Rating: 3.5/5

If I was right at the beginning of my online marketing career I would probably have given this book a 5/5 rating, however, as it happens, I already knew a lot of the content.

My main takeway from the book that I implemented immediately was to remove all comment moderation to encourage people to make comments and engage with my content. It was a great tip.

At the time I read this book I had blocked comments on some of my YouTube videos to get people to come to my website but this was not working so I abandoned that strategy. 

​The book is kind of self-promotional. I believe the authors are invested in a few of the tools they kept promoting. Websites I noted to check out include:

• 37signals.com
• websitegrader.com
• inboundmarketing.com

In summary, if you are new to online marketing I would 101 Free Marketing by Jim Cockrum first and then this book.

Rating: 3/5

I bought this book after randomly discovering Anthony Robbins on YouTube.

I can definitely see the appeal of Anthony Robbins and I like him but I'm not that into his style, which is okay, he has enough of an army that digs his style. 

He is one of those very high level motivational speakers that really helps you believe in yourself etc. This is great, but this is the type of stuff I was reading when I was a teenager so I don't find it as helpful. I prefer much more practical self-help books.

I only found the 1.5 hour audiobook on Audible, they do not have the full version yet which was great because it was motivating to listen to for that length of time but I may well have not enjoyed it for any longer.

Also, I don't like his voice! Am I allowed to say that? He sounds super aggressive - he's got that super alpha male personality that I think would more than likely clash with my alpha female traits...

In summary, if you are feeling low in self-belief, get the book - I may well need the full version when I am feeling a little down myself! 

Rating: 5/5

I got this book free of charge when I screamed "me, me, me" at a KPI event where Michael Serwa was speaking. If I am totally honest, I found/find Michael lacking in humility - that is, he is a little pompous a.k.a. cock-sure so I wasn't sure if I would like the book.

Yes, the tone does go from confident to cocky at times but I think there were tiny glimpses of humility in his writing. I think the bravado is definitely a front. 

The book is a good and brief summary of a lot of self-help books. I read it in a couple of hours at a cafe. Even if you have read a tonne of literature you would still enjoy this book because it's Michael's own take on things. He says he hates writing but I think he writes rather well.

These were my favourite bits from the book:

Pg. 39: I like what Zig Ziglar said: "Money isn't the most important thing, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the (gotta have it) scale".

Pg. 43: I remember mentally high fiving the Universe after seeing the size of that guy when I opened the door for him. I love that analogy of mentally high fiving the universe! I do it all the time but have never thought about it like that. I am totally going to start using the phrase.

Pg. 46: I like what Wayne Dyer said: "Friends are God's way of apologising for your family."

Pg. 60: The world belongs to people who are proactive. This is so true and people need to meditate on this phrase.

Pg. 62: The bamboo tree takes five years of watering before it shows anything above the ground at all. Five years! But when it starts to grow, it grows up 20 metres in one year. Many things in life are just like this tree. How freaking awesome is that analogy. I wonder if Michael thought of it himself, lol.

Pg. 82: ...out of all the things that can sell us short image is the easiest one to fix. True, very true!

Pg. 121: The power of imagination is huge.

When Michael talked about taking stock of all the things you appreciate at the end of the day, I thought about how I appreciate the fact that I can just take an afternoon off to read a book (or even do nothing) whenever I want. Then I thought about how I appreciate my husband and my immediate family so incredibly much.

In summary, cocky or not, Michael is a smart and well-grounded guy. I like his style. Get his book: