Marketing Books Even Non-Marketers May Like

Normally, I use my Novel Viewpoints blog to talk about fiction, but I do have an alternate blogger persona posting for clients about direct marketing and database marketing. For once, I'm going to let my blog interests overlap by sharing top new books about marketing. Why? Even if you aren't involved in marketing, you are certainly the focus of marketers. Wouldn't you like to know how you are being targeted and manipulated in this age of "big data," social media influence, "personalized" messaging, and scientifically crafted persuasion? I'll start with The Power of Broke by Daymond John, FUBU founder and star of ABC’s "Shark Tank." We all like rags-to-riches stories. John explains how "empty pockets, a tight budget, and a hunger for success can become your greatest competitive advantage," with inspiring illustrations of this hustle principle from his own life, his branding consultant experiences and "Shark Tank" success stories.  If only empty pockets were enough to put me in John's league! Don't Buy A Duck: Stop Wasting Money & Only Do Marketing That Works! by Derek Champagne is a guide to basic branding and marketing, sharing candid soup-to-nuts advice and humorous missteps. I put this one on the list for all my non-marketing readers because of the review by Seth Godin, co-author of The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook: "If you had a smart friend who knew a lot about marketing, this is precisely what she'd tell you over coffee." Viralnomics: How to Get People to Want to Talk About You by Jonathan Goodman lets readers look at their social networks the way psychologists and marketers do. Goodman explains how social media marketing can promote to the right audience--not by finding buttons to push but by finding, understanding and appealing to the influential people who push social buttons. Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die by Eric Siegel is more technical but has fascinating revelations. Learn how the mass of data from online and offline sources can be used to predict behavior for boosting sales, reducing risk, crime fighting, winning elections and more. Siegel covers intriguing topics such as predicting which people will drop out of school, cancel a subscription or get divorced before they know it themselves. You may want to insist that you're a statistical outlier, but you'll be fighting the data! For more options, go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/2698/ref=zg_bsnr_nav_b_2_3

'Bad' and 'Good' Mothers on Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, the nation will celebrate motherhood with floral bouquets and restaurants full of dutiful children honoring moms. Of course, in fiction, especially mystery writing, the "bad" mother is usually more significant to plot and character development. Start with Euripides' Medea, who punishes husband Jason's betrayal by murdering their children. Examples of other famous bad moms in literature range from Shakespeare's shallow sensualist Queen Gertrude in Hamlet to Philip Roth's overbearing Sophie Portnoy in Portnoy's Complaint, V.C. Andrews' cruel Corinne Dollanganger in Flowers in the Attic, Stephen King's fanatic Margaret White in Carrie, William Faulkner's rejecting Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying, and Jane Austen's foolish Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. Probably the most heinous crime in our culture is a mother's murder or torture of her own children. But most fictional bad mothers commit emotional crimes rather than physical violence. Their toxic mothering patterns have been helpfully categorized by Peg Streep, author of Mean Mothers: dismissive (ignoring and rejecting), controlling (micromanaging), unavailable (emotional withdrawal or actual abandonment), enmeshed ("stage" moms), combative (hypercritical and competitive), self-involved (superficial narcissists), unreliable (behavioral swings), and role-reversed (dependent moms, such as those with alcoholism or depression). No wonder bad moms are such good fodder for writers! But even if you see a mother's failings reflected in fiction's bad moms, my advice is to cut motherhood some slack this Mother's Day. Definitely don't expect mothers to live up to our culture's myths of the "good" mother, with her instinctive, unconditional and instant mother love! Maternal behavior is not instinctive; human behavior is more complex, individual and cultural than that. Maternal love is not unconditional and without preference; good parenting actually sets boundaries and recognizes differences. And maternal attachment is hardly instant; a mother-child relationship takes time and hard work. Just being a "good enough" mom is an achievement! For a good article about harmful motherhood myths, see https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/tech-support/201502/mothers-love-myths-misconceptions-and-truths

Telltale Clues of a Doomed Relationship

In adult gatherings, the demise of a marriage or long-term romantic relationship is a common topic. There may be revelations about physical abuse, affairs and addictions. However, sometimes, like the murderer in the news whom everyone describes as a "good son" or a "great neighbor," these relationship deaths take people by surprise. Do doomed relationships really leave so few clues? Of course not. We just aren't paying close attention to other people's interactions--or at least not paying attention to what counts. According to famed marriage researcher John Gottman, who has won TV news and talk-show appearances, numerous print articles, and even a chapter in Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller Blink, there are four markers of relationship failure that are highly predictive of divorce (94%): criticism, defensiveness, contempt and stonewalling. Conflict is natural and even healthy in relationships; it is the unhealthy ways of dealing with conflict that cause problems, per Gottman. So, if couples consistently resort to criticism (attacks on personality or character), defensiveness (shifting blame or responsibility), contempt (expressions of disrespect and superiority) or stonewalling (a refusal to listen or discuss), long-term togetherness is in jeopardy. From other experts come these observable clues to a relationship unlikely to last: a coupling of extreme opposites (who may attract short-term but eventually repel over insoluble differences); a control freak partner jealous of anyone or anything outside of the relationship; unkind or verbally abusive behavior; and a demand or expectation of change in a partner's authentic self. Wondering about the health of your relationship? Try this little quiz: http://psychcentral.com/quizzes/relationship_quiz.htm

The Dark Attraction of Murderous Duos

Most murder mystery plots revolve around a single killer. Murderous partners are rarer in fiction and in real life, which is why they have a macabre fascination. In fact, as a 2014 Psychology Today article noted, more than a fifth of serial killers operate in teams, most involving two offenders. And these teams have a unique psychological dynamic: One member is invariably a dominant figure who manipulates a subordinate partner's youth, neediness, mental instability, or low intelligence, according to Eric W. Hickey, a forensic psychologist and the author of Serial Murderers and Their Victims, who has studied more than 500 serial killer teams. The dominant predator in a killing team maintains such psychological and even physical control that the partnership acquires greater emotional significance than any personal moral code that might prevent heinous acts, experts agree. These deadly partnerships are often sexual: Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate; Paul Bernardo and Karen Homolka; Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. But it is the aberrant emotional glue that really counts; consider the father-son relationship of the 2002 D.C. sniper team of Muhammad and Malvo, or the same-sex peer bond of the teenage Columbine killers. So how do such murderous duos form? Gregg McCrary, a behavioral criminologist and former FBI agent, theorizes in the article: "There's radar, gaydar, and, maybe, mur-dar. It resembles the phenomenon wherein normal people meet and decide that they're going to get along, but with these couples, it takes a dark turn. They vector in on each other, sensing the excitement of a kindred spirit. It becomes electric." There's a dark law of attraction that leads to nightmares. For the complete Psychology Today article, including historical examples, read https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201406/partners-in-crime. For some more examples of famous killing teams, see http://listverse.com/2012/07/08/10-awful-serial-killer-teams/.