Recommended Resources

The following are some resources that I have found to be very helpful in my business and that I share with you.

 

“Marketing Made Simple” by Donald Miller

 

This book is invaluable, especially for those of us (I’m including myself in this group) who have long considered marketing to be a huge mystery. Now I use this book on a regular basis to improve my own marketing efforts. The step-by-step guide that Donald Miller and co-author Dr. J. J. Peterson explain are useful for any business, large or small. The authors base this book on an earlier book, Building a StoryBrand, also mentioned below. This guide is a marketing checklist and and a strategic and actionable guide to creating marketing that works. During an inspection and audit of a client’s website, one aspect that I am looking for looking for is how clearly the client’s messaging is presented. I highly recommend this book for any business owner or entrepreneur looking for detailed information about how to apply the principles of the StoryBrand messaging framework.

 

“Building A StoryBrand” by Donald Miller

 

The subtitle of this book is “clarify your message so customers will listen”. This book lays out the framework of the StoryBrand approach to marketing where Donald Miller explains how to use the seven elements of great storytelling to grow your business. The book jacket says that Donald Miller has helped more than 3,000 businesses clarify their marketing messages so their companies grow. To me, that makes him very well experienced to provide expert guidance in marketing. As mentioned above in the previous book recommendation, while performing an inspection of a website, I am evaluating whether the client’s messaging is clear or confusing. As Donald Miller says in his podcast and his books, “if you confuse, you will lose”. This book is essential in getting up-to-speed in the StoryBrand marketing approach and it lays the foundation for Marketing Made Simple.

 

Other Recommended Books

 

  • Essentialism by Greg McKeown

  • The ONE Thing by Gary Keller

  • The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

  • David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

  • Will It Fly? by Pat Flynn