Coloring Outside the Lines

Business Thoughts on Creativity, Marketing, and Sales

By: Jeff Tobe

Narrated by: Jeff Tobe

The only thing that differentiates your service or your product from any others is your creativity and innovative thinking. This audio from creativity guru Jeff Tobe is an unusually charming collection of warm, funny, and instructive business tales. It provides numerous examples of street-smart sales tactics, exemplary customer service, and outside-the-lines marketing. The audio program encourages anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit by providing story after story of creative ideas and inspiration. In Coloring Outside the Lines: Business Thoughts on Creativity, Marketing, and Sales, Jeff Tobe shows that when you compete head-on in business you are just agreeing to play by the same old rules.

©2010 Jeff Tobe (P)2012 Made for Success, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A small book with a huge purpose! Jeff Tobe offers hard-earned, bite-sized, street-smart golden nuggets to any business professional." (Gloria Stock-Mickelson, Travel Leaders International)

Don’t judge this book by its cover

Turn away now if you’re expecting a Tony or Grammy award winning reading. Stay if you’re looking for a solid sales and marketing, easily digestible and practical guide about how creativity plays out in the business world. This book is humorous, simple, and insightful. A painless business read unlike others that are bogged down by too many high level overviews and jargon. Do yourself a favor, get over the aesthetics and read this book!

confirmation my creative schemes are correct!!

this amazing book gave me the confirmation to market myself and my content uniquely abstract

A lot packed into a relatively short audiobook

Even after 20+ years in sales and marketing, I still picked up a bunch of gems. Well worth my time, and author has a great sense of humor.

NOTE TO AUTHOR: You might want to work on the audio quality. That's a little weak.

Fantastic inspiration to think outside the box.

I've listened to this twice now & will listen again. So many great things to motivate, & inspire. Definitely recommend!

Insightful

The information is insightful, well written, and easily digestible. nice and short especially if you speed it up to about 1.3-1.4 speed. Will probably listen again because of it's short length.

Hilarious and Charming, yet still Authentic

Why (I Listened)
I want to my posts online to bring value to people, but value isn't enough. I need to know how to make posts that are interesting to people.

How (it Executed)
The information Tobe offers isn't all that different from Brendan Kane's "Hook Point", but "Coloring Outside the Lines" is less specific and relevant than Kane's book. "Coloring Outside the Lines" is mostly relevant to people looking to be salespeople, not internet influencers.

However, Tobe asserts that people will remember a service that was unique and tailored to them more than they'll remember a better service if that service wasn't personable. He practices what he preaches here, because this book is full of witty stories that had me laughing out loud even if they weren't as educational or relevant as competitors' self-help books. For example, Kobe admits that when his wife once said "I just had the worst week of my life," his response was "What's for dinner?" Stories like this made the book worth listening to.

What (I'll Remember)
Tobe proves his point about tailored experiences when he recounts the time he called a pizza place his wife usually ordered from. A ten year old boy answered the phone, and proceeded to ask Tobe if his family fixed their porch light. Tobe was baffled. He asked why it was relevant. The ten year old responded that "We couldn't find your house last time because it was too dark. We want to give you the hottest pizza possible. So, Mr. Tobe, is your porch light fixed?" Tobe was so freaked out, he tried to fix the porch light before the delivery people came, and when he failed to fix it, he stood outside with a flashlight instead. This ten year old boy manhandled Tobe with nothing more than his sincerity and mindfulness, and I think that's a great example for how people should conduct themselves when providing a service.

Loved everything!!

I loved how this book was neither to anecdotal nor to analytical. A deliciously good read for a mind that hungers creativity.

My thoughts

I loved and really enjoyed how this book spoke about not following the crowd and the conventional way of starting/running a business. Personally I think as an entrepreneur its an awesome thing to stand out and do your own thing because it leads to more freedom fulfillment and happiness when you can say screw whats normal I am going to do my own thing my way

Far better than expected

the audio quality was pretty poor because he recorded it obviously in a non-professional way in an equity room with the information once it finally got started was very good I would say the last half of this short book is excellent and it certainly worth paying attention to this guy he's got lots of great ideas that align with what I know and what I've learned from other recognized experts

FEW HOURS LISTENING TO SUCCESSFUL IDEAS

just spent a few hours listening to great ideas by a truly successful entrepreneur. think of this as just spending time listening to a mentor sharing successful creative ideas. dont over think it, (as some have.) he literally states in the beginning he is simply going to read his book to make it easier for you and I to enjoy while driving.
GREAT BOOK! will listen to again.