Here are 100 books that Content Inc. fans have personally recommended if you like
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I grew up reading my dad’s hardcore sci-fi and my mother’s romance, horror, and thrillers. This led to my desire to become a published author. Prior to 2012, I was a bestselling Canadian author with a handful of titles published. After hitting #4 on Amazon’s Bestsellers list, I was approached by agents and publishers. Within weeks I signed multiple contracts. Trident Media Group asked to represent me. Yes! I signed two audio deals with Audible, and multiple deals with foreign publishers. One of my mottos has always been to help other writers when I can, so I share my marketing expertise and experiences.
As Godin states: “Great marketers don't use consumers to solve their company's problem; they use marketing to solve other people's problems.” This book is for anyone in sales. For writers, you may find you see book marketing in a new light after reading this book. Not only is there psychology in how consumers (readers) make their decisions, learning to sell books also has a psychology behind it. Once you know who you are selling to and understand their needs, you can and will sell more.
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller & Instant New York Times Bestseller
A game-changing approach to marketing, sales, and advertising.
For the first time Seth Godin offers the core of his marketing wisdom in one compact, accessible, timeless package. This is Marketing shows you how to do work you're proud of, whether you're a tech startup founder, a small business owner, or part of a large corporation.
No matter what your product or service, this book will help you reframe how it's presented to the world, in order to meaningfully connect with people who want it. Seth employs his signature blend…
Ever since I first started coaching at the tender age of 15, my main passion in life has been helping others find their own passions. Over more than four decades as a coach, educator, and mentor, I’ve read a lot of self-help books. They don’t always deliver. But some gems in the genre have truly helped me—along with the thousands of people I’ve recommended them to—experience significant personal growth and discover a richer, more meaningful existence. It’s my pleasure to share the best of the best here. Pick one up today and I promise your life will be better for it!
The foundation of my Vision Training for Life leadership workshops is maintaining a wide, open lens on life so that you can take in as many experiences as possible. But one question I used to struggle with was, why do some experiences, even those that seem inconsequential at the time, have such an outsized impact?
The Heath brothers answered the question for me, and then some, through their combination of data-driven research and rich storytelling. This book imparts so many lessons, including how crucial first impressions are for predicting successful outcomes. That insight alone has helped spark so much human connection for me. The book is filled with many more nuggets that promise to improve your life.
'Beautifully written, brilliantly researched' Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of GRIT
'The most interesting, immediately actionable book I've read in quite a while... If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine' Adam Grant, bestselling author of ORIGINALS and OPTION B, with Sheryl Sandberg
In this latest New York Times bestseller by the authors of Switch and Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explore why certain brief experiences can jolt, elevate and change us - and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in…
I am an author, nonfiction writing geek, and marketing practitioner on a mission to help people make a positive impact with their writing. Before setting out on this path, I spent many years as a marketing consultant, working with over 100 technology companies to articulate their messaging and value to customers and prospects. My first book, Subscription Marketing, was my manifesto about the changes needed in marketing to thrive in the emerging, subscription-based world. It’s now in its third edition and has been translated into multiple languages.
Want to create more raving fans for your business? Maybe true success isn’t in the number of your customers but the depth of their loyalty. David Meerman Scott writes this book together with his daughter Reiko Scott, delivering a multi-generational perspective into what it means to be a fan, and how to cultivate them.
From the author of New Rules of Marketing & PR, a bold guide to converting customer passion into marketing power.
How do some brands attract word-of-mouth buzz and radical devotion around products as everyday as car insurance, b2b software, and underwear? They embody the most powerful marketing force in the world: die-hard fans.
In this essential book, leading business growth strategist David Meerman Scott and fandom expert Reiko Scott explore the neuroscience of fandom and interview young entrepreneurs, veteran business owners, startup founders, nonprofits, and companies big and small to pinpoint which practices separate organizations…
I am an author, nonfiction writing geek, and marketing practitioner on a mission to help people make a positive impact with their writing. Before setting out on this path, I spent many years as a marketing consultant, working with over 100 technology companies to articulate their messaging and value to customers and prospects. My first book, Subscription Marketing, was my manifesto about the changes needed in marketing to thrive in the emerging, subscription-based world. It’s now in its third edition and has been translated into multiple languages.
