Rain: A book review by Bob Morris
Posted on: April 9th, 2013 by bobmorris
Portrait of a Young Entrepreneur
This is the most recent of ten books that Jeffrey Fox has written and is, in my opinion, his most entertaining. In the first part (Pages 1-128), Fox presents a business narrative in which a fictitious youth named Rain embarks on a brief but productive career as a newspaper boy. (Presumably Rain is Fox’s surrogate.) Like Forest Gump, he encounters a series of adventures but unlike Gump, he seems to have more “street smarts.” Fox cleverly introduces a number of challenges and opportunities to dramatize several basic business lessons. Then in the second part of the book (Pages 129-192), he shifts his attention to his reader whom he invites to compete “a series of analytical exercises anchored in each of Rain’s adventures. The exercises are designed to illuminate Rain’s entrepreneurial thinking and his rainmaking principles.” Actually, completing the 29 brief exercises does more than illuminate the Rain’s ”rainmaking principles”: It also enables the reader to make direct application of most (if not all) of them to her or his own circumstances.]]>Rain: A book review by Bob Morris
Posted on: April 9th, 2013 by bobmorris
Note: I read and reviewed this book when it was published about four years ago and recently re-read it in combination with Secrets of Great Rainmakers as I now complete a revised marketing plan for the balance of this calendar year. Rain is my personal favorite among all of Fox’s books, although he published several other bestsellers after this one. I identify with the central character because I had two newspaper routes when I was Rain’s age. Also, I needed to reconnect with Fox’s unique insights on how to create rain, especially during a drought such as the current one that began years ago. If you need to generate some rain, check out this review I posted in 2005.
Portrait of a Young Entrepreneur
This is the most recent of ten books that Jeffrey Fox has written and is, in my opinion, his most entertaining. In the first part (Pages 1-128), Fox presents a business narrative in which a fictitious youth named Rain embarks on a brief but productive career as a newspaper boy. (Presumably Rain is Fox’s surrogate.) Like Forest Gump, he encounters a series of adventures but unlike Gump, he seems to have more “street smarts.” Fox cleverly introduces a number of challenges and opportunities to dramatize several basic business lessons. Then in the second part of the book (Pages 129-192), he shifts his attention to his reader whom he invites to compete “a series of analytical exercises anchored in each of Rain’s adventures. The exercises are designed to illuminate Rain’s entrepreneurial thinking and his rainmaking principles.” Actually, completing the 29 brief exercises does more than illuminate the Rain’s ”rainmaking principles”: It also enables the reader to make direct application of most (if not all) of them to her or his own circumstances.
I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because when doing so, I recalled many of my own experiences when I was Rain’s age and growing up on the South Side of Chicago. I had one paper route that I completed in the morning and later added another in the afternoon. After two years, I also began to work three days a week (4-8 PM) at a newsstand near my home. After about another year, when summer vacation began, I stopping delivering papers but continued to work at the newsstand Monday through Friday, 4-8 PM, and caddied at a local country club each weekend. I certainly did not have Rain’s entrepreneurial inclinations. I was simply determined to earn as much money as I could. I also encountered slow pays and no pays, hostile dogs, and customers impossible to please. I also hated getting up mornings when the temperature was near zero and the winds off Lake Michigan nearby were howling or when I was delivering papers afternoons when the heat and humidity were each 90º or more.
How many boys and girls today deliver newspapers? I have no idea. Most of the newspapers in Chicago when I was growing up no longer exist. It seems that in most other major metropolitan areas, there are no evening newspapers and only one morning newspaper. Presumably child labor laws now limit the employment opportunities for those in the 10-15 age range. So, where can they have the experiences and learn the lessons that Fox portrays in this book? I have no idea. However, although younger readers may not be able to identify with many of the situations in which Rain finds himself, I think that they will enjoy reading this book. I hope that many of them also get a clearer sense of the importance of meeting obligations (e.g. being on time, completing tasks), keeping promises to others, being alert to learning opportunities, and meanwhile making whatever personal sacrifices may be necessary.
As I read Fox’s book, I also recalled several life lessons that Robert Fulghum shares in his first book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Play fair, Don’t hit people, Put things back where you found them, Clean up your own mess, Don’t take things that aren’t yours, Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, Wash your hands before you eat, When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together, and Be aware of wonder. Simple? Of course. Naïve? I don’t think so. Fox and Fulghum affirm many of the same values that can also be found in the world’s most venerated holy works. In my opinion, there is no other business principle that is more important than The Golden Rule. It is central to the culture of the world’s most highly admired companies. Moreover, it is no coincidence that – year after year — these same companies are also among the world’s most profitable and most valuable.
