BookJive

1. Skim the material - We use this strategy only if we only need a shallow knowledge of the subject. Read only the table of contents and each chapter’s headings, and summaries.

2. Scan the material - We use this strategy if we need a moderate level of understanding a subject. Read the full details of each chapter’s introductions and summaries then speed read the chapter contents by picking out and understanding key word concepts; diagrams and graphs are very helpful

3. Study the text of the material - We use this strategy only when we need detailed knowledge of a subject. Here it is best to skim the material first to get an overview of the subject. This gives you an understanding of its structure, into which you can fit the detail gained from a full, receptive reading of the material.

1. Why are you reading the text?

2. What is your purpose for reading?

3. What do you want to know after reading it?

The answers to these questions will set your goals in reading a material. You can assess this by getting an overview of the material you want to read. How do you do this?

1. Look at the introduction. The introduction should let you know whom the book is targeted at, and what it seeks to achieve.

2. Look at the chapter headings. Chapter headings will give you an overall view of the structure of the subject.

Does the book meets your needs? Are there enough knowledge in there to make it worth reading or would it be better to find a better one?

Simply put, just read to satisfy your hunger for knowledge.

For people whose time is so precious, sitting in a corner with a single book is not a good way to spend the day. A book summary is a great help of course. What if no summary is available?

We need strategies that can keep us going through everyday routine and at the same time nurture our minds with materials we’d like to read. I’d like to share these strategies that I got from mindtools.com. These are:

1. Know what you need to know and read appropriately.

2. Know how deeply to read the document: skimming, scanning or studying?

3. Use active reading techniques to pick out key points and keep your mind focused on the material.

4. Use the table of contents for reading magazines and newspapers, and clipping useful articles.

5. Understand how to extract information from different article types.

6. Create your own table of contents for reviewing material

7. Use indexes, tables of contents, and glossaries to help you assimilate technical information.

I’ll go deeper into each strategy in my future posts. But for now, if you have any strategies in mind, you’re very much welcome to share your own strategy here.

I just started reading Get Slightly Famous (2nd ed.) by Steven van Yoder when a friend forwarded below article to me which I think is worth reading as almost every business owner would want to be known as experts in their own field.

Thought Leadership Marketing

By Steven Van Yoder

When David Silverstein launched Breakthrough Management Group (BMG) in 2001, he sought ways to establish BMG as business performance improvement specialists in the financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. Knowing that advertising was not a viable strategy, he embraced thought leadership marketing to establish BMG in key target markets.

Silverstein spoke at industry conferences and commented on industry trends in his Leadership and Business blog. He coauthored INsourcing Innovation, a book that articulates BMG’s approach to developing core business competencies that drive innovation. He offered his expertise to the media, helping BMG garner coverage in over 100 publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Business Finance magazine, and Investor’s Business Daily. He also appeared on CNN’s Squeeze Play.

In roughly five years, thought leadership took BMG from an unknown startup to a global organization with eleven offices on five continents. “Our reputation as a thought leader helped us expand into core markets, including Asia and Latin America, where credibility and name recognition go a long way,” says Silverstein. “Our reputation now helps our sales team get their foot in the door in key markets.”

The Age of Thought Leadership

Marketing used to be about “getting in front of” prospects, delivering your pitch and making the sale. Today, the Internet has permanently changed the way people and companies find and evaluate products and services. Consumers now find companies through their own efforts, often through a search engine.

Moreover, buyers increasingly distrust marketing “claims” and expect businesses to show, not tell, when demonstrating their products and services. They shun self-serving salespeople and seek businesses that focus on making a difference, not getting a sale.

Thought leadership centers on earning trust and credibility. Thought leaders get noticed by offering something different—information, insights, and ideas, for instance. Thought leadership positions you and your company as an industry authority and resource and trusted advisor by establishing your reputation as a generous contributor to your industry.

Thought Leadership in a Virtual World

The Internet has permanently transformed marketing. Regardless of your company’s size or industry, people expect to find basic information about your company at the click of a mouse. The Internet empowers prospects that now expect easy access to information about your products and services.

Prospects often form a Virtual First Impression ™ of your company in an Internet browser. They expect your company to be “findable” on the Web, and demonstrate a credible record of results. If you appear lackluster compared to your competitors, you lose potential clients or customers and risk becoming obsolete.

To make the Internet an effective part of your thought leadership strategy, you must focus on showing your value, demonstrating your worth, and making a difference. Your website should provide fresh, educational content that helps prospects see your business as a solution.

Elements of a Thought Leadership Program

Thought leadership centers on sharing your knowledge and giving your expertise generously and frequently in a variety of formats.

Thought leaders position themselves as centers of influence who are always “present” within their target markets. Seek opportunities to be seen, read, and heard on a regular basis by the people who matter most to your company.

Media Strategies

The public values the media, and so should you. In one way or another, the media reach and influence everyone with a direct impact on your business. As a thought leader, your should establish relationships with editors and publications in the trade, and in local, national, and international media to enhance your credibility, build your brand, and reach far more prospects than you could in person.

The Internet

Share your knowledge by creating and distributing content online contributes incrementally to growing your business brand. As the Internet evolves to an interactive online community, new technologies collectively labeled “Web 2.0” enable people to collaborate, co-create, and share information online rather than simply peruse information.

