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While there is a mind-boggling amount of information online, nothing can compare to a great book.
While there are only a handful of blogging books written specifically about blogging, this doesn’t mean that this list can’t contain information about how to improve your productivity or skills as a writer or marketer.
After all, as a blogger- you tend to wear multiple hats!
My partner Tom and I love to read. While I’m mostly a fiction type of gal, the past few years I’ve found myself gravitating towards more business, marketing, and productivity books.
While I still love my thrillers and sci-fi novels, I have also found so much value in reading books around business that I have made it a priority to incorporate them into my routine.
Although difficult to digest at times (as more ideas fill your head), they have made a huge impact on our business.
Not only is it interesting to hear about other people’s successes and mistakes (especially if you have a fair share yourself), but what is in these books can actually help you in a way that no internet article can capture.
These books have helped me adjust my habits, increase my productivity, reach my goals, improve our business, become a better writer, listener, storyteller and more…
Who knew books could be so powerful?
No, I’m not quite a self-help fanatic, but Tom and I have taken the time to read about a zillion books to improve our business and I’m here with my recommendations for the blogging books that can help you grow your blogging business.
Best Books for Bloggers
You’ll find tons of different blogging books on this list. Some are light-hearted, relatable and real page-turners while others are more technical and science-based books that can help your mindset.
That being said, they can all relate back to blogging somehow, whether it comes to getting more done, creating content, or learning more about business and marketing.
Regardless of which style is your cup of tea and what area you’re looking to improve in, there’s something for everybody on this reading list!
Books on Mindset and Motivation
Building a successful blog isn’t easy, especially when you have so much other stuff going on in your life.
There will be times when you feel like you aren’t making any progress and times where you want to give up, but with a strong mindset, this is something that can be overcome.
Tom and I believe in the power of mindset so much! When you can harness your mindset and use it for good, it has the ability to propel you forward, even when things seem bleak.
In fact, we believe that mindset is one of the most important components of building a successful blog because not only does it shift the way you think, but also shifts the product of your work.
After playing around with this idea and implementing some strategies we read about, not only did our mindsets strengthen… but our business did too.
The books in this section are centered around ways to challenge and change your current mindset for your benefit as well as motivate you to keep pushing even when things feel rough!
“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause of belief – WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?
People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
This book changed the way I think about everything when it comes to blogging.
Simon Sinek walks the reader through the importance of having a clear Why and how it’s crucial to success in all things. He uses real-life examples from people and businesses to paint a picture of what it looks like to keep your Why at the center of everything done and how it leads down a remarkable road.
I found this concept so important when it comes to blogging that it’s actually one of the first things we teach in our Blogging Fast Lane course!
Starting with a strong Why and maintaining it throughout your blogging journey will not only lead to personal success but huge professional growth, as well.
The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy
“It’s not the big things that add up in the end; it’s the hundreds, thousands, or millions of little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
If you’re looking for reassurance that you’re on the right track with your blog, The Compound Effect is the perfect book for you.
In our Blogging Fast Lane course, the principles in this book are central to what we teach as they’re so meaningful and important!
Basically, what Darren Hardy tells us is that everything you do, every little action you take, adds up to become something greater over time. Every small consistent actions that you make now will compound and eventually lead to something much bigger.
It’s a no-nonsense book and gives a really realistic look at how our actions actually work.
If you feel like you’re working on your blog constantly but not seeing any results, this book is a must-read.
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant To Be by Rachel Hollis
“Some days I feel as if I’m getting closer to the best version of me. Other days I eat cream cheese for dinner. But the gift of life is that we get another chance tomorrow.”
If you’re struggling with motivating yourself or getting past self-doubt (which is so common in blogging), you absolutely need Rachel Hollis in your life. A fellow blogger, CEO, and total boss, Hollis takes us on an honest walk through limiting mindsets and how to get past them.
This book is so witty, funny, honest, and true! You’ll find yourself falling in love with Hollis and moving past your insecurities as she walks you through her own messy life.
More than anything, this book really helped me to see that no matter what the circumstances are, I can overcome anything and do what I want, so long as I hustle hard enough.
Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis
“By embracing your calling and refusing to hide your glow, you wouldn’t just make your world brighter, you’d light the way for the women who come behind you.”
Another stand-out book from Rachel Hollis, Girl, Stop Apologizing is a step up from the one above.
This book shows you how to create the life you want instead of letting other people define it for you. It’s funny, motivational, and totally relatable if you’re a woman who’s sick of being judged by others.
