I Read 210 Books to Learn How to Grow My Business…Only These 4 Actually Helped
210 and books. I counted.
I started my speaking business in 2017 and launched my first live seminar soon after.
My first two events sold zero tickets.
My third event sold six.
As a former Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, entrepreneurship was not showing my ego any mercy. It hurt.
I literally thought that my status as an NBA coach would be enough to fill up my seminars for years and as I cancelled seminar after seminar because nobody was signing up, I finally had a “Come to Jesus” moment.
Maybe this business thing is harder than I thought.
So, over the next five years, I read 210 books.
I signed up for a ridiculous amount of seminars and hired tens of thousands of dollars worth of coaching.
As I type this blog post today, I have a complete business. I’m no Elon Musk, but I know how to acquire leads and convert them into customers. I know how to fill up seminars and I know infinitely more than I did 5 years ago.
This got me thinking…
“If I were to start all over again today, what books would I need to read? What coaches would I need to hire? What courses must I attend?”
I wish I could tell you that each of these 210 books revealed precious secrets to growing a business, but yesterday, as I went through each one of them, I settled on only FOUR books that I thought I needed to read.
If I were to start my business all-over again, I would buy these four books and read them over and over and over again.
No seminars.
No coaches.
Just these four books.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
When you first pick up this book, you will likely be captivated, as we all were, by the promise of “the secret” that lies within these pages.
The author, Napoleon Hill, goes on to say that the secret will only be revealed to you when and if you are ready to receive it.
This is mysterious and provides a magnetism to the rest of the book but after your first read, you are unlikely to have struck gold.
This book provides the thirteen principles of success and riches, and at this stage of my life, I do believe this list to be accurate and complete. But as your business unfolds, you are unlikely to TRULY be “all-in” and much of what Napoleon Hill will advise you to do, well, you just won’t do it.
I was the same way. It seemed generic, or silly and I said, “I’m all set with Auto-Suggestion (Principle #3).”
No need to worry, business will prepare you to accept each of these principles. Unfortunately, it does this by kicking you repeatedly in the teeth. You will be met with failure and struggle, or as Hill calls it “temporary defeat.”
At each “temporary defeat” you have the option of quitting altogether or strengthening your resolve to try harder. If you opt for the latter, you will now be more ready to accept Hill’s principles.
My advice to you and how I would operate as a new business owner is to buy this book, and whenever the going gets tough, pick it up and read it again.
Each time, something new will pop out to you and eventually, so will “the secret.”
Dotcom Secrets by Russell Brunson
Of the 210 books I’ve read, most of them have been fluff. Each time I would pick up a new book, I would be hoping to get a clear strategy that I could use to execute.
Russell Brunson delivers this times 1,000 in each of his books (which is why 3 of my 4 books are by Russell).
Simply put, Russell shows you how to structure a business. When I first started, I had a seminar. That’s it.
I had no system.
I had no strategy.
I just hoped people would buy it.
I once heard Russell say, “If I were starting over again, I would create a product for $1,000 and I would just keep trying to sell it until I made $1 million.”
This book will show you EXACTLY how to do that. And this isn’t just blog-speak, he actually draws it out in stick-figures and flow-charts.
Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
Something that I’ve appreciated so much about Russell Brunson is that he is complete in his education. Expert Secrets dives into the personality of your business.
He brilliantly illustrates how audiences and future customers are compelled by stories and attractive characters (no, not physically attractive, but people that are magnetic in their personality).
He teaches you his “Perfect Webinar Script” to show you how to break down sales objections and close deals from stage OR from your website.
Expert Secrets showed me that the best companies connect with their audience through great storytelling and unique positioning in the marketplace. These two skills, have made my business far more magnetic and have all but wiped out my need to do the brutal task of cold prospecting.
Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson
99% of businesses fail because they cannot seem to get traffic to their business. It’s my belief that this is because it requires more of the entrepreneur. Specifically, it requires you to put your ego on the line and really put yourself out there.
What I love about Traffic Secrets is that it gives it to you straight.
I often whisper to myself, almost like it’s an affirmation, the standout “bottom-line” of traffic…
“Earn Your Way In or Buy Your Way In”
This quote encompasses Russell’s traffic strategy. Earn your way in through strategic networking, or what Russell calls “The Dream 100” or buy your way in through advertising.
Like all three of Russell’s books, this book is choc full of frameworks, doodles and easy to understand strategies that you can implement into your business immediately…like literally right now.
OK, this list might not be that sexy to you but here’s why I think it’s extra valuable to have three books by Russell Brunson on the list.
First, they are complete. There are no stones left unturned in these books. Everything you need is there. As you build your business over time, I would read all four of these books over and over and over again.
I recently began re-reading Russell’s books and have been surprised that the stuff I spent thousands to learn from a coach had been in these books all along. I just didn’t apply it the first time (which is normal; you probably won’t apply it the first time either).
I downloaded all four of these books on Audible so that I could listen to them many more times so that I could keep soaking in all the knowledge.
I also think it’s important to stay focused on just one strategy. Russell’s strategy is amazing but it’s not the only one out there. If you pick up Grant Cardone’s strategy than Gary Vaynerchuck’s strategy, your head will be spinning with bits and pieces from all of them.
Pick one mentor and one strategy and build it thoroughly.
If I were starting my business all over again, I would buy only these four books and I wouldn’t hire any coaches or attend any seminars. I would just read them over and over and over again and apply everything I read into my business.
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