Reviews

The first business book you should read

We all know and admire those who can do things with out-of-the-box thinking. Being different, innovative and creative in business does require a risk level but it also brings greater satisfaction both to the business person and the customer. Stan Holden is such a person and he has been successful in business by approaching it through a heart-centered standpoint and by building lasting and meaningful relationships.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Giving Candy to Strangers which felt like Stan was sitting across from me dispensing his wise and proven-true advice on how to approach business dealings. The book is divided into eight parts, each made up of short chapters. He discusses how to create connections without an agenda and overcome any objections in doing so, how to nurture your existing relationship and how to build relationships through social media. He also talks about doing cold calls and using humor to create connections. This section cracked me up!

I’m a people person by nature and love to make connections and this book confirmed that the way I’m approaching my business is good. Stan says you should mix pleasure with business and I agree. I grew up with an entrepreneurial dad who would invite the encyclopedia salesman at the door for a glass of wine before they got down to business. In my business, I speak to my clients on the phone for as long as they need when I know most who do this work only communicate through emails. I also encourage the authors I work with not to hide behind their publicist or publisher but to get to know their readers.

The book is filled with appropriate and motivating quotes, fun facts and also cartoon drawings for each part. It is a fun book to read and although written in a light-hearted humorous way, it is no less valuable than any other business book out there. Actually, if you are in any type of business or just want to improve your work, I suggest this is the first business book you should read. Why? Because it deals with the fundamentals of good dealings with people, which in today’s dog-eat-dog competitive world, is much forgotten.

I am going through each tip Stan outlines in his book and have already implemented some successfully. Yes, it will bring you out of your comfort zone, but it will also make you experience the satisfaction and joy in connecting with people who can become not only customers but life-long friends. It will make you smile again as you work and it will make you remember the fun part of the daily grind.

Amazon Customer

I laughed out loud several times while reading this book and I absolutely love Stan Holden’s approach to sales.

You would think that reading a book about sales and how to attract customers and prospective clients would be dry and very uninteresting. This book is not like that at all.

In fact, I laughed out loud several times while reading this book and I absolutely love Stan Holden’s approach to sales. This is the type of person that I would be thrilled to do business with and/or purchase products from.

EVERY SALESPERSON NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK AND FOLLOW STAN’S ADVICE. If they do, they will be almost guaranteed success.

Also, this book can apply not only to sales, but to life in general. Stan’s approach to sales is also a great way to live your life and an amazing way to meet people.

I RATE THIS BOOK AS 5 OUT OF 5 STARS and I plan to follow Stan’s advice just to better my life.

I would suggest that this book should be read by everyone. It is not just a book on sales and everyone should learn something from reading this book.

Amazon Customer

Not a typical sales book

Very easy to read book on creating friendships and business connections. Not a typical sales book. He really dives into creating fun, genuine relationships. Most of the time when you accomplish that sales will naturally follow. My wife and I started meeting people right away after reading this and having a blast in the process. There’s also a very helpful section on using social media as well that has paid off well for us in a quick time. Recommend this book to anyone in a sales or leadership position.

Amazon Customer

I would recommend this book for everyone!!

Giving Candy to Strangers is an awesome book. I am a single mom and a little down on myself but after reading this book I became a different person. A life changing event! I would recommend this book for everyone. It really helps you through difficult things in your life. Amazing book. Also makes a great gift for the readers in your life. Go to Order yours now… you won’t regret it!

Amazon Customer

This book is almost “too” smart, yet so simple, so easy and so warm to read.

I am not much of a reader. However, after reading just the first couple of chapters of Giving Candy to Strangers, Stan connected me to truth and wisdom. Stan guided me, as if he was right next to me, to a mindset that my subconscious mind naturally recognized as my ever-present and genuine desire to help and to be of service to people, even those we call “strangers.”

I am savoring the contents of each chapter because Giving Candy to Strangers is (almost tastes) so good. Perhaps more importantly, I am out there trying to live each chapter. And that is (at least for me) the correct way to read, well, to live this book (as per Stan’s helpful instructions). I know I will become better at everything I do for reading Giving Candy to Strangers and for living its contents. In this book, Stan simply spoke to me at just the right tone of voice, and he guided me right and guided me well.

Giving Candy to Strangers should be at the top of everyone’s priorities to read/live, not just salespeople (…then again…Aren’t we ALL “salespeople” after all?). Giving Candy to Strangers sort of transferred Stan’s wonderful heart to me through its wise words of experience. (Uhmmm… Would that qualify as a “heart transplant”?)

For a moment I thought, “This book is almost too smart, yet so simple, so easy and so warm to read. If I had any say so in your life, I would say, “Let this book become a part of you. Don’t just read it. Go live it! …chapter by chapter. You will be so glad you did. Applying it will make your life smile!”

I believe that it’s also worth mentioning that the book, especially its cover, is quite pleasant to the eye and also feels unusually nice to hold. It just feels like a good companion to bring along. The cover is smooth, and it has nice and bright color combinations and sort of bumpy 3D colorful lettering. I almost wanted to eat the candy on the cover because the candy looks so real!

I think it’s little extra details like the ones displayed on the book cover (beyond the awesome content of the book) that show the love and care as well as the best and highest intentions that Stan Holden and his collaborators had in mind and at heart when Giving Candy To Strangers was being brought to life. Giving Candy to Strangers somehow reminds me of food lovingly cooked by a caring mother or a delicious treat brought home by a loving father.

Maybe a new category of strangers has also been created by Stan Holden to go with Giving Candy to Strangers, the kind of strangers we want to help and serve. How about calling these unsuspecting strangers (who are about to be helped or served) “STANgers”?!

Verified Amazon Customer

One of the best non-fiction books I have read

Stan Holden is not your typical businessman, he’s not a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a long-standing board member for some top tech firm. But Holden has a lot to add to the world of business. Giving Candy To Strangers is a book about doing the right things in business and how they can help you succeed, grow, and even dominate. The point of view is written more on a personal level, which is fine for me because as an owner of my own business and an entrepreneur I am the one who runs the day-to-day business.

Holden splits the book into parts and chapters. Each chapter is short and to the point with some nice comedic bits thrown in for good measure. I didn’t know that I could smile so much reading a book about networking and improving your interpersonal relationships with others around you (both in and outside of your company). I found myself vigorously highlighting different quotes and sayings and anecdotes to remember for later. By the end I had the book mostly highlighted and I’m not even upset about it.

I think that a fresh face and opinion from outsiders is needed to keep things interesting or to remind some of us that we’re not “all that.” I will definitely be using some of the advice that I learned in this book to further myself, both in the business world and outside of it.

A true work of non-fiction that was actually fun to read, Stan Holden’s Giving Candy To Strangers is one of the best non-fiction books I read!

Verified Amazon Customer

This is the best book I’ve ever read, very easy to read.

This is the best book I’ve ever read, very easy to read. The first two sections I already do with very positive results. The information contained within the two covers should be required reading for everyone. I look forward to putting the whole content into practice. Looks like I’ll be giving lots of candy to strangers. That will warm my heart.

Verified Amazon Customer