Which was a relief.

Anderson is a former city analyst, employed with a succession of large banks. This is his exposé of twelve years in the industry.

The first chapter sets the tone without promise, with a frequently-repeated formula you see in books that read like films (the mediocre Blaggers, about the timeshare industry and the excellent Wolf of Wall Street, by Jordan Belfort, plus any number of books about doing time in the Bangkok Hilton).

Specifically, a dramatic set-piece ends disastrously, before the reader is taken to the beginning of the story, eventually catching up with the initial set-piece a few chapters later, and is then taken to the zenith of the tale, (and the nadir of the individual’s experience) before redemption and recovery, living healthier and wiser, and writing a book about the whole thing.

As it is written, so it is in Cityboy. Loveable rogue becomes a monster and then falls back to earth. So far so formulaic.

But what’s wrong with formulas?

Anderson sets the bar higher with his comprehensive and damning assessment of the way the markets truly work. He chucks some great stories into the mix and and explains, in clear, idiotproof, English, what happens inside large banks, specifically who does what and how they do it.

For good measure, he chucks in a shedload of excess: strip-joints, sex parties, drug-taking, boozing and whoring. This is only a good thing, no?

Comparisons will be made with Liar’s Poker, the seminal exposé of what was happening on Wall Street in the eighties. And they should be made favourably. Whilst Anderson has fictionalised a large part of his book, he “keeps it real” enough to have a profound, and educating effect, summarising major financial events, vehicles and concepts throughout the book.

And the business lessons to be learnt?

Several, not least to not turn up to work with a head full of gak. But on top of that, Anderson’s strategy for becoming a number one city analyst was to make sure that his clients loved him. People buy from people they like.

And despite his shortcomings - which he doesn’t hide - Anderson and his book come across as eminently likeable.

Cityboy - Highly recommended.

A great recruiter once told me “make your cold call a warm call and you’ll be okay”.

You have about ten seconds to make your first impression - a little more than if you’re face-to-face. You can be fat, green and naked, but on the phone you’re as good as the spiv with the quiff at the desk next door.

Ten seconds is enough for a little flattery and a question that nobody can say “no” to:

“I’ve heard that you’re the person who can solve my problem. Can you help me out?“

Then it’s up to you, but you’ve kissed some ass and forced your first “yes” with two short sentences.

How do you open your cold calls?

You’re running a fever? You’ve put your back out and every little movement causes a low groan and dramatic wince? You’re running to the toilet every twenty minutes?

Stay at home!

Who do you think you are? Superman?

The world WILL not grind to a halt if you don’t turn up to work today. Whatever it is, it can wait! Like it or not, you’re dispensable! You’ve got a prospect you’ve been waiting to see for three months and today is your only chance? Call them, tell them what’s up. If they don’t understand, are they the kind of client you want to be working with?

My boss used to have a bad back. He’d sit in increasing discomfort through meetings and seminars, ignoring the pain. He knew full well that his work was far too important for him to miss a couple of days recuperating.

Can you see what’s coming?

He was admitted to hospital within ten days and spent five weeks in traction, his slipped disc alleviated through surgery and weights tied to the end of his legs. He couldn’t move to pick up his telephone. And guess what? Life went on! And guess what else? When he came back he continued where he left off, with a staff who were happy to see him recuperated and less grumpy!

I have another friend who insisted on showing up to work every day despite a bad bout of the gastric flu. She had to. It was the end of the financial year and her sales team were a couple of sales off their annual target. Thanks to her dedication they hit their targets, but the whole team missed their trip to Monaco because she’d passed on her germs to all of them.

Stay home, get better, come in next week when you’re feeling well.

(Written semi-prostrate on my couch, bad back and sore throat).

Your personal brand needs to be protected, as your corporate brand does. Unless your name is John Smith (sorry John), you can take four simple steps to ensure that it’s you (and not somebody claiming to be you) who appears on the first page of search results.

1. Run your name through UserNameCheck. If your name is available at the places you want to be visible (or at least be in control of, register. I went for the blogging platforms and the “bigger” social media sites.

