Recommended Reading…
Here is a list of books to help you to gain massive business growth. Many of them are sitting on my own bookshelf and are well thumbed, highlighted and have notes scribbled in them. I constantly refer to them to refresh my own thought processes and gain additional golden nuggets.
Others have been recommended to me by proven business experts whose opinion I value and trust.
Some of these books help you to write compelling, results generating sales letters, adverts, web pages, brochures and flyers. Others help you with your marketing, sales and business strategies.
Some of these titles are quite hard to find so wherever possible and to save you time I have found a source on the World Wide Web where you can purchase the book.
Please click the book image or the link under the book or the link under the author name. If, after following the link, you discover the book is no longer available at that source, please let me know using the ‘Got a Question?’ link at the left of this page. My team will do their utmost to source an alternative supplier to replace the link and will send you the information as well so you don’t have to spend your valuable time searching.
Copywriting:
A step-by-step definitive guide to crafting your own compelling, fascinating, responsive sales letters, adverts, web pages, brochures, newsletters and flyers |
I Want to Buy Your Product… Have You Sent Me a Letter Yet? Author: Carol A E Bentley As you’d expect, I’ve included my own book in this recommended reading list. Only because it is specifically designed to get you started in the easiest way possible on the most important, valuable and exciting activity you can spend your time on in your business; Marketing. Exciting because of all the additional sales you bring in as you develop your own results-generating copywriting skills and then use those to create one of your greatest business assets… your sales generating letter or advert.
|
||
| Phrases That Sell
Author: Edward Werz and Sally Germain Use the right phrase or slogan and you've made your sale. Use the wrong one, and you've lost your opportunity . . . maybe forever. Choosing the right phrase or slogan is vital to your success. Whether you sell products, ideas, or services . . . whether you are a novice or an old pro . . . this creative toolbox will give you fresh ideas, new perspectives, and renewed confidence. With Phrases That Sell at your side you'll be able to enthusiastically tackle the most challenging copywriting tasks and eliminate that dreaded "writer's block." I like the way this book is organised – I usually go through and highlight the words that looking interesting for the project I’m working on. All the different highlighter colours has given it a psychedelic appearance! |
|||
| More Words That Sell
Author: Richard Bayon Ask any veteran copywriter and you'll be told that one word can make or break a message. Finding that word under the pressure of a tight deadline, however, can be difficult if not impossible. Let More Words That Sell help you choose the words that will boost the effectiveness and profitability of your message whether you're promoting products, ideas, your business, or yourself. I find this a useful book to dip in whenever I’m looking for inspiration. |
|||
| Tested Advertising Methods
Author: John Caples Here’s the ‘bible’ of proven advertising techniques, now completely revised and updated to reflect today’s competitive marketplace. John Caples was a legend in advertising for more than sixty years and still serves as a guide to generations of creative marketing people. This fifth edition, with a foreword by David Ogilvy, was published in 1997. It is easy to read and understand and contains real insider treasure for all copywriters. |
|||
| The Power Process – an NLP Approach to Writing
Author: Dixie Elise Hickman and Sid Jacobson “Distilling the essence of what makes a writer successful the Power Process applies the NLP model specifically to writing of every kind, showing how to perfect writing techniques and get it right.” This book helps you to understand communication styles, recognise your different audiences (especially in report writing for business) and getting yourself organised for your writing projects. Although it does not give insider knowledge to copywriting for marketing and sales, it is a useful book for anyone new to the discipline of writing. |
|||
| My Life in Advertising & Scientific Advertising
Author: Claude C. Hopkins Claude C. Hopkins is quoted as the ‘founding father’ of modern advertising. This ‘two books in one’ distils a good understanding of the basics of advertising and his autobiography is interesting and offers some salutary lessons. A ‘must-have’ for any copywriter’s library. |
|||
| How To Write a Good Advertisement
Author: Victor O. Schwab You can learn to write compelling advertisements that will make people notice them, read them and act upon them. Although some of the examples are outdated this book provides a good grounding, with practical exercises, into how to write your winning advert. I love the doggerel Victor wrote in 1942 which is on pages 63-64 in the book. ‘Tell Me Quick and Tell Me True’… it encapsulates the whole ethos of how our copy should be written for the benefit of the buying prospects, not ourselves or our clients. |
|||
| The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Edited by: Elizabeth Knowles This is a major new edition of Oxford's largest and most comprehensive dictionary of quotations, bringing you the wisdom of the ages and the sound bites of today in 20,000+ quotations. The text is a browser's paradise, covering people and events from Cleopatra to J. K. Rowling, and the battle of Marathon to the Hutton Inquiry. The keyword index will help you to trace that half-remembered quote, and identifies the quotations that give us key phrases such as 'state of the Union' and 'dodgy dossier'. Special sections bring together categories such as Advertising Slogans, Catchphrases, Misquotations and Film lines. Traditional areas have been enriched and the best of the new added, and the Introduction tells the story of the nation's favourite quotations dictionary over 60 years. |
|||
A Wealth of Examples of Successful Direct Response Mailing Campaigns |
Million Dollar Mailings
Author: Denison Hatch An exclusive insider's look at the art and science of direct mail creative technique -- copy approaches, design, formats, offers -- unlike anything ever before assembled. In addition to the successful mailings shown and described in this updated edition, new topics include killer fundraising letters, the illustrated history of the magalog, and using direct mail to make money on the internet. This insider's look at the art and science of direct mail also contains an overview (complete with illustrations) of new trends in direct mail. |
