Are you a small business owner in need of marketing tips that work? Look no further than this list of the 19 best marketing books for small business owners.
Within these small business marketing books, you’ll find a treasure trove of knowledge, including everything from building an irresistible brand to growing a loyal fan base.
So, grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine, we won’t judge) and crack open one of our favorite marketing books. Successful marketing and business growth could be just a few chapters away…
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7 Marketing Books About Building A Brand Customers Love
There is one thing that will essentially make or break your marketing efforts- brand messaging. All radically successful businesses know that how well they explain what they do determines their success. This section of small business marketing books focus largely on the same principle- listening to what your target market wants, providing a solution, and clearly explaining how you help.
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
If you haven’t read this book yet, start here. Building a StoryBrand should be the foundation of all your other marketing efforts. If you don’t get this part right, none of the other marketing tips will work.
Successful businesses don’t always have the best product. The businesses that thrive are the ones that can clearly explain what problem they solve for their ideal client. In this book, Donald Miller teaches businesses to use the seven universal elements of story to draw potential customers into a story of transformation. Focusing more on how your offering will make your ideal client’s life better connects with potential clients on a deeper level, converting their curiosity into sales.
They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing and Today’s Digital Consumer by Marcus Sheridan
Gone are the days of implementing customer service after you’ve already made a sale. In this book, Sheridan recommends business owners listen to what their customers are asking, answer those questions exceptionally well online, and then use traffic from search engines to bring in potential clients.
This book is proof that digital marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. By making your customer’s needs and wants your top priority, you can build trust with a potential client and increase your revenue at the same time.
Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Method to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next Level by Ryan Levesque
Do you know what your customers want? Or are you just guessing, trying out new things until something sticks?
Ryan Levesque has created a method to help you figure out exactly what your customer wants and what would motivate them to buy your offering. This method relies on a series of questions you ask your ideal client to gain insight into what makes them tick. (No, you don’t have to interview every single client.) This method has generated $100 million in online sales in 23 different industries so it’s safe to say that doing a few interviews would be well worth your time.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin
Seth Godin reiterates the theme we’ve seen in several of the other titles: instead of focusing on your products and services, focus on solving people’s problems and building trust with your ideal client.
Using empathy and connection, you can reframe how you talk about what you offer to connect deeper with your target market. Although it sounds like common sense, paying attention to what your customers want genuinely gives you a competitive advantage over most small businesses.
Oversubscribed: How to Get People Lined Up to Do Business with You by Daniel Priestley
How would you like to have a 6-month waitlist? Or people lined up around the block from the moment you open the doors of your new business?
That is the premise behind Oversubscribed. You’ll learn how to grab customers’ attention, increase demand for what you have to offer and build up desire so that people are clamoring to buy from you. No more chasing after customers, they’ll be chasing after you instead.
Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business by Pat Flynn
As entrepreneurs, it can be easy to get caught up in the numbers- how much revenue you bring in, the number of new clients you onboard, the number of likes on your social media posts, etc. Superfans reminds us that there are people behind all of those statistics and they should be what our business is really about.
People are looking for a business they can trust, someone with their best interest in mind. If you can create personalized, or as Pat Flynn says, ‘magical’ moments for people over time, they will become your loyal superfans. These select people, not massive audiences of lukewarm fans, are the key to business success.
Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days by Joey Coleman
Want to know how to turn one-time customers into lifelong fans? According to Joey Coleman, it all depends on the 100 days after they make their initial purchase. Neglecting customers during that time can result in a 70% loss of those new customers you worked so hard to get.
To keep a valuable audience base, he suggests anticipating a new client’s emotional needs and using consistent contact and connection to cement your partnership with them. With a little intentionality, this method can be used in any industry on any budget.
7 Small Business Marketing Books for Growth Hacking
Growth hacking means finding creative, low-cost strategies to help small business owners attract new business and retain customers. If that sounds like what your small business needs, these books offer the practical methods you’ve been searching for.
Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business by Donald Miller
This book is based on the proven principles outlined in Building a StoryBrand but it takes them a step further to develop a full sales funnel you can use to increase traffic and sales. In this book, you’ll get a detailed outline of the five-part sales funnel we use daily to help our clients ramp up their business growth and take off toward success. If you want proof that it works, read a few of our clients’ success stories.
Business Made Simple by Donald Miller
This book is a must-have guide for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the modern business climate (even those who already attended business school and think they should have it all figured out). The problem is, business schools often fail to teach the practical knowledge you need to turn a business idea into a reality.
The book uses short, daily entries to teach the nine key areas business leaders need to master, including: character, leadership, personal productivity, messaging, marketing, business strategy, execution, sales, and management.
How to Grow Your Small Business: A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off by Donald Miller
If you’ve already got your small business off the ground but are struggling through some growing pains, you need this book.
