Book Review: Outlaw

Outlaw: Fight for Your Customers and Sell Without Fear by Trent Leyshan, 165 pages

In Outlaw, Leyshan offers tips on being a better salesman, regardless of what you're selling. The book attempts to cover everything from preparing for a pitch to presenting the right personality to secure sales to beating burnout.

However, it's hard for me to muster any enthusiasm for the book. It's oddly structured, with short sections that don't logically follow each other, set apart by random quotes from everyone from Albert Einstein to Zig Ziglar. Occasionally, there are also short stories of "real life Outlaws," though only one, Ned Kelly, is an actual outlaw (sorry, Richard Branson, you don't count). Leyshan also offers random defining characteristics of "Outlaw" salespeople, though I never got a whole picture.

There is some useful information in here, but it's not worth fighting through the paragraphs full of inspirational affirmations (I swear Leyshan just looked at posters on office walls whenever he got writer's block) to find that info. All in all, there's not much to recommend this book.

Business News Roundup

Missouri House wants to make winning work bias claims harder (Rolla Daily News)

City says it was unaware of McKee's alleged defaults (St Louis Business Journal)

St Louis sewer project could bring in much-needed jobs (Huffington Post)

Advertising: Who, What, Where

From Tom Winkelmann of Central Library:

The St. Louis Public Library has a new database which is available on the Library’s in-house Reference Computers at every branch. 

This Database is the former print SRDS.  SRDS is the acronym – Standard Rate & Data Service.

Many times new or old business owners need to forecasts an advertising budget.   SRDS is the “go to” source for newspaper, radio, television and cable rates.  For example if you want to advertise on radio in DMA (Designated Market Area) in St. Louis Metro Area – this database list the metro radio stations in alpha order.  Within the radio station listing, SRDS is a great tool to see station formats (oldies, jazz, all talk, etc.)  Also, it gives demographics – the “who’ is the audience market the station is targeting – young adults, seniors, or all age groups.  Once you find a station that parallels your new customer strategy – users of SRDS can locate rates for different times of the day and station contacts.

For newspapers, SRDS can give ad rates for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, River Front Times, or even smaller publications such as the Kirkwood – Webster Times.

Finally, SRDS gives updated circulation figures.

So, stop in one of the St. Louis Public Libraries and put SRDS to work for your advertising plans.