I first came across this book while comparing prices for a few of Seth Godin's books at Wal-Mart.com... did I really just say Wal-Mart... YES I DID! If you didn't already know it, Wal-Mart.com sells books and they do so quite-a-bit cheaper than Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble. In fact... if you take nothing else away from this post please walk away with this tip: Books, like most things, are cheaper at Wal-Mart.com.

Anyway, so I'm checking out Godin's books and I come across "1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back", written by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni. It turns out that Seth Godin did a forward for this book, which sparked my interest, and so with that I decided to add it to my shopping cart. What the hell... the book was only 10 bucks!

Godin wrote:

"There's only one idea in this entire Book."

"Fortunately for you, it's a great idea. An idea that will make your small business bigger or your big business more profitable. An idea that's been overlooked by most marketers, and one that doesn't require an awful lot of investment, machinery, or risk. The fact is that most companies are obsessed with getting new customers. They advertise, plead, cajole, bribe, and bend over backwards to get a new customer. And then, once they get them, treat them like dirt. Wish that they'd go away. Disrespect them. Cease to invest. In general, marketers act like idiots when it comes to great customers."

"And this book will open your eyes to the problem and give you not ten, not twenty, but literally one thousand ways to do something about it."

After reading "1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back", I can honestly say that the book did not meet my expectations. Granted, the book did outline many interesting ideas that many of today's top retailers and businesses have used to capitalize on repeat business, but none seemed to work for me or any of my prominent clients.

In fact, much of what was suggested seemed to be geared towards huge companies with deep, deep pockets. That's not me. I bought a $10.00 book... I want $10.00 ideas.

What it comes down to is I bought this book for the following 2 reasons.

1) Seth Godin did the Forward for the book
2) The title/concept of the book intrigued me

I made the mistake of purchasing this book without doing any kind of research. I also purchased this book thinking that I'd be able to take away several new ideas that could be applied in some way or another to my site, or the sites of my clients. I was wrong.

I want to make it clear and say that I don't think that this book isn't any good or that it doesn't serve a purpose... I'm merely saying that it was not helpful to me and I don't imagine it to be helpful to many companies with small to medium sized budgets. And just so that I'm not totally ripping on this book I'm giving it 2 Klogs (out of a possible 5) in my Book Reviews section. To be fair, this book is a dictionary of great ideas for getting customers to come back. Also, I believe this book is one that can be shelved, not thought about for a year or so, and re-read whenever you're in need of a new idea for attracting repeat business.

Are you in search for ideas that can help you to capitalize on your repeat visitors and buyers? If so, you may (or may not) want to take a closer look at "1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back", written by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni. They have plenty of ideas to share, some more complicated and costly than others, but they do help with getting the "idea" ball rolling... and sometimes that's all a person needs.