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It’s summer, at least for a little while longer. And while the heat is record high and the inventory is record low, now’s a great time to catch up on your summer reading list. Whether you’re hopping a plane to your next conference, sitting by the pool or just looking to up your game, we’ve polled our readers and asked for recommendations from our resident bookworm contributor Brandon Doyle, who has written our annual book list for the past several years.
Below is a list of reads worthy of adding to your summer reading list, whether you hold the pages in your hand or listen to an audible version. We pulled descriptions and blurbs from both Amazon and Inman’s contributors.
Pro tip: Many libraries have an audio streaming platform, and all it costs is a virtual swipe of your library card.
Amazon
1. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
By Timothy Ferriss
“Don’t go thinking real estate is a four-hour-a-week job; it’s anything but that. However, the concepts in this book will help you understand what your most important activities are each day and how you can use systems to operate more efficiently.” — Brandon Doyle
Amazon
2. The Conversion Code, 2nd Edition: Stop Chasing Leads and Start Attracting Clients
By Chris Smith
“In The Conversion Code: Stop Chasing Leads and Start Attracting Clients, Second Edition, digital marketing and lead conversion expert Chris Smith delivers the ultimate exploration of the marketing and advertising tactics that are successfully generating higher-quality leads that are easier for salespeople to convert. Smith researches and tests the latest and most popular platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, while also studying the most effective sales techniques, tools, and scripts.” — Amazon
Amazon
3. Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email and Cold Calling
By Jeb Blount
“Fanatical Prospecting gives salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development—prospecting. Step by step, Jeb Blount outlines his innovative approach to prospecting that works for real people, in the real world, with real prospects.” — Amazon
Amazon
4. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
By Chris Voss
“A former international hostage negotiator for the FBI offers a new field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations – whether in the boardroom or at home. After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator.
“Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’ head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: in saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles – counterintuitive tactics and strategies – you, too, can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal lives.” — Amazon
5. Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results
Amazon
By Larry Kendall
“Real estate is a relationship business; the Ninja Selling system focuses on developing those relationships and asking the right questions to find solutions for your clients.” — Brandon Doyle
Amazon
6. Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
By Mike Michalowicz
“Conventional accounting uses the logical (albeit, flawed) formula: Sales – Expenses = Profit. The problem is, businesses are run by humans, and humans aren’t always logical. Serial entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz has developed a behavioral approach to accounting to flip the formula: Sales – Profit = Expenses. Just as the most effective weight loss strategy is to limit portions by using smaller plates, Michalowicz shows that by taking profit first and apportioning only what remains for expenses, entrepreneurs will transform their businesses from cash-eating monsters to profitable cash cows.” — Amazon
Amazon
7. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent
By Gary Keller, Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan
“This is perhaps the benchmark that all other real estate books are measured against; after 13 years the principals still hold true though some of the numbers may need to be tweaked for current conditions. While you’re at it, pick up The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results and Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times.” — Brandon Doyle
Amazon
8. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
By Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
“This is an audiobook for busy people. If you want less on your plate and more for your life and career, tune in to the #1 Wall Street Journal best seller, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. The ONE Thing will bring your life and your work into focus. Authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan teach you the tricks to cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time, dial down stress, and master what matters to you.” — Amazon
Amazon
9. The Richest Man in Babylon
By George S. Clason
“This inspiring book, began in 1926 as a series of informational pamphlets distributed by banks and insurance companies. By 1927, several of these pamphlets had been compiled into a book and this collection has been in print ever since. It has helped millions of people, and has been hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth.”
“A modern day classic, The Richest Man in Babylon dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. These famous “Babylonian parables” offer an understanding of – and solution to – a lifetime’s worth of personal financial problems, and holds the secrets to acquiring money, keeping money, and earning more money.” — Amazon
10.
By Simon Sinek
“In 2009, Simon Sinek started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn inspire their colleagues and customers. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, including more than 28 million who’ve watched his TED Talk based on Start With Why— the third most popular TED video of all time.” — Amazon
Amazon
11. Think and Grow Rich
By Napoleon Hill
“Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of the most popular self-help books of all time. Hill spent 20 years interviewing more than 500 millionaires and identifying the traits that he found common in this group of high achievers.
“Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to observe thousands of top-producing real estate agents. Many of the same principles identified in Think and Grow Rich are crucial in building a successful real estate business.” — Jimmy Burgess
