The 9 Best Marketing Books For Entrepreneurs To Read

 

Marketing is the lifeblood of a business. It’s the key to attracting a steady and reliable stream of new customers to your products or services. So, let’s explore nine of the best marketing books that you can read to become a better marketer.

Each of the books can be very helpful, but of course, some are going to be more urgent than others depending on your business’s needs today. So, I recommend that you take a few minutes to go through the entire list. That way, you’ll have an opportunity to identify the most critical and relevant books for you.

Here are some of the key topics and themes that are covered:

• How to identify the best marketing opportunities
• How to create a simple and effective sales funnel
• How to get people to recommend your product or service
• How to have your brand stand out amongst the competition
• How to create a movement with a product, service, or idea
• How to use content marketing to attract loyal customers
• How to clarify your message so that it resonates with people
• How to understand the role of psychology in marketing
• How to overcome skepticism to build trust with customers

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1. Traction by Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares

Traction by Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares

The most common reason why businesses fail is due to a lack of customers. Many can bring a product or service to market, but of course, that alone doesn’t guarantee success. So, even before you establish a new business, it’s critical to think about how you plan to attract customers predictably and reliably.

Traction covers 19 proven marketing channels, including organic, paid, and social strategies. It also explains how to select and execute the best marketing opportunities for your business. So, whether you’re starting something new or you just want more customers for an existing business, the advice in this book can help.

2. Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller

Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller

Many businesses fail to communicate a simple and attractive offer. Their websites use industry jargon or flowery language that just confuses people. As a result, any effort to drive attention to their product or service falls flat because no amount of awareness can make up for a weak or confusing sales message.

Marketing Made Simple can help you create an effective sales funnel. One that makes it easy for people to understand what you do and why they need your product or service. The book explains how to build five essential marketing tools, including a great website, so you can convert more prospects into paying customers.

3. Contagious by Jonah Berger

Contagious by Jonah Berger

Word-of-mouth referral is arguably the most powerful marketing opportunity in business. When customers actively recommend your product or service to other people, sales can explode with minimal effort. Unfortunately, few marketers understand how to increase organic referrals, so they mistakenly assume it just comes down to luck or having a better product.

Contagious explores the science of word-of-mouth referral. It covers six principles of contagiousness; six factors that can cause a product, service, or idea to be more likely to spread. The insights can help you engineer virality to increase the rate at which people remember and recommend your brand to other people.

4. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

Many businesses struggle to gain traction with their target audience. Meanwhile, one or two brands consistently dominate the market and take the lion’s share of revenue and profit, leaving very little for everyone else. So, this begs the question, “what causes some brands to be so much more successful than others?”

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is about the power of positioning. It explains how customers think when selecting brands and what you can do to have your brand stand out in the marketplace. It’s a short and powerful read that I strongly recommend to anyone interested in business, branding, or marketing.

5. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin

This Is Marketing by Seth Godin

One of the great challenges with launching something new is getting enough people to care about what you’re offering. Unfortunately, many people make the mistake of trying to appeal to everyone right from the start. As a result, they spread their marketing efforts too thin and are unable to build meaningful momentum.

This Is Marketing is about how to create a movement. It explains that a better strategy is to start by targeting a small audience that will benefit most from your work. That way, you can attract brand evangelists, generate word-of-mouth referrals, and build the momentum you need to reach a much larger audience.

6. They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

Advertising can be a great way to attract new customers. However, many businesses make the mistake of becoming overly reliant on ad platforms that can change their policies or pricing at any time. So, as your business grows, it’s wise to invest in alternative marketing channels that offer greater freedom and control.

The Ask You Answer is about how to use content marketing to attract loyal customers to your business. It explains how to create articles, videos, podcasts, and other content that builds trust and authority in your market. When done right, this approach results in a reliable and predictable source of new leads for your business.

7. Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller

Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller

Businesses often fail to communicate clearly about what they do and how they create value for customers. Many seem to assume that people already understand what they do or be willing to go out of their way to figure it out. Yet, the only thing that people genuinely care about is how your business can solve a problem for them.