2. Register your name as a domain name. Do what you will with it - your contact details, your resume, or just a blank holding page.

3. Put your CV on LinkedIn and VisualCV. I created my VisualCV yesterday and it’s already on the first page of Google.

4. Brand away. You now own considerable internet real-estate and will figure high in search results. You have more control over what goes up and what’s said about you (again, unless you’re John Smith, or Brad Pitt).

Not sure about branding? Then take baby steps. Start positive and build on it. “I’m John Smith and I’m a professional nice guy” is considerably better than “John Smith is my ex-husband and a total bastard”.

These steps won’t take more than an hour and they’re a reasonable safeguard if you’re worried about your online reputation. Somebody, somewhere, will thank me some day.

I’m loath to share this with you, as the prize is fantastic, but in the interests of paying it forward, I’ve updated my online CV at VisualCV.com to win tickets to the China 2.0 tour in November.

Courtesy of Mashable and VisualCV, there are still four days left to enter … be quick!

Just back from a long weekend in my new favourite European capital.

Copenhagen was recently ranked Monocle magazine’s nr. 1 most liveable city in the world. (If you’re not familiar with Monocle and you fancy yourself as an aesthete and bon-vivant, it’s well worth a look.)

What makes it great? Specifically:

• No dog shit
• Dedicated, large and clearly-delineated bicycle lanes
• Walkable (total population just over a million and no grand empty boulevards)
• Well-dressed, intelligent and circumspect natives
• Great food and shopping and a café culture more sophisticated than many of its southern counterparts.
• Public library with coffee shop, used by half the city for hanging out

We were well fed and well watered, and can heartily recommend:

Le Pavé - small restaurant, French cuisine, great service

Cafe’Obelix - for brunch. Get early, leave late

Mojo Blues Bar - “you can’t play the blues in an air-conditioned room”

Bar Rouge at the Hotel Sankt-Petri - lounge-y and laid-back

MadKlubben - “bistro de luxe” - excellent portions, great house wine and good-looking staff

and the other face?

Another masterclass in exceeding client expectations from Seth Godin, this time in the form of a free book and a letter printed on real paper (click the above pic to read in full).

I pre-ordered his latest book, Tribes, because I’ve enjoyed his previous books, and, well, because he asked me to. The carrot for pre-ordering was membership to Triiibes - a small online community of like-minded individuals. Book ordered, membership granted, me a happy customer.

Then last night, ten weeks later, the book arrived, not from Amazon, but from the publishing house, with the letter you see above.

“Here’s an advance copy of Tribes. An early copy, for you, before anyone else gets one. Please read it and keep it. And when the one you paid for comes, I hope you’ll give that one away. In two weeks or so, when it arrives from the bookseller, take that second copy and spread the word. If all you do is file it away, I’ve failed.”

Seth, thanks again, and consider this spreading the word.

I would urge all business owners to read this. It’s an articulation of the emotional rollercoaster that entrepreneurs go through during the phases of building a business. It has innate value.

Herold is an impressive figure. In the below video he discusses his “Painted Picture” - a visualisation of goals and where you and your company will be in the future.

I’ll be doing that this weekend, using Herold’s own Painted Picture as a foundation.

Working on the basic tenet that jerks get ahead while the nice guy flounders and picks up the pieces, Martin Kihn has written “A$$hole: How I Got Rich & Happy by Not Giving a Damn About Anyone“.

Kihn catalogues his journey from doormat to alpha-male by way of a Manhattan therapist. The book ends with a moral: rich and successful doesn’t make you happy.

If you’re looking for The Dice Man for the noughties, look somewhere else. Kihn’s nastiness doesn’t stretch beyond not walking his neighbour’s dog, returning a CD without the receipt and thinking about sleeping with his boss.

That said, it’s an easy read: good for a train journey, and it’s enough to give a gentle shove to those of you (us?) who put up with bad food in a restaurant or get passed over for promotion without kicking up a fuss. Assertiveness awareness training in 250 pages.

Recruitment consultants: a lot of you won’t need this book(!)