ross’ in-your-face book title put you off. The lady throws out more good ideas in this book than you and we will probably have in our business lifetimes.
The book is a fast read because humorous, punchy and shirtsleeve practical. For the men in the industry here’s a great chance to get in touch with your feminine side and get a practical handle on how you can build your business. Not all of Ms. Ross’ advice will help you build your PR practice but if you’ve got talent, creativity and drive she will help you ignite the fire in the gut to make positive things happen.
In 1999 there were 9.1 million women-owned businesses that racked up $3.6 trillion in sales. Despite that impressive fact women have traditionally taken home less than men have. That’s no reason for men to be smug about their “position” because according to the Business Women’s Network 50 percent of American businesses will be owned by women and their influence will grow even more rapidly.
If you’re a woman in the field, this is a book that will help you focus and grow your practice. If you’re a man, here’s an excellent opportunity to understand what drives many of these women to not simply be as good as you are…but better.
Don’t expect this to be a one-dimensional recap of Ms. Ross’ road to everlasting success. Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies has 20 chapters of facts, information and ideas that cover the broad spectrum of marketing, communications and strategic alliance building. She covers a wide spectrum of examples of female entrepreneurs in a wide range of businesses. She has divided the book into five sections that are humorously illustrated with some very useful sidebars. One of her inclusions that men and women will find to be of assistance is the numerous Web sites she directs you to for news and information.
We’re the first to admit that we’re pretty secure in our masculinity and our PR capabilities which is perhaps why we took so much pleasure in reading Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies. In fact, we found the book so good that we gave copies to two ladies who worked for a couple of our clients.
Why?
We felt they were good…very good. But at the same time they weren’t getting the respect we felt they deserved for their overall business and professional efforts. One leveraged some of the ideas to reposition herself and climb the proverbial corporate ladder more rapidly than might have been possible before she read the book. The other recipient read the book, examined her current career path and left public relations to start her own business completely outside the industry.
Both of these brazen hussies seem happier with themselves and their lives. More importantly, we’ve gotten a new perspective on how we need to relate and work with women. If men are going to only run 50 percent or less of the businesses in a few years maybe we should pick up and read Brazen Hussies out of defense. It’s a wise individual who knows what the person across the table is thinking.
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Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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