Leopardology- The Hunt for Profit in a Tough Global Economy

Leopardology- The Hunt for Profit in a Tough Global Economy

Author:  Kivi Bernard

One of the first pages in the book says “Hunt or Be Hunted”. I don’t know what to think at this point as I read those words. The author explains immediately that as a Jewish man in South Africa, he felt gifted and built for success. He never expected to be otherwise. He says he felt shocked to find others did not think so about themselves.  Really in a country that only recently got rid of apartheid ? All I can think is that his community must be very small and completely unaware of anything outside it.


Bernard sees the Leopard as the perfect hunter. He really likes that, thus Leopardology. He moved from South African to America in 1997 with less than $900 in his pocket. I know the book is called Leopardology; however he refers to himself as being like a leopard enough that it gets old by page 5.

The book is filled with simple sayings like, Never Leave Home Withou

t YOU, Study your trading market and One Lion’s poison is another Leopards meat. Not only are these uninspiring but meaningless because of the level of fluff in the world today. This book does carry his unique perspective and is full of stories from his business life. The problem is that his stories are not as interesting as he thinks they are. They are not filled anything concrete. Little sayings like Keep What You Kill sound like he has watched a lot of Hollywood movies. The sayings are things anyone could say in any market. Read more

Rules For Publicity Stunts

This article is for people contemplating publicity stunts. In light of current news events with publicity stunts going wrong, this article is to inform those who engage in publicity stunts on how to make them work to their own benefit.

Publicity stunts have been around since Barnum. He was very good at making them work not only for his own benefit, but to also make them fun for those who observe them. The days of having fun with publicity stunts are slowly coming to an end as the blunders become costly and even endanger the life of others. Here are a few mistakes to avoid when putting on a publicity stunt.

Everyone must be on board: When little Falcon announced that they did the balloon stunt for
TV while on a national TV show he spilled the beans. When the entire country was concerned for his safety, people were outraged to find he was never in danger. They were even more outraged to know that county resources were wasted looking for a child who was sitting safely at home. All parties must be on board with a a publicity stunt and know what to say and what not to see. You can see why stunts rarely involve children, you can never really predict what they will say. If your stunt results in the world hating you, you failed.

If it works , do it again. The Pilsbury bake off was intentded as a one time event, but when they saw how much participation they got, they repeated the event. The event resulted in an increase in sales.

Go big or stay home: Taco Bell placed ads saying they had bought the Liberty Bell in an effort to help the country’s deficit. They said it would still be accessible to the public and they were happy to help out. People were confused because all the media outlets carried the story. Their revenue went up by half a million dollars and by more the next day.

Think about the implications: When adult swim did a hunt with Aqua Teen Hunger Force, they scared people. In New York it began to look like a bomb scare. Always consider the impact of the community the stunt is held in.

From Concept to Consumer: How to turn ideas into money

Book: From Concept to Consumer: How to turn ideas into money

Author: Phil Baker

This author comes in the been there/done that category. He has actually done what he writes about. Baker is an expert on product and market development and Far East manufacturing. He has had a role in developing products for Apple, Seiko, Polaroid and many others. I won?t spoil it for you; however you will be pleasantly surprised to see what helped to develop. He warns the reader that creating a successful product is more than just coming up with a great idea. If you are working on your idea and do NOT have a huge company behind you, then this is perfect for you.

Baker tells you the basics of what you need on your team: a person in Finance, Engineering, Industrial Design, Marketing and Manufacturing. You cannot create the dream without a team. I like that he just doesn?t tell you to grab 5 other people who don?t think like you do. He explains product development with segments on Concept Design, Pre-production and Product and a few more elements that are needed.

Baker? segment on marketing is a little light and asks you to estimate if you can capture 5% or 30% of the market with a caveat that it takes time to capture a market. You get someone on your team that does marketing, and then they should be able to handle that for you. Baker shares why you should outsource and answers manufacturing questions that left unanswered would sink your entire project. I love that he covers PR for your product. So few business books ever do, unless of course they are about PR.

I recommend this book for the person at home or in his office inventing something new. If you learn from someone who has been successful at it, you can duplicate their success. This book is full of meat and I rate it an L.A. 8!

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