Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling” as Want to Read:
Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling
by
The new edition of the bestselling business development guide
Book Yourself Solid, Second Edition reveals why self-promotion is a critical factor to success, giving you a unique perspective that makes this guide much more than an ordinary "how to" manual for getting more clients and raising a business profile.
Book Yourself Solid, Second Edition enables you to adopt the righ
...moreKindle Edition, 368 pages
Published
November 23rd 2010
by Wiley
(first published April 1st 2006)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling

"Snake Oil for the Empirically Impaired"
So friends, let me tell you how much I hated this book that I did not finish and won't: take your pick as to which (if any) gets your attention.
a) I kept it several extra days from the library to carve out the time to write this review.
b) It is one of the very few books (I was an English major, and have a catholic reading taste) I refused to finish. The only one that comes to mind as being as unintentionally ridiculous and celebrated (for very different re ...more
So friends, let me tell you how much I hated this book that I did not finish and won't: take your pick as to which (if any) gets your attention.
a) I kept it several extra days from the library to carve out the time to write this review.
b) It is one of the very few books (I was an English major, and have a catholic reading taste) I refused to finish. The only one that comes to mind as being as unintentionally ridiculous and celebrated (for very different re ...more

Apr 13, 2013
Farnoosh Brock
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
business-spirit
Most honest, USEFUL, brilliant & Actionable book & I AM getting booked solid!
Since I first heard about Michael Port, I changed the way I have my conversations with my clients, I became fully self-expressed and totally honest, I said no to lousy clients, I raised my rates 3 times, I shared my package pricing on my website for full transparency, and I am getting booked a lot more frequently.
I am still not even done with his book - I am doing the workbook and seriously paying attention to everythin ...more
Since I first heard about Michael Port, I changed the way I have my conversations with my clients, I became fully self-expressed and totally honest, I said no to lousy clients, I raised my rates 3 times, I shared my package pricing on my website for full transparency, and I am getting booked a lot more frequently.
I am still not even done with his book - I am doing the workbook and seriously paying attention to everythin ...more

I would have given this book five stars if Mr. Port had not promoted his services at least once a chapter. I get it, he wants to show how his methodology works. At the same time, I got the point. Mr. Port promotes opt in marketing while using push marketing during the entire book.
Now, on to the book itself. You need to read this book if you're in a professional service business. There is great nugget after great nugget that you can use. I suspect that if you only use 10% of what's in this book, ...more
Now, on to the book itself. You need to read this book if you're in a professional service business. There is great nugget after great nugget that you can use. I suspect that if you only use 10% of what's in this book, ...more

I had great hopes for this book. Alas, it is a rehash of the old, long discredited "Do what you love and the money will follow."
But wait! The author has found THE secret formula, and once you finish his book, you can take a course and get "certified" to make money teaching others the secret formula.
And after that, I guess we'll all get rich raising llamas.
...more
But wait! The author has found THE secret formula, and once you finish his book, you can take a course and get "certified" to make money teaching others the secret formula.
And after that, I guess we'll all get rich raising llamas.
...more

Michael Port begins his book practically: "[T:]here may be two simple reasons why you don't serve as many clients as you'd to today. You either don't know what to do to attract and secure more clients or you know what to do but you're not actually doing it" (p. xxvii).
In the pages that follow, he unpacks his "Booked Solid System" to which he ascribes the power to solve both of those stated problems.
Contrasting "old school" and "new school" marketing methods, he writes, "[Many:] have come to beli ...more
In the pages that follow, he unpacks his "Booked Solid System" to which he ascribes the power to solve both of those stated problems.
Contrasting "old school" and "new school" marketing methods, he writes, "[Many:] have come to beli ...more

Jan 23, 2008
Stacey Moore
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any service professional.
Shelves:
market-sell
I have recommended this book to many people...all have thanked me. More than a typical treatise on how to create a lead funnel, it is about serving with integrity and being rewarded for doing what you love. If you are a service professional wanting to acquire clients, read it.

Dec 24, 2014
Chad Warner
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
salespeople, marketers, entrepreneurs, service professionals, business owners
Recommended to Chad by:
Goodreads
This is one of the best sales and marketing books for service professionals that I’ve read. It walks you through how to define your target market, build credibility, and promote/market in various ways. The written exercises and action steps encourage application. It’s logically organized and easy to read.
Topics include personal branding, talking about what you do, selling, networking, direct outreach, referrals, web, speaking, writing, and keeping in touch.
I like Port’s non-sleazy approach to sa ...more
Topics include personal branding, talking about what you do, selling, networking, direct outreach, referrals, web, speaking, writing, and keeping in touch.
I like Port’s non-sleazy approach to sa ...more

In 'Book Yourself Solid', Michael Port offers a manual that shows how any professional in the business of offering services can start and grow a profitable business. The book entails over 200 marketing techniques aimed at generating clients, obtaining more referrals and building a fruitful relationship with your existing clients.
I like the fact that this book takes a conversational tone so that the author uses simple language without the jargon. The book begins by differentiating between the tra ...more
I like the fact that this book takes a conversational tone so that the author uses simple language without the jargon. The book begins by differentiating between the tra ...more

If you are a service provider and looking to improve on yourself and grow your business, this book is an absolute staple for your education. I insist you download the free chapter on your Kindle so that you can be convinced to buy it yourself. It has been one of the Top 2 resources to help me grow my client base and increase business.

