Where some of my thinking and web design philosophy and frameworks come from.
While a lot of my thinking has come from listening and taking notes to YouTube videos on the topics of web design, SEO, and digital/social media marketing thses books sit on a nearby bookshelf or in the Kindle/Audible app on my iOS devices.
They Ask, You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer, Revised & Updated
by Marcus Sheridan
At the core of They Ask, You Answer is a simple idea: educated prospects become happier, better customers.
If your prospects are asking questions, you must answer them — openly and honestly — on your website.
The book/audiobook teaches the reader:
- How to build trust with buyers through content and video.
- How to turn your web presence into a magnet for qualified buyers.
- What works and what doesn’t through new case studies, featuring real-world results from companies that have embraced these principles.
- Why you need to think of your business as a media company, instead of relying on more traditional (and ineffective) ways of advertising and marketing.
- How to achieve buy-in at your company and truly embrace a culture of content and video.
- How to transform your current customer base into loyal brand advocates for your company.
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
by Donald Miller
Building a StoryBrand advocates for a storytelling framework in business messaging. It encourages businesses to position themselves as the guide, customers as the heroes, and provides a seven-step process to clarify their messaging for better engagement and success.
Donald Miller’s StoryBrand framework is a storytelling and marketing strategy that helps businesses clarify their messaging and engage with their customers effectively. The framework consists of seven key points that guide businesses in creating a clear and compelling brand narrative. Your story has seven points and they are:
- A Character (your customer)
- Has a Problem (they need to solve)
- And Meets a Guide (your business)
- Who Gives Them a Plan (your solutions)
- And Calls Them to Action (to start the buying process)
- That Ends in Success
- And Helps Them Avoid Failure (what would happen if they don’t buy)
All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low Trust World
By Seth Godin
The Stories That Make Up Your Brand
I still rememeber the impact when I first discovered and read Seth Godin’s classic “All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low Trust World” and the voice in my head that said “This guy gets it!“
People relate to stories. Stories connect people to your brand.
“All marketers tell stories. And if they do it right, we believe them. We believe that wine tastes better in a $20 glass than a $1 glass. We believe that an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne is vastly superior to a $36,000 VW Touareg, even if it is virtually the same car. We believe that $225 Pumas will make our feet feel better–and look cooler–than $20 no names. . . and believing it makes it true.”
Seth Godin has also said:
“Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Marketing helps others become who they seek to become”
Seth makes a point that there is a difference between bad marketing, the kind of marketing that interrupts potential customers and pressures them into buying a service or product they may not need or want and good brand marketing messages. Good marketing is where a brand helps customers amd is a positive force in society.
“The other kind of marketing, the effective kind, is about understanding our customer’s world view and desires so we can connect with them”
Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers
by Russell Brunson
Master the evergreen traffic strategies to fill your website and funnels with your dream customers in this timeless book from the $100M entrepreneur and co-founder of the software company ClickFunnels.
Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Retargeting Recipes: 7 Spicy Strategies That Will Heat Up Your Conversions & Make Your Campaigns
by Justin Brooke
After spending millions in ads online, I’ve pulled together my best retargeting campaigns (also known as remarketing ads if you’d advertising on Google). In this 80 page “cookbook” you can follow my designed-for-profit retargeting recipes and have a complete strategy for your retargeting ad campaigns.
While 2023 you can say Martin’s book is somewhat “dated”, his book was written in 2016 so it’s 7 years old or 49 dog (internet) years old it is still a geaat book.
Contractor Marketing Simplified: How To Build Your Online Presence And Get Found By The Right Customers
by Martin Holsinger
If you are a remodeler or home building contractor wanting to get found online and make more sales, you must begin with a solid online presence. Amazon best-selling author Martin Holsinger shows exactly how to apply the principles of online marketing to your business with today’s online technology. In an easy-to-read, down to earth style, you will learn exactly how to:-Build your online presence,-Get found by your ideal customer,-And get maximum return on your investment.If you are a contractor wanting to grow your business using the internet, then this is the book for you.
Nolen Walker has produced a series of books tailored specifically towards the roofin , plumbing and HVAC trades and while not everything he writes about these trade cohorts is applicable to every small business category his books are always a valuable read…
A Complete SEO Guide for the HVAC Small Business Owner
by Nolen Walker
In today’s HVAC industry, competition is steep. Discover HVAC SEO and marketing techniques to help get more HVAC leads and expand your customer base through your HVAC website. Get advice from the HVAC digital marketing experts about online best practices, helpful SEO tools and platforms, and strategies that get your company seen. Learn how keyword usage, metadata utilization, and user experience contribute to your HVAC SEO and website success and find out how to get your HVAC site to rank in more Google Searches and Google Map Searches with better SEO.