Those who share my high regard for Jeffrey Fox’s latest book are urged to check out several of his others, notably How to Get to the Top: Business Lessons Learned at the Dinner Table (2007). I also highly recommend his How to Become a Rainmaker (2000) and then Secrets of Great Rainmakers (2006) as well as Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, and Fulghum’s aforementioned book. To those in need of additional recommendations, I suggest these: David Whyte’s The Heart Aroused, Michael Ray’s The Highest Goal, James O’Toole’s The Moral Compass and then Creating the Good Life, and Bill George’s Authentic Leadership and then True North.
Jason Kelly has issued a new 2013 edition to his perpetually best-selling The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing. It is a book that I heartily recommend for both beginning and experienced stock market investors. (It sports a 4.9 reader review on a 5-point scale at Amazon).
It is no accident that The Neatest Little Guide has been selling so well since the first edition in 1998. It is not only an accessible guide for newcomers, but it is also sophisticated in its investing strategies. The basic concepts remain timeless. Everything in the book is based on facts supported by sound reasoning. It is an intelligent approach. Terms are explained and used consistently. The writing style is conversational and accessible, with a nice dose of humor. But the book never becomes so informal that important concepts get shortchanged or mangled. As Kelly has taken the book through several editions, he has honed his ideas until they are razor-sharp and very clearly presented.
The Neatest Little Guide has 8 chapters, 3 appendices, and an index. The chapter titles themselves give a good presentation of what you will find here:]]>
Jason Kelly has issued a new 2013 edition to his perpetually best-selling The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing. It is a book that I heartily recommend for both beginning and experienced stock market investors. (It sports a 4.9 reader review on a 5-point scale at Amazon).
It is no accident that The Neatest Little Guide has been selling so well since the first edition in 1998. It is not only an accessible guide for newcomers, but it is also sophisticated in its investing strategies. The basic concepts remain timeless. Everything in the book is based on facts supported by sound reasoning. It is an intelligent approach. Terms are explained and used consistently. The writing style is conversational and accessible, with a nice dose of humor. But the book never becomes so informal that important concepts get shortchanged or mangled. As Kelly has taken the book through several editions, he has honed his ideas until they are razor-sharp and very clearly presented.
The Neatest Little Guide has 8 chapters, 3 appendices, and an index. The chapter titles themselves give a good presentation of what you will find here:
1. Speak the Language of Stocks
2. How the Masters Tell Us to Invest
3. How History Tells Us to Invest
4. Permanent Portfolios
5. Get Ready to Invest
6. Research to Riches
7. This Book’s Strategy
8. Bon Voyage
I want to highlight a few features that I believe give this book special value.
Chapter 2, How the Masters Tell Us to Invest, is a gem. In about 60 pages, it presents the basic ideas of six of the best stock investors ever. They are:
- Benjamin Graham
- Philip Fisher
- Warren Buffett
- Peter Lynch
- William O’Neill
- Bill Miller
Be sure to check a review of the book, as seen on The Dallas Public Library:
by Teresa Bocanegra
This really is the Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing; it delves into just about everything you will need unless you have very advanced knowledge on the topic. First of all, there are the basics that many authors never discuss like what exactly are stocks and why and how does a company put stock up for sale on a major stock exchange? Author Jason Kelly includes a very interesting history lesson when answering these questions. From there he immediately jumps into the differences between the many types of brokers available to choose from (towards the end he then reviews specific brokers such as Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade and many others). Do you need a hands-on broker or perhaps an online account where you take charge of when and what to purchase with your funds? So that you are not left to float on your own, Kelly delves into stock analysis and such topics as “growth investing vs. value investing,” as well as “fundamental analysis vs technical analysis.” Next, how do you actually read and understand a detailed stock quote? What is “net profit margin,” or “price/book ratio” or “return on equity”? To let this all sink in, I recommend you pull up a stock quote and follow along as you read the book. For extended stock quotes, the Dallas Public Library has an online subscription to Morningstar and it is free to use with your library card number and pin. From the homepage, http://www.dallaslibrary2.org/ click the “Databases” link, and then “Business and Professional Resources,” from there, you will see Morningstar listed.
In the next section, Kelley introduces us to the “Masters” of investing. Profiled are Benjamin Graham, Philip Fisher, Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, William O’Neil and Bill Miller. I was so inspired reading their stories and methods that I plan to find a couple of extended biographies on a couple of these legends. Their methods are then applied to numerous investing examples to help readers understand how to utilize these tools with their own investment choices. Kelly does not leave you to your own resources for further education, he takes the time to review multiple sources of information such as various magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and investment related websites. There is an extended coverage of Value Line Investment Survey and how to use it. “Value Line” is also available for free at the library. You will find this at the Central Library, 5th floor and at the Audelia Road Branch.