Hollis reminds us the importance of following our own dreams and pursuing our passions. This book helped me so much when I started doubting whether I should continue to try and be a full-time blogger.
Girl, Stop Apologizing put so much in perspective and reminded me that I can achieve the blog of my dreams, no matter what anyone else may think or say.
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink
“Although discipline demands control and asceticism, it actually results in freedom. When you have the discipline to get up early, you are rewarded with more free time.”
Extreme Ownership is an incredible book. It’s not a fluffy, mushy gushy book about how to improve your life, but about how a Navy SEAL task unit overcome impossible situations.
Using first-hand accounts, the authors paint a vivid picture of how crucial mindset is to any kind of success – especially the mindset of taking ownership of your work.
This book illustrate real life battle situations while pointing out key lessons on how you can apply it to your life. The discipline, rigor, and mindset that they share is great for anyone who is looking to level up their business.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
“… as much as talent counts, effort counts twice.”
If you’re ever stuck thinking “I’m just not talented to start a blog,” pick up this book immediately!
Angela Duckworth explains (through her own struggles with success in the science world) that the secret to progress and achievement is focused persistence aka “grit”.
The main point is you don’t need to be inherently talented or a genius to succeed in what you do… you just need to have the drive to make it happen.
It’s personal, fascinating, and such a refreshing perspective. Life isn’t about being talented or lucky… It’s about maximizing the hand that you’re dealt.
People have said this book is life-changing… so go on, what are you waiting for?
The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
“The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”
When you get stuck working on your blog (or anything else for that matter), it feels like the easiest thing to do is give up. But it doesn’t need to be that way!
In The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday uses examples of some of the most famous people in history to demonstrate how to tackle impossible seeming situations and turn them into triumphs.
It doesn’t have to do with how smart or lucky you are, but rather comes down to how you can make challenges work to your benefit.
This is a great read for anyone struggling with adversity!
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
“‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it ‘eventually,’ just do it and correct course along the way.”
When it comes to this book, people either love it or despise it.
Timothy Ferriss really blew up with this book as it became the center of the digital nomad revolution. The allure of being able to work 4 hours a week and travel the world the rest of the time has a serious pull for any blogger with wanderlust.
While there are some parts of this book that don’t sit too well with me, but I figured I’d include it on the list as it’s a demonstration of how drive and working smart can lead to a life of freedom anywhere in the world.
Some people boast that this book changed their life… give it a read and let me know which side of the scale you’re on!
Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
“Every pro starts off as an amateur. There’s not one top artist, athlete, writer, scientist, architect, entrepreneur, programmer, musician or potter who enters the field at the top of her game. To begin anything new or learn anything new means you will be a neophyte. You must go from outsider to insider. Respect that. Embrace it. Be willing to suck.”
An easy read with a clear message, Marie Forleo is here to tell you that you can do anything you want so long as you’re willing to put in the effort to make it happen!
What she shares in this book can apply to everything from relationships to blogging, and she cuts right to the chase, without lots of fluff other self-help books have.
This book really made a difference for me because it made me reframe my thinking to realize that everything really is “figureoutable”.
No challenge is too great so long as you’re willing to work through it. So important for blogging! Stick with it and the results will be worthwhile.
#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso
“In whatever you do, you’re not going to stand out unless you think big and have ideas that are truly original. That comes from tapping into your own creativity, not obsessing over what everyone else is doing.”
For a fun, engaging, and clever book about turning nothing into something, Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso is such a great pick. It centers around the author’s life as she goes from hitchhiking and dumpster diving to becoming the founder of Nasty Gal – a top online retailer.
This book is really about following your heart and doing what feels right despite the nagging feeling that you might fail. She shares with her readers that no matter what kind of background you come from, where you grew up or went to school — these things don’t define how successful you’ll be.
From Passion to Profit: 9 Key Ingredients for Building A Successful Blog That You Love by Blogging Fast Lane
“We believe that blogging is the best way to profit from your passions, especially without needing a large amount of money to get started. All you need is a strong purpose, a step-by-step proven strategy for blogging success, and to put in the work to get there.”
Naturally, no best blogging books list would be complete without recommending my own book! For a peek into what Tom and I teach to our Blogging Fast Lane students, our ebook, From Passion to Profit, walks you through 9 ingredients to build a successful blog that you’ll love.
This ebook draws on our personal experience in turning our blog into one of the top 25 travel blogs in the world in just 3 years!
Don’t fumble through the process of growing your blog on your own – learn from our mistakes and our journey.
