Do You Read Business Books or Mainly New Strategy Digital Products

28 replies
I have not yet done so yet, but I am going to write a long post to my blog today about a passage from a book that I read done by Seth Godin. The book is called "Lynchpin" and if you haven't read it, you should. Before that, listened to the book "Rework" by the guys who started Basecamp.

I have been doing this for the past few months (listening to the books while at the Gym) and while I think I am getting a business re-education, I am also getting an Internet Marketing re-education. The reading has cleared by brain about all of this and in the last week, I have been able to see success in some areas (of course, first by the Grace of God), but also due to some of things I learned in those books.

Of course, the normal disclaimers need to be made...everyone learns differently, every one has their ah-ha moment at a different time. That said, how many of you read business books and see the direct benefit in your business...I am curious?

Reading books in the post industrial age does not make you a better marketer, but it must accomplish something....

What say you?

CT
#books #business #digital #products #read #strategy
  • Profile picture of the author SGTech
    I love reading business books. I enjoy biographies and autobiographies about successful entrepreneurs as well as how-to books. I am currently reading The E-Myth Revisited and Duct Tape Marketing and will soon re-read Think and Grow Rich.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      I'm a reader. I'm one of those guys who will read the cereal box if nothing better is available.

      I'm also a listener. Especially when I drive. I can only take some over-caffeinated DJ's blather while playing the same handful of songs over and over before I have to pop something better in the CD slot.

      If I know I have to go somewhere alone, I'll download mp3 versions of books, seminar recordings, whatever and burn them on CDs to use in the car.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Lehiste
        I always enjoy the research process both online and offline, but have found reading real books a relaxing more focused approach for what I need right now.

        I read books, becouse it's a superb way to ensure that your brain is turned on. And “brain on” is a pleasant and rewarding state of mind.

        We have so little quiet time in our connected world that reading can be a nice excuse to stop, think, and reflect.
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        • Profile picture of the author fated82
          I am currently reading a marketing book (fundamentals of marketing) and Google Sniper. I realize that if you read various books about a subject, you will grasp the essentials. The key is taking action and test out those concepts. Good luck!
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          • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
            Books tend to offer higher-level insights. I won't call what you get
            "strategy" most of the time, because that's an over-used and
            misunderstood word. But big picture insights, cogently presented,
            are often found in published books you'll not find so easily online.

            Personally my attention span for online reading is much shorter
            than for print. Online, I scan and leap around. In print I actually
            read.

            Recently got "Website Optimization" by Andrew King - which covers
            SEO but also sales funnel and load-time optimization. It's much
            broader than you'd expect any ebook to be, and deep too.

            I get sent books to review all the time - I have some choice in what
            I get - so I always have new and timely books about marketing
            and things like social media around. The quality varies but in general
            it's superior to what you get online, imo.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
    I subscribe to a summary service that basically cuts out all the fluff from best selling business books and publishes the core concepts. I've been able to get through so many books this way, leaving me time to check out a lot of stuff by the specific marketing gurus I follow.

    Work smart.

    Cheers,
    Matt
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    • Profile picture of the author Aperio
      Originally Posted by Matt MacPherson View Post

      I subscribe to a summary service that basically cuts out all the fluff from best selling business books and publishes the core concepts. I've been able to get through so many books this way, leaving me time to check out a lot of stuff by the specific marketing gurus I follow.

      Work smart.

      Cheers,
      Matt

      May I ask what this summary service is? My biggest complaint on business books / self help related books are having to suffer through hundreds of pages worth of filler material to get to the actual few pages of actual core content.

      Nice to know i'm not alone in this frustration
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      • Profile picture of the author Charles Harper
        Originally Posted by Aperio View Post

        May I ask what this summary service is? My biggest complaint on business books / self help related books are having to suffer through hundreds of pages worth of filler material to get to the actual few pages of actual core content.

        Nice to know i'm not alone in this frustration
        Me three...I am interested in this

        CT
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        • Profile picture of the author Alex Lehiste
          Originally Posted by Aperio View Post

          May I ask what this summary service is? My biggest complaint on business books / self help related books are having to suffer through hundreds of pages worth of filler material to get to the actual few pages of actual core content.

