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What books would you recommend for improving....

by Steve23
20 replies
I was just thinking that my skills could use from upgrading. What books would you recommend in the following areas:

- Copywriting skills
- Website analysis
- Marketing Skills
- Business development

This is just a short list for starters. Feel free to chime in about any books from your personal library or otherwise, regardless of the business topic, that have helped to build you up in areas where you felt you needed development. Thanks.

S.
#books #improving #recommend
  • Profile picture of the author Rachel Zaouche
    steve

    Read everything you can get your hands on by Gary Halbert - anything you see about copywriting online is probably based on his stuff

    Marketing skills - what type? Online/offline???????

    Website analysis - in what respect?

    business recommendations - again what type

    find experts you know and follow them
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Vraibel
    For business development I haven't found anything better than Michael Gerber's E-Myth Revisited.

    For marketing skills I'd suggest pretty much anything by Dan Kennedy and also Dr. Robert Cialdini's Influence is really great.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rose Anderson
    In the Copywriting section of the forum you'll find a huge list of the best books regarding copywriting.

    Rose
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    • Profile picture of the author Ross Bowring
      For copywriting, like Rose said above, there's a ton of books.

      But a good starter is Drew Eric Whitman's "Ca$hvertising."

      --- Ross
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  • Profile picture of the author Warrior X
    Confessions of a Website Copywriter by Lenny Eng.
    A great nuts and bolts ebook (one of the only good ones)
    exclusively about writing online copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author GeoMasters
    John Carlton has some pretty good stuff. Check out his books and maybe even his seminar products. Also, I've learned a lot of stuff from Dan Kennedy books as well, so check his info out too.

    When I was first starting out I would buy some products form PLR Sites. A lot of the PLR there is cheap but also very informative if you're a newbie.
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  • Profile picture of the author Prog3nie
    In terms of Copywriting, I would have to say Bob Bly and Agora Publishing seem to be the gods of this trade.

    I do believe Gary Halbert had some connections with Agora Publishing as well.

    You definitely cannot go wrong with these.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author stevenalowe
    Scientific Advertising
    Ogilvy on Advertising
    Guerilla Marketing
    Book Yourself Solid
    Selling to VITO
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Steve23 View Post

    Feel free to chime in about any books from your personal library or otherwise, regardless of the business topic, that have helped to build you up in areas where you felt you needed development.
    I see some very good recommendations above.

    This book isn't about internet marketing, just "entrepreneurship" in general, and it helped me to build up my confidence and to appreciate that anyone can do it: Amazon.com: Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee...Amazon.com: Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee...
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve23
    Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions everyone. I guess what I'd like to be able to do is look at a website and be able to explain why or why not it's fully optimized for conversions. I'd like to be able to identify what elements are missing or which ones need to be modified if that makes sense.

    I'd also like to be able to put together a marketing plan from scratch for a new business or client looking to gain more exposure for their venture. I'd like to have enough knowledge whereby I could make solid recommendations or write up a plan for acquiring more customers, partners, or dealing with stiff competition.

    I've worked for companies where I was in charge of outsourcing these tasks and I've picked up some things here and there, but I'm far from an expert. Would be nice to develop some of these skills to become more effective both as an employee and as a online business owner.

    S.
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    • Profile picture of the author dfs_dean
      Great book on motivation, focus, and especially action: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone.

      I read it about 6 weeks ago and am starting to reading it again. I think it's that good!

      Peace
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  • Profile picture of the author samurairey
    i love also this book The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone. I also recommend it.
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    • Profile picture of the author aSecret
      The reading list at personalmba.com has some great suggestions for books that will give you a variety of general business skills (productivity, negotiation, marketing, opportunity identification, etc...)
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      Give happiness and you will end up happy.

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  • Profile picture of the author robnoble
    To my mind the best overview of how to develop a successful business, if you haven't already read it, is Rich Schefren's Internet Business manifesto.

    You can download it here free (requires an optin)
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  • Profile picture of the author gazutz
    Copy Writing handbook: Joe Sugarman
    Tested Advertising Methods: John Caples
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    Gary Fumeaux
    http://www.advantageprofitimprovement.com.au

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  • Profile picture of the author Steve23
    Thanks guys, lots more great recommendations. I just picked up Dan Kennedy's Ultimate Marketing Plan and ordered The 10X Rule. I already have The e-Myth revisited, so I'll crack that asap. Figure if I can get back on track to reading 2 good books per month, I'll make some progress. That brings up another question...how many books are you reading per month on average?

    S.
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  • Profile picture of the author Charles Harper
    Networking with Millionaires is a definitive guide on networking, by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley.
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  • Profile picture of the author Juvv2096
    For Marketing online and business in general, I would have to say Seth Godin 100%. His books and his daily blog submissions blow me away.

    If you want some recommendations on which books I like the most of his, let me know.

    find his blog by googling his name. Subcribe, I guarantee you won't regret it.
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  • Profile picture of the author George Carlos
    For copywriting, anything by Lenny Eng is crazy
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