Books on Improving your Business Performance   Performance - Keeping The Marketing Machine Working   Running a Consulting or Independent Practice Soloing - Harriet Rubin - Not just a book about marketing but about being on your own - a s a professional service business. Lots of books have been written about this but Rubin's book has a first-person immediacy and passion missing from most "go out on your own" guides. Has some good sections on marketing and the writing is crisp and bright. A fun read. How to Become a Successful Consultant in Your Own Field. - This book has been around for a long time and with good reason - it's an excellent guide for both the consultant or would-be consultant on everything from setting up a practice to marketing to doing proposals and reports. One of my favorite sections is about the psychological aspects of consulting. There is a lot packed into a simple-easy-to-read book. Highly recommended. Pay close attention tot he section on marketing. He talks about what really works. Customer Service Raving Fans - Ken Blanchard - Once again, in his very simple storytelling style, Blanchard gives us a picture of companies were like if they really took care of their customers. Eye-opening and inspiring, Raving Fans gives us a whole new level to aspire to in customer service. What's good about this and all Blanchard books is that he gives many many examples that drive home the point. Your left with both solid principles and techniques to implement them. This will show you why going beyond good service may be your most powerful marketing tool. Clients for Life - Jagdish Sheth and Andrew Sobel - PB - $11.20 - It's one thing getting clients - but quite another to keep them and build successful long-term relationships. More than 15 million people in this country earn their livings by serving clients, and their numbers are growing every day. Unfortunately, far too few develop the skills and strategies needed to rise to the top in a world where clients have almost unlimited access to information and expertise. Supported by more than one hundred case studies and wisdom gleaned from interviews with dozens of leading CEOs and prominent business advisors, Clients for Life identifies what clients really want and lays out the core qualities that distinguish the client advisor -- an irreplaceable resource -- from the expert for hire -- a tradable commodity. The Pursuit of WOW - Tom Peters - My favorite Tom Peters book. It's fun, interactive and visual and has a zillion great ideas on how to wow your customers and keep them coming back for more. Highly recommended and guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing.   Entrepreneurship Growing a Business - Paul Hawken - This near classic business book relates Hawkins' story of building the legendary "Smith and Hawken" garden supply stores. Peppered with great anecdotes and timeless principles, this is an excellent book to read in any stage of your business life. Pour Your Heart Into It - Howard Schultz - A wonderful book about growing a business successfully. Covers a wide range of business ideas from marketing and management to customer service and cultivating a passion for business. Reads like a novel and is full of the excitement of entrepreneurship on every page. I gave this book to all my best clients for Christmas I liked it so much. Management Managing the Professional Service Firm - David H. Maister - For those interested in managing and organizing a professional service firm, this book provides all the tools for success. Maister has delivered a book that captures the essence of managing a business based on the expertise of its people. It should be a must read for any person engaged in selling services. This is one book that will withstand time. The E Myth - Michael Gerber - This book is about "working on your business - not in it." It will help you think about creating systems that make your business run itself instead of always being run by your business. Quite unlike any other business book and well worthwhile. You might have to scour secondhand stores for this, but his sequel, The E Myth Revisited is excellent and available here online. Also new is The E-Myth Manager. Visionary Business - Marc Allen - If you like your business books simple but profound, you couldn't fine a better one. Told in the form of a story of a struggling business owner and his wise mentor, the narrative covers the essential principles of business success from goal setting and planning to core beliefs and higher purpose. Influenced by New Age thought, this is a fun, inspiring and practical book. Orbiting the Giant Hairball - Gordon MacKenzie - This wonderful little book is a gem of creative genius. It's about surviving corporate life by going against the grain and being willing to be outrageous. It's a good book for consultants because it will give you some keen insights into what a corporation is (a giant hairball) and how to create disruption patterns that work to facilitate change. If you want to get unstuck, reading a few chapters should do it. Motivation / Success Play to Win ! - Larry Wilson, Hersch Wilson - This book distills the fundamentals of success and fulfillment into an easy to understand and follow philosophy. There's more than rah-rah here. Wilson has a genuinely spiritual orientation to life while at the same time is firmly grounded in reality. One of the world's visionary business leaders, he has a message we can all benefit from. As an extra bonus, it's a beautifully designed book. How to Be a Star at Work - Robert Kelley - What does it really take to be successful? This may be the only book based on solid scientific research that will tell you how. Hard to put down, it relates the key factors in keeping ahead of the pack, whether you're self employed or working for a boos this will give you much to ponder. Have a marketing or selling book that you'd like to recommend? Please let us know, and if we like it, we'll list it here. Just send me an email with your recommendation and books in the subject line.