Each quarter I post a review of a leadership/motivational book I recommend to colleagues and friends. Some may be old favorites, others are hot off the press. I am always open to suggestions for books to review. If you have a favorite you'd like to share with others, please contact me.

The Little Book of Business Secrets That Work:
200 How To’s Every Business Professional Needs to Know
by Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz

The Little Book is just that, a little book of 210 4.5x8 pages. Small enough to fit inside a bag or briefcase without adding weight. But this little gem does have weight…the weight of simple business wisdom we should all know but too often forget in the surging tide of daily work life.

Author Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz brings the reader 199 business tips divided into five sections:

• Start up – with a focus on entrepreneurs
• Sales
• Marketing
• Customer Retention
• Motivation

Camacho-Ruiz adds a nice touch for Secret #200. She asks for a secret from the reader. This is a great circle back to a value she espouses at the beginning of the book that “every answer you seek—in business, personally, professionally, spiritually and emotionally—is inside you.” So at the end, she asks the reader to acknowledge a Secret he/she has discovered through experience and share why it is important and how the reader implements it. Then she asks the reader to share it with her. For Little Book 2? Maybe.

The 30+ tips under Start-up provide good information for people considering the step to business ownership. Camacho-Ruiz includes solid tactical advice for the potential entrepreneur such as lining up your team: lawyer, accountant, insurance broker et al. There are also good reminders for those of us already business owners: recognize when you need help, charge appropriately, and bring businesses together. Competitors can also be strategic partners.

Section 2, Sales, is all about the importance of building relationships. What attracted me to this book was meeting the author. She spoke from the heart about her values and her commitment to living an authentic and emotionally connected life. These values clearly come across in the book. The message that runs through the entire Sales section is how most of sales is the selling of yourself. The “vibe” a potential client gets from you can make or break a sale. Among the Secrets in this section: ask open questions, listen to the answers, make sure you know what the client wants as an end result. and document the value you bring.

Secrets 58-89 focus on Marketing. The foundation of all marketing, says the author, is knowing three things:

• Who is your audience?
• What are your key messages?
• What are the right vehicles to reach your audience?

This section poses some tough questions for both the entrepreneur and the traditional employee.

• What impact do you have on your client’s business?
• What would your client’s experience be if you were not there?
• What resources are you not maximizing when it comes to marketing? What steps can you take to maximize them?

In tough times, marketing is often the first to be cut. No, no, no, cries Camacho-Ruiz. Research shows that those who continue to market in slow times breed loyalty and connection that result in better sales when times improve.

The Secrets in this section are not simply suggestions of new things to try, but alternative ways to use a current technique or tool. For example: one of your blog entries gets good responses? Shorten it for a newsletter blurb, expand it for a magazine or newspaper article, post it on a website, expand it exponentially and make it a white paper.

Section 4: Customer Retention: All know it is easier to retain a customer than to find a new one. While Camacho-Ruiz hits her stride in Marketing, this reader felt she lost focus in this section. There are some terrific ideas:

• Remind customers what has been done for them
• Make sure results are measurable
• Communicate, communicate, communicate

Yet these are intermingled with tips on time management, delegation, identifying management style…subjects best put under a heading of basic management tips as opposed to customer retention. I struggled to make a connection between customer retention and tips about enjoying a family vacation, and leaving personal problems at the door. That said…

Camacho-Ruiz ends in a high note with her final section on Motivation. Motivation is one of this reader’s favorite topics and The Little Book came on strong with Secrets on focus, persistence, and defining your individual vision of success. Secret #135 recommends journaling as a way to acknowledge your own successes.

The motivation section would be a good tool to use with employees. What can they do at work this week to give themselves a blast of adrenaline that comes with a surge of motivation?

In the Motivation section, the author hits on some hard truths. In our quest to do our best we can:

• Let our own goals fade as we work to achieve the goals of others.
• Settle into the comfort zone and play it safe too often.
• Forget to make professional development a priority and be left behind.

We are all drivers of our lives, Camacho-Ruiz reminds us. We control what happens by how we react to the situations we encounter.

The Little Book delivers on its promise…90%. How could it be more valuable? While Camacho-Ruiz includes some helpful website resources, a bibliography of classic business success books, and a number of business forms available on her website, this reader would have liked to see a resource or two suggested with every Secret. For example: Camacho-Ruiz recommends the reader learn his/her management style, yet provides no information on how to access the many personality inventories available. She always asks the reader to take some sort of action at the end of each Secret, but what if you don’t know where to start?

This is not to say The Little Book is not a solid piece. It is. It simply has the potential to be richer. That said…

The Little Book is more difficult than it appears on first read. The questions that follow each Secret are deceptively deep. For example:

• List what you will have to give up to be more successful.
• What can you do today to demonstrate excellence in your life?

This is a book you can read in one or two “sit downs” or it can be used like a workbook. This reviewer recommends the workbook approach. Scan the book to get its flavor. Choose a Secret or two to work on each week. Reflect on the questions asked. Make a short action plan and commit to its implementation. Visualize what your business/career/life will be like with this “baby step” completed.

Yes, this method will keep the book on your nightstand or in your briefcase longer, but isn’t your success worth it?

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