Ok, so these books probably aren’t what you might expect a PR consultant to recommend as none of them are about PR agencies. Only one of them is specifically about media/PR/sales.
But that’s because to be good at public relations and brand building you need to understand business and you need to understand people.
Each of these books helped me do one or both of those.
If you don’t like reading books try audiobooks or ebooks. But for me there is nothing better at this time of year than curling up with a cup of Bailey’s spiked coffee and a book!
1st Book that will Help you Grow your Business - Untamed by Glennon Doyle
This book was the book of 2020 after Adele recommended it so if you don’t trust me then trust Adele.
This book is perfect for anyone that feels like they spend too much time people pleasing.
This is a predominantly a female issue but not exclusively.
Glennon explores why we compromise on what we actually want to make the people around us happy or even society happy.
I became a lot more aware of my people pleasing tendencies after having children as I saw my oldest doing exactly what I do.
Hide what he actually wants and feels to get people’s approval.
I also saw my youngest give zero fucks about what people think about him. Consequently he inspires me every day even if he does exasperate me as it makes him so much harder to discipline!
Buy this book here, you won’t regret it.
2nd Book that will Help you Grow your Business - The 100 Year Life – Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott
This book blew my mind. We have all heard that the job for life is dead but society still works as if our lives will fit in to the three stage pattern that our grandparents’ lives did.
Go to school, go to work, retire.
But this won’t be how most of our lives work now.
With us more likely to live to 100 not only are we going to have to work longer for financial reasons but we also need to consider the amount of hours there will be in our lives. How are we going to use them to get the best out of them?
If we are in a job or on a career path that doesn’t make us happy we need to act now because our working lives will be longer than any other generation.
This books explores how to reframe our minds as to what our priorities are in life and how we can have multi stage working lives and develop portfolio careers.
I do it a disservice by highlighting the financial aspects of the book as there is so much more to it but the basic equations around what we need financially to live on in a period of retirement IS TERRIFYING.
Buy it now here.
3rd Book that will Help you Grow your Business - Caroline Hirons’ Skincare book
You may not have expected to see a skincare book on this list but with everyone on Zoom more than we ever expected I have heard many colleagues saying they don’t feel confident on video calls. Stats around women enquiring about cosmetic surgery post lockdown were higher than ever after a rise in ‘Zoom face’.
I find it incredibly distracting looking at my frizzy hair or less than glowy skin while trying to focus on a meeting.
So this book is essential for anyone who wants to feel more confident in their skin so they can jump on calls and videos without caking their skin in make up.
Click here and get it now!
4th Book that will Help you Grow your Business - Good to Great – Jim Collins
This is a fascinating book based on a five year research project where the team explore what it takes to make a good company a great company. Everything in this book is rigorously evidence-based and the chapter around what the leaders of great companies have in common is particularly surprising.
It is a perfect reinforcer of how good PR and brand building can help a company become great but that it really is just a cog in a much bigger wheel.
I wholeheartedly recommend this. Buy it here.
5th Book that will Help you Grow your Business - How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
How anyone can reach their potential in business without reading this classic book is unfathomable.
It basically summarises the principles of psychology to make you more entertaining and more persuasive as a person. It also makes you a better salesperson.
If you haven’t read this book then stop reading this blog and buy it now.
If you want a copy of my FREE mini eBook ‘7 Secrets to Smashing your Social Media Lives’ click here. And don’t forget to join my Facebook group by clicking here.
Alison Jackson-Carter is a ‘PR Pro’ who has spent her career helping people and businesses share stories. As a journalist she spent her 20s working for newspapers, ITV’s This Morning programme, Sky News and 5 News. She then moved into PR where she has worked with hundreds of household brands to increase their media profile.
Since she moved to PR she has led teams that have won awards, launched a successful podcast that has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, and achieved millions of pounds worth of media coverage for brands.
Her passion for supporting women in business led her to launch Enlighten PR where she helps small business owners and entrepreneurs raise their profile and communicate with confidence about their business. In her downtime she can be found listening to The Archers or trying to read while her children and dog climb all over her.