Available from Audible through Amazon.com

Author: Brenda Bence

Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Speaking to “solo-preneurs” and SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), this book gives clear direction on how to market and brand your company for no-cost or low-cost.

Long Review: As her own website states, “Brenda Bence is a renowned international branding and leadership expert who shows both individuals and companies how to achieve greater success through corporate and personal branding.” If you want proof, listen to this book. This book holds your hand and walks you through many steps toward building your own marketing and promotional Brand. It becomes clear very early in the book that your intention and focus impact how you are received in the marketplace.

You need to have a Brand Positioning Statement. What is that? Jump on into this book, where Ms. Bence will easily explain it, with ample discussions and examples along the way. Once you have your Brand Positioning Statement, she leads you through understanding how to leverage your assets and differences into building a more successful business. Whether you are a direct sales person, a one-person company, a manager/owner, or the director of operations, you WILL benefit from this book. You won’t need extra time, you can re-apportion your time. You won’t need a big marketing budget, you can use approaches and ideas in Smarter Branding to build attention and respect for your products and services right away.

I want to give this book 5 stars, because it is great to have and refer to again and again. I had one problem with listening to it, however. The audio levels in this release vary so greatly, that it disturbed the listening experience. So, you are forewarned here: Crank it up loud while the softly-spoken Bence is speaking, and turn it down to half volume when the musical interlude pipes in between chapters.

Available from Audible.com

Author: Brenda Bence

Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Master the Brand Called You; The proven leadership branding system to help you earn more, do more, and be more at work is a step by step look at how to use proven marketing techniques to further your own business persona and career. A clear, understandable method to reflect on how you can improve your skills and project your most needed qualities at work.

Long Review:

Brenda Bence is an enthusiastic proponent for applying product brand marketing techniques, with her own twist, to be used by you in your own career. She lays out an easy to understand plan for developing your own Brand identity and carrying it through in detail. You will determine your target audience, your strengths, and what you will need to work on.

In addition to the thorough explanations along the way, Bence has made a template available online to follow along with the book, so the listener can log their personal goals while completing the book.

If you can wrap your head around the fact that marketing and psychology bear such great weight in our perception of daily life, you will adore this book and Benceâ€s suggestions for gaining more control of your Brand. If you havenâ€t given much previous thought to the aspects that go into marketing, this book is going to open up an entire new world to you. If you can begin to understand how you influence others, you can change the world.

Short book. Great presentation. Great Author. Highly recommended.

Available from Audible.com

Author: Brenda Bence
Reader: Brenda Bence

Short Review: Would YOU Want to Work for YOU? How to build an executive leadership brand that inspires loyalty and drives employee performance is an audiobook that is short in length but big in information. Bence covers 15 behaviour sets to better lead others. Youâ€ll want more than one listen and a notepad to jot notes and diagrams.

Long Review: The book starts out in a lulling fashion, and I was originally concerned about Ms. Benceâ€s soothing voice causing me distraction. I was so intent on listening “differently” to this non-fiction piece, that it wasnâ€t until I reset my ears to her tone that I could focus. This well-spoken instructor said she would be posing me the hard questions and would be rough on my self-reflection; somehow, she pulls this off while remaining truly likeable the entire time.

Bence is intent on teaching you how to cross the “Leadership Threshold” by (in the quote by John Pepper) “Being Coachable”. Encouraging the listener to put a mirror in front of their OWN behaviours and attitudes, Bence gives AHA moments of realization to the listener. Each subject is accompanied by an example of why it works and how best to use the process.

While the book is aimed at executives wanting to become The Executive, the tools in this book can easily be helpful for any businessperson, parent, or decent human being. Youâ€ll find yourself nodding along in agreement, grabbing paper to jot notes to yourself, and wanting a second listen. I have already suggested this book to two people who are new to supervisory roles and want to learn how to improve. At just over 4 hours, I donâ€t see how anyone could afford NOT to listen to this book.

I look forward to reading more books by this author and her tips on Branding and Business.