Bernadette Jiwa’s short, pithy books make an outsized impact. This one is about applying the power of authentic stories to business and marketing. What if you can differentiate yourself, and your business, through meaning? Jiwa outlines what it means to be a story-driven business and provides a clear path to getting there.
"When you have something to say, you don't need to shout. Bernadette Jiwa helps us learn how to create the change we seek to make in the world."
SETH GODIN
Every one of us—regardless of where we were born, how we were brought up, how many setbacks we’ve endured or privileges we’ve been afforded—has been conditioned to compete to win. Ironically, the people who create fulfilling lives and careers—the ones we respect, admire and try to emulate—choose an alternative path to success. They have a powerful sense of identity. They don’t worry about differentiating themselves from the competition or obsess…
I am an expert in customer retention and membership growth with 30 years of experience working with businesses across more than 80 industries. As the President of Be Unleavable, Inc., I specialize in helping subscription companies grow their membership and create loyal, dedicated customer bases. I have authored several books on the subject, including the widely-acclaimed Retention Point, which teaches businesses how to foster a group of excited fans who become their best customers and recommend the business to others. My focus is helping businesses foster long-term relationships with their customers rather than having a series of “one-night stands.”
This is a captivating read that delves into the world of creating a fan base for any business.
Using Lady Gaga as a fun and intriguing example, the book demonstrates how she cultivated a loyal following while many talented artists struggle to gain recognition. Huba's choice of subject matter not only adds an element of entertainment but also highlights the effectiveness of Gaga's strategy.
The book breaks down the process into easy-to-follow steps that anyone can implement within their own business. One key lesson from Monster Loyalty is to "Make Them Feel Like Rock Stars," emphasizing the importance of making your fans feel special by acknowledging their contributions, highlighting their input, and incorporating their submissions into your work.
What sets this book apart is the simple template it provides, making it straightforward to apply the principles in a business setting.
Famous for her avant-garde outfits, over-the-top performances, and addictive dance beats, Lady Gaga is one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. But behind her showmanship lies another achievement: her wildly successful strategy for attracting and keeping insanely loyal fans. She's one of the most popular social media voices in the world with more than 33 million Twitter followers and 55 million Facebook fans. And she got there by methodically building a grassroots base of what she calls her "Little Monsters" - passionate fans who look to her not just for music but also for joy, inspiration, and…
I’m a software developer turned independent software vendor, learning about product management as a way to launch more successful products. I’m a co-founder of MindMup, a popular collaboration tool used by millions of students and schoolchildren worldwide, and Narakeet, an innovative video maker for people who are not video professionals. The books from this list helped me create successful products that users love, and successfully compete with companies that have several orders of magnitude more staff and resources.
Cagan’s book is a deep dive into the principles of modern product management. It expands on the theoretical ideas that Patton introduces in User Story Mapping, and provides many additional tips for engaging customers, experimenting with product ideas, and tracking outcomes. In addition, it deals with the organizational side of product management, so it will be valuable to people working for larger companies that need to manage staff and set up company-wide processes.
Reading this book will help you expand your views of product management, and add lots of additional tools to your thinking process.
Learn to design, build, and scale products consumers can't get enough of
How do today's most successful tech companies Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla design, develop, and deploy the products that have earned the love of literally billions of people around the world? Perhaps surprisingly, they do it very differently than most tech companies. In INSPIRED, technology product management thought leader Marty Cagan provides readers with a master class in how to structure and staff a vibrant and successful product organization, and how to discover and deliver technology products that your customers will love and that will work for your…
I’m a 3-time B2B startup founder (Flagback, HireVoice, and Highlights). For my 2nd startup, HireVoice, we tried to use The Lean Startup methodology and struggled to get traction on the market. When we shut down the company, I knew I wanted to solve my own pain, and learn B2B. I spent the next 2 years speaking (and learning from) some of the most successful B2B founders in the world. This, eventually led to the publication of my book, Lean B2B. Since then, I’ve been at the forefront of B2B entrepreneurship. The Lean B2B methodology has now been used by thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators to help create successful businesses.
Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce, more or less wrote the playbook for B2B startups.In Behind the Cloud, he shares a lot of the tactics that helped make Salesforce the market leader that it is today. Benioff’s work helped shape Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and the Cloud for B2B entrepreneurs. On and all, it’s a very entertaining book with a lot of interesting ideas.
How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world's fastest growing software company in less than a decade? For the first time, Marc Benioff, the visionary founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, tells how he and his team created and used new business, technology, and philanthropic models tailored to this time of extraordinary change. Showing how salesforce.com not only survived the dotcom implosion of 2001, but went on to define itself as the leader of the cloud computing revolution and spark a $46-billion dollar industry, Benioff's story will help business leaders and entrepreneurs stand…
Jeff has been a UX designer, team leader and product manager for over 20 years. His work in the field helped define some of the key practices product managers use today. Building a customer-centric practice is key to successful products and services and Jeff has demonstrated that not only in the products and companies he’s helped build but in the writing and thinking he’s contributed to the product managaement community.
Melissa is rewriting the book on modern product management. Her advice is hard-earned, practical, and useful. If you’re interested in starting a career in product management, this book offers up specifics on what exactly is product management and how to excel at it in modern, agile cultures.
To stay competitive in today's market, organizations need to adopt a culture of customer-centric practices that focus on outcomes rather than outputs. Companies that live and die by outputs often fall into the "build trap," cranking out features to meet their schedule rather than the customer's needs.
In this book, Melissa Perri explains how laying the foundation for great product management can help companies solve real customer problems while achieving business goals. By understanding how to communicate and collaborate within a company structure, you can create a product culture that benefits both the business and the customer. You'll learn product…
In 2012, I escaped my corporate job to found Enchanting Marketing. I had discovered I love writing and I love teaching people how to write even more. I help small business owners and solo flyers find their voice and share their ideas with gusto, so they can captivate, educate, and inspire their audience. I created this list with 5 book recommendations as a mini-course on writing for the web. There’s little overlap between the books; they all complement each other. Happy reading and happy writing!
For writing online beyond your own website, I highly recommend this book. It presents both the big picture and the nitty-gritty of content marketing for small businesses.
What I like about this book is that the authors understand that as a small business, you can’t do everything and be everywhere. So, choose where you want to be and create content that captivates, educates, and inspires your audience.
WINNER: Small Business Book Awards 2016 - Community Choice - Social Media Category
WINNER: Small Business Book Awards 2014 - Community Choice - Marketing Category (1st edition)
Make sense of content marketing in the digital world with this award-winning, practical guide to using content to grow your business and raise your brand.
From websites, white papers and blogs to tweets, newsletters and video, content is king in the digital world, now more than ever before. Get it right and you have a huge opportunity to connect with clients and customers in ways they appreciate and trust - they will be…
I know it's kind of weird, but I have been fascinated by the world of direct-response marketing ever since I first saw the full-page ads in the "newspapers" my grandmother loved to read (The National Inquirer and the Weekly World News). Those ads fascinated me because, at first, I thought they were stories in the newspaper. That was my first exposure to the work of the brilliant Eugene Schwartz. I used to check our mail so I could grab all the "junk mail" that everyone else threw away because that's the only mail I wanted to read. That's why I became a direct-response copywriter.
The first time I read this book, it hit me like a bolt of lightning. This simple book about how to state your marketing message clearly in a way that makes people decide they must buy your product or service is revolutionary.
Lots of people talk about "telling stories" as a powerful form of communication and persuasion. But Don is the only person I know who does a great job giving you the practical, hands-on, how-to approach so that you can actually do this for yourself. This is a book I reread at least once a year.
More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times bestselling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.
If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.
In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares…
