From Poop To Gold
- By Kyle Bringhurst
- on March 24, 2019
Kyle's Score
6/10
Year
2018
Price
$29.95
Length
197 pages
Kyle's Score
6/10
Year
2018
Length
197 pages
Price
$29.95
Author Profile
The Harmon Brothers have been big players in the advertising industry for years now. They are the brains behind the companies VidAngel and BuyItLive, and have been behind the viral commercials for VidAngel, SquattyPotty, Purple Mattresses, PooPourri, ClickFunnels, CampChef, and many more. Their videos have been viewed over 450 million times, generated over $100 million dollars in sales for those companies, and have gone viral many times over.
Chris Jones is an experienced author who has dozens of publications to his name. He has been a long-time friend to the Harmon Brothers, and was approached to create this book and go on the journey with them. While he knew them, and they shared the idea for the book, the Harmon Brothers allowed him to do his own thing and write his own thoughts, and he wasn’t just the typewriter for them.
Highlights
There are many stories in this book, so if you enjoy stories then you will probably enjoy this book. I really liked how they spent an entire chapter on some of the main videos and really went in-depth explaining what exactly happened from idea to launch with each video they produced. They talked about what went well and what didn’t go well in each situation, and how they were able to produce the best results for each individual video.
The other part that I thought was very enlightening was when they went in depth into the compensation for everyone at Harmon Brothers. That was the very top highlight in my opinion, as I thought it really was unique and a different way to go about doing things. For each project, the team distributes half of the total profits out to those who work on the project as a bonus. This incentivizes everyone to produce quality work. At the end of each stage, everyone who works on the project gets the same number of votes for how the bonuses should be distributed (can’t be used on themselves). This keeps everyone accountable to the others, and really limits the amount of sucking up that can be done to overcome lack of work.
Personal Impact
I am really interested in learning marketing and how I can get the best results for my businesses, and I was really hoping to learn some of the nitty gritty in this book. Unfortunately, it wasn’t full of the secrets I was hoping for. More than anything, this was a book that shared how awesome the Harmon Brothers are and is full of the stories they wanted the readers to read. The stories are definitely entertaining, and I do think this book does provide some tidbits, but they launched this by saying how this was going to take the reader through their process, and I didn’t really feel like they did much of that.
The one part that I really did like was the section about compensation that I mentioned before. I think that’s an extremely good way when you have a creative company, or a company where lots of collaboration is required, to keep everyone working hard and not having to micromanage everyone to get their stuff done. While I don’t have many project-based teams at the moment, I can definitely see myself using this as I grow and move forward with my businesses. It was easily the most interesting part of the book for me.
Actionable Goal
I want to come up with a solid compensation plan that I can use for my future businesses, as well as perfect the one that I currently have for Majestic. I really liked the idea of having bonuses be determined by coworkers and teammates, so I want that to be something that we create for our own culture and growth moving forward.
Verdict
If you are looking for an entertaining book, I think this book is a worthy read. The stories are fascinating and there are some nuggets you can gain, although they aren’t explicitly stated. If you are looking to read this book to help technically and really learn how to improve your marketing, I wouldn’t recommend this book. To me it felt like a puff piece, and like it only existed to try and sell you on their new ads course they are releasing. I’m always a fan of stories, and the compensation section I really did find unique and valuable. Just for that reason alone I would recommend it, because I think there are many companies who could benefit from it. But besides that, there wasn’t too much that stuck with me honestly. I give it a 6/10.
Top 8 Quotes
“Celebrating wins is a critical part of a healthy culture.”
“There is a difference between culture as principle and culture as tradition.”
“A compensation model that rewards good work is a powerful way to boost morale in the workplace.”
“Be an authentic fan of what you sell.”
“Good ideas can come from anyone, anywhere, and at any time.”
“Creative control is all about trust – and it’s trust from both sides.”
“Prioritize quality over profit.”
“Only work on projects you are passionate about.”
Read this book? Have any questions or thoughts? Leave a comment below!
Kyle Bringhurst is a student, entrepreneur, and avid reader who aspires to help as many people as he can. You can read more about him on the About page.
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