||
A Bible for the Copywriter with great examples of different letters & lots of tips |
The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters
Author: Richard S. Hodgson One of the best ways to ensure that your direct mail solicitations are top notch is to learn the tried-and-true methods that have worked for the greatest direct mail writers in the business. In this revised edition you have access to 100 of the best direct mail sales letters ever written. I loved the series of letters from S. Rose Inc; the “s. mouse” letters created by Robert Silverman on pages 411-418. |
Marketing & Business Strategies:
| Don’t Work for Your Business Make Your Business Work for You
Author: Brian James A must read for ambitious entrepreneurs, business owners and other business development professionals who want to get ahead in business. It's the culmination of over 25 years work in industry and commerce, packed with techniques, ideas and principles to help you maximise business growth whilst minimising risk. Brian James is a seasoned management consultant who has developed, tried and tested all the principles outlined in this book. They have been used to create multiple millions of profitable turnover for business owners and executives just like you. |
|
| Why We Buy - The Science of Shopping
Author: Paco Underhill In an effort to determine why people buy, Paco Underhill and his detailed- orientated band of retail researchers have camped out in stores for over 20 years, dedicating their efforts to the "science of shopping." Armed with an array of video equipment, store maps, and customer profile sheets, Underhill and his consulting firm Envirosell have observed over 900 aspects of shopper/store interaction. They've discovered that men who take jeans into the fitting room are more likely to buy then females (65 percent to 25 percent). They've learned how the "butt-brush factor" (bumped from behind, shoppers become irritated and move elsewhere) makes women avoid narrow aisles. They've quantified the importance of shopping baskets, employees/shopper contact, the "transition zone" (the area just inside the store's entrance), and "circulation patterns" (how shoppers move throughout a store). And they've explored the relationship between a customer's amenability and profitability, learning how good stores capitalise on a shopper's unspoken inclinations and desires. |
|
| Positioning
Author: Al Ries This text deals with the problems of communicating in an over-communicated society. It shows how to "position" a company within the mind of the prospective buyer/customer and how to stay there. This book reveals case histories and anecdotes of successes and failures in the world of advertising. The first book to deal with the problems of communicating to a sceptical, media-blitzed public, Positioning describes a revolutionary approach to creating a "position" in a prospective customer's mind-one that reflects a company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Writing in their trademark witty, fast-paced style, advertising gurus Ries and Trout explain how to: |
|
Revealed: The 21 Steps To Irrefutable Success and Great Personal Wealth in Business - FREE! |
“The Game Of Business and How to Play It”
Author: Paul F Gorman You CAN dramatically grow your business!! Paul is my marketing mentor and I urge you to take advantage of the extremely generous offer he is making here. You can claim a free copy of this book – just pay for P&P. Click the link to find out more about the valuable contents. |
| Get Clients NOW!
Author: C.J. Hayden This text presents a 28-day programme that breaks down the marketing and sales process into a series of steps so simple that even the most marketing wary professionals can begin to get clients. It helps readers create customized marketing plans that meet their specific needs. This book is specifically aimed at businesses providing a service. |
|
| No B.S. Sales Success
Author: Dan Kennedy This book is about getting rich by becoming far better at the selling process that your competitors. What it is NOT is the kind of warmed-over, cliché-ridden advice you find replicated in a jillion other books on selling. Dan Kennedy would never have it that way. He offers a set of No B.S. strategies for overcoming obstacles to success, many of them self-imposed. Provocative, sarcastic, and irreverent, the book reads like the seminars Kennedy conducts around the world - events that cause a stampede to the back of the hall for his materials after he finishes his presentation. Learn: |
|
A Perfect Accompaniment to ‘Meet, Greet & Prosper’ |
Rapid Results Referrals
Author: Roy Sheppard If you would like to know how to turn what people are already saying about you behind your back to your advantage – this book will help you generate more business, faster and at low cost – especially in a slowed down global economy. Full of practical ideas in bullet point format for you to read quickly and apply to your unique business circumstances. Not knowing when, how or who to ask for recommendations and referrals will almost certainly cost any organisation a proportion of their sales opportunities. Thus it could be said that leaving referrals to chance is a crime against your business. With over 125 referral-generating ideas packed into the first two chapters alone, “Rapid Result Referrals” puts ideas and approaches at the command of sales staff or customers which can be immediately tried and tested. |
A Perfect Accompaniment to ‘Rapid Results Referrals’ |
Meet, Greet & Prosper Author: Roy Sheppard What mistakes do you unwittingly make when meeting and greeting potentially valuable clients? “Meet, Greet & Prosper” teaches effective and ethical approaches to growing business through networking and developing people skills and knowledge. Based upon Sheppard’s hugely successful keynote speeches and seminars, this 64-page book is designed to increase sales, create an in-house culture which embraces collaboration and cross-functional thinking, and develop sustainable, more profitable relationships throughout the supply chain. It provides a firm structure to the “art” of networking and offers practical tips on creating conversation opportunities and how to listen effectively. |
| No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs
Author: Dan Kennedy Don't Count Time, Make Time Count! |
