Read it. Avoid some big, obvious and costly mistakes.
587155
This is worth the read. Direct marketers are the only honest marketers on the planet. Seth brings a good direct marketing sensibility to Web site design. You'll find lots of errors pointed out which seem very, very obvious but after 7+ years of Web site design are still very, very common.  If you only get the "Where's the Banana?" lesson your $3 and time will be well served.  The book is light in lots of areas but it doesn't claim to be otherwise. Mainly oriented to consumer Web sites but the lessons are often applicable to B2B because, like most good direct marketing, the right things to do are obvious.  Anyone who has a Flash-heavy Web site should have their heads examined.  Happily, Seth makes this point. ....
1954398
I was late reading this book as it has already been out a few years. However, that was my loss as the title hides more than what is inside and what the book and author provides the reader. On the whole, the author turns conventional wisdom on its head then left and right throughout the text. If you have been investing for sometime, then you may already know some of the falsehoods that Wall Street and your broker preaches. Irrespective or even if you are aware of the falsehoods, there are many that I am of the belief you will not know about and recommend reading Ken Fisher's fine book.

I kept this review short as there are plenty of other fine reviews available, but this book will indeed expand or help improve on your investment insights. Broken down to its core, the author's recommendation and advice is to adopt a benchmark, preferably global, and overweight or underweight it when asking the three questions while avoiding the financial myths. This should provide you, the investor, a slight advantage over the market. Though it sounds very simple, we know the market is the great discounter and loves confusing both novices and professionals. This book will help the novices from stepping in a few potholes and also should help the professional turn over a new leaf or two. Enjoy :)
3830438
What I'd really like the potential reader to know is to read this book before you think you might need it.

Everyone on Wall Street knows things are different today than they were ten years ago. The instability and changes combined with attitudes and policy being put forth by our federal government leave employees feeling apprehensive and unsteady about their careers. (At the time I'm writing this the federal government is unable to agree on a new budget, we have large deficits and raising taxes on individuals is back on the table.)

Why you need to read this before you think you may need it is because Cohen suggests a strategy for how to react the moment the bad news is given and how to negotiate and what to ask for in the severance package (if you are unable to persuade them to change their minds). If the tactic works, this could benefit you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in severance pay and more if they agree to add some months of medical insurance coverage to your severance package. Unfortunately, I didn't have the book until that part of the process had already happened to my husband. Wall Street people are often already working hard and long hours actually doing the job to read a book about a topic they HOPE they won't need to know about. My message to you is: READ IT NOW.

Onto the job search...a major take-away is developing your story and how you should market and package yourself. The book also guides the reader through self evaluation to help figure out what positions in which type of companies they would be a best fit for. There are exercises to help you determine your strengths and your interests in an attempt to guide you to look for positions in the most ideal area (versus perhaps just doing the same position you did at your last job).

The tone of the writing is uplifting (which is appreciated because the actual job search can be daunting and is exhausting). There is a lot of useful information here for the price. Depending on what you already know some of this could be old news and some will be new and useful. Consults with resume writers and interview skills coaches and similar consultant services can run hundreds of dollars per hour, so you really can't lose much by investing in this comparatively low-cost book. If you learn just one or two good things from this reading this book, your money will have been well spent.
2721712
This is a fun book and a useful book.
Don't waste time with the small stuff, save a lot on the big stuff.

Best tip in the medical section:
Don't pay billed charges, ask upfront and get discounts.
Check out prices at The Healthcare Blue Book.

For hospitals, negotiate your discounts before you get your care.

Lots of good tips on medications too.

A book that can actually save you more than it costs, that's cool!
4690026
My life is better for having read this book. You're making a mistake if you don't buy it!  Do it today.
423478
A good read if you are reading for fun. Basically at the same level as a good novel or movie. But if you are looking to save tax money and you are motivated enough, you should know a lot of it already by now. It is clear that you cannot follow many things without having your own business, an attorney and a tax advisor. If you have all three, you should be getting these advises anyway.
Also there are disappointing errors or at least false marketing. For example in 4th chapter, the author recommends saving tax by Gifting stocks to your kids in college.
Not a few pages later, he informs you about Kiddie tax that takes away this benefit.
4952534
The main advice is if you think it...it will happen...or it wasn't meant to happen. Now you don't have to read it!
1530914
I just happened to pick up the audio-book version of this book before thumbing through the hardcover.

This is first book of its kind that I've found that recommends stock options and an investment strategy for surviving the coming economic collapse. Dr. Leeb presents a strong argument for getting your finances in order. The basis for his book is the 1970's, a period very familiar to me, the time of "Stag-flation." I believe that with a few adjustments for problems he missed  academic studies such as these tend to be rich in details and highly accurate but myopic. Dr. Leeb is primarily worried about inflation. The basis of his book is that the government will flood the market with dollars to counter the political fallout from collapsing demand. Maybe so, if it can.

Unfortunately, when this book was written, the mortgage crisis had just begun to show up in the media. Where will the money come from when the government is broke? I'm just guessing but I think you'd want to hedge a little more towards deflation than inflation and Dr. Leeb takes this into account.

Another minor flaw with the book is a lack of appreciation for the economic impact of the environment. He sees this as a problem that is 50 years away. As a practical environmentalist and a chemical engineer, I see it as a problem we must address within 10 years or so or we, as a species, will be dead. The American Chemistry Society (ACS) has provided ample warning for years about the rising unhealthiness of the food we eat -- like the warnings to everyone, not just pregnant women, not to eat fish (those on the top of their food chains).