From Passion to Profit is a mix of mindset and strategy tips that we personally use and that we now teach in the Blogging Fast Lane. You’ll learn the importance of setting goals, how to make time for your blog, tools for finding your niche, creating a content strategy and so much more!
Our whole goal in creating this book is to help you unlock what you actually need to do in order to build a successful blog… while providing a hefty dose of motivation and inspiration along the way!
Books on Productivity
Being productive with blogging can be hard. There’s so much to do in what seems like so little time… Is it even possible to create a successful business this way?
Tom and I have found that building (and sticking with) good habits and having a solid routine are absolutely essential when it comes to being productive and actually getting things done.
It can be challenging to get into at the beginning, but once you figure out what habits can work to your advantage and what kind of routine amps you up, you’ll find the positive effects being translated into your blog.
The books in this section have really helped us step back, take an inventory of our habits and routines, and frame them in a way that makes most sense when it comes to being productive.
These books actually provide a plan to set up positive practices and can make such a difference when you’re building out a successful blog!
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
“Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
In this book, James Clear walks you through a 4-part framework to address our habits, grow the good ones and nix the bad. My partner Tom read this book first and then had our entire team read it for a book club!
I found reading this so valuable because it can apply to anyone, in any area of their life. Whether you’re struggling to quit smoking, trying to lose weight, or trying to build a successful blog, everything that Clear lays out can be applied, no matter the situation.
I get it, having to look at your own habits is one thing, but actually changing them is a whole other game.
But Clear makes it really apparent that small shifts in what we do on a day-to-day basis can make an enormous impact when it comes to getting the results we’re seeking.
He uses lots of personal stories, scientific studies, and fun references to demonstrate his points, making it feel like we’re all in this together rather than him talking down to the reader.
It feels a lot less like a self-help book and more like a bunch of engaging short stories that can relate to any kind of habit.
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
“Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.”
In a world with so many distractions, it’s so easy to brush blogging to the side… but how can you accomplish anything that way?
Eat That Frog is full of interesting and engaging ways to cut down your procrastination and actually get things done.
The phrase “eat that frog” comes from Mark Twain, who once said “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
The main point in this book is to tackle the hardest task first thing in your day, and then everything else will seem like a breeze… which is true!
If you find that you’re kicking yourself for procrastinating so much and struggling to accomplish things that need to get done, this book is a great look at how to get around that.
Plus, since most of the book centers around working, it’s easy to apply the principles to blogging.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
“Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the habits they’ve learned.”
This is another powerful book about how habits shape our lives and ultimately drive us towards success (or failure).
Throughout the book, Charles Duhigg uses compelling scientific evidence to make the case for why honing in on our habits is absolutely essential for business and beyond.
It’s not the boring kind of science in this book, but rather the kind that makes you stop and think.
After reading it, you’ll have a better sense around why you choose to prioritize certain things, why some areas of your life may be stalling, and how to transform your habits to have them work in you and your business’ favor.
If you’re looking for cold, hard proof about how shifting your habits can help you succeed in blogging, this is the book for you.
Not to mention, the stories Duhigg uses to back up the science are simply compelling… You may not be able to put this book down!
High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard
“Seek clarity. Generate energy. Raise necessity. Increase productivity. Develop influence. Demonstrate courage. These are the six habits that you need to adopt if you are to reach high performance in any situation.”
If you can’t tell already, I’m a huge fan of looking at habits when it comes to being productive and making waves in whatever I’m striving for. High Performance Habits is another book centered around the idea that our habits lead to success.
Unlike the other habit books I’ve mentioned, Buchard takes a more systematic approach and actually lays out six of the most important habits for success that he found from one of the largest surveys of high performers.
If examining your own habits seems daunting, Buchard’s book is a great alternative because he actually spells out habits that successful people have.
Instead of looking at your own habits, this book provides a way to see how you can integrate new habits into your life and how they can drive your own success.
The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller
“It is not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do, it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have.”
Another show-stopping book about reaching success, The One Thing is centered around… (you guessed it!) focusing on one thing.
Gary Keller leads us down the road of how to get great results by narrowing your focus, getting your priorities in order, and sticking to your goals.
Like many of the other books on this list, Keller addresses the importance of habits, but he also expands greatly to include ways to build success, quit multitasking (which does more harm than help), and gives practical applications for using what’s in his book.
If we think about blogging, The One Thing is central to what we do.
As bloggers, it’s so easy to spread ourselves thin working on a million different things at once and feel like we don’t have enough time to actually get stuff done, but Keller brings us back down to earth and shows the importance of focusing on one thing at a time.
