There are books and there are gems. Despite being an avid book reader, I don’t do book reviews very often. However, when I received an offer to review Guy Kawasaki’s new book, ‘Enchantment’, there’s no way I could have turned it down. For those who’ve never heard of him, Guy Kawasaki, he’s the former chief evangelist of Apple and widely regarded as the master brain behind the company’s game changing products. Guy is presently the co-founder of Alltop.com and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures.  A “guy” with multiple hats, he has previously written 9 books on a diverse range of subjects.

I’ve been fortunate enough to read some of his previous titles. However, I’ve to admit that “Enchantment” is in a league of its own and any comparisons with its predecessors would be grossly unfair.

Not just another motivational book

The first few pages were enough to convince me that this book isn’t just another collection of random ramblings about how to motivate and influence people. Instead, it’s a well thought out collection of useful techniques that can help people with entrepreneurial success, with tips on everything from social media like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Though the book does an excellent job of uncovering best sales practices, it’s by no means a blatant sales pitch. On the contrary, it’s all about how to motivate people through technology. Guy does a fantastic job of blending technology with traditional motivation.

Why Enchantment is necessary?

The book does a wonderful job of explaining why enchantment is necessary to be successful in any business, how it will help you in becoming an enchanting individual, enchant your customers, company, employees etc.

Running a startup isn’t easy and there are all sorts of challenges involved. Whether its business issues, people centric issues or dealing with prospect customers, Kawasaki has done a wonderful job to include advice from other notable marketers as well as ably supported their beliefs with real life examples.

Enchantment is necessary to overcoming resistance. A popular saying goes – To change is difficult, but not change is fatal and Kawasaki explains why and how to change.

Been There, Done That HowTos

Kawasaki is a well respected name in the technology world. It’s believed that he played an instrumental role in Apple’s phenomenal success. Enchantment provides a detailed insight into how startups can avoid common pitfalls such as avoid product failures as well as best practices such as proven ways to sell, motivational power of technology especially through social media and more.

Though I’m very impressed with the book, I’d have loved to see some more insights into how social media can help build the next killer startup. Though Kawasaki has done well to cover the specifics of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, I’m afraid some of his tips may no longer be applicable to as these social networks continue to transform themselves with time.

All in all, Enchantment makes for mighty impressive reading.  The book goes on sale tomorrow, March 8th. Pre-order your copy before midnight today and those of you with U.S. addresses will get a copy of Kawasaki’s previous book, Reality Check, for free. Make sure to check out the Enchantment Facebook page as well.