          Nice to know i'm not alone in this frustration
          Originally Posted by Charles Harper View Post

          Me three...I am interested in this

          CT
          I think Matt means www.summary.com/
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  • Profile picture of the author magicmarcus
    i read appx 6-8 business / personal development / and psychology books each week.

    i will admit that i do not read every single page... i skim the content

    that i feel i need at the time.

    this has had a huge impact on my business and personal life and is a great way to learn about new niche markets.

    GO TO THE BOOKSTORE get out... get some books... read them!

    also if you need a niche market... go look in the magazine isle.

    some good authors while you are there:

    zig ziglar
    dan kennedy
    ciandini
    hogan
    godin
    anything nlp related
    and countless others.

    enjoy :-)
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  • I dont read any of these books. In my opinion, business is all about undertaking, not about reading. The less time I spend reading, the more time I spend implementing a new idea/project.
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    • Profile picture of the author Andy Fletcher
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      I dont read any of these books. In my opinion, business is all about undertaking, not about reading. The less time I spend reading, the more time I spend implementing a new idea/project.
      I have to disagree with you on this one but don't get me wrong I don't wish the following to sound like I advocate reading over working. You still have to get out there and do stuff. No amount of reading will make up for not taking action but...

      So many smart people have already gone before you and figured out so much. Not reading what other people have taken years to learn and summarised into a book that you can read in a day is just criminal.

      Sure, you can figure it all out for yourself but why would you want to?

      The last book I read was all about testing and tracking to improve conversion rates on websites. Was there anything I couldn't have figured out for myself? Not really, except maybe some of the more complicated statistics in there, but the author has written up years of complicated research into a couple of hundred pages.

      I think this kind of "don't read, just do" attitude is driven by so many ebooks that spin a simple concept out into a giant ebook. An intelligent reader knows that they could learn more than the book can teach them in less time than it'd take to read the book, if they just go out and do it. But that's just not the case with truly great books, written by people who really know what they are talking about.
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      • Profile picture of the author paul wolfe
        Originally Posted by Andy Fletcher View Post

        I have to disagree with you on this one but don't get me wrong I don't wish the following to sound like I advocate reading over working. You still have to get out there and do stuff. No amount of reading will make up for not taking action but...

        I think this kind of "don't read, just do" attitude is driven by so many ebooks that spin a simple concept out into a giant ebook. An intelligent reader knows that they could learn more than the book can teach them in less time than it'd take to read the book, if they just go out and do it. But that's just not the case with truly great books, written by people who really know what they are talking about.
        +1 to all this.

        If you just learn by doing you risk wasting time reinventing the wheel and chase down blind allies that other people have already documented.

        If reading is not your thing - and it doesn't suit everyone - then consider Audio. It's been touched on in this thread a few times. But if you have any kind of 'travel' time in your life - or time when you are doing something BUT could be listening to audio while you are doing that something - then buying Books, Podcasts, Seminars etc and listening to them in small chunks is a great way to get an ROI on what would otherwise be Dead Time.

        (Note - when using Audio I find it helpful to have a notepad to sketch down key points of learning. Or if I'm in the car I create audio memos using my iPod.)

        However you do it, you should always be looking to learn and refine....
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      • Originally Posted by Andy Fletcher View Post

        Sure, you can figure it all out for yourself but why would you want to?
        Hello Andy,

        In my opinion, IM is such a dynamic business that what's worked for someone else doesnt necessarily have to apply to you, and thus I weight my own experimentation and tests over academic knowledge. I believe that "first hand experience" is the best school there is, at least it's what works for me, and as I look back onto many of my endeavors I'd be able to apply that principle to many things outside IM. For example: languages. I never attended to any English or French lesson (non being my native language), yet I became proficient in both by actually living in England and France in my youth.

        I guess I am just self-taught in multiple fields, IM included. I feel that weeding through books can actually slow us down, and that many times the best course of action is to simply roll up our sleeves and get dirty with the matter at hand.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    "Poor people have big TVs, rich people have big libraries" - Jim Rohn
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  • Profile picture of the author Jacer
    I would say reading books only comes as a close second to having a mentor in my success. I just finished reading "The 33 Ruthless Rules of Local Advertising" by Michael Corbett.

