7 Books Every Small Business Owner Needs to Read
We love reading (big fans of the Kindle here at SiteFox), so it won’t come as a surprise that we’ve put compiled our favorite books just in time for the holiday season.
Here are seven books that we highly recommend all small business owners read.
They’ll help you re-think your business strategies, marketing ideas, and motivate you to succeed in the new year.
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Book 1: The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.
We love this book and refer back to it often. It’s full of smart thinking from an author that has experience growing a business and only working 4 hours a week.
Most small business owners start their company to escape the 9 to 5 drag of the corporate world. The freedom to work when you want and how you want is definitely a noble cause to strive for. Use this book to help you gain the freedom you want.
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Book 2: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Success only comes to those that actually do. That’s why this book is one of our recommended reads. It will help you actually put things in motion and get things done.
Learn how to solve problems and make your life simpler. Highly recommended for all new small business owners.
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Book 3: Rework: Change The Way You Work Forever
We love the team over at 37Signals; in fact we use two of their products, BaseCampHQ and HighRise. Their philosophy on business is inspiring and thought-provoking.
When you need to get motivated to get things done read “Rework”. It’s the perfect playbook for inspiring you succeed and showing you exactly how to do it too.
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Book 4: ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Mobipocket
This book was recommended to us by @AriSGoldberg, CEO of StyleCaster. It’s definitely an amazing book for any business owners that haven’t cemented their brand yet.
Your business’ brand is made up by how you convey yourself and how others perceive you. “ZAG” explains what makes a good brand and gives you a step-by-step guide for outlining your business’ brand.
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Book 5: Free Marketing: 101 Low and No-Cost Ways to Grow Your Business, Online and Off
We know what it’s like to have to market a business on a budget, we do it too! That’s why we loved this book. It had 101 useful and relevant marketing tips that helped us build the SiteFox brand and community.
This book was one of the few marketing resources that made us stop and take notice. We actually had to use the bookmark option when reading this one!
Get it from Amazon -
Book 6: Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements
This book should be required reading for anyone trying to build an online community. It’s an easy to read and inspiring book that will change the way you think about viral marketing and online marketing.
Brains on Fire (titled after their identify company) will help you learn how to turn your business from just another company, to a movement fueled on passion. It will make you rethink exactly what your business does and why.
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Book 7: The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web
We’re always wary of social media marketing books. Generally, by the time you finish reading them so much has changed they’re already outdated.
Thankfully, @Tamar wrote a great book that outlines the philosophy and thinking behind social media. It’s not focused on any specific social network (although she touches upon them), that way you can learn how to apply the new marketing techniques to any social media platform.
Next Steps…
There’s no better time to get comfortable and get some reading done, than after the holiday rush. Use the time to learn new skills and being planning 2012. Some of the books above will inspire you to grow your business and give you great insights into how to do.
Do you have a book you highly recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Image credit: intherough
