I recently came across an article by Michael Hyatt where he suggests that certain cities are known for certain thriving communities of professionals. He also suggested that if you are serious enough about “making it” in your profession, you should consider relocating to a city with such a community. And while I am not sure I completely agree with that counsel, there is something else I do agree with…

Leaders are Readers

Both he and I would tell you most emphatically that, regardless of where you choose to live, if you are to be a success in your chosen career, you MUST read, and read much! Times are changing, and very rapidly, and professionals must stay up to date with the trends and laws and best practices etc, if they are to maintain their professional status.

At the end of the first quarter, I shared with you the list of  22 “professional” books I had read, and today I want to share the second quarter list with you.  This quarter I only got to 10, but that is still 32 in 26 weeks time, and not even counting the family and marriage books, or readalouds with the kids! You can click on the affiliate links if you'd like more details or would like to purchase them.

Many of these books I picked up through 99 Cent Blogging Books, our free service that notifies you once a week of the top blogging and business books that are currently on sale for 99 cents or less. It's a great way to build your business library for cheap.

Business Books

Get Clients Today by Christian Mickelson

What's Your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customer's and Influence by Word of Mouth by Stan Phelps

Marketing Books

Go Pro: 7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional by Eric Worre

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug (Note: Very good! Every blog/business owner with an online presence should read this!)

Digital Minds: 12 Things Every Business Needs to Know About Digital Marketing by WSI (Note: I found chapters 4 and 12 the most helpful.)

Blogging Books

Publish and Profit: A 5 Step System for Attracting Paying Coaches and Consulting Clients, Traffic and Leads, Product Sales, and Speaking Engagements by Mike Koenigs

How to Build an Unstoppable Email List by Andrew Handley (Note: He said build not maintain. This is not about creating relationships, which we know are important, but it does offer good info on the “how-to” get it started.)

Social Media Books

The Guide to Social Media Images for Business: How to Produce Photos, Picture, Infographics, Memes, and Presentations That Inspire and Sell by Andrew Macarthy

Twitter in 30 Minutes: How to Connect with Interesting People, Write Great Tweets, and Find Information That is Relevant to You by Ian Lamont

Instant Profits with Instagram: Build Your Brand, Explode Your Business

And Just like Last Quarter, we've also produced a few things this Quarter: 

• The Blogger's Guide to Blog Speak
• The Como Blog Connection – membership home and coaching hub
• and a few Blogging Tee-shirts too!

So what have you been reading?

I'd love to know what you've been reading and also take any of your recomendations for my third quarter list. Please leave a comment below.