Where to buy: www.amazon.com

You have a great business idea, you start a business and then wonder where to get clients from and how to keep those clients coming back – especially if you don’t like the idea of marketing and selling. This how-to book by Michael Port (professional speaker, entrepreneur and author) talks about the Book Yourself Solid System and gives strategies and techniques on how to implement it to reach out and attract new clients. You will learn how to make your business relationships work, why you should “get rid” of some of your old clients, and which clients you should work with.

In addition, you learn more about personal brand and why yours should be unique, so people want to buy what you have to offer. More clients mean more sales, that’s why having an exciting brand and wowing your customers is of utmost importance in the service business.

Overall, if you are looking to either start up a business or are trying to expand your client base, by reading this book, you will gain a lot of valuable information and techniques on how to Book Yourself Solid. It is certainly a very worthwhile book to read if you are a small business owner who wants to attract new clients and grow the business.

Order: Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

More and more people are starting their own business and quitting their day jobs. However, in order to be successful in running your own business, there are a lot of things that budding entrepreneurs need to know about. There are many good books about small businesses on the market to help entrepreneurs on the way to success. One of those books is, in my opinion, ‘The Big Book of Small Business’. The book is jam-packed with information on business matters.

You will be able to read up on important matters before setting up your business, from funding to niche finding, legal matters and business plan writing. You learn about missions and visions and why they are important, how to hire valuable employees and how to successfully communicate with your clients, suppliers and employees.

This book has so much information in it that you might feel a bit overwhelmed at the beginning, especially when you are new to the business. But you will discover that over time, you’ll use this book to look up certain business topics and learn as you go along. In my opinion, this is definitively a valuable small business resource written by a pro.

Order: The Big Book of Small Business

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

Computers are wonderful things, if they work properly that is. If you find that your computer all of a sudden runs very slowly and freezes up, then a proper clean up of electronic junk and clutter on your machine should be undertaken.

The WinCleaner One-Click is a software product that cleans and optimizes your Windows Registry and gives you extra disk space. It removes broken shortcuts, junk files and thereby protecting your privacy by disenabling third party tracking of your internet and web browsing habits. Start-up problems should also be fixed once you clean your computer with this product.

Overall, the WinCleaner One-Click is a thumbs-up product as it makes your computer reliable and safe to use. Especially if you work with your machine day-in day-out, the last thing you want is a frustratingly slow and unsafe computer to work on.

Order: WinCleaner One Click Professional Clean Version 12

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

If you run a home office and are in need of a labeler, have a look at the Brother PT1290 Home and Office Labeler. This handheld device creates professional looking labels in no time at all. The printed labels can be used for things such as office equipment, binders, presentation material, cell phones, DVDs/CDs. The device has two professional looking fonts and 15 different mode patterns to create decorative labels of your choice. The device comes with a 15 character LCD display, which allows users to easily preview the text before printing it off.

Another key feature is the memory ability of the labeler. It can store up to 9 of your favorite labels you use over and over again. .

Overall, if you are looking for a good and not too expensive labeling machine, the Brother PT1290 is perfect for your small business needs. It is easy to use to create labels – type the text, print, peel and stick. The labels are up to ½” wide and made from waterproof and durable laminated material.

Order: Brother PT1290 Home and Office Labeler

The Smart Pen is a high tech pen with a difference. If you haven’t heard about it yet, it is a pen-looking device that can capture and convert handwriting and at the same time record audio. Essentially, the Smart Pen records everything you write as well as hear and translates it into computer-editable text. This text can easily be forwarded to other people, colleagues or clients. The pulse feature on the pen allows you to replay the recorded audio by tapping the pen directly on your written notes. The 2GB Smart Pen can record over 200 hours of audio.

The Smart Pen only works with the dot paper by Livescribe, which is included with the purchase of the pen. The pen comes in a smart looking Titanium color. The soft case protects the pen when not in use. Also provided are two ink cartridges, a USB docking station and a 3-D recording headset.

The instruction guide gives ideas on how to use the pen

Overall, I think the smart pen is a great choice for anybody who needs to jot down lots of notes, either during client visits or business meetings. Instead of transcribing your written notes onto the computer, the Smart Pen does it for you.

Order: Livescribe 2 GB Pulse Smartpen

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

The book The One Minute Entrepreneurs follows a fictional character through many challenges: from his early dreams of having his own business to later on finding a job and starting his own business. When reading this book, there are many lessons you can learn about starting up, no matter what type of business. I like the fact that this book is both, fictional and non-fictional. It provides basic business principles through a fictional story character and his trials and tribulations as an entrepreneur.

