Book Report - Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki

Reality Check.

An Irreverent Guide To Outsmarting, Out managing and Out marketing Your Competition.

~Guy Kawasaki

No B.S.
Guy and I have a few things in common, not the least of which is irreverence. I like how Guy says what's on his mind and isn't afraid to call "Bull Shiitake*" on anything or anyone if they have it coming to em. With that said, you should know I wrote this Book report fully prepared to call it "Bull Shiitake" if that's what I deemed it to be. It's anything but BS. I called my twin brother immediately after finishing it. I interrupted his round of golf to tell him to buy a copy on the way home along with two highlighters of different color. I told him to read it once and highlight it as he goes. Then to let it sink in for a month or so and read it again with another highlighter. The next step is to pass the book on to someone in his sphere of influence in the hopes they will be able to take actions that strengthen his relationships and solidify his support base. Twins rock because they love each other more than the other kids love their brothers. Just ask us.

*This is a Guyism and he says in the acknowledgements that his editor busted his chops for using it too many times. I think it's funny how the "itake" part isn't used when he does some keynotes and podcasts. :)

A Great Reason To Kill Trees
Reality Check is arguably one of the best collection of dead tree pages ever printed on the subject of entrepreneurship and contemporary business. My brother is a VP and national sales manager for a Canadian furniture importer and manufacturer. His job is to get their product represented by and sold to furniture stores across the U.S. Can you think of tougher business to be in right now? There aren't many. I devoured Reality Check from as many perspectives as I could. Primarily as it applies to real estate, as it applies to my start up efforts and as it applies to my family and friends in businesses of all stripes. There is something in each chapter that has meaningful, actionable and entertaining content. For my brother, it represents a way for him to divert his attention from all the uncontrollable elements his business is faced with and approach strategies and tactics from an entirely new, passion powered perspective. I honestly believe if he applies what he learns from the lessons in Reality Check, he's going to change the dynamic of his industry and be one of the first to emerge from the flames of circumstance.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a vertical that couldn't do the same.

Weapons of Mass Construction
I love how Guy uses the metaphor of weapons applied to the tools and methods he uses with great success. Weapons have power. Weapons gain respect and get results and sometimes in away they weren't originally intended for. Reality Check is a weapon of mass construction for me. I've gained valuable new perspectives on the way I am approaching solutions, innovating and understanding the dynamics of my prospects and the market I serve. It's also been a deciding factor in picking up the pen and finishing the book I started a while back. The working title is the new tag line I just applied to this blog. (It's at the top of this blog and I came up with long before GK announced Reality Check :)

Foreword Thinking
You really need to read Foreword 2.0 in Reality Check to see why Guy calls it the best foreword written in the history of business books. It was the last thing written by Fake Steve Jobs before retiring the persona he represented in the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. I laughed my ass off. If you've ever followed either of the Jobs', real or fake, you will too. If Guy declines to write the foreword for my book, that means it sucks. I will have two choices. A rewrite, or I can pray that a generous "fake" Guy Kawasaki emerges before it's published. One way or the other, I'm getting him in there somehow.

If Blogging is an Art, Guy is a Picasso of Explaining It
In almost 3 years I have seen or presented dozens of different explanations on what blogging is and why someone should undertake the effort. I've lamented over my presentations on the issue, shook my head at the explanations that others have given and more. Just when I thought I had it down, Guy writes the equivalent of two pages that sum it up pretty well. Here are a few thoughts from Guy on blogging.

~ "On a business level, blogs are a marketing and communications weapon."
~ "Truly, if no one but your dog reads your blog, it's still worth doing"
~ "Think Book. Not Diary"

If you need a quick way to present blogging to a group of real estate professionals, this chapter makes a great guide post.


The Zen Art of Exposing Lies and How To See Reality
Guy's writing style is so fluid and easy to digest, it's no wonder all of his books are such big hits. Chapter titles grab your attention and the paragraph headings allow you to easily consume the content. It's the answer to a bad attention span. The book includes a great deal of the best content from his previous tomes and his blog, but it is in no way just a "best of" book. He actually has taken a great deal of blog and book content and connected it to new content, interviews and more. The Chapters start with the following and more:

• The Art Of...
• The Zen Of....
• How To......
• How Not To....
• The Reality Of...
• The 11 Lies Of...
  and so on and so forth.
  

Seriously, how could you not find interest in Chapters entitled How To Suck Up? Or its counterpart Chapter entitled How To Suck Down? He certainly has the market cornered on the Art of Making Mike Laugh His Fat Ass Off while reading a business book.

