Hi.
Welcome to
Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
I’m so glad you’re here!
Welcome to
Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
I’m so glad you’re here!
Making Good Book Club is a monthly book club hosted by me (Lauren!) and marketing pro Charelle Griffith.
Each month on the podcast, we announce the next month’s Book Club selection. And then, a month later, Charelle and I sit down to discuss the book, highlight key takeaways, and explore how to apply it to small businesses.
In this book club we cover both traditional “business books”, as well as general self-improvement and wellness books we think are relevant to how we run our businesses.
Book Selected: The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It*
Author: Michael E. Gerber
Why We Chose It: This book was iconic when it first came out, and has been recommended by several guests on the show. Charelle and I are shocked we haven’t covered it yet, and decide it’s about time. Our goal? To prove Michael E. Gerber wrong. Small businesses do work!
Episode release date: May 15th, 2024
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Book Selected: Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto*
Author: Tricia Hersey
Why We Chose It: An ex-corporate marketer, where she worked long hours under intense