Lessons you learn along the way are: Dream big, take care of your employees and your loyal customers, how to bring in money to secure cash flow, how to provide superb customer service, praise and positive criticism and how to have a good work-life balance to keep yourself, your company, your friends and family intact.

The book also benefits from advice given by well-known entrepreneurs, such as Sheldon Bowles and Michael Gerber.

All in all, this book offers a fun fictional read intertwined with valuable business principle lessons. If you like this style of book, you will certainly enjoy reading it.

Order: The One Minute Entrepreneur

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

More and more people decide to start their own green small business. The book ‘Build a Green Small Business’ is a guide with lots of useful advice from a highly successful green business entrepreneur, Scott Cooney. It covers all the necessary marketing, advertising and networking tips that every small business needs with a green twist. Scott Cooney also gives you a whole range of green business ideas, including green franchises, from green retail & food services (i.e. vegan restaurants), ecotourism, manufacturing and wholesale to events planning and eco-friendly and toxin-free dry cleaning services..

There are lots of green business ideas out there, but it is important to find the right one that suits your interests. Starting and successfully running your own small green business is a big job – from finding funding, budgeting, hiring and managing employees etc. It is important for everybody wanting to start a business to find a business sector that they like and can relate to. Scott Cooney’s book should give you lots of green business ideas and I am sure you will find his expert advice on how to start, run and grow your own green business very helpful.

Overall, if you are thinking of starting a green business, this book comes with lots of invaluable tips and ideas to help you along on your way to become a successful Eco-Preneur.

Order: Build a Green Small Business

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

We all use them over and over again – little sticky notes to scribble down phone numbers, appointment dates or things we need to remember to do. The fantastic thing about this product is that it is 100% recycled. The notes come in four different colors: green, blue, pink and yellow and are self-stick.

These notes not only allow you to get your most pressing thoughts onto paper and stick them where you won’t forget, but they also feel good for your eco-conscience. Every bit we do for our environment is good – no matter how small.

Overall, I think this is a must-have product for every office and household.

Order: 100% Recycled Notes, 3 x 3, Four Colors, 12 100-Sheet Pads/Pack

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

Referrals are important to not only get return business, but also to attract new customers to your business. Referral marketing should therefore be part of every business. It solidifies your relationship with existing customers, which then passes the message onto other people through word-of-mouth. Personalizing your relationship with customers will improve your customer service and makes you stand out amongst other competitors. This will lead automatically to increased sales and profits.

The Referral Engine is a book by John Jantsch (author of Duct Tape Marketing). He advocates that every small business should have a system in place to generate and increase quality referrals. He explains what quality referrals are and outlines tools and techniques on how to get them. Once you understand the importance of quality referrals and how to use them efficiently, you are then in a position to generate referrals from ideal customers. Again, he gives an in-depth explanation of the term ‘ideal customers’ and their lifecycle – Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat, Refer. This understanding allows you to take positive action and implement referral strategies within your company. Other topics include using social media and technology to your advantage to obtain more satisfied customers.

Overall, this is a must-have guide to the art of referrals. A very informative book that every small business owner should keep on their bookshelf.

Order: The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself

Where to buy: www.amazon.com

‘The Skinny on Networking’ book is another one of the “Skinny On” series. First up, what I really like about it is that it contains great information in a condensed form, i.e. it is easy to read and to comprehend and you don’t have to scour through hundreds and hundreds of pages to find the information you were actually looking for.

‘The Skinny on Networking’ is all about networking strategies. The author, Jim Randel, uses stick figures and storyboard panels to make it easy for the reader to understand the messages he is trying to relay. Networking is important for any business owner and this book explains how to create and maintain a successful network. This includes strategies on how to network online, build the right set of networking people, networking strategies, importance of networking etc.

If you’ve read books on networking before, this book might not give you any new information. However, it will summarize the most important points that will allow you to do your own successful networking for the good of your business. If you are new to networking, this book is certainly worth the money. It’s is easy and quick to read (it takes about an hour to go through), but it contains all the necessary information, advice, strategies you need to get started.

Overall, this book is, in my opinion, another great book in the Skinny On series and definitively worth reading.

Order: The Skinny on Networking: Maximizing the Power of Numbers