Books That Have Changed My Business(s)
shoemoney
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5 min read
Last july I shared with you some of the books that get me motivated. But did these books really have any sort of business impact? Not really... they more helped me just get a fire under my ass.
In my journey of owning and running my own businesses for the last 15 years (the last 10 being online) there are a few books that have really changed my business thinking and I dont mean like completely altered but rather just given me more to think about. Sometimes that little extra thing you remember from them can be the difference between 100 days and 1000 days. Its really the little things that make big differences and I have picked up many little things from these books.
Now keep in mind many times when I say I have read these books that is actually a lie. I do not read books. I buy them on iTunes or buy them at bookstores on cd. I like to listen to the books while working and also I just do not have the concentration to focus on a book for a few hours. So just keep that in mind... Also if you are like me with A.D.D. I highly recommend buying them on audio too.
Seth Godin's The Dip ($10 on amazon).
I was talking to Neil Patel a few months ago about resurrecting the Elite Retreat. Neil told me I really needed to read this book called The Dip by Seth Godin because it talked about much of the struggeles I was having with the elite retreat. I.E. should I just quit doing it. The thing was this... every event we have had with the elite retreat has always been a success from a technical standpoint. Every attendee has always had great things to say, the venture always had a positive cashflow (except for some management issues) but really its something I did not want to let go. It was defineitly something I wanted to continue doing but the management and coordination was what was killing us. The leaders/speakers just did not have time to do it and the people we had hired (we went through 3 ) just never happened to work out. So here we are with a great product... that makes money... in which I feel there is no competition and yet we cant make it work for lack of finding someone who can manage it properly.
Anyway Neil Patel said the book The Dip was just what I needed to read (listen to). So I picked it up on iTunes and started listening. I soon understood what Neil was saying. The Dip is all about knowing when to quit. It talks about the many times you should quit... and sometimes when you need to power through the dip because you have a great product that can be the "best in the world". The Dip is a complex book that kind of goes back and fourth about quiting and following through its very hard to explain but once you read or listen to it you will know what I am saying. This is the newest book to my audio collection but being its only about 1.15 hours on audio I will listen to it many many times.
Tipping Point $10 on Amazon
I met Malcom Gladwell at PubCon 2005. I had no clue who he was. I talked to him briefly in the speaker room... I forget even what it was about.... again I had no clue who he was. I was stunned to here him keynoting and I was very enthralled with what he had to say. Immediatly when I got back I purchased his book Tipping Point. This really changed the way I thought about building my business. The practice of reaching the tipping point in your company is one of the most important things you can ever do. I used a lot of the theories in Tipping Point while building AuctionAds. Reaching connected people... using low hanging fruit to get to your tipping point... This is a MUST HAVE book for anyone launching a product and while it also addresses mainstream mom and pop products I think for internet marketers grasping the concept of tipping points is HUGE.
How To Win Friends and Influence People
Dillsmack recommended this to me not to long ago. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to negotiate or solve problems. Keeping your wits and trying to solve problems rather then letting your ego and temper get in the way is always the way to go in business. I am still learning that ;). This book is really more about how to get people to do what you want them to do... without being a jerk. Its very handy for things like... getting better commission rates from your affiliate manager.. or things similar. On Audio this book is about 7 hours total.
I do own many books on tape. I love to listen to them while working or on planes.... or sometimes just before going to bed.
So what books do you read or listen to that have made a real difference in your business life?
I was talking to Neil Patel a few months ago about resurrecting the Elite Retreat. Neil told me I really needed to read this book called The Dip by Seth Godin because it talked about much of the struggeles I was having with the elite retreat. I.E. should I just quit doing it. The thing was this... every event we have had with the elite retreat has always been a success from a technical standpoint. Every attendee has always had great things to say, the venture always had a positive cashflow (except for some management issues) but really its something I did not want to let go. It was defineitly something I wanted to continue doing but the management and coordination was what was killing us. The leaders/speakers just did not have time to do it and the people we had hired (we went through 3 ) just never happened to work out. So here we are with a great product... that makes money... in which I feel there is no competition and yet we cant make it work for lack of finding someone who can manage it properly.
Anyway Neil Patel said the book The Dip was just what I needed to read (listen to). So I picked it up on iTunes and started listening. I soon understood what Neil was saying. The Dip is all about knowing when to quit. It talks about the many times you should quit... and sometimes when you need to power through the dip because you have a great product that can be the "best in the world". The Dip is a complex book that kind of goes back and fourth about quiting and following through its very hard to explain but once you read or listen to it you will know what I am saying. This is the newest book to my audio collection but being its only about 1.15 hours on audio I will listen to it many many times.
Tipping Point $10 on Amazon
I met Malcom Gladwell at PubCon 2005. I had no clue who he was. I talked to him briefly in the speaker room... I forget even what it was about.... again I had no clue who he was. I was stunned to here him keynoting and I was very enthralled with what he had to say. Immediatly when I got back I purchased his book Tipping Point. This really changed the way I thought about building my business. The practice of reaching the tipping point in your company is one of the most important things you can ever do. I used a lot of the theories in Tipping Point while building AuctionAds. Reaching connected people... using low hanging fruit to get to your tipping point... This is a MUST HAVE book for anyone launching a product and while it also addresses mainstream mom and pop products I think for internet marketers grasping the concept of tipping points is HUGE.
How To Win Friends and Influence People
Dillsmack recommended this to me not to long ago. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to negotiate or solve problems. Keeping your wits and trying to solve problems rather then letting your ego and temper get in the way is always the way to go in business. I am still learning that ;). This book is really more about how to get people to do what you want them to do... without being a jerk. Its very handy for things like... getting better commission rates from your affiliate manager.. or things similar. On Audio this book is about 7 hours total.
I do own many books on tape. I love to listen to them while working or on planes.... or sometimes just before going to bed.
So what books do you read or listen to that have made a real difference in your business life?