Editorial Reviews
“Karjaluoto lays out several methods in which small companies can retain the hearts of customers. These include focusing and differentiating, maintaining authenticity and transparency, adaptation, and fostering relationships instead of simply selling.”
—Tony Wanless
The Financial Post
“Speak Human could well be a marketing handbook for the 2010s... This isn’t a book that has to-do lists (which hardly work, anyway): it invites the reader to have a think based on the experiences collected within, and apply them for oneself. There’s good horse sense here.” (more)
—Jack Yan
Global branding expert, columnist, speaker, and publisher: Lucire
“Eric is a wonderful storyteller. I’ve been a fan of his blog for several years so I naturally was eager for his new book. Wow! In Speak Human, Eric shows you how to engage with your marketplace in the ways that will resonate. Forget hype, tell stories the way Eric does and your communications will come alive.”
—David Meerman Scott
Bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR
“This is a wonderful book, full of important insights not only about design and marketing but about the ways in which people interact with the objects, communities and environments they share. Marketing is its thematic, but not in the traditional sense as Karjaluoto searches for new strategies to better understand the relationships among people’s needs and the world they live in.”
—Dr. Ron Burnett
President, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
“Here on the threshold of the new marketplace era the shift is complete: The customer is now in total control of the relationship. The good news is Eric Karjaluoto's book, Speak Human, is a blue print for building a successful 21st century strategy for connecting with customers on their terms. Goodonya, Eric.”
—Jim Blasingame
Leading small business expert and host of The Small Business Advocate Show
“Speak Human is a really, really good book. It is a must read for anyone looking to make a big difference with a big dream, a big idea and a small budget. Whether revealing classified secrets of social media, the impact of nerdy storytelling or the power of being polite, Eric Karjaluoto engages our curiosity and delivers insight and artistry with aplomb.”
—Debbie Millman
President, Design: Sterling Brands and AIGA President
“After 40 years of public speaking I can guarantee that every audience has a bullshit detector. Speaking like a normal human being is the only effective way to communicate. I am glad that another Eric has finally written the book to back up my theory.”
—Erik Spiekermann
Typographer, designer, and principal at EdenSpiekermann
“Loaded with examples, both good and bad, that demonstrate how small companies can effectively compete with the big guys. Interesting, well-written and compelling.”
—Laura Ries
Leading branding consultant and best-selling author: War in the Boardroom
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Customer Reviews from Amazon.com
Clear Criticism
Karjaluoto writes in a way that makes it easy to understand why the consumer landscape has been declining in quality over the years.
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I missed my (train) stop twice because of this book.
My employer gave me Speak Human to read - I must admit, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic at the idea of reading yet another marketing and branding book.
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Its worth you taking the time to read this book
A Vancouver marketing firm SmashLAB was started in 2000 by Eric and his partner Eric Shelkie. This book is a compendium of lessons learned (perhaps ordeals by fire) working in...
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Great Reminder
I'm a graphic designer, and while reading Eric Karjaluoto's book I felt as if he were personally reminding me of things we tend to forget in the day-in, day-out world of running a...
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Worth listening to ... not quite at this length, though?
My failing: I look at a book's length first. This one is around 294 pages total.
See, I just wonder if -- right now: post-Internet, post-fragmented, pre-Buddha -- the...
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Good Advice
Speak Human. This is the advice I wish I had received over two years ago when I started my business.
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Eric K. lives and breathes what he writes
Eric Karjaluoto really does "speak human." The new marketing is all about telling stories that resonate with your target audience. Eric is a master at this.
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Highly recommended small business marketing resource
In "Speak Human" Karjaluoto does a wonderful job teaching small business managers how to approach marketing on their own terms using both new media (like social networks) and...
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Customers Are Humans, Too
"Speak Human". Those are the simple instructions offered by Eric Karjaluoto in his marketing book of the same name.
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Inspiring
I was pleasantly surprised by the author's common sense advice about using social media and the advantages that the small companies have in that realm.
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