100 books like How To Get Your Prospect's Attention and Keep It!

Originally published in 1937, this was the original self-improvement book. Carnegie described it as a “practical, working handbook on human relations”.

After reading it, you might think that none of his tips are earth-shatteringly surprising, but you may not have thought of them before reading the book. This is indeed the mark of a great book – something that makes lots of sense after you read it (and so you’re most likely to put it into practice) but you wouldn’t have guessed yourself; and certainly would not have framed it in as clear and convincing manner as Carnegie.

Most salespeople believe the closing happens at the end of the presentation. It doesn’t. It happens in the first few seconds.

The biggest change in the selling process has happened over the last 25 years. Brain science has proven that the subconscious minds of our prospects make snap decisions about us. This book shows us what to say during those first critical seconds. Prospects and clients judge us harshly, and they do it in the first few seconds.

The case studies and proof will change how we look at selling forever.

Focus and controlling our prospects’ attention is the first step. Add some conversational hypnosis and we will have more influence over the outcome.

The authors believe in carefully crafted sales scripts to talk to the unconscious mind of our prospects. While these structure sentences seem challenging at first, we gradually become aware of their power as we progress through this book.

Simple lessons on storytelling structure. Plus the book is short and entertaining because of the stories and the backgrounds.

We don’t need a complicated 12-step Hero’s Journey story structure for selling. Our prospects won’t have the time for our prose, and we can’t command the attention like a hundred dollar movie production. Instead, we have to engage our prospects’ imagination fast.

Storytelling is a great way to sell to our prospects.

It does what it says on the cover. Don’t just shrug your shoulders if an airline refuses to refund your money, your insurer won’t pay up, or the jeans you bought online don’t fit. Challenge the firm! Complain! Get your money back – and then some. Helen – who calls herself the Complaining Cow – is a master at all of this and herself a serial complainer. The book explains who to write to, what to say, and what to demand – and the laws to quote to make sure you get what you’re entitled to. 

This one's a fast-moving mystery story that takes you behind the scenes of the circus! An insurance investigator, John Nieves, has to determine whether a lion tamer's death was an accident or murder, but the circus people play practical jokes on him, especially after they discover he has a childhood fear of clowns! The big cats feature in this but are well treated and John develops an affinity with a panther who had been refusing to eat. This one has tension, suspense, and a lot of laughs along with the glamour of the circus!

This classic work, originally published in 1940, provides a panoramic examination of African American insurance companies (including a detailed overview of individual firms).

Although An Economic Detour focuses on black insurers, its’ broader analysis encompassed all black-owned enterprises during this period. Specifically, Stuart declared that, under the dictates of Jim Crow racial segregation, African American entrepreneurs were relegated to only serving African American consumers.

This, necessarily, had an inhibiting impact on their profitability. Especially since non-African American entrepreneurs also had access to the African American consumer market.

As someone who has written extensively on black-owned insurance companies, An Economic Detour has been a long-standing “go-to” resource for me.

Marketing the old way took for granted that the company was in control. Now the consumer is in control. Mark Schaefer’s book will help you see the end of control and give you a manifesto for human-centered marketing. You’ll learn to see how your customers are part of your marketing department and how that is at the heart of success today. The good news for smaller brands is that winning in the rebellion doesn’t hinge on ad impressions, and big budgets, alone. Schaefer’s book helped me to see this new human-centered marketing from a more direct perspective. Instead of an evolution of the Four P’s he simply connects constant human truths to business success in “A Manifesto for Human-Centered Marketing” that ultimately leads to the new reality that your customers are your marketers.

Most online teachers I’ve worked with detest the idea of marketing, and yet this is something we cannot avoid especially when running our own business. Bernadette Jiwa defines marketing as a story you tell that has the capacity to change the world. In the book she shares multiple purposeful stories of people who shared their message in the most authentic way and how their courage moved others to action and brought about change. This is a guide into marketing that will make you excited about the change you seek to make and how your small online teaching business can transform the world. 

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.