If you’re looking for ways to maximize your productivity, The One Thing is a great jumping off point because it will help you redirect your work in a way that allows you to actually achieve things, rather than just drifting around in limbo.
Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy more Time, Become More Productive and Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker
“As entrepreneurs, time is our most valuable commodity (MVC). Money will come and go, but once you’ve invested your time into something, that time is gone forever. It stands to reason that if there are any actions we can take as business owners to free up more time in our daily routines, we should take them.”
When your blog begins to grow, it can become overwhelming to have to manage everything yourself. You’ve got writing to do, posts to edit, articles to publish, clients to answer, partnerships to set up, accounting to do… the list goes on and on!
Does this sound like you? With everything that goes into running a successful blog, it can just too much on a single person’s plate.
In Virtual Freedom, Chris Ducker shows you how to effectively manage all that’s going on by enlisting the help of virtual employees.
His argument for hiring someone online is they can do the menial tasks so that you can really focus on growing your business. He walks you through everything from deciding which tasks you should outsource to finding the right person to bring on board.
If you’re ready to level up your blog, this may be a huge step for you.
Books on Business & Marketing
So you have a blog… But how can you turn it into a success?
Well, a lot of it comes from proper marketing, but much of it also stems from building it into a real business.
If you’re serious about turning your blog into a business, you need to be very strategic with the moves you make.
Instead of doing whatever you like on your blog, you need to make calculated moves, be smart about what you put out there, and really focus your efforts on providing value to your audience.
It was only when we did this that we started seeing real results on our blog!
The books in this section not only give strategies on how to grow your blog or business, but also how to keep people engaged and interested in what you’re doing.
Isn’t that what having a successful blog is all about?
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.”
Good to Great is one of the most well-known business books and in it, Jim Collins teaches readers how to take their companies from… you guessed it: good to great.
This is a book probably better suited to more advanced bloggers who are looking at growing their team and are interested in how to make the jump from a one-(wo)man show to something bigger.
He touches on seven concepts that he found through his study about leadership, getting the right people, being disciplined and productive in the work you’re doing.
Here’s a little inside secret: the chapter on a “flywheel” has been instrumental in shaping our business strategy.
Definitely give this a read if you’re curious about the keys to growing a successful business!
DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online by Russell Bruson
“Building a business is not rocket science, it’s about having a great idea and seeing it through with integrity.”
In DotCom Secrets, Russell Brunson gives you a real hands-on approach to turning around your website and getting real results.
Tom and I read this book towards the beginning of our blogging journey and it really helped us take a step back and figure out why we weren’t getting the traffic and conversions we wanted.
Brunson gives tried and true solutions to problems like these through marketing funnels and sales scripts which turn all your hard work into tangible results. And he does it in a way that actually makes sense rather than sounding like a bunch of marketing mumbo jumbo.
If you’re looking to really take your blog to the next level, I highly recommend you give this book a read. The book is FREE…all you have to do is pay for shipping!
Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business by Pat Flynn
“Instead of spending money on ads, spend more time on people. Instead of worrying about the latest growth hacks and strategies, worry about identifying and addressing the biggest pains and problems in your target audience. Instead of figuring out how to optimize your conversion rates, figure out the rate at which you’re able to connect authentically with your audience and make them feel special.”
At first glance, building a successful blog may seem like it’s all about the numbers. It’s all about how many people are liking your posts, clicking your links, buying affiliate products… Right?
Well, not exactly.
While the numbers are important, the people behind the numbers are way more significant, and this is what Pat Flynn walks us through in Superfans.
While it’s pretty straightforward to get email subscribers or views on your blog posts, connecting to your audience and providing them with the information they’re truly looking for is the way to unlock true success.
Once you can prove to your audience that you really get them, you’ll start to develop Superfans, or people who will help propel your business forward in a way that you can’t do on your own.
Pat Flynn is an expert in the online industry and if you’re looking for ways to connect with your audience and use them to move your business to the next level, I can’t recommend this book enough.
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
“How we cultivate our relationships is often the greatest determinant of the type of life we get to live. Business is no different.”
Written by New York Times bestselling author and founder of Wine Library TV, The Thank You Economy is all about how to make your business more human.
While your blog may be booming and growing to new heights, there’s nothing more powerful to your success than retaining a personal aspect to it.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s entire point throughout this book is that businesses need to get back to the personal relationship with customers… And this can be done through social media!
By listening to customers, readers, and loyal followers, and then actually responding or doing something about their qualms, you’re putting yourself in a superstar position.
