Asked: “Did you really make (former Chrysler CEO and Ford President) Lee Iacocca cry?”

The Donald answered: “No, he made himself cry.”

Another question:

Amazon.com: Was there ever a time when you didnâ€t think big enough?

Trump: I don’t think so. I always had big plans, even when I was very young. I would build skyscrapers with my building blocks.

And finally:

Amazon.com: You’re critical of the “give me” attitude that you see in many young people today. What do you look for in a young person you are bringing into your business?

Trump: They have to be eager to learn and willing to work hard. I work hard and I expect the people around me to have a strong work ethic. I need people who can be part of a team and yet be able to think independently. That’s one of the qualities I look for on The Apprentice–they have to be capable of both dimensions.

This is part of Donald’s book “Think Big: Make It Happen In Business And Life”. A new reprint edition came out a couple of weeks ago.

Though some may consider Donald an egotistical, self-serving businessman, there’s no doubt that he doesn’t pull the punches, especially as he’s venting his disagreements with Martha Stewart and Rosie O’Donnell.

He goes on to say how he’s “been able to date (screw)” beautiful women.

I had a great time going through his previous books “How To Get Rich” and am working through “How To Think Like A Billionaire”. He certainly isn’t known as The Donald, or by his last name, Trump, for nothing.

“Think Big: Make It Happen In Business And Life” has been rated on of his best books and I’m looking forward to checking it out.

While Amazon’s prices are some of the best around, having the books shipped around the world incurs significantly higher shipping charges that I’d rather spend on more books. I’m building up my booklist that I’ll be filling on my next trip to the US (likely in January for the Affiliate Summit).

Some of the other items on my shopping list include:

* Dan Kennedy’s Ruthless Management Of People And Profits

Dan Kennedy’s Marketing To The Affluent

Both of Dan’s new books which were published earlier this year have received high praise from my inner circle. A member commented that implementing a couple of techniques from “Marketing to the Affluent” has given a boost to his company’s sales.

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I also noticed that Amazon is doing a promotion on Amazon Prime till the end of October.

This service allows you to get items shipped to you within 2 days for free, or for 1-day shipping at $3.99 per item.

If you are continually investing in your education by buying books often, the Amazon Prime trial (Where you enjoy the benefits of Amazon Prime for free for a month) more than pays for itself.

I’ve the fortune to be a member of a business-focused mastermind from whom I’ve got great advice, and have a number of established marketers on my skype list that I can consult regularly.

I’m not one to stand still, however, and have also enrolled the help of some of the greatest business minds to give me some advice in the next step of my internet marketing journey.

Donald Trump “How To Get Rich”

Property magnate and business owner Donald Trump has been a great help.

I haven’t had the chance to talk to “The Donald” on the phone yet, but I have been reading his bestseller “How To Get Rich“.

It’s not so much a “How to Get Rich” book, but it does give you insight into how Donald Trump runs his business, his business strategies, negotiation techniques, views on beautiful women and how some of his seminal projects, including his golf resorts and business operating procedures are decided.

For fans of the Apprentice, there’s great insight into how Mark Burnett and The Donald came together to work on the project.

And if you think you have a busy day, you also get a rundown of one of Donald’s typical days. It might leave you feeling like an underachiever, even if you are already a Type-A personality.

As soon as I make my way through this volume, I’m planning to check out the other 10 bestsellers he’s penned.

Gene Simmons “Sex Money Kiss”

The “Demon” in rock band Kiss might seem a strange choice for a business biography. But look beneath the makeup and you’ll discover an astute businessman.

Going back to his childhood entrepreneurial pursuits, you’ll discover that Gene has had a hand in starting up profitable businesses since his early childhood days.

His prime motivation for becoming a rock star (getting lots of hot women and making lots of money) are a living example of how passion and income generation can be combined successfully.

My interest was piqued about Gene after reading rave reviews about his presentation at Dan Kennedy’s SuperConference a couple of months ago.

I’m going through Sex Money Kiss now and Gene candidly shares his philosophies (and suggested action plans) on making money, relationships with women and ideas for kickstarting your business.

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Both these books have been helpful and given me new ideas to implement in my business not only because I have picked up new techniques and strategies to apply, but also because the books penned by Gene himself and with the assistance of a copyeditor in the case of Trump shift my thinking a couple of notches upwards in terms of what’s possible.

This “brain food” might just be the spark to set you off to a higher level in your business and personal life.

Check them out:
* How To Get Rich
* Sex Money Kiss

What I like to do before heading to the US each time and order a bunch of books from Amazon and send it to my hotel.

Observer say we’re likely to be in the information economy for a long time to come, and a lot of times what separate you from your competitor is using one extra technique or website or service that they aren’t using. So every little bit of “intellectual juice” helps.

On this trip, among the books I’ve picked up were:

• WordPress for Dummies
• Instant Income by Janet Switzer
• Blogging Heroes: a series of interviews with bloggers
• Various titles from the Dan Kennedy “No BS” series of business books

I fall into the trap sometimes of having the books in hand, but not putting in the time to read them, and by extension putting the knowledge into action.

Being successful is hard work…and not putting in the investment into your own knowledge can be like taking a step back in a fast moving marketplace.

Here are a couple of techniques to give yourself that added edge:

• Make time: Block out 30 minutes before you turn in for the day, or when you wake up in the morning (or better yet, before you sleep and when you wake up) to go through a book which will help you up your internet marketing game. If you can block out at least an hour a day, you’d be ahead of 90% of the marketers out there.
• Mark it up/Take notes: The human tendency is to forget information over time. Go through the book with a pencil, mark out relevant points, write notes in the margin. That way when you go through it a second time, you’ve already noted the important parts.
• Take action: Some feel that “knowledge is power”. But then a wise monk once told me “Knowing without doing is like not knowing”. So the lesson is you need to put your knowledge into action, and do something.

The bottomline is that if you do nothing, nothing will happen. If you do something, something will happen.

Simple logic…but I wonder why many fail to do anything about it…

Any suggestions?