Each of the following five winners will receive a signed copy of Tom Wanek’s new book, “Currencies That Buy Credibility.” Be sure to send your mailing address to me at michelemiller@wonderbranding.com and we’ll get the book to you soon.

Leslie McDonald

Peter Marcantel

Chester Hull

Robin Kressbach

Seth Sparks

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s the original ad.

“Oh, don’t worry she won’t bite.”

But that’s not all: Your customer also relies on the collective memories of all consumers – through what’s commonly known as word of mouth.  And the Internet is a word-of-mouth megaphone that gives truth-thirsty customers a lightning-fast way to model the experiences of others.  So companies today have nowhere to hide.  And that’s why the old assumptions of marketing – that you can overpower your customer with ad-speak and hype – are doomed.”

I love the beginning of this new book by Tom Wanek, titled “Currencies That Buy Credibility,” which launches today.

As a marketing consultant, blogger, and speaker, Tom has spent years studying the “signals” that companies send to consumers, just as animals use signals to send messages to each other in the wild.  And he delivers the results of his research in a compelling-yet-entertaining way, helping you to understand the messages you have been sending to your customers (either inadvertently or on purpose) and come up with a tightly focused marketing strategy that has impact.

Tom does a brilliant job of breaking the “signal system” down into six types of “currency” to help you invest in the right kind of message.

What should you be focusing on – Time?  Opportunity?  Prestige?  By the end of this book, you’ll have a clear understanding of the advantages of all six currencies, which one fits your business best, and case studies to help you plan for the future.

You know I don’t write about business books very often – this one is a must for your business book library.  At $14.00, it’s a steal.

But I’ll tell you what… even though they’re bound to fly off the shelves, I managed to talk Tom Wanek into agreeing to give away 5 SIGNED copies of “Currencies That Buy Credibility.”

All you have to do is answer the following trivia question by Tuesday at midnight, by leaving your answer in a comment below.  Five winners will be chosen at random from the list of correct answers. Be sure to include an email address so that we can contact you if you win.

When I created a link to the post on my Facebook page, it started a whole new conversation over there.

Take a look at this exchange between Brett Feinstein of Pound & Feinstein, Dennis Collins of New American Marketplace, Dave Young of Branding Blog, and Tom Wanek of Marketing Beyond Advertising.

Their thoughts on low price, corporate competitors, and value is so good, I wanted to make sure I shared it with you.  Do you have any thoughts you’d like to add about when “low price” is the strategy to try?

Marketing Beyond Advertising

When I saw Tom Wanek give a presentation on signalling theory several years ago, I knew he was on to something big.  His upcoming book, “Currencies That Buy Credibility,” applies some of that theory to marketing, helping business owners and marketers understand why they might not be sending the message they originally intended.  His blog posts on sending tiny credible signals and how GM’s signal of confidence isn’t hitting the mark are just the tip of the iceberg.  This blog provides food for thought in bite-sized chunks that marketers will love.

Market Like A Chick

When I encountered this blog for the first time, I thought, “Oh no, here we go with the chick stuff.”  What a pleasant surprise awaited me.  Coree Silvera is cranking out blog posts with the power of a bulldozer, helping small businesses and entrepreneurs get a handle on marketing and social media tools.  A typical post delivers a miniature “how-to” manual – for example, her recent article on 20 Tips For Best ROI in Social Media.   Coree is quickly becoming an expert in her category – subscribe to her blog so you can say “you knew her when.”

Bryan Eisenberg

Okay, so I cheated a little.  Many of you know Bryan as one of the forces behind The Grok blog and the best-selling book “Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?” What you may not know is that Bryan has struck out on his own, and has a brand spankin’ new blog with which to wow you.  It won’t take long for Bryan to increase his already-massive reading audience, with posts like What If You Had $1,000,000 to Invest 50 Years Ago? For all things website and online marketing, this should be one of your main sources of information.

Give these three blogs a whirl, and see if you don’t add them to your RSS reader.  Happy reading!