6 Killer Business Books To Close Out 2023 Strong
Description: Discover curated top business books from the inundated market. Brian Miller handpicks transformative reads for professionals and entrepreneurs, blending classics with recent gems. Dive into insightful reviews and make the most of your reading time with these standout publications.
Business books once held an aura of rarity.
In the days when only a few were published monthly, one could revel in the luxury of reading them all. Nowadays, the market overflows with options.
While it's impossible to comb through every new release, I enjoy unearthing the gems that genuinely resonate and offer transformative insights.
Over the past year or two, a few have stood out. Let me share a select few that have not only expanded my thinking but might redefine yours too.
$100M Offers: How to Make an Offer So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No by Alex Hormozi
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Alex Hormozi went from broke and in-debt to being worth over $100,000,000 by age 32. But what really sets him apart is his ability to distill his lessons into simple, straightforward, easy-to-implement practical business advice.
This is one of the best books written in the history of business, an instant classic and a "don't miss."
Favorite quote: "If your offer doesn't work, it doesn't mean you suck. It means your offer sucks. Big difference. You only suck if you stop trying. So, try again."
$100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No
$100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff by Alex Hormozi
If Alex's first book was about figuring out what to sell, his follow-up is about who to sell it to. Just as practical, there's never been a guide this clear about how to find engaged leads. If you're in business, you need both of these books.
You'll learn about the Core Four, which are the only four ways to get leads, how to work each of them, and how they scale as your business grows. If you're in business you need leads, which means you need this book.
Favorite quote: "We need to be reminded more than we need to be taught. You're a silly goose if you think 100 percent of your audiences listens 100 percent of the time."
$100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff by Alex Hormozi
Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect by Will Guidara
The name partner of a highly respected local law firm recommended this book to me. He wanted me to help them build the principle of "unreasonable hospitality" into the culture of their firm. Will Guidara led the NYC restaurant 11 Madison Avenue from dysfunctional 3-star establishment to one of the best restaurants in the world in just a few years.
If you have a team, even a small one, and desire a 1% culture that consistently over-delights its customers and its employees, this book is for you. It is full of wonderful stories and practical action-steps.
Favorite quote: "It isn't the lavishness of the gift that counts, but its pricelessness."
Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect by Will Guidara
The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams by Seth Godin
Seth Godin, the father of modern marketing and one of the all-around best thinkers in the world of business for 3 decades is back with his 21st bestseller in a row. This time, it's about building great teams.
If you're a Seth junkie, you'll love this book. If you're new to his work, you may struggle with his blog-style chapters and quotable sentence structure. It's the kind of book you randomly open to any page, read for 3 minutes, get inspired, put down and get back to work.
Like Unreasonable Hospitality, this is a book for folks who have teams, even small ones, and want to build a culture that people actually love working in.
Favorite quote: "No grades, no check marks, no badges. I'm not in charge of you, and I'm not manipulating you. I'm simply establishing the conditions for you to get to where you said you wanted to go."
The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams by Seth Godin
Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life by Donald Miller.
Don Miller is the genius behind Storybrand, the (only) famous messaging framework for marketers and business owners. This book is a departure from his typical business books, in that it veers more towards self-help by giving you a concrete series of exercises to create a meaningful life for yourself. You'll create your 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year vision, complete with goal worksheets and a daily planner that actually works.
It's not the first of its kind, for sure, and Don is explicitly influenced by the work of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl and his logotherapy - or therapy of meaning. Where Don's book separates itself is how he frames it around the four characters we find in every story: villain, victim, hero, and guide.
This book will give you a new way to see yourself, your future, and how you react or respond on a daily basis.
Favorite quote: "Meaning is not an idea to be agreed with. It is a feeling you get when you live as a hero on a mission. And it cannot be experienced without taking action and living into a story."
Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life by Donald Miller.
You can also take the Hero on a Mission course as part of Business Made Simple. I'm a BMS Certified Coach and can personally vouch for the value you'll get from the curriculum.
The Content Fuel Framework by Melanie Deziel
As a business owner in 2023 you are probably creating content. If you are, you're thinking about how to do more of it and make it even better. Business owners create content for lead generation (1-to-many to a warm audience, see $100M Leads above), thought leadership, and brand awareness. But for many of us, the constant pressure to produce content is overwhelming.
Melanie's book relieves that overwhelm by delivering a practical step-by-step guide for figuring out what to post and in what format.
This isn't theory or philosophy, it's just how to get it done so you can get back to work. Buy this as a resource and keep it on your desk.
Favorite quote: "Any blogger would be wise to curate a year-end list of their top or favorite content pieces of the previous 12 months, allowing them to resurface their top content for added attention..."
The Content Fuel Framework by Melanie Deziel
So many books, so little time
In today's fast-paced business world, a multitude of books are available, but pinpointing the impactful ones is a challenge. I've curated a list of reads that not only provide valuable insights but also challenge and inspire meaningful action.
From the art of crafting compelling offers to understanding the transformative power of hospitality and redefining personal life journeys, these books present fresh perspectives to tackle both business and life's challenges.
In an era of information saturation, prioritizing quality reading is vital. These selected books stand out for their depth of knowledge and their capacity to provoke thought.
Whether you're an entrepreneur or simply someone keen on business insights, these recommendations will guide you towards success. Dive in, refine your perspectives, and let these insights shape your entrepreneurial journey.
