For the Vision Fridays article, I’m publishing an audiocast for 7 books that I loved reading last year.

Click on me to hear the book reviews!

In this world of digital media and instant communication, books allow you to focus your energies into something profound. You can also write notes all over your books, kill spiders with them, give them to friends, and prop up tables for stabilization. They require no power (other than your mind power), look good on your wall, and you can refer to them with friends during conversations by getting up and pulling it off your shelf. There’s power in books, books that you can touch and feel.

Note that these books not business books, but books that I consider great for business. Many revolve around the new business model of ‘love’, ‘tribes’, and communicating with your customers in new, exciting ways. Enjoy!

1. The Pyramid Principle, by Barbara Minto

One of the most boring AND useful books I’ve ever read. It helped me shape how I communicate with you, how to structure an argument quickly for maximum impact, and even gets into fine detail of why ordering your bullet points is crucial for conveying messages – in proposals, emails, even how you talk to others.

2. A Whole New Mind, by Daniel H. Pink

Will your job dry up in the next 10 years? A Whole New Mind talks about the importance of integrating both left and right brain skills. By 2010, a full 25% of IT jobs will be lost to overseas works – at a fraction of the cost they pay you. If you fail to recognize the importance of right-brained skills, you may just find yourself out of a job in the future.

3. Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath

Why do some ideas stick with you and others don’t? This book goes into the 6 key qualities that make ideas stick; simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotional, and story-telling. It also answers, right up in the front of the book, why urban legends, though outrageous, never seem to die.

4. e-Riches 2.0, by Scott Fox

A solid book about new social media and how to apply it in your business. The book goes into step-by-step detail on how to leverage these new mediums of communication and why they’re so important in the future of your business.

5. Love is the Killer App, by Tim Sanders

We all lose sight of the important things in life. Love is The Killer App is a quick read about the importance of being not only helpful, but loving, in business. What’s more, it shows you how this actually will increase your business bottom line in profits.

6. Getting Things Done, by David Allen

One of the most influential books in my life, ever, Getting Things Done is about organizing yourself – in business, in life. It shows you how to create a system of capturing ideas, implementing them at the right time, and feeling more in control of your life than ever before. I would say that by implementing David Allen’s ideas, I have increased business productivity by at least DOUBLE.

7. Tribes, by Seth Godin.

One of my favorite books, it’s a series of short articles about how to think of yourself as a leader, how to find your ‘tribe’ and lead your own social movement. Enormously entertaining, and crucial to those who would dare to become more than they are.

A final word…

I would love to hear the books that are most influential in your life. Won’t you add a comment below?