Geoff Burch on...
Marketing
"people who offer marketing, often have names like Jervaise or Tarquin, and they gambol and caper around their west London offices with sheer excitement at the prospect of 'marketing' your (product)...I used to have mobs of pitchfork and blazing brand-wielding marketing people beating a path to my castle gates by suggesting that the whole marketing thing basically sucks, but that may not be true. After all, you can even get a degree in it, by jiminee."
Consultants
"Hiring consultants is just like hiring mercenaries...amuse yourself by drawing the analogy between the two...When you choose your mercenary/consultant, you don't want the hair trigger 24 year old MBA. You want the Yul Brynner, man in black, with a few scars, a piece of ear missing, well used guns, a black hat, and eyes like steel bearings. Be warned, you only control him while you pay him."
Human Resources
"If you recall the early black and white Frankenstein movies, Professor Frankenstein was always portrayed as tall, aquiline, darkly handsome, and of course barking mad, but he was always accompanied by this poor, twisted hobbling mad thing...Now every chief executive has one of these, and he's called the Human Resources Director. It is his job, amongst other things, to judge people's (sorry, 'the resources') performance against goals, targets, and objectives...He then has to report to El Supremo on this performance. The trick is that this performance must be expressed as a number and not one that relates to anything from the real world."

"The Way of the Dog" is a self-help classic. It tells the story of failed salesman, Derek Stubbins, who wanders into a brothers Grimm nightmare and gets turned into a dog. He has to learn the way of the dog to get by. He has to develop the simple, clear way of thinking that a sheepdog has for its task. In doing so, he finds that he can achieve any goal he desires. It is the perfect pathway to success.

Why a dog? A dog has only two states of thought, which are happy, and waiting to be happy. When it has a task to do, it sees the beginning and the end. It doesn't become anxious or depressed at the size of the job, but just undertakes it and deals with obstacles as they come. It always succeeds.
Geoff Burch taps into the core of great personal development writing in "The Way of the Dog." He focuses on the two big questions - what do you want to do with your life and how do you do it? By following the way of the dog, each obstacle in your path is dealt with unfailingly, one at a time. And if you don't know where you're going or what you need to make you happy, the sheepdog will show you how to recognise a sheep and not to waste time with goats. "The Way of the Dog" offers timeless, accessible, fast-paced, funny and memorable advice. Inspiring lifestyle wisdom is brought out through simple storytelling.

Plan your course through life and overcome every obstacle in your path by adopting "The Way of the Dog"'s route map to success. Unlike the instructions in flat-pack furniture, anyone can understand it, it is easy to do, and the outcome will not be a surprise or a disappointment. "The Way of the Dog" contains the secrets of success.

Stop working for the man - break free and make sure you're getting paid what you're worth

Stop slogging away 9 - 5 for a set salary (plus the overtime you inevitably do and don't get any credit for). Abandon the day job and go it alone. Start doing what you want to do, when you want to do it. There are currently 4 million self-employed people in the UK -be one of them, join them, set yourself free. It's not about becoming an entrepreneurial whiz-kid, it's about working the way you want to work, on the things you want to work on, and in the location you want to do it from. Remember, you don't have to sit in an office to get a job done. "Self-Made Me" shows you how to work how and where you want and earn exactly what you're worth - not what an employer wants to get away with giving you. Be your own boss and increase your value.It's never been easier to be self-employed than it is today, with increased communications, mobile working and outsourcingThis straight-forward and engaging guide will help you make being self-employed a successShows you how to get paid what you are actually worth, and how to work as hard or as little required to create the lifestyle you choose

"Self Made Me" is for a new breed of people, and will show you how to make self-employment work for you.