11 Essential Books for Creative Entrepreneurs:

1/ The Win Without Pitching Manifesto - Blair Enns

Topic: Sales

If you are a creative or design business and you want a sales bible to form the backbone of how you engage your clients this is it.

A no-BS future classic.

2/ Key Person of Influence - Daniel Priestley

Topic: Entrepreneurship/Leadership

This book follows a five-step method with exercises at each stage to turn you into a highly regarded high-value person in your industry.

3/ The Boron Letters - Gary C Halpert

Topic: Copywriting/Life

A series of letters written whilst in jail from Gary to his son about marketing, copy and life lessons.

It's such a cool way to learn about effective copy.

4/ Mastery - Robert Greene

Topic: Life

I'm only 2/3rds through this and I love it enough to recommend it

Just like 48 laws, this focuses on the path to mastery of your chosen craft using stories & lessons from history.

Essential reading

5/ Storyworthy - Matthew Dicks

Topic - Storytelling

It is bursting with tips and tricks to write better more engaging stories that will help you create a deeper connection with your audience.

6/ The Decision Book - Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tshappeler

Topic: Decisions

If you are like me and struggle with business decisions this is a fantastic way to utilise systems to make this more manageable.

Each page is dedicated to a system to implement and there are 50!!

7/ Company of One - Paul Jarvis

Topic - Solopreneurship

Written more like a story wrapped around some key lessons as to why staying small can be better than scaling.

Is staying small the next big thing in business?

8/ Tribe of Mentors - Tim Ferris

Topic - Business

Jam-packed with interviews, quotes, and resources from Tim's huge body of work speaks to some of the most influential business minds of our time.

9/ The Adweek Copywriting Handbook - Joseph Sugarman

Topic - Marketing Copy

Everyone I've ever asked about writing online has pointed me towards this book and rightly so.

Sugarman is a legend and this is his step-by-step process.

10/ The Copywriter's Handbook - Robert Bly

Topic - Digital Marketing copy

Good copy is good copy but there are some nuances for the digital age.

A third of this book is specifically dedicated to websites, landing pages, etc.

It even has a section on Twitter!

11/ What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School - Mark McCormack

Topic - Business/Life

A classic that is more about influencing people than it is about running a business.

Awesome no bullshit lessons on sales and negotiation that are timeless.