Today, I want to talk to you about my suggested reading program for network marketers and small business owners. If you are a network marketer, or small business owner, you need a reading program. It’s really non-negotiable if you want long-term success in the industry. A sound reading program will help teach you the skills you need to succeed as a network marketer.
I’ve learned more from reading than probably anything else. I constantly read books about sales, marketing, network marketing, lead generation, entrepreneurship, communication, leadership and much more. In most books I learn at least two or three MAJOR things (in each book) that I can do to improve my business and life. To me, that more than justifies the price of the book.
People are funny. Many folks will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to START their network marketing business (or more for a traditional business), but they aren’t willing to pay any money for their ongoing education. I really don’t get it. Every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever met was a student of their own business. They were constantly reading books, attending events, subscribing to trade journals, counseling with mentors, and doing whatever they could to have a cutting edge over their competition.
Reading is a very important part of the self-development process. It’s very low cost and easy to do. It’s flexible. You can read any time of the day that is convenient for you. You can spend a few hours and read a biography about someone else’s entire business life and learn form their mistakes so you don’t have to make the same mistakes that they did. How awesome is that?
For the rest of this post, I want to talk to you about HOW to create a reading program that will help you with your network marketing business. Here is what I recommend:
# 1 Commit to Reading at Least 30 Minutes Every Day – I HIGHLY suggest you make a commitment to read at least 30 minutes each day. If you do that you should be able to read 2-3 books per month (on average). Of course, 60 minutes per day would be ideal, but start out small with 30 minutes per day and then work your way up to more time each day. If you read two books a month for a year that would be 24 books. Over the period of your entire career you could easily read 1000 different books. Think about how much knowledge you would have if you read that many books.
# 2 Make a Reading List – I have a recommended reading list for network marketers on this website. It’s not comprehensive, but it’s a good starting point. Start out by making a list of 20 popular business books that you would like to read. Talk to some of your upline mentors for recommendations. Do an internet search for “best business books” or “best network marketing books” and see what comes up. Compile your list and then rank the books in the order that you want to read them. If you’re on a small budget, get these books for free from your local library or buy them used online.
# 3 Keep a Journal of What You Learn – One of the best things you can do is keep a journal with all of the great stuff you learn from the books that you read. What I like to do is highlight or underline passages that I read and then when I am finished reading the book my wife transcribes the information for me (thanks, babe). I then file these notes away for future study and review.
# 4 Share What You Learn with Your Peers – Another great way to learn more is to share what you learn with others. Have a mastermind group with some of your peers and talk about ideas that you learned in books that you recently read. Do a meeting or conference call with your downline and share what you learn. It’s true, when you teach you will learn even more.
# 5 Implement Some of the Things That You Learn – You will find some real gems and great business tips in some of the books that you read. Make sure that you IMPLEMENT some of these ideas in your own network marketing business. Utilize trial and error and see what works and what doesn’t work. Keep the winners and ditch the losers.
# 6 Build Up Your Library – As you read books that really resonate with you, build up your reading library. You don’t need to add every book that you read to your library, but make sure you add the good ones. Over the course of 20 to 40 years you should build up a huge library.
# 7 Reread Your Favorite Books Once a Year
As you start reading, you will develop a list of favorite books. This is a list of books that really impacted you the most. As you find these titles make a commitment to reread each good book once a year. You will be surprised at what you learn the second time around.
Final Thoughts
That’s it folks. Those are the seven components of my reading program for network marketers and small business owners. I hope you will take this advice and apply it in your business. I think it’s one of the best things that you can do.
What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy reading? How have books helped you improve your skills? What is your favorite business book of all time? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
Reading is fundamental. I can’t even count how much I have learned from simply picking up a book and giving it a read. I do keep a notebook of things that I learn while reading that I want to implement and then in my planning time I expand upon those ideas by writing down how I plan to implement those ideas. Gives me something tangible to reference and it has proven to be a huge asset to me personally and in business.
Yes, reading is vitally important if you want to learn new skills and grow as a person.
I have been a small business owner for a while now, but this is still a great guide. I see now that I need to do a couple things to really complete my reading program. Thanks!
You are so right Chuck. I would have to say that a vast amount of what I have learned through life’s journey has been from reading. I believe that the written word is one of the best educational sources we have. It doesn’t mean we believe everything that is written, but it can force us to research, and rethink our beliefs.
Thank you for posting this….maybe more people will buy books that we authors always are hoping for.