As humans, we love something or someone to follow. Even if you deny this point, your still following something! This book explains to small business owners the concept of creating a tribe around your business…being the leader…and how to manage and communicate with your followers. This is an important book in a time when the internet and social media generally is on the up and up.

Years ago, some smart advertising exec came up with the concept of a USP – a Unique Selling Proposition. This book takes this idea to the masses, advising all us small business owners that we need a purple cow. It also shows how to get an idea across through the telling of a story…Seth is very good at this.

Ahhhh…the FREE-dom of word-of-mouth marketing…The cheapest form of getting your name out in the market place. If you think your business could do with a bit of free publicity, with people talking about your brand on your behalf, then read this…NOW! That’s an order.

This is the book that showed me how to develop a genuine relationship with my potential customers. It reminded me that you’ve got to give in order to get. A simple concept, entertainingly explained by Seth.

Not true….we’re just doing our best to sell our product or service in a compelling way. That said, Seth has some interesting views on how we go about this…A must read if you want to get your message right. BTW…He doesn’t really believe we’re liars.

Doug Hall tells it how it is. He not only has brilliant marketing insights and ideas for us small business owners…he backs every single one of them up with statistics, statistics and more statistics. If it can’t be measured, he wont do it. An easy read written by a fellow who charges tens of thousands of dollars a day for big corporates to brainstorm at his corporate ranch!

There’s off course a lot more to business than Marketing (so I’m told!). And it appears to be  alot of truth in that rumor. This book proves it. I’d suggest reading this first before you read ‘Kick Start Your Marketing Brain’…once again, the author hares all his learnings from the big business world in a way that benefits us small business owners.

This is like having Tarzan Grip for your ideas. It teaches you how to have your ideas heard and understood by those that matter.

If you’re wondering at what point your business may just ‘take off’…when the majority of potential buyers are going to think “Hey, I need some of what he’s selling” then read this book. It’s full of real-life case studies on brands and businesses that hit a tipping point when everything just feel in to place.

Not much to add here…If you’re a small business owner responsible for the marketing of something (anything) then you must read this book. It’s really old and it’s really good. Do not pass go until you have. If you’ve passed GO then spend some time in GAOL whilst you read it. I promise, no more Monopoly analogies from here on.

Read our review of The  22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and follow the same instructions! This is  a powerful book that argues the value of a highly focused brand.

Timothy Ferris was working 15 hours days running Brain Quicken, his dietary supplement business.  Yes he was earning a dollar but work was his life. Sound familiar? The 4 Hour Work Week is a testament to how you can outsource just about every aspect of business cost effectively.  It poses many questions, one which I love being “Am I being productive or just active?” I bought both the book and the audio book and have so far read it and listened to it 4 times.