As a business owner, one of the most important things you can do to boost your business and improve your professional skills and knowledge is to take the time to keep up with the latest business literature.
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel like the challenges you face every day are unique to your situation. However, it is very likely that other professionals have faced, and overcome, many of the same challenges. There are so many great publications geared toward helping entrepreneurs just like you learn to deal with the day-to-day personal and professional challenges they face. Time you spend keeping yourself current with business literature is definitely time well spent. It is an investment in your business and in yourself.
Whatever your challenges are, you are likely to find great business publications, authored by successful professionals and consultants, that can provide valuable insight into dealing with whatever business challenges you are facing at any given time.
Suggested Topics Include:
The following list represents just a few of the many types of business literature that can help you hone your professional skills.
Business Networking: Books such as Million Dollar Networking and Nonstop Networking by Andrea Nierenberg provide great ideas for improving your business by learning to expand your network of business contacts.
Conflict Management: When you own or manage a business, dealing with conflict is an inevitable part of your job. Books such as the national bestseller Crucial Confrontations, written by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, provide sound guidance for learning how to deal effectively with conflict.
Entrepreneurship: Dive Right In, the Sharks Won’t Bite by Jane Wesman is a great resource for those who are in the process of starting a new business, as well as for those who want to continue to improve their existing businesses.
Hiring Employees: Every time business owners are faced with adding a new employee, they wish they knew more about how to make the best choices from among the pool of applicants. Hire With Your Head by Lou Adler provides invaluable information about how to build great teams by using performance based hiring strategies.
Public Speaking: Does the thought of speaking in front of a group of people make you nervous or even terrify you? As a business owner, cultivating powerful presentation skills can be an excellent way to promote your business in your community and via the media. Publications like The Confident Speaker by Harrison Monarth and Larina Kase can help you learn how to overcome your public speaking fears.
Tip for Fitting Business Reading Into Your Busy Schedule
Entrepreneurs are notorious for taking care of everything and everyone except themselves. Most entrepreneurs will benefit greatly from making the time to focus on their own physical and mental well being, and most are also adept at multi-tasking. Since you’re probably already very good at juggling multiple tasks, why not put some of that ability to work for yourself? It’s fairly simple to combine the exercise your body needs with acquiring knowledge that can help you lead your business in an even more successful direction.
Get a treadmill or elliptical trainer, and set aside thirty minutes each day for yourself. While you are exercising, listen to the latest business books on your MP3 player, or read if you are coordinated enough to handle a book and the exercise equipment at the same time. Your health and your stress levels are likely to improve dramatically, and you will be maximizing the use of your time!
Mary Gormandy White is co-founder of Mobile Technical Institute and MTI Business Solutions (http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com), where she teaches seminars, classes, and makes conference presentations on public relations, marketing and a number of additional management, customer service, and communication topics. Visit www.dailybizsolutions.com for small business marketing, PR, and operations advice, as well as an ongoing series of business book reviews.