80/20 Sales and Marketing

Marketing consultant Perry Marshall applies the 80/20 rule to selling, arguing that time and money go furthest when aimed at the right fifth of a market. He then applies the rule to itself, as 80/20 squared and cubed, in pursuit of tenfold or even hundredfold gains. Topics include cutting time-wasters, finding hidden profit centers, advertising to highly responsive buyers instead of tire-kickers, search engine placement, standing apart from rivals and spotting untapped markets. He also turns the principle on hiring, outsourcing, publicity, market research, lead generation and web traffic, and shows how to read small clues in a business and its competitors. Specially marked Pareto Points and a Pareto Summary for every chapter condense the main lessons.

Ola Olusoga, co-founder of Populum, named it in an interview about how books have guided his path to self-discovery.