Propel: Five Ways to Amp-Up Your Marketing and Accelerate Business

by Whitney Keyes, Maggie Winkel (Foreword)

Want more customers? Need to increase social media followers? Want your name in the news to boost your brand and sales?

Propel: Five Ways to Amp Up Your Marketing and Accelerate Business is the ideal guide for marketing with tips, tools and trends for social media, word of mouth marketing, publicity, and more. It offers a straightforward, five-step approach to use the power of direct marketing to get to the next level. Propel shows how large corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, schools, governments, and other organizations can quickly reach the right people at the right time in the right way - to get the right results.

Including over 50 real-world examples of success and compelling case studies of digital and traditional marketing and PR success from around the world, this is a practical guide to help you break through all the noise in the marketplace and connect with the people you need to reach the most.

Includes examples and case studies of social media tools including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, as well as marketing strategies applicable for LinkedIn, Vine, Instagram, Infographics, Pinterest, Yelp, City Search, Urban Spoon, blogs, podcasts, and other marketing communication outlets.



Whitney Keyes is a marketing strategist, professor and a Fellow for the Center for Strategic Communication at Seattle University. Whitney worked as a senior Microsoft manager, strategic advisor for American Express and consultant to thousands of businesses around the world. While at Microsoft, she managed global marketing campaigns, including the launch of Office 2000, an $8 billion business, and helped create the Corporation's philanthropy program, Unlimited Potential. Whitney is an international speaker and received three grants from the U.S. State Department to empower social entrepreneurs, women leaders, NGOs and youth in Asia and Africa. She received the Small Business Administration's 2013 Women in Business Champion of the Year Award for Washington State, U.S.A.

Propel: Five Ways to Amp Up Your Marketing and Accelerate Business offers a go-to marketing resource for entrepreneurs, business owners, nonprofit directors. Even people working in marketing or publicity departments, as teachers and professors, and in agencies can use Propel to turn marketing ideas into strategic action that gets real results - fast.

Genres: Business

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Michele Wucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using real-life, real-people examples from major corporations to a mom-and-daughter chocolate shop to an online magazine to a neighborhood restaurant, Propel is full of ideas on how to upgrade your marketing strategy and attract new business. Author Whitney Keyes shares principles and practices for building your brand, finding your market, forming powerful partnerships, and amplifying your message through the media and influencers. This book is helpful whether you're a new entrepreneur or have an established business that you'd like to take to the next level. It's accessible, practical, and to the point.

[Bianca Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the blurb for Propel, Whitney Keyes promises:

This title shows you how to identify opportunities at your fingertips and use them to build market share, boost brand loyalty, and generate more revenue fast!

And she follows through with this promise.

The full name of the book is Propel: Five Ways to Amp-Up Your Marketing and Accelerate Business, and it takes a small business owner through making a marketing plan. I’ve known of Whitney’s work for a while now. Seattle’s very like that. I’ve always loved that she’s practical with her marketing advice. In Propel, she’s no different.

As I mentioned, this book takes you through building a marketing plan. You’ll be given exercises and research activities that’s take you through from a SWOT, to executing a plan that’s right for your business. I particularly love that Whitney uses examples from a mix of companies, small and large. Because she’s from Seattle and I currently live in Seattle there was an added bonus of learning more about the city’s businesses. Like Whitney, I didn’t know about the B&B in Greenlake. I wish the Chocolate Box still did their tours of several local chocolate factories. If you’re ever in the area let me know. I’ll make you a list of the yummiest chocolate factories in the region.

The start of the book contains a glossary, which is perfect. So many people go into business without knowing the terminology. Placing the glossary at the beginning means there’s no skipping and terminology is in sync.

Now everyone is using the same words, it’s time for the marketing plan. Whitney uses a five principle model as a template: strategy, story, strength, simplicity, and speed. I’m not going to go into detail on them. You’ll need to read the book. And do the homework at the end of each chapter. These homework exercises are all about you and your business. By the end of the book you have a marketing plan for your business. This is where you’ll learn about each principle, why it’s important, tactics related to it, and hear stories about businesses like yours going through the same activities. The non-fluffy version is that each chapter will have you writing your mission and values, and SWOT analysis and media plan.

Who Should Read Propel?
People who have been in business, don’t have a marketing background but know they need to know more can always go deeper into marketing theory than Whitney takes you. But she gets the balance of what you need to know, when your time is also accounting, human resources, manufacture or service, and sales. You don’t have time to know marketing theory inside out I have a bachelor’s degree in marketing and definitely don’t know it all), Propel will give you what you need.

Propel has just been released as an audio book, which is why Whitney offered me a copy to review. Personally, I think I’d go for a print or electronic copy. My audio book listening is in the car, and I wouldn’t be able to do the homework while driving. Then again, I’m also more visual so maybe it’s my style. You have choices to match you. I just recommend you read it and do the homework.

First published: http://tapdancingspiders.com/book-rev...

[Lucie Newcomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Propel is the perfect book for startups, non-profits and small businesses who need to grasp the basic elements and implications of Marketing quickly. It also provides a good overview for non-marketers seeking to understand its "nuts and bolts". All too frequently, Marketing is confused with Sales and/or with promotion. Although the author's discussion of segmentation differs slightly from my own training, it is indeed covered and covered well. Even the book's sharp branding platform signals the author's exceptional levels of expertise. In terms of next steps, I could easily envision a companion workbook, for fleshing out the exercises; perhaps with a DVD to bring a greater sense of immediacy to groups and showcase the author's excellent public speaking skills. I would also like to see a more detailed discussion of Digital Marketing/Social Media strategies and tactics, particularly since this is such a powerful platform for this budget-challenged set of reader-segments. I'm glad I read Propel and I expect most other readers will feel the same!

[Jessica Villanueva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had the honor of being Whitney's student at Seattle U and this book was just as great (if not better) than her teaching style. The book gives great real-life examples and thoroughly explains methods to amp up your marketing. As a recent college grad, I just got a job as a marketing coordinator. Once I was asked to create a marketing plan, the first thing that popped into my head was this book & Whitney. It's crazy to think how one book can have that much of an impact! I'm currently using Propel as the basis for creating my company's marketing plan and my boss has been nothing short of pleased with the results. Highly recommend to anybody looking to create a strategic marketing plan!

[Makayla Nichelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Easy to follow helpful information.