Kelly also discusses many of the free online tools available for analyzing stock. This book has a little bit of everything and points you in all the right directions for continuing your education. One of the last pieces of your education involves pulling together all the learning picked up throughout the book. You build your own portfolio, step by step and apply all the research methods and analysis that you’ve just read about. It is almost like a final exam (with open book and multiple resources) where all your learning gets put to the test. I highly recommend this book! I will use this again and again for a refresher and as a reference source.
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Blog Review and Giveaway for Jason Kelly's THE NEATEST LITTLE GUIDE TO STOCK MARKET INVESTING
Jason Kelly sent me an updated version of his book, The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing: 2013 Edition
*, to read and review. I finished reading it yesterday. It’s a short read, which is good because I’m a notoriously slow reader.
Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone just starting out on the road to investing. Jason covers most of the basics from defining what stocks are, how to open a brokerage account, how to buy and sell, and he even spends a good portion of the book offering tips from some of the well-known investors like Warren Buffett and Bill Miller (along with a few others).]]>Blog Review and Giveaway for Jason Kelly’s THE NEATEST LITTLE GUIDE TO STOCK MARKET INVESTING
Jason Kelly sent me an updated version of his book, The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing: 2013 Edition
Overall, I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone just starting out on the road to investing. Jason covers most of the basics from defining what stocks are, how to open a brokerage account, how to buy and sell, and he even spends a good portion of the book offering tips from some of the well-known investors like Warren Buffett and Bill Miller (along with a few others).
To read the entire view and enter the giveaway, go to the following links:
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Learn to get not just what you need, but what you want
October 19, 2012 at 5:28 pm by TU Magazines
By Brianna Snyder/Women@Work
“If there was ever a time for women to push back, it’s now,” writes Selena Rezvani in Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — and Stand Up — for What They Want. Rezvani, a business columnist, commentator and writer for the Washington Post, NPR and Forbes, gives it to us straight: Women are too nice, and nice girls finish last.
“We’re the largest, most bankable talent pipeline: women make up more than half of the U.S. labor force,” she writes. But, “Despite some of our gains, women continue to make up a meager portion of senior leaders in government, business, and even in those fields that are female dominated.”]]>Stand Your Ground
Learn to get not just what you need, but what you want
October 19, 2012 at 5:28 pm by TU Magazines
By Brianna Snyder/Women@Work
“If there was ever a time for women to push back, it’s now,” writes Selena Rezvani in Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — and Stand Up — for What They Want. Rezvani, a business columnist, commentator and writer for the Washington Post, NPR and Forbes, gives it to us straight: Women are too nice, and nice girls finish last.
“We’re the largest, most bankable talent pipeline: women make up more than half of the U.S. labor force,” she writes. But, “Despite some of our gains, women continue to make up a meager portion of senior leaders in government, business, and even in those fields that are female dominated.”
Why and how can this be? Rezvani notes women have finely honed negotiation skills in all domestic areas of our lives — bill-paying, child-rearing, husband-handling — but when it comes time to assert ourselves in our jobs, we balk. We’ve been socialized to wait for our good work to be recognized of its own virtue, rather than tapping our bosses on the shoulder and letting them know about our successes. At a speaking engagement for women in business, Rezvani asked who in the room counter-offered when negotiating their current salaries; only about 10 percent raised their hands.
Pushback aims to be both a guide and a tool of advocacy for women in the workplace. It includes grids, guides and bullet points for women unsure of how to market themselves competitively, especially among men. “There are circumstances nearly every day, in every area of life, where we can and need to push back — to articulate, advocate for, and hold out for what we want and what is ours,” she writes. “This ability is the foundation for professional success and fulfillment.”
Instant Recall:
- Take risks. You can’t please everyone all the time, so don’t even try. It might make your pulse race, but stand up for the thing you believe in, even when no one else is backing you.
- Know your power. “Before any negotiation, ask yourself where and how you have leverage. Whether your leverage is your experience, tenure, skills, book of business or client base, education, or a combination of these factors, you can’t convey confidence without knowing your power.”
- Sometimes you’ll lose a negotiation. Grow a thick skin, and think of that thick skin “in terms of adaptability.” “Adaptability means putting your attention where it’s needed — on what you can influence — rather than wasting time stuck in the past.”
Notable Quote:
“Come be a part of asking for what you want and need — in fact, be a leader.”
Read this book if:
You’re a businesswoman whose needs and desires in her career aren’t being met.