Sure, you can use social media to get tons of likes, but you can also use it as a direct line to your customers. This book highlights how to harness social media to build personal relationships, change customer’s perspectives, and turn them into loyal readers who will help promote your brand and message.
If you’re questioning your social media strategy or are wondering why likes aren’t turning into conversions, this book is a hugely valuable resource! Plus…Gary V is one of the most motivational industry leaders in the online space so his work is sure to get you pumped.
This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See by Seth Godin
“You’re not running around grabbing every conceivable lock to try out your key. Instead, you’re finding people (the lock), and since you are curious about their dreams and desires, you will create a key just for them, one they’ll happily trade attention for.”
Ever wonder how marketing experts achieve such great results? Ever wonder how you can do what they do for your own blog?
Instead of taking an entire course on it, pick up Seth Godin’s book, where he demystifies effective marketing strategies and demonstrates how to apply them yourself.
What really sets Godin’s approach apart from other marketers is he operates around the idea that marketing should solve other people’s problems rather than the company’s problems.
By taking a humanistic approach to marketing instead of counting the wrong metrics, being dishonest and putting the company first, your business will be in the position to succeed.
This all goes back to building trust with your readers and providing something of value rather than just more noise.
While there are many nuances to marketing, Seth Godin shows us how to go about it the right way.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne
“Blue ocean strategy challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that often makes the competition irrelevant. Instead of dividing up existing — and often shrinking — demand and benchmarking competitors, blue ocean strategy is about growing demand and breaking away from the competition.”
The Blue Ocean Strategy is another concept that’s central to our Blogging Fast Lane course because Kim and Mauborgne have really figured out how to make a business stand out.
The entire concept surrounds the idea that there are Red Oceans and Blue Oceans. Red Oceans are full of competition, making it nearly impossible for a newcomer to break into the market, while Blue Oceans are untapped spaces where new growth can flourish.
With hundreds of millions of blogs on the internet today, standing out is crucial to success. This book gives a systematic approach to creating your own Blue Ocean and using it to drive your business and reach success.
If you’re interested in learning more about how the Blue Ocean strategy applies to blogging, register for our free training where we walk you through it step by step!
Books on Writing
One of the biggest parts of blogging is writing, so here are a couple of books that are great resources when it comes to creating quality content for your blog.
Remember, writing, just like everything else is a skill. The more you do it, the easier it becomes!
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
“The truth is: writing well is part habit, part knowledge of some fundamental rules, and part giving a damn.”
Writing is absolutely central to blogging… I mean, what’s a blog without articles?
But how you craft your content makes all the difference when it comes to attracting, retaining and converting readers. In Everybody Writes, Ann Handley has created a field guide about online communication for businesses.
Handley walks readers through the process of writing and strategy behind content creation, as well as production, publishing and follow through. She touches on how to write better (or how to hate writing less) in a down to earth, memorable way.
Content can be a struggle sometimes but Ann Handley makes it that much easier with the ideas in Everybody Writes.
One Hour Content Plan: The Solopreneur’s Guide to a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Ideas in 60 Minutes and Creating Content that Sells and Hooks by Meera Kothand
“Your content has to attract, delight and convert your readers. Add these three elements to the implementation of your content plan, and you’ll have a fully functioning blog content strategy.”
Another awesome guide to crafting content, One Hour Content Plan is specifically focused on blogging.
The big draw of this book is that Meera Kothand really explains how to generate a ton of ideas in a short amount of time. This is a great find if you’re someone who struggles to think of topics for articles!
This book also helps with defining types of content, exposes elements that all killer content must have and how to hook readers in from the start.
The best part? All of the tasks lined out in the book can be completed in less than an hour!
Endless ideas in 60 minutes? Yes, please!
The Last Step: Take Action
Here’s the honest truth: you can read every single book on this list, but if you don’t take action, you won’t make any moves from the place you’re currently in.
Can you imagine if you implemented every single thing you learned about habits and productivity, mindset, marketing, time management and more… What place would you be in? The same one as you are in now?
Honestly, the possibilities are endless.
I used to read so much and let it go in one ear and out the other, but when I took the time to really digest what I read and then actually put it into action is when I started to see real results.
Reading books, combined with our productivity tips can help you skyrocket your blogging success!
While the books on this list can cover just about every area of life, if you use the tactics and tools laid out in just a few of them, you’ll see a tremendous difference in not only your blog, but in yourself too.
Do you have a book or two that totally changed your life? Leave a comment below so I can check it out!