My Top (Seven) Business Books

At a networking meeting I attended in the summer, the speaker told us about her list of top ten business books. They were all books she’d read and she knew many of the authors. It was her take on the best books – not the Times bestseller list. It was a great idea, so I thought I’d look through my bookshelves and tell you about some of my favorites – seven of them, at least.

Master Your Inner Critic, Release Your Inner Wisdom by Melanie Greene. Do you have a little voice inside your head, or on your shoulder, who tells you that you’re not good enough? Mine is actually mentioned in this book, as Melanie helped me deal with him in one of her workshops, as she was writing her book. He’s now under control and this book can help you deal with yours too. Find out more here.

Enlightened Business is a jewel of a book, created by Joolz Lewis from Enlightened Business. It’s not just on my list because I’m mentioned in it! If business for you is about more than just making money and working silly hours, if it’s about giving something back and looking for the real reason that you run your business, this one is for you. It’s a beautifully written handbook for people who want to make a difference through their work and business. You can buy your copy here.

Attracting Perfect Customers by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez. This book changed my business and changed the way I work with my clients. It shows you how to attract to you, the clients you really want to work with. No more putting up with difficult clients or late payers or people who never say thank you! And it makes your marketing so much easier too. You can easily find this one on Amazon.

Who’s Paying for Lunch? This is the best book I’ve read recently about how to get more sales and is written by my client Tamara Howard, from Verve Consulting. If you run a small or medium sized business and want to sell more, then this book will show you exactly how, with no messing around. Buy it online here.

Blow Your Own Horn by Michael Trigg. I’ve read a number of books about speaking and presentation skills and listened to many good speakers talking about how to do it. Michael’s advice really stands out! The book is very easy to read, despite being packed full of tips, tricks and ideas to try out. His technique for using ‘Magic Notes’ is just brilliant. This is a very clever way of putting all the key points for your talk onto one piece of paper. I tried it out and was really pleased with how much it helps. I even wrote a blog about it here! This is another you can find on Amazon.

Roget’s Thesauraus. This is my bible when I need a different word for business (organization, company, entity, vocation, job, chore …) or a shorter word for ‘Conference’ (‘event’ works well!)

One in Ten. Of course this one has to be on the list, because I wrote it! It is the story of the first ten years of the life of my business and I really just wanted to share some of the ups and downs. I’ve spoken to many new business owners who are surprised by how tough it can be. If someone told me, honestly, how hard the first few years would be, I’m not sure I would have started my business. If someone had told me that, just as you think everything is going fine, something or someone will come along and knock you back down again. So this book is the one I would love to have read, just as I started my business, because it is full of honesty about the mistakes I made; but it’s also packed with advice on how to keep going and build a business you love – which is what I have now! One in Ten is my way of sharing this with you. It’s currently on offer for just £10 + postage and you can order a copy here.

There are loads more great book out there that will help you with your business. Which ones do you recommend?