    Thankfully I have a few local people with very extensive libraries of business books.
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  • Profile picture of the author peter.max
    I am keen reader of business books. Sometimes they spark just one idea that I implement or change. I enjoy Peter Drucker as he challenges conventional business thinking. I've been and offline/online entrepreneur for the past 18 years and business books help me renew my business ideas. Reading "Duct Tape Marketing" etc. also helps with new marketing ideas to test.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
    Business books are great for strategizing and
    getting the big picture of where you want your
    business to go. The ebooks and digital
    information products are more useful for tactics
    and the nitty-gritty of CREATING the big
    picture.

    So business books for me are great for getting
    ideas for planning and increasing productivity. IM
    information products are good for 'here and now'
    tactics and ideas.

    Fabian
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnB23
    I read a lot. "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't." Mark Twain

    I think the goal of reading should be to get big ideas and pieces of the puzzle. Not just because it's a "business book", or "marketing", or "internet marketing". It should fit a piece of the puzzle. I read broadly across business, investing, finance, marketing, sales, etc. Knowing what not to do, or what to avoid can be a bottom line benefit for you.

    Reading has helped me avoid a lot of things, like in investing. I like charlie munger, jim rogers, jay abraham, cialdini, etc. Also old books, pre 1980 or 1970. Because I think things repeat. Or things get forgotten about. Esp in this internet age, because people think "it's different this time". "We're more sophisticated. We know more. The internet has changed everything....yah, yah, yah". And you see something like the housing bubble or an internet flameout that has happened before in a different form.

    Also, reports, transcripts, mp3. I think revelation or "a hah moments" happen in different ways. I think its interesting when books (in different areas or disciplines) repeat certain things. There's a lot of similarity between munger and jay abraham. Both of them published things based on old influences. Munger's book was influenced by Ben Franklin's "Poor Richards Almanack". Published from the 1730's to 1750's!

    Jay Abraham has a video set titled, "My Life in marketing", patterned after claude hopkins my life in advertising. I think many of the people here (or on the internet in general) trying to make money in marketing or IM are asking the wrong question. Not, "how can I make $500 this month". But, who are good influences who can lead me on exciting and profitable pathways in marketing or IM.

    Having the right life long influence is more important than just, how do I make $2,000 next month. The man (person) who doesn't think old books apply anymore is going to be at a severe disadvantage to the one who does.
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  • Profile picture of the author brendawyles
    I used to read a lot of business books before... and thanks to the wide array of information brought to us by the world wide web...really it helps a lot, especially when we want to keep posted about the latest updates on regarding business, services and products.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Jordan
    I try to set aside time to read books on internet marketing, business etc. Or attend seminars/ workshops. I also find Audio files very helpful. These are great for getting ideas, tactics, strategies. But again the best thing to do is to just do it for no amount of reading will make up for not taking action.
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  • Profile picture of the author phpnetpro
    I don't really read many books about internet marketing. Every now and again, I will look through a system that someone sends to me for a review, but I've never actually purchased an ebook or any kind of money making system.

    I started out back in the day when there wasn't millions of people competing against you, so I just learned things on my own at a slower pace because there seemed no need to rush, LOL.

    I do think a lot of ebooks hold some good value, but not necessarily the value of their price tag. There are a lot of great free ebooks out there that can at least put you on the right path to making some money online.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    My wife and I have over 1600 books in our library at last count. Thank YHVH for used books on Amazon. My average right now is 2-3 a week.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yakult
    To everyone that says that they don't read books because they prefer to learn as they go, I say to you:

    At some point you were reading and learning. If you weren't then you would never have got to the point where you can now say "reading is a waste of time" and "I want to learn entirely from my own experiences".

    Think of the amount you absorbed and the great things you learned that got you to that point... why would you then arbitrarily decide that you "knew enough"?

    It's like me creating an awesome PPC campaign that's earning me a 400% ROI and then scrapping it because I now "know enough" about PPC marketing... it's crazy!
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  • Profile picture of the author LudVanDaal
    It is always good to educate yourself. General business and financial books can be very helpful for everyone.
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  • Profile picture of the author King Shiloh
    Banned
    I read everything that will help to improve me and my business. No knowledge is a waste. No knowledge is little. No knowledge is cheap.
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