The EPA now warns pregnant women not to eat shark, mackerel, tilefish, albacore (white) tuna or swordfish because of mercury; in truth, their credibility is not gold leaf anymore. Better advice would be to not eat walleye, salmon, pike, or trout and this goes for wild fish and farm-raised. The reason why government agencies such as these are not reliable is because of protection of government interests, such as Canadian and American commercial fishing. But, that, to use an old author's ploy is another story.

Dr. Leeb misses this converging phenomena. One reason may be the cost of damage to the environment. This cost is largely un-measureable and is usually ignored in economic analysis. I should know, I'm a engineer. We have trouble accounting for inflation in our calculations let alone the economic impact of improvements in quality, safety or the environment. I am sure that DuPont would have taken more care not to destroy the Chesapeake Bay if they could have weighed the economic cost. Certainly, the government accountants would have reminded them with stiff penalties.

Or, maybe, Dr. Leeb assumes that if the effect of the environment is severe enough, the health system will collapse altogether. Imagine a world without health care. He alludes to this towards the end of the book.

All in all, this is an excellent book. Like the others in this genre, he warns about inflation. I think Dr. Leeb has chosen the correct path by avoiding the temptation to tell you how bad it could get and focusing on how you can improve your lot during the collapse. At least, Dr. Leeb has some investment ideas for your survival.

If this review was helpful, please add your vote so that others can benefit.
376205
This has some useful information that includes lots of grammatical errors.  If you can overlook that, you will probably find some things that you can put to good use. It's ok.
3546461
Spent a weekend to crack it. Generally speaking, this book is fine. I like the fact it presents current research status of finance, though much of research is related to the author's work. On the other hand, this book has tons of typos, which must make you wondering if there are many errors in the content. The ideas presented in the book are simple and straightforward, however, they can be described in much more concise way through less than 10 math formulas. Basically, the fancy word of "factor investing" is to sort out sources of risks/factors and through a top-down framework to weigh if the investors are willing to collect the risk premiums by bearing a set of risks, i.e. possibilities of losses at bad times.
1831913
The advice contained in this book is basically good solid stuff, the kind of information that you really do need to know if you are serious about making even a modest living from writing and selling ebooks. It's also true to say that not too much of it is new or ground-breaking, but it is both convenient and logical to have everything in a single volume. There are good resources as well, links to sites, blogs, etc, that will help with marketing, and a particularly useful analysis of what types of books and subjects sell best on Amazon. The reason for the three stars is because, especially towards the end of the book, the writing deteriorates significantly, with frequent punctuation and grammatical errors, and often with words missing from sentences, and this definitely spoiled my enjoyment of the book. I found this especially ironic as the author emphasizes the importance of making sure that no such errors creep into the text. Physician heal thyself, kind of thing.
1943467
If you've ever thought about selling books in the internet, you must read Weber's book. It addresses booksellers (and wannabes) at every scale, from someone trimming a personal collection up to a business shipping hundreds of books daily.

I won't go over all the topics already listed in the book's description, except to say that they're handled competently, in understandable language. I do, however, want to point out one area where Weber does an especially good job, and that is in customer communication. Weber emphasizes prompt, courteous communication, even when dealing with problem customers. The point worth repeating is to be clear what order each message refers to. Imagine that I, the customer, have just put in three orders to three different booksellers, and have another half-dozen in the pipeline. I get email from someone, with an e-ddress that may not match the name of the business from which I bought (not that I'd remember them all), saying "Your order just shipped." WHICH ONE? Please, Mr. and Ms. Bookseller, take Weber's advice. Put the name of the book, and maybe even the date of the order into every piece of correspondence. It takes that little to make a vastly better impression with your customers.

I noticed only two omissions in this otherwise thorough treatment. The first is in international shipping. The book mentions it briefly, including the preferred ways to send books overseas. I did not see any mention of customs forms and the like - even if such things aren't issues, I'd like to see that spelled out explicitly. The second soft spot comes in his discussion of hiring help. Weber points out quite correctly that it can be dauntingly complex to deal with taxes, witholdings, and all the rest, no matter how small the operation. I did not see mention of the easy way out of this morass - the agencies that will handle a payroll for you with all the legalities met, including those that differ by state. Yes, the payroll agency takes a fee, and that's another expense. It's a lot less than the price of screwing up the government's paperwork, though. One might also point out that Weber's book is weak on the largest scale of bookselling operations, on up to Barnes and Noble or Borders. I don't consider that an omission. Instead, I think of that topic as ouside of the book's chosen scope - not a failing in the book, but a decision by the author, and hardly the "home based" business of the book's title.

I recommend this to anyone selling books, and maybe to anyone selling anything in the internet marketplace.

//wiredweird, reviewing a complimentary copy
3253843
Well written and easily understood.  It pays to do your research before you have surgery! Mistakes are made but you don't want to be one of them.
2036614
Just buy it and read it
AND use it.
It may open up new world you did not know existed for your success.
3169384
You can read through it or go to the specific section you need to know about. the author avoids getting too much into tech talk.
2438586
This book is full of errors.  That said, it does have a lot of information and I appreciate its narrow focus.  Find a nice used copy for $5-$10 and you'll probably be satisfied -- pay $38 and you'll go ballistic!
597219
Unfortunately, we read 106 Mistakes AFTER we bought. Had we read it BEFORE we woud have saved about 300  times the price of the book because of just two mistakes we made(mortgage costs and tricks with warranties) that this book covers. This book (better than the others we did read) really helps because it illustrates the details of homebuying with dozens of real-life experiences. We saw ourselves repeatedly--and you will too. Highly recommended!