Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business |  | Author: Nancy Lublin
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $14.99
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Seller: bloomsdaybooks & Records
Rating:  41 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 1591843146
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9781591843146
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Product Description
"What we have to offer can be boiled down to one concept: the power of zero. We get more done with less of just about everything, from our people to our workplaces to our vendors. Zilch is what drives us to be more innovative, more passionate, more creative. So stop whining about your budget cuts and start asking yourself what you'd do if you had zilch. You'll be surprised just how powerful that is."
After years of being told to emulate the corporate world, not-for-profit CEOs like Nancy Lublin now find the shoe on the other foot. Tough times have forced businesses to slash their headcount, marketing budgets, and other resources. Managers at small startups and Fortune 100 companies alike are now expected to do more with less-but how?
No one is more qualified to answer that question than the leaders who always thrive on a shoestring.
Take Nancy Lublin, for instance. She learned firsthand how much you can accomplish with zilch (or close to it). As the founder of Dress for Success, which provides low-income women with interview suits and career development training, she turned a $5,000 inheritance into a global franchise. Then, as CEO of DoSomething.org, she helped turn a struggling startup into one of the largest and most successful youth volunteer groups in the world.
Now she draws on her experiences as well as interviews with other "rock star" leaders of flourishing not-for-profits-including Wendy Kopp of Teach For America, Darell Hammond of KaBOOM!, Greg Baldwin of VolunteerMatch.org, and John Lilly of Mozilla. Their examples prove the power of zero in business by teaching us how to:
* Motivate and retain good people without offering huge financial incentives
* Use the power of bartering to leverage every asset and minimize your liabilities
* Create cherished brands without throwing money at studies and focus groups
* Market your goods or service without paying a penny
Lublin's tone is a unique mix of "let's have some fun" and "here's the straight dope." Her expert advice will help any business or organization to get ahead through the power of zero.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 41
Things you can to to enhance your company for no money (or not much money). July 14, 2010
Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I know the lessons in this book from personal experience. My business partners and I built our present company having no money and were unwilling to give away all our equity to raise money. So, we have scratched, scraped, and done the things Nancy Lublin wisely advocates you do in this time of slashed budgets, decreased revenues, and carefully hoarded profits.
The book has 11 chapters with each focusing on a key lesson of getting by with zilch (which doesn't mean exactly zero dollars, but zero to spare and lot less than you were used to when things were fat, dumb, and happy just a few short years ago).
Each chapter is full of ideas and suggestions. For example, the first chapter is about doing more even though you have less cash to throw at people to paper over your problems. The ideas are sound: Get all levels of your company involved in realizing your company's vision and purpose. Rearrange your physical workspace so that it is more fun and stimulating for your staff. Make your staff more valuable and capable by investing in their skills development. Give out fancier titles (banks have know this forever). Help people set and achieve goals and make a big deal out of those achievements. Happy staff = a happy workplace. Be willing to thank your staff for the work they do. There are a lot more. You see how much more you can do without spending more money?
Lublin helps you with ideas about your brand, the people you hire for work OUTSIDE your company, being smarter about what you ask for, doing more for customers, getting more out of your board, your staff, and your company's story. She also points out valuable things you should consider about your finances. Heck, she even discusses barter! And you can always be more innovative.
Good book. I love her positive tone. She also illustrates her ideas with stories from her own experience or from interviews she has with successful folks you will want to emulate. She is concise with lots of good ideas rather than trying to fluff out one or two ideas into a whole book. Nothing here is rocket science or something you would never have thought of in a million years, but when you are under pressure (like you probably are now) it is nice to have someone think through what you could do so your job is to find the ones that are most relevant for you. Much easier than thinking them up on your own. And for the low low price of the book!
I think you can profit from this book.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI.
A wise, witty, wonderful read June 24, 2010
Kerala A. Taylor
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book spoke to me in so many ways. As co-founder of a nonprofit and as someone who's been in the nonprofit world for over 10 years, I get incredibly sick of hearing about how much we have to learn from the for-profit world. Not that there isn't some truth to that, but we have a lot to teach for-profits, too! This book brilliantly proves just that, and with a healthy dose of humility, warmth, and humor.
The Power of Zilch June 29, 2010
R.T. in DC (Washington, DC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not usually a business-book reader, but the Nancy Lublin 'brand name' caught my eye, so I opened up Zilch and took a peek...three hours later, I was still engrossed. This is the liveliest, smartest, straight-shootingest, spunkiest collection of useful tidbits and wise observations I've read about *any* subject in years. From telling anecdotes (you won't forget the one about LBJ and the NASA janitor) to genuinely interesting how-to prompts ('11 questions to get you started,' e.g.) to catchy mnemonics (the Tote Bag Principle!) to big-picture insights (the power of bartering), this book will change your life. Or at least the way you operate professionally...and for all us type-A types, isn't that the same thing? Can't wait for Lublin's next book (Nada?)--and am most enthusiastically recommending this one.
Gotta Love George! June 30, 2010
Roxy Allen (Washington, DC)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book has TONS of great stories about rockin not for profit leaders. My favorite is about George who was hired for his passion despite his lack of specific skills and taught himself HTML, SEO, and web design, working around the clock to eventually become the Chief Technology Officer at [...]. Nancy shows that when you hire smart people, empower and challenge them, you unleash their brilliance to work for your cause. The question is if you are a strong enough leader to pass meaningful responsibilities and power on to your staff, step back, and let them launch. We young professionals are hungry for you to do this, and it will cost the organization nothing.
Insightful and Creative June 25, 2010
Daniel Sucher
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Zilch has great ideas and insights on how any company, not-for profit or any organization can spread their brand without spending a penny. As a college student, I found the piece on how universities spread their brand very interesting and made me realize how simple brand marketing can be. Anyone feeling wary in these tough times would be wise to take in the valuable lessons of this book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 41
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