Allan Dib’s ‘The 1-Page Marketing Plan’ – Loy Machedo’s Book Review
Nearly a month ago I had received an email from Allan Dib’s team to review his book “The 1-page Marketing Plan”. As usual I gave them my postal address and asked them to send me a physical copy of the book (I don’t do digital versions) so that I could have a look at it.
However, once, I received the book – well, I was not very happy.
Not happy because it was a book on Marketing.
And also because I assumed there wouldn’t be anything revolutionary or new in terms of its content. Because come on – what more can you learn about Marketing, Selling, Branding or Management that you haven’t already read before? And given that I have read quite a number of books – I was like….Oh brother…not again!
So with a very skeptical mindset and a very heavy head, I opened the book knowing fully well, I would end up skipping pages as I would be bored out of my wits.
Oh…but surprise…..surprise, Guess what?
I was proved wrong.
How?
Well read on….and enjoy the good, the bad and the ugly of “The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get new customers, make more money and stand out from the crowd by Allan Dib”
Loy Machedo
http://whoisloymachedo.com/
http://thinkpersonalbranding.com/
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The book cover – bright yellow (pprrrffttt) with bold fonts and a recommendation by legendary marketing author Al Ries on the cover.
I was unimpressed.
It looked as cheesy as an overhyped movie.
And when I turned it around – it was even worse.
The cliche “WARNING – do not read this book if you hate money” reverse psychology put me off.
So almost immediately I was like ‘Oh brother….. What have I gotten myself into?’
Personally speaking….
What makes it terrible is when an Author sends you his book with the hope that you would give it a positive review and you don’t like it. What do you do then? Write a stinker of a review? Be honest that you didn’t like it? Or play around with words and give it a neutral review…which makes it hard especially since I have been one of those reviewers who crucifies a book/author if the work is terrible.
So that puts me in a rather very awkward position where I have to balance between being myself to being polite.
So my first impression about this book was a No-No.
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
ENTER THE DRAGON
I opened the book ….and the book started off with a few statements that did grab my attention. And it was all about money, how important money is, how this book focuses on wanting to make money and most importantly why it is important to make money FAST!
The second I read these statements – I was like “ah….this is my kind of a book” because the fact of the matter is simply this – what is the point of doing any activity (in business) if it isn’t to make money?
Agreed you have to provide value, keep your customers happy and leave a legacy (the typical blah blah blah companies give you). But what sense does it make to any individual is he is not making any money? And that too if you are not making money FAST!?!
So once I read these few statements – I got warmed up and wanting to read this book with interest.
Once the author laid bare to the fundamentals of his core beliefs – he then moved to the next bit – the definitions.
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
DEFINING THE TERMS
It has been a few years since I read any Harvard Business Publication where terminologies & definitions were concerned. So when the author Allan Dib’s moved into defining what marketing was – I was curious to see how would he define it.
Would he take the same old boring path of using the same jargon as other authors or would he try to do something new? And mind you – new need not always prove right, fun or interesting.
To my surprise once again Allan Dib managed to define the various management terminologies from marketing, advertising, promotion, publicity, public relations, sales and even strategy in very humorous and relatable terms. It was then I knew this book was going to be interesting.
I have always known a fact – if an educator can make education fun & engaging – then that person is worth listening to. Allan Dibs through the first chapter in itself convinced me that this was going to be a very interesting book. And yes – it absolutely proved to be.
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
THE CONTENT IS KING
The book is divided into 3 main chapters. And each main chapter is divided into subchapters.
ACT I – THE “BEFORE PHASE”
Chapter 1: Selecting your target market
Chapter 2: Crafting your message
Chapter 3: Reaching prospects with advertising media
ACT II – THE “DURING PHASE”
Chapter 4: Capturing Leads
Chapter 5: Nurturing Leads
Chapter 6: Sales Conversion
ACT III – THE “AFTER” PHASE
Chapter 7: Delivering a World-Class experience
Chapter 8: Increasing customer lifetime values
Chapter 9: Orchestrating and stimulating referrals
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE BOOK
- Easy to read
- Information presented in an interesting manner
- Content Rich
- Practical real-world advice
- Information that was very apt & relevant
- Thought-provoking questions
- Practical strategies
- Lots of to-do activities & ideas (author will not ask you to do anything. You have to choose to do it i.e Elevator Pitch, explaining your product/service USP)
- Clues behind the science of copywriting & selling
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE IN THE BOOK
(or what could be made better)
Now just as nothing in the world can be perfect – this book also has its limitations. Now, over here, do understand – I am pushing myself to spot a drawback so that it doesn’t look like I am in all praise for the author simply because I got a book sent to me for review. So take this with a pinch of salt. Personally, I wouldn’t have given this book any drawbacks – but since I wanted to play Devil’s Advocate – here goes with me being the Bad guy.
If had to really dig (And I mean REALLY DIG OUT) drawbacks for this book – it would be….
- The summary in the end of each chapter. It was incomplete & didn’t cover the important points.
- There weren’t examples or anecdotes to support the author’s points.
- There were 2 websites to check – www.1pmp.com & www.successwise.com – The latter didn’t load for some reason (later it did) while the former didn’t hold my attention for too long. I wondered why the author didn’t market/brand himself?
- The cover of the book (front & back) wouldn’t have grabbed my attention at all. Had I not received this book for free – I doubt I would have ever read it.
- Given that I always browse through books quickly before buying them – this book would have failed the test and I would have missed a wonderful resource. Shouldn’t this book be ‘marketed’ properly especially when it offers so much value to the reader?
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
MOMENT OF TRUTH
I believe in a phrase that says “Knowledge is NOT power.
Application of knowledge is power.”
Author Allan Dib has a wealth of experience which is pretty hands-on as an Entrepreneur, marketer, technology expert & author. This has made him practically experiment with his theories, assumptions & the stuff he has read in other books. So whatever he shares in the book can be life changing IF AND ONLY IF they are implemented, practiced, worked upon and improved upon.
Just as ONLY READING about doing 10 repetitions of 3 sets to failure on a bench press to build shoulder, triceps & pectoral strength will not make your shoulders, triceps & pectoral stronger – in the same way ONLY READING the concepts in this book will not make any difference to your business, your brand, your personal or professional life. You need to work on it and make these concepts work.
Given my 11 years as a Personal Branding Strategist who has constantly experimented with concepts, theories, ideas & strategies – I know that one kilo of theory is nothing compared to 1 gram of practical action. That is why when there is an idea, concept or thought – I immediately go about experimenting and doing something about it to see if it works or it doesn’t.
Allan Dib’s “The 1-page marketing plan” is an exceptionally amazing resource if you put each and every bit of advice into action – an actionable plan that has to be observed, studied, analyzed, corrected and perfected over time. Otherwise – like all other books on the shelf – they will be just a bunch of smart concepts sitting and catching dust.
I will agree with critics of this book who may say “there is nothing revolutionary or new” that is being taught in this book. No there isn’t. But then again – how much of what you know have you applied in your life?
Overall, I found this book refreshing and a reminder to everything I have applied in my life. And yes, a few ideas that I may need to implement to push my brand to the next level. If anyone would ask me – I would absolutely recommend this book simply because it is worth its value in gold.
If you are looking for one book in Management, Business, Leadership, Marketing & Branding that can make a positive & powerful difference to your way of thinking – I would say – go out there and buy this book. I absolutely without a doubt feel this book is a must-read for the ages.
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ALLAN DIB’S ‘THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN’
OVERALL RATING
9/5 OUT OF 10
Do check out www.successwise.com & www.1pmp.com
Loy Machedo