The first half of this was interesting and worthwhile but the second half was too outdated to be compelling. It's amazing to realize how much social media has changed business. Ended up skimming starting at the referral chapter.
...more

"When you're fully self-expressed, fully demonstrating your values and your views, you'll naturally attract and draw to yourself those you're best suited to work with, and you'll push away those you're not meant to work with" (13).
"Begin to view your role with your clients as that of a highly important and trusted advisor. You have a moral obligation to offer your services to those who need them. To do anything other than counsel, advise, guide, and coach your clients would be a huge disservice ...more
"Begin to view your role with your clients as that of a highly important and trusted advisor. You have a moral obligation to offer your services to those who need them. To do anything other than counsel, advise, guide, and coach your clients would be a huge disservice ...more

An OK read, probably better for someone else. I was fast-weary of how every idea and concept was branded the Book Yourself Solid [fill-in-the-blank] System™. It diluted the ideas and displayed the author's ego in a glass case. Additionally, there was sometimes a disconnect between the content and the author, as he openly contradicted his own concepts and broke his own rules several times chapter to chapter. At the end of the book, he addresses the reader, writing "I love you," which was weird si
...more

This visual version is a great improvement on the original book - which was good. The ease of following the ideas in Michael Port's book to develop a new, or existing professional service business means that anyone can do it.
I particularly like the access to templates and the app to use to actually do what the book recommends to create a clear plan of your target market, what you offer to them and why and then how to market effectively.
Highly recommended for anyone in professional service busine ...more
I particularly like the access to templates and the app to use to actually do what the book recommends to create a clear plan of your target market, what you offer to them and why and then how to market effectively.
Highly recommended for anyone in professional service busine ...more

I read this book after a recommendation from Michael Hyatt. I must admit, I read every single word but there was really nothing new for me but it was a good prompt to highlight things that I really should be doing.
One thing that did annoy me a little bit was the constant plug of his own material, seminars, workshops, carts etc. I intend to write a book this year and I've made a mental note to not self promote as much, so a valuable lesson learned here.
Overall, I would recommend thus book. ...more
One thing that did annoy me a little bit was the constant plug of his own material, seminars, workshops, carts etc. I intend to write a book this year and I've made a mental note to not self promote as much, so a valuable lesson learned here.
Overall, I would recommend thus book. ...more

a little outdated in the web part, esp if you're in marketing like me. but the rest was extremely, extremely valuable and the book has heavy highlighting and dog-eared pages, which is always a good sign.
...more

About Michael Port
Michael Port has been called “an uncommonly honest author” by the Boston Globe and a “marketing guru” by The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of four bestselling books including Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid, The Contrarian Effect, and the New York Times Bestseller, The Think Big Manifesto. Michael blogs for the Huffington Post and has written monthly columns on sales and marketing for Entrepreneur Magazine and American Express Open Forum, is a regular guest on ...more
Michael Port has been called “an uncommonly honest author” by the Boston Globe and a “marketing guru” by The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of four bestselling books including Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid, The Contrarian Effect, and the New York Times Bestseller, The Think Big Manifesto. Michael blogs for the Huffington Post and has written monthly columns on sales and marketing for Entrepreneur Magazine and American Express Open Forum, is a regular guest on ...more

I've actually read this book in two formats - the first run, all text, and the updated "illustrated" version. The concepts on both were fundamentally the same in my opinion, but I also feel you need to be the right type of person to glean anything from this method.
You need to be self started enough to actually do the work, but you need to be humble enough to accept guidance. I will say there is nothing revolutionary here - there rarely is in business books - but I personally liked the frank and ...more
You need to be self started enough to actually do the work, but you need to be humble enough to accept guidance. I will say there is nothing revolutionary here - there rarely is in business books - but I personally liked the frank and ...more

This is my fourth or fifth time going through Book Yourself Solid, but honestly only my third time doing the work in the book. For all the awesome stuff it offer’s it’s a lot of work.
Book Yourself Solid gives it’s entire premise away in the title. The whole goal of the book is for you to learn how to get booked solid.
It starts by helping you build a ‘velvet rope policy’ where you identify your ideal clients and then build a process to only let them through your velvet rope to work with you.
Most ...more
Book Yourself Solid gives it’s entire premise away in the title. The whole goal of the book is for you to learn how to get booked solid.
It starts by helping you build a ‘velvet rope policy’ where you identify your ideal clients and then build a process to only let them through your velvet rope to work with you.
Most ...more

BYS was an awesome read for anyone offering services (although, product-based businesses can learn a bit as well). Very well written - clear, concise, and engaging. It's geared towards those in business for a while but it's great for those starting their own service-based business. Definitely recommend reading.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
News & Interviews
As dedicated readers already know, some of the best and most innovative stories on the shelves come from the constantly evolving realm of...
48 likes · 11 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“We don’t get contacts, we don’t find contacts, we don’t have contacts; we make connections with real people.”
—
3 likes
“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. —Raymond Hull Imagine”
—
1 likes
More quotes…