So last year (2018), I read 100 books, 95% of them on marketing, business, or self-development (as related to business).
I found some gems, some that were NOT as good as advertised, and then some all-around cool, informative texts.
Anyhow, I wanted to list my Top 10 here for you. These 10 gave me the most insight, value, and were the most helpful in building my businesses.
(in no particular order):
1. Making Money is Killing Your Business – Chuck Blakeman
Follow along with this book and do exactly what he tells you. When you’re done, you’ll basically have a two-year, step-by-step plan for growing your business, you’ll have more purpose for doing so, and you’ll have an exit strategy in place.
2. Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got – Jay Abraham
Even though this was written in the early 2000s, this book is straight up foundational marketing strategy. A ton of my ideas for helping clients came from this book. It helped me think outside the box when coming up with marketing strategies, and to look for more untapped resources.
3. The One-Page Marketing Plan – Allan Dib
Developing a marketing plan can be daunting. In this book, the author breaks it down to where you have all aspects of a marketing strategy covered, and brief how-to’s to develop each avenue. I found this one very helpful in preventing overwhelm.
4. Difference – Bernadette Jiwa
So many businesses struggle with developing sales copy & messaging that illustrates how they’re different from their competition. This book was really helpful in assisting me with writing sales copy and marketing literature to help my businesses stand out.
5. Building a Story Brand – Donald Miller
This is another book that helps craft your sales message and company story. Donald Miller uses his take on the Hero’s Journey to help you craft a compelling tale for your customers to get behind, and helps build brand loyalty.
6. The One Thing – Gary Keller
This is a pretty famous book by the guy who started Keller Williams Realty, and helps you come up with more of a purpose in your life and your business. It’s a lot easier to work so hard on growing something when you have an uplifting, inspiring outcome that you’re running towards.
7. Insight Selling- Michael Harris
This one was very helpful in teaching me to better sell my services. It shows you how to talk to clients in a way that resonates with them. Of course WE’RE all stoked about marketing, but not everyone shares our passion for this industry. Because of that, you have to learn how to talk to clients in a way that makes sense to them and provides them with “a-ha moments”. This book helped me do that.
8. 7L: The Seven Levels of Communication – Michael Maher
This book is awesome for helping you develop a referral system. I learned over the past year how important building and implementing a referral system is, and this book will show you pretty much step-by-step how to do that.
9. Dotcom Secrets – Russell Brunson
I feel like Russell Brunson has really taken off in the last 18 months or so, & this book is one of the reasons why. RB is the godfather of sales funnels, and this book provides a lot of psychology and helpful scripts on building a successful sales funnel for an online business.
10. No B.S. Guide to Direct Marketing – Dan Kennedy
Dan Kennedy is the godfather of direct response marketing. This book has not only a lot of strategies, but also a lot of tactics that you can use to help build your business and marketed better. There is a particularly cool case study about bringing in more revenue at a restaurant. I have used my take on this strategy with tons of clients recently.
All these books are so good at teaching you well-rounded business development and marketing. However, you HAVE to follow them and do what tell you to do! The problem that so many people run into is reading awesome books… but not taking action on what information they give you.