Its amazing how much education there is out there. You have to learn how to filter out what is going to help and what is going to complicate your perception. For me, there are basically three types of books.
- Motivation – books to help you sharpen your sword for battle and books that help keep the wood burning in your fire.
- Sales – books to help your sales skill. You can’t get great deals unless you can sell.
- Tactical – books that teach you different knowledge and techniques to do something.
I just finished reading a book called “Discover your Genius” (1) which discussed the theories of the 10 greatest minds that ever lived.
Here is a list of reading that I have found to be the most helpful in my life based on the category:
1. Motivation
a. Your Right to Be Rich – Napoleon Hill
b. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill (see an electronic version attached for you)
c. Success Through PMA – Napoleon Hill
2. Sales
a. The Sales Bible – Jeffery Gitomer
b. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
c. The Greatest Salesman in the World – Og Mandino
3. Tactical
a. The Richest Man in Babylon
b. Missed Fortune – Doug Andrews
c. The 80/20 Individual – Richard Koch
d. Negotiate This – Herb Cohen
Now, the list could keep going for pages, but these are the books that I think have been the most influential in my life. I’d start with 1a then move to 2a then move to 3a then move to 1b then move to 2b and so forth and so on. Don’t think you can escape the crutches of the sales books. In business, small or large, everything comes down to sales. Businesses fail or succeed based on their marketing (sales). I would love to discuss this further with you because it does it no justice to write it. Simply said, when all else is equal, business IS marketing (sales). It doesn’t matter if you’re in real estate or widgets.
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