Donald Miller made it through his own small business growing pains using this exact 6-step plan, and increased his revenue sixfold in the process. This clear plan will help entrepreneurs stop drowning in the details of growing a business. The six steps include:
- Casting a vision
- Clarifying your marketing message
- Creating a sales framework
- Optimizing product offerings
- Increasing productivity
- Streamlining finances
The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get Customers, Make More Money, and Stand Out From the Crowd by Allan Dib
Want a reliable marketing plan to grow your business quickly? If so, add this book to your must-read list. This method will work for newbies and seasoned business owners alike. You’ll learn how to get new customers, make more money from existing clients, raise your prices without ticking anyone off, and close sales without being pushy.
Fix This Next: Make the Vital Change That Will Level Up Your Business by Mike Michalowicz
Do you ever feel like you spend so much time putting out fires that there isn’t any time left to focus on your actual business? Mike Michalowicz has developed a system to help entrepreneurs figure out exactly what problem area to focus on first. His hierarchy of business needs allows business owners to better prioritize where to dedicate their time and energy. This system is a powerful business compass that will always lead you in the right direction.
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
Money can make people a little…weird…especially when it comes to negotiating a price. If the very idea of negotiating with a potential client makes you sweat, this book will help you stay cool and collected (no extra deodorant required).
Chris Voss, a former FBI negotiator, shares nine effective principles to help you be more persuasive, on and off the job. This book will equip you to use emotional intelligence and intuition to gain a competitive edge in any negotiation.
You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero
Another inevitable piece of running a small business is handling the finances. Even if you have someone else doing your actual bookkeeping, you are still setting the prices and making sales. Believe it or not, your ideas about money may be what are holding you back.
This book is an approachable guide to achieving financial success. It will help you identify and overcome limiting beliefs that often keep small businesses from reaching their full earning potential. You will gain practical solutions to take control of your financial reality, in both your business and in life.
5 Books to Create Better Content Marketing Materials
You probably didn’t realize that owning a small business requires a lot of writing. From compelling marketing messages to social media marketing, you are relying on words to help you make sales every day. If creating content feels more like torture than a business tool, these books are your new secret weapon.
How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-by-Step System for More Sales, to More Customers, More Often by Ray Edwards
In this book, Edwards reveals the universal hidden structures that exist within all persuasive copy, making compelling writing accessible to pretty much anyone. From powerful tools, like sample headlines and openings, to tips for writing social media posts that get results, this book is packed full of tips to create content marketing materials that will drive sales and grow your business.
Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time by Maria Veloso
Your website is essentially your online storefront. Not only does it need to look good but it also needs to explain what you do exceptionally well. This book shows how to turn a blah website into a money-making machine.
Veloso shares psychological techniques small business owners can use to increase sales. She then outlines how to put those techniques to use and create effective Facebook ads, videos, and high-converting sales emails.
Words That Change Minds: The 14 Patterns for Mastering the Language of Influence by Shelle Rose Charvet
There is a fine line between influence and manipulation. Shelle Rose Charvet teaches readers how to walk that line without crossing over. She explains how to match the language you use to your audience so that your words have the most impact. She then outlines the psychology behind how people process information and make decisions.
Lastly, she ties it all together into practical applications for sales, marketing, and even everyday conversations. This book will help you talk about your products and services in a way that compels potential customers to take action without feeling manipulative or pushy in the process.
Social Media Success for Every Brand: The Five StoryBrand Pillars That Turn Posts into Profits by Claire Diaz-Ortiz
Social media can be an effective business marketing tool. Unfortunately, for many business owners, all your social media efforts bring in is wasted time and money. This book guides small business owners through the five-point SHARE Model. With this formula, you’ll be able to use social media platforms effectively to increase customer engagement, grow brand awareness, and revenue.
The One Hour Content Plan: The Solopreneur’s Guide to a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Ideas in 60 Minutes and Creating Content That Hooks and Sells by Meera Kothand
Have you bought into the idea that email marketing is a valuable, reliable tool but haven’t started using it yet because you have no idea what to write about?
This book is the solution you’ve been searching for. Kothand outlines three core ways to generate content marketing ideas quickly and easily. Plus, you’ll learn how to ensure that everything you write has a purpose, either to help you grow the business, sell products, or build an online presence. Not only will you close the book full of ideas but you’ll also have a clear picture of how to create content that will propel you forward.
How to Create a Radically Successful Businesses Without Reading Books
Let’s be honest, running a small business often feels a lot like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle on a tightrope.
It’s exhilarating. It’s challenging. And sometimes, it feels like you’re just one step away from joining the circus. Thankfully, these books exist to keep you in business and out of the circus.
At the same time, we understand that it is really hard to read a book while you are juggling fire.
If you already have too much on your plate to mess with reading books, hire us instead. We’ve already read all these titles and put the tips and techniques we’ve learned to use every day to help small businesses like yours thrive.
Schedule a call with Guide MKTG today. As your marketing guide, we will save you hours of reading, create a marketing strategy that fits your goals, and content marketing materials that get results.
