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Marketing guru Dan Kennedy is proud of being a curmudgeon. He is known as "The Professor of Harsh Reality."

In this update to his 1997 book, How to Succeed in Business By Breaking All The Rules, Dan irreverently pokes holes in eleven "accepted" beliefs about business success.

The book includes examples of how Dan's students and clients have violated "how it's supposed to be" norms on their way to business success.

For example, one of the chapters debunks the belief of "Just keep trying," or "persistence is omnipotent." It's rather ironic that last month's review about the Napoleon Hill Foundation's book, Three Feet From Gold, promotes this idea. (That book actually promotes intelligent persistence, making course corrections by getting good advice.) Dan says this notion glorifies "the hard way" as "the American way."

Quite often you might be persisting doing the wrong thing. Dan said he once said to a golf instructor, "Maybe I just need to practice more." The expert said, "Not if you practice THAT swing!"

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's partner (recently deceased), said they have on their desk an IN BOX, an OUT BOX and a TOO DIFFICULT FOR US BOX.

Many entrepreneurs only became successful after trying several different businesses and quitting until one "clicked."

In 2013, Dan was awarded the Napoleon Hill Foundation's Award for Persistence. He says persistence in itself wasn't the reason for his success. Persistence applied to viable opportunities and matched with intelligent, sophisticated, multifaceted success methodology was his secret.

Dan suggests challenging accepted "rules." They might have been created to create barriers to entry and eliminate competition. If a "rule" is blocking your success and it's legal to do so, break it.

Sometimes you have to challenge a law to eliminate a rule. In 1977, two attorneys challenged the Arizona State Bar prohibition against advertising by lawyers. The Supreme Court ruled in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350, the prohibition violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Now we're bombarded with television advertisements for lawyers.

Entrepreneurs are often frustrated with "rules" being imposed on them. They'll love the No B.S. Guide to Succeeding In Business By Breaking All The Rules, which gives them permission to break those rules, provided what you do is legal and ethical (benefits the customer and doesn't injure others).

Buy it on Amazon: No B.S. Guide to Succeeding in Business by Breaking All the Rules.

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