Syndicate articles on web sites that reach your marketplace. Embrace blogs, podcasts, social networking websites, social bookmarking websites, and online communities as virtual platforms to demonstrate your expertise and engage in two-way dialogue with your prospects.

Speaking

Speaking can be the fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to establish yourself as a thought leader, and it gives you tremendous credibility that increases over time.

Identify trade shows, associations and conferences that customers and industry influencers are attending, and get on their panels or lead workshops. You don’t have to be personally present to give a talk that reaches your target market. Online chats and teleconferences, using your own or others’ Websites or telephone lines, can help you reach a lot of people eager to hear your message.

Publish Valuable Content

Thought leaders create and distribute information, such as white papers, books and reports, that educate their target market about issues related to their business.

White papers can be easily created in Adobe pdf format and offered from your own or others’ web sites. When done correctly, a white paper is a powerful vehicle for a thought leadership marketing strategy that attracts prospects via search engines and other online channels.

Thought Leadership Starts at the Top

Regardless of a company’s size or industry, thought leadership always starts at the top. When you are deemed a thought leader, it is a broad acknowledgment that your company, in a real, authentic sense, leads the thinking in your industry. Thought leadership is most effective when led by a company’s top management, who develop and express new ideas that keep a company at the forefront of change.

Steven Van Yoder is an internationally recognized expert on public relations, executive branding and thought leadership marketing and author of Get Slightly Famous ™: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort (Second Edition). This article was originally published on the Get Slightly Famous WebZine, an online publication offering free articles, resources, white papers, podcasts and resources focused on thought leadership marketing.

I received a book from the moderator of DearReader.com,  Suzanne Beecher   - the book is called From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top by Eve Tahmincioglu.  The book features interviews from CEOs of different companies and corporations about their journey to the top. It’s obvious that these people became leaders not because of their DNAs but with sheer hard work and perseverance.  It’s also amazing to note that Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln emerged as most idolized personality; almost everyone loves Jim Collins’ Good to Great — maybe this is because almost all business owners wants their business to be really great and not just good; most of them fear “failure,”  and when asked how they’ll describe themselves, “ambitious” is the most used word.

Journey to the top is not that easy - whether it’s business’ journey or life’s journey. Every step we make gives valuable lessons each of us should never ignore to be able to make it to the top.

No time to read? How can anyone claim such a lousy excuse when technology is at our command? Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com introduced Kindle last month. With the screen size of 4.5 inches by 3.5 inches, and the whole device measures 7.5 inches by 5.3 inches, with 0.7 inches thickness, who wouldn’t love this gadget? Kindle weighs about just a little over 10 ounces. It’s just slightly larger than a mass-market paperback yet weighs far lesser!

Amazon Kindle has a cell phone modem in the device, making it capable to wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers and blogs. It can accommodate up to 200 books, more if an SD card is added. There’s also a full-alphabet keyboard at the bottom of the screen for easy navigation, for easy searching, and for annotating. A word help is available with a few clicks of a button. A web browser is also included that allows users to surf for free. Not perfect by everybody’s standard, but what is? The battery life is pretty decent but can still be improved. The public is also already looking forward to an advanced feature of a colored screen…

With Kindle at your fingertips, you still cannot read a book? Think another excuse. Another company will surely benefit from your whine!

Thrilling love stories like Romeo and Juliet, Titanic and others of such kind never fails to amaze me. Such unforgettable stories of all times leave legendary thoughts of wisdom to everyone. Adaptable to all levels of ages from its picturesque scenes and simple lessons learned by lovers lingers on…

This kind of stories are very useful yet interesting to new readers. Likewise to those who are leaning to journalistic field. It is a step or tool for them to dig on the real path thru writing.

We can always start reading and writing techniques from classic stories then we can move on gradually to higher level of reading and writing - even you would not want to be a journalist.

Perry Mason who’s forte on mystery and detective stories enhances readers lessons and tricks of investigation. A true helpful aid to those who are inclined at law problems towards solutions.

Whereas, to an ordinary reader, leaves a thriller feeling which as they starts reading doesn’t give second thought to finish at one sitting or shortest possible reading time they could.

Edgar Allan Poe - Choosing among his selections, “The Raven”, elevates the reader on the real scenario of the catacombs. A thrill and excitement ease such horrible feeling as going into it.

These are new born genuine authors. These authors mentioned were had been long gone and not even we witnessed who they were, but the legacy they have left were really insurmountable.

Reading can be fun, but it can greatly eat all your time if your speed is not as fast as you’d like it to be. Below are few tips to help you improve your reading speed.

1. Determine if the subject of the material is what interests you. It usually takes more time to comprehend books which are out of our interests.
2. Preview. Look at the material you’re going to read from the title, chapter titles, subtitles, introduction and other relevant materials to get a clear view of the subject.
3. Adjust your reading speed. Slow down when you feel the need to comprehend more. Speed up in sections you already know.
4. Take several words in the line of text at one time instead musing on each word.
5. Focus on the key words in the sentences. reading conjunctions, prepositions, or articles eats a lot of reading time.
6. Use a pacer. A pacer like a pen or your finger helps you keep track of what you are reading
7. Share what you’ve read; it will help you internalize the thought better.
8. Determine a reading schedule that works for you.
9. Find a reading spot free from interruptions or distractions.
10. Keep on reading.  As they say, “Practice makes perfect.”

Try all these tips and experience more fun in reading.