I'm a Realtor®, Why Should I Bother Reading This Book?
If you really did ask yourself that question you need Reality Check more than the next guy or gal. Luckily there is some really good content specific to how some are building new real estate business concepts by the CEO of the company that owns the registered trademark, Real Estate 2.0® , Glen Kelman of Redfin. (guess I better ask if I can keep using it in my writings :)

If you didn't see the original blog post back in 2007 that Guy published with the help of Glen it's in the book. There is also a guest chapter written by Glen that is tremendous reading. The title of the original blog post is "Financial Models for Underachievers: Two Years of the Real Numbers of a Startup" It chronicles the breakdown of the Redfin financial projection models as compared to their actual results. I remember thinking how outside of the box Glen was in exposing his company's numbers and analyzing the thinking behind the whole process with the whole world watching. It's eye opening stuff for any entrepreneur, especially one who is considering a kick ass new real estate business model.

The short chapter Glen provides is entitled "The Inside Story to Entrepreneurship". It's not so much about the real estate business, but more of a guidepost on the trials, tests and successes of a team deep into the process of passionately building a model for a new way of doing business. With paragraph headings such as "Startups are freak-catchers" and "Fearless leaders are often terrified", you can see how Glen has taken his transparent efforts of the 2007 blog post to a new level. I've always admired Glen and followed his efforts on and off with great interest. The inclusion of his writings in Reality Check will have me following more on than off.

I could use this book almost exclusively to work with someone in the real estate industry to help increase their productivity and profit. From creating effective presentations using the 10/20/30 rule to improving the way the presentations are delivered to applying a new understanding of innovation, to understanding the art of branding and so much more. So. If you're a Realtor® that asked that question. Get the book.

The Most Quotable Book In The History of Business Books
Here are just a few of the quotes I found noteworthy.

• "...innovation is not an event. It's a process"
• "...successful innovators may think they are right. They're not right; they're just successful on the previous curve"
• "Cash is not only King. It's Queen and Prince"
• "Don't let the bozos grind you down"
• "Think digital, act analog"

I hope you've enjoyed the best review in the history of business books. If you decide to buy a copy or two, use the link below and a commission for each sale will come to me. I will donate the money to a needy family for the Holidays. Namely mine. I plan to do all of my shopping at the .99 cent store and think It will allow me to buy that coffee mug and ramen noodle soup my wife's had her eye on.



Previous Book Reports From Mike's Corner:
Truth - New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World
Movies in The Mind

Be Unreasonable
Citizen Marketers
The Power of Place
The Long Tail
An Army of Davids
Mavericks At Work
Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?
Real You Incorporated

Where In The World is Mike?

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Its been hectic! I have several draft posts ready to be finished up, a couple that have died a natural death because they are no longer topical and a story to tell that will expose how careless some companies can be when it comes to right clicking and stealing content from the web that will have you scratching your head. It will also show how being careless in your web endeavors can put you at risk. Here's a hint: If you hire someone to design a web site for you, don't wait 10 months to look at it. Anywho...I promise I will get back to my blogging duties this weekend. Until then enjoy the entertaining video featuring the incomparable Jessica Swesey of Inman and a very handsome man who obviously knows what he's talking about. It's not the Today show but we're just as proud of it. Perhaps if I start calling myself a scientist I can get the kind of play that the Redfin gang is enjoying. Who knew you could turn log file analysis into a gig working with Al, Matt and Meredith? Brilliant.

Real Estate Video by - Real Estate Blogger

Explaining Technology With Scissors and Sharpies

The job of explaining technology can be a daunting task. I have become much better over the years at creating analogies and references that help demystify the aspects of how technology works. I still fall into the trap of speaking in terms that escape my audience from time to time. If you're days are spent immersed in the intricacies and nuances of technology it's an easy mistake to make.

Enter the folks at CommonCraft.Com. Perhaps you've seen a few of their viral videos on the web. I love the approach they take in simplifying the complicated with nothing more than scissors and sharpies. The folks at Redfin were so enamored with the concept that they have employed the services of Common Craft to explain their business model to consumers.

Below is an explanation of RSS (really simple syndication). It was created in April, but it's still the most popular of the common craft videos. I often refer to RSS as the engine of Web 2.0 and try to create metaphors that help agents understand syndication and it's impact on the distribution of listings and listing enhancements. The visuals and goofy hand gestures employed in this explanation add a great deal of impact to the delivery of the message.

Tech Companies Are Greedy Too, Just Ask This Realtor

Hat tip to David G. for sending this my way. Too damn funny! If you haven't seen what inspired it take a look here.

NOTE: I was just made aware that the young man in this video, Aaron Anglin, was killed in a car accident. Lani has asked that his video remain posted. To Lani, her family and friends, our prayers are with you, we will always be able to remember Ben with a huge smile on our faces. Please take a minute to read Lani's post and consider doing what you can for his wife and babies. They will need help.