Top 10 Marketing and Sales Books
You aren’t born knowing everything. And it’s hard to run a business or lead a team or sell for a company. So how do you learn what you need to know to find success?
We all went through at least 12 years of school, and 2/3rds of Americans go to at least some college. Nearly 40% graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
We spend 2,000 hours each year for 12-16 years learning, but then we start working and stop learning. We start doing and stop thinking.
And it’s a shame. Because very few of us took a class on how to own a business. Or sell your services. Or market your company. Or understand your finances. And these are the important skills to develop your future success!
Imagine if you put 10 hours each week into an education for yourself. That’s it. Ten hours. Instead of scrolling IG or TikTok, you picked up a book on marketing or selling. Or business strategy. Or time management. Or mindset. Or whatever it is that’s challenging you and your company right now.
This isn’t a finger-pointing exercise, though…Let’s be clear: I’m not a saint when it comes to screen time. I get sucked in by The New York Times’ daily Spelling Bee. I’m proud of all the Queen Bee ranks I earn, but I’m also a little concerned about the 3-4 hours each week I spend trying to reach that status.
If we all spent a little less time on our phones and a bit more taking online courses or 1:1 mentorships or any other educational program…well, we’d be richer human beings for the time we spent filling our minds with useful information about how to run our company’s successfully.
Learn your own way
I spent my early career living and working on an island in the middle of the Salish Sea. San Juan Island, Washington is a wonderful place to live, especially if you love the outdoors like I do. But it’s small. Like 55 square miles small. And you have to take a 1- to 2-hour ferry to get to the mainland, which means I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to access education before the internet opened up to online learning.
So I received an education the old-school way: Books. Isolation and long, dark winters by the fire made reading the best way to pick up the insight and training I needed to get better at my craft.
I’ve developed a solid reputation as a non-fiction reader for the past 25 years. Hundreds of books about business and behavioral science and biographies. I’m enrolled in an applied behavioral economics program at Texas A&M. We host a monthly book club as part of our online learning community at Ideaction.
Clients and colleagues often ask me for recommendations, so I thought it would be fun to share on this week’s newsletter and also my podcast, Own Your Business. Here are my top 10 books (in no particular order) for wedding pros who want to book more clients at higher prices.
#1 - Influence by Robert Cialdini
Best book written about fundamental principles of persuasion, and applies to sales and marketing.
#2 - How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Great for people who want to improve their professional network and discovery calls.
#3 - The Science of Selling by Michael Hoffman
Excellent summary of how to design a sales process around the way buyers make decisions.
#4 - Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind by Jonah Berger
Practical insights into behavioral approaches to persuasion.
#5 - You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy
Learn how to be a better listener for couples’ real needs during discovery calls.
#6 - SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
The godfather of complex sales, this classic dives deep into how to build value by creating problems for potential clients.
#7 - Marketing to Mindstates by Will Leach
Simple explanations for psychological motivations and how to market to them.
#8 - Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
Fun read on how to market and sell with effective stories.
#9 - Overcoming Objections by Jeb Blount
Insights on how to prevent and prepare for tough conversations with potential clients.
#10 - Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Big ideas on human decision-making from the OG behavioral economist.
Enjoy these books. They will change your business. And maybe your life. I know they did both for me over the years.
Full breakdown on the podcast
Want more on each of these books? Check out this week’s podcast to hear how each one can help you reach your full potential by digging into:
What the book is about
Why I love it
How it will make you better