Customer Reviews:
 Leading you to improve your website March 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Another good book from the 52 brilliant ideas series. The format of these books works well. You can choose to read them cover to cover, or just to dip into the chapters that interest you most. Each chapter is fairly short, typically just 3 or 4 pages with a couple of FAQ type queries after each.
Jon Smith's experience oozes out in every chapter. He was part of the startup team for Amazon, and has created and/or ran several successful e-businesses.
This book was published in 2005, it is slightly dated but not to any great detriment. I have read two more of his books and have given those the full 5-star rating (Getting into bed with Google & Smarter business start-ups). Interestingly, I don't think this book mentions Google once!
I have turned the corners of many pages and am sure that I will be referring back to this book in the future, there's a lot of practical and useful information within it and I have no doubt that his tips will be effective.
Once again, the quality of this book is excellent and the images used throughout are relevant and eye-catching.
Jon's use of humour makes the book very readable, but I do wonder whether he might do better to use clearer (less humorous) chapter titles, as it is not always obvious from the title what the chapter might contain; "Is that it?", "By whatever means necessary", "Who's the daddy?", "Chained to the kitchen sink", "I'm a believer", and finally "Sticky buns"!
Fortunately, the index in the front should help to explain what exactly is covered within each chapter.
Having said that, it's a worthwhile read filled with lots of really useful advice.
 Web Site Hit! November 26, 2004
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Another fantastic guide from Jon Smith (also see The Bloke's Guide To Pregnancy).I am not familiar with the Infinite Ideas range itself so could not compare however, I do know a good read when I see one. The concept is simple: 52 tips to create and/or improve your website to make it more appealing to your customers and attract new visitors. A straightforward index allows you to select the chapters that are most relevant to your situation without making you read from cover to cover to divine the info you need. Read what you need for now, go away and apply it, come back later and carry on with the next part. Each chapter comes with a review of what you set out to achieve and whether you did. The delivery is simple: Jon's ability to break his subject matter down into the common denominator makes him appealing and accessible to anyone. His direct and chatty style is also laden with humour to lighten the load and actually make it an enjoyable read rather than a chore as is the case with many guides. Now all I have to do is use his advice to see if it all works.
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