In this fast-paced, chaotic, and global marketplace, businesses must constantly battle to cut through the clutter—and most are woefully inept. Today's sophisticated consumers want products that meet an emotional need, have added value, and come with no purchase risk. They want to buy from like-minded businesses and expect to receive their information through a wide array of new media. And yet, despite these marketplace demands, effective marketing still comes down to the fundamentals: knowledge, logic, empathy, and communication.

KICK-ASS BUSINESS AND MARKETING SECRETS: How to Blitz Your Competition (Wiley; August, 2011; $24.95; ISBN: 978-1-118-03508-5) sends business professionals back to the basics of marketing: do your homework, know your client, and measure every single thing that you do. In order to succeed, you must stand apart. Differentiate your business, create a powerful Consumer Purchasing Benefit, and add value to every purchase—and you'll instantly rise above the vast majority of businesses that fail to do so. Your diligent efforts will build heart share, increase loyalty, decrease costs, and increase ROI.

KICK-ASS BUSINESS AND MARKETING SECRETS delivers step-by-step advice on how to thoroughly research and understand your product, marketplace, and competitors. This comprehensive guide to building a rock-solid foundation for your business:

• Reveals the seven new fundamentals of marketing: ideas, imagination, intuition, interruption, initiative, ingratiation, and interaction
• Explains how to conduct a brutally honest and comprehensive business and marketing audit
• Offers six critical tips for potential investors
• Delivers step-by-step advice on how to maximize the value in every sale proposition
• Details various communication vehicles and advises on how to choose the most appropriate mix for your campaign
• Develops critical thinking skills to push you beyond your comfort zone

KICK-ASS MARKETING AND BUSINESS SECRETS reminds you that it's not the size of the budget but the size of the idea that counts. With so many new sources of market pressure, there's no room for excuses. Follow the new rules for marketing, and rise above the rest.