Building A StoryBrand can help you better communicate the value that your business provides. It explains how to use the universal elements of storytelling to clarify your message so that it resonates with customers. It’s a simple yet powerful way to make it easy for people to understand how your business can help them.

8. Influence by Dr. Robert Cialdini

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini

It’s a mistake for marketers to abuse manipulative persuasion techniques for personal gain. Not only is it ethically wrong, but it can also damage brand reputation and harm internal culture. With that said, it’s also a mistake to remain ignorant of psychology and the many implications within marketing, social media, and other aspects of the business.

Influence covers six powerful principles of persuasion. Each one plays a role in the way that we are influenced throughout everyday life. So, if you want to better understand the sometimes invisible factors that guide our choices, this is widely considered one of the best books on the subject.

9. The Language Of Trust by Michael Maslansky

The Language of Trust by Michael Maslansky

Today, people are more skeptical than ever before. Many have been burned by businesses, institutions, and even their government. As a result, they often assume the worst when engaging with brands or public figures, and they’re quick to share their assumptions with others on social media.

The Language of Trust is about how to overcome skepticism by communicating with people on their own terms. The insights apply to any situation where you need to build trust with customers, critics, or even the general public. The book is a must-read for leaders, marketers, and almost anyone active on social media.

SIGNING OFF - MANNY!!

The 5 Best Product Development Books To Read

 

Everything in business is more difficult when you’re selling a weak or inferior product. On the other hand, life is so much easier when you have a great product that receives positive reviews, word-of-mouth referrals, and repeat purchases.

Let’s explore six of the best product development books. Each one covers practical insights for product teams of all sizes. While you don’t have to read all of them to be successful, I recommend that you take a few minutes to review the list, so you can identify the ones that are most relevant to you. Here are some of the key topics:

• How to rapidly prototype and test ideas with customers
• How to accelerate growth with a culture of experimentation
• How to create products and services that people actually use
• How to boost engagement by creating habit-forming products
• How to increase customer satisfaction by reducing friction
• How to build timeless products that steadily grow in popularity

Disclosure: This content is supported by avid readers Just like you.  (COMMENT DOWN IF YOU NEED ANY OF THESE BOOKS AT A DISCOUNTED PRICE!)

1. Sprint by Jake Knapp

Sprint by Jake Knapp

The development of a new product or service is often unpredictable. Random issues can crop up, the scope of the project can grow out of control, or the team can simply lose focus on the original vision. Regardless of the cause, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut that kills momentum and, in some cases, threatens the future of the project.

Sprint details Google Ventures’ unique five-day process for overcoming difficult challenges. It covers practical strategies for rapid prototyping and testing ideas with customers. The insights can help you build a minimum viable product, solve a complex issue, or gather much-needed feedback to keep your project moving forward.

2. Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown

Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown

Many businesses are slow to react to the evolving needs of their customers. They may have talented people, but teams are often isolated based on professional roles or departments. As a result, diversely skilled people rarely have a chance to share information and collaborate towards addressing emerging customer needs.

Hacking Growth is about how to accelerate business growth by building a culture of continuous experimentation. It explains the value of creating small, cross-functional teams that can gather insights, generate ideas, and run experiments. Plus, the book provides detailed tactics for acquiring, activating, retaining, and monetizing customers.

3. Start At The End by Matt Wallaert

Start At The End by Matt Wallaert

Many products fail to create real value for customers. Even those that are selling very well can end up buried in a desk drawer or stuffed into a closet, rather than being used as intended.  As a result, the people buying them are unlikely to provide positive reviews, word-of-mouth referrals, or repeat business in the future.

Start At The End is about how to create products and services that people will actually use. It explains that the goal of any new solution is to change customer behavior, and it provides detailed advice on how to make that happen. So, if you want to build something that creates real value in the world, this book can help.

4. Hooked by Nir Eyal

Hooked by Nir Eyal

Customer engagement is key to the success of many businesses—especially those offering subscription services or consumable products. Unfortunately, the dream of predictable recurring revenue often requires expensive marketing campaigns and other ongoing efforts to promote product usage, and those costs can quickly eat into profits.

Hooked introduces a different approach for increasing engagement. It explains how to help people establish a habit around using your product or service. The goal is to have customers automatically re-engage with your solution without the need for ongoing marketing campaigns or other external triggers.

5. Friction by Roger Dooley

Friction by Roger Dooley

Many products and services are needlessly complicated. The amount of time and effort required to pay for them, get everything set up, and start benefiting from them is often very inconvenient. As a result, people are less likely to use them or recommend them to others.

Friction is about finding ways to eliminate steps, reduce confusion, and address uncertainty for customers. This is important because when something is easy, people do more of it. And when something is difficult or time-consuming, people do less of it. So, if you want to attract and retain loyal customers, look for opportunities to reduce or eliminate friction wherever possible.

SIGNING OFF - MANNY!!

The 5 Best Leadership Books To Read

 

Leadership is one of the most valuable skills. The world needs effective leaders. Unfortunately, there’s a big difference between being in a leadership position and being an effective leader.

Great leaders don’t just tell other people what to do. Instead, they focus on inspiring action and creating the right conditions for the achievement of important goals. So, let’s explore five of the best leadership books that tackle essential topics, including:

• How to motivate and inspire people to take action
• How to strike the right balance in difficult situations 
• How to build a strong and effective work culture
• How to set and communicate goals more effectively
• How to make better decisions as a leader.

Disclosure: This content is supported by avid readers just like you.

1. Start With Why by Simon Sinek

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

Leaders often rely on subtle manipulations to get people to take action. For example, they might provide special bonuses to motivate employees, or they might offer deep discounts to entice people to buy their products. In either case, this approach can quickly turn into an expectation, resulting in it becoming less effective over time.

Start With Why is about how to inspire action by sharing the deeper purpose behind your organization. This approach is a powerful way to unlock the passion, persistence, and creativity of your team. And, by sharing the same message with like-minded customers, you can transform them into loyal brand advocates.

2. The Dichotomy Of Leadership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

Leadership often involves striking a balance between two extremes. Some examples include confidence vs. humility, working hard vs. working smart, discipline vs. creativity, and in some cases leading vs. following. So, it can be challenging to identify the best course of action when either option has its pros and cons.

The Dichotomy Of Leadership is about how to strike the right balance in difficult situations.  It covers 12 principles divided into three categories: balancing your people, balancing the mission, and balancing yourself. Plus, it provides practical examples of how each principle can be applied in the real world.

3. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

There are two kinds of threats or dangers that people face when working within an organization.  First, there are outside dangers, including direct competition, alternative solutions, and market conditions.  Then, there are inside dangers, including things like personal conflict, intimidation, or even humiliation.

Leaders Eat Last is about how great leaders build a strong culture by establishing a circle of safety within their organization. The goal is to minimize internal dangers so that individuals and teams can direct more of their energy toward external dangers. When done right, the organization is both more united and more effective.

4. Measure What Matters by John Doerr

Measure What Matters by John Doerr

As an organization grows, it can become challenging for leaders to establish and communicate strategic goals. Unfortunately, increased size often leads to increased bureaucracy. As a result, progress can slow to a crawl as teams struggle to identify and act on the most important tasks or opportunities.

Measure What Matters are about how to use “Objectives and Key Results,” or OKRs, to set and communicate goals more effectively. It’s a proven approach used by Google, Slack, Disney, Spotify, and others. It can help your organization become more effective by boosting transparency, accountability, and collaboration.

5. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Some leaders approach business as if it’s a finite game that can be definitively won or lost. They identify other brands as their adversaries, select common metrics on which to compete, and then set out to “beat the competition.” But of course, unlike a game of baseball or football, competition in business does not have a set beginning or end.

The Infinite Game is about how to build a stronger business by focusing on the big picture. It explains that leaders who maintain an infinite mindset are less prone to aiming for short-term wins that can weaken their organization. Instead, they’re more likely to make long-term decisions that strengthen their position over time.

SIGNING OFF - MANNY!!