* Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, by Al Ries and Jack Trout (Warner Books, 1986, $4.95). How to think about marketing, summed up in 200 pages. A good place to start, says Gordon Gossage, vice-president of sales and marketing for MathSoft, in Cam-bridge, Mass. "After all, if you can't position your product, you can't do direct mail, advertising, or anything else."
* Once you've given some thought to positioning, you'll want to read up on pricing. Start with "Improving Decision Making with Simple Break-even Analysis" (spring 1990), a simple, easy-to-read article that serves as an introduction to the often-burdensome task of pricing and cost analysis (Small Business Forum, 50¢, 608-263-7843).
* The Psychology of Selling. Series of eight tapes from Brian Tracy (Nightingale-Conant, 1987, $69.95) that covers everything from prospecting to closing the sale and includes an extra tape on effective time management. For the would-be salesperson; techniques apply just as well to products or services. "It's good for motivation and for anyone who's just starting," says Michael Lindsey of Lindsey Limousine, in Manchester, Conn. To order, call 800-323-5552 or 708-647-0300.
Inc. Reprints
Marketing
"Do-It-Yourself Marketing" ([Article link], November 1991): How smart companies are selling more and spending less.
"Portrait of the CEO as Salesman" (March 1988): A first-person account by a transformed founder.
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About PR . . ." ([Article link], October 1988): Good PR is simpler and more powerful than you think.
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STARTING, AND PAYING, YOUR WORK FORCE
Many founders have never hired an employee before -- that's scary, given that your work force is the best leverage you've got. whether you're hiring your first employee or your 50th, it's a decision worth studying up for .
* Finding others who've dealt with the personnel-related problems you confront may help. The Society for Human Resource Management, in Alexandria, Va., sponsors MemberNet, a networking service that connects you with 3,500 society members who serve as volunteer consultants on various human-resources issues. "Rather than having to reinvent the wheel, you can pick up the phone and call someone and ask questions," says Adina Marcheschi, formerly of CPS Employment Services Network, in Westchester, Ill. A single membership costs about $160 a year. Call 703-548-3440.
* "Employees: How to Find and Pay Them," an 18-page publication from the SBA, will provide you with answers to some basic questions about interviewing candidates, using temp services, and establishing fair pay. A new edition is due out this summer. Call 202-205-6740. It costs $1.
* If there's one book you read on the topic, make it Hiring the Best , by Martin John Yate (Bob Adams, 1988, $9.95). "There are a ton of books out there on the subject of hiring, but three-quarters of them are baloney," says Larry Murphy, in-house staffing consultant/ hiring specialist at fast-growing Cabletron Systems, in Rochester, N.H. He says the book addresses the needs, values, and desires of "the new work force," roughly defined as 25-to 35-year-olds who work in companies built around new technologies. But you don't have to be in high tech to appreciate the book. Murphy says it has helped him think in general about the sort of individual best suited to each job.
* Can't afford to hire the talent you need? Ask about the student-consul-tants-for-hire programs at nearby business schools. For example, M.B.A. candidates with Weatherhead Student Consultants, at Case Western's Weatherhead School of Management, in Cleveland, do project work for about $25 an hour for small companies and start-ups. And Stanford Business School's "New Ventures" course requires students to work on a project for a small or midsize company. Check other business schools; they're likely to have similar programs. (For information on professors for hire, see "Bootstrap Market Research," below.)
Inc. Reprints
Work Force
"Managing the New Work Force" ([Article link], January 1990): Ben Strohecker knows what it takes to keep his employees happy, and it's not cash.
"May the Force Be with You" (July 1987): Au Bon Pain turns clock punchers into gung-ho professionals.
"Inside Out" ([Article link], August 1989): When it makes sense to use outside contractors.
BOOTSTRAP MARKET RESEARCH
The worlds biggest consulting firm charges nothing and probably has a branch in your town. It's called the library. (See "Library Science," page 6.) Universities, trade associations, and even competitors also can help you.
* After you emerge bleary-eyed from the library, reams of statistics under your arm, you may want to actually pay for two books. The Insider's Guide to Demographic Know-How, by Diane Crispell (Probus, 1990, $49.95), can help you understand what all those numbers say about your customers. Do-It-Yourself Market Research , by George E. Breen and Albert B. Blankenship (McGraw-Hill, 1989, $16.95), will help you collect your own numbers to augment big-picture data. It introduces readers to the fundamentals of market research, gives step-by-step instructions for conducting a research study, and includes many sample questionnaires.
* Some libraries now offer rent-a-researcher programs, a reasonably priced option for those who've gotten as far as they can on their own. Information professionals at the Cleveland Public Library's fee-based service agency, the Cleveland Research Center (216-623-2999), consult not just public-library resources but government offices, university libraries, and 2,000 on-line databases. The center charges $60 an hour, with a 15-minute minimum, plus various pass-through costs.
