When I first started my business, I knew how to design my product (flowers) but not how to market it, or interact with clients. My impulse was to go back to school to learn business better, but that wasn’t a realistic option. So instead I asked everyone I knew about what books I should read that were good for starting a small business, and reading those lead me to other great finds.

Recently I started reading, “One Million Followers” by Brendan Kane, which then inspired me to take a retrospective look at all the other books that brought me here. In my library is a total of 83 different titles in the business/career genre, and out of those 83 (most of which I would recommend), here are my top ten picks for a creative business.

If you decided to read any of these or listen (no judgement here, and actually auditory learning is my preferred method), send me an email of dm on instagram, I would love to know your take on it!

1. The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for achieving success as you start, build, or manage a business, by Martha Stewart.

2. Platform: Get noticed in a noisy world. A step-by-step-guide for anyone with something to say or sell, by Michael Hyatt.

3. The One Thing: The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results, by Gary Keller.

4. Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless strategies for thriving in the new creative age, by Jeff Goins.

5. Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact, by Phil M.Jones

6. Positioning: How to be seen and heard in an overcrowded marketplace, by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

7. Setting the Table: The transforming power of the hospitality business, by Danny Meyer.

8. Crush it! Cash in on your passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk.

9. The Laws of Human Nature, by Robert Greene.

10. Never Eat Alone: And other secrets to success one relationship at a time, by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz.

Books are linked to Amazon. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I will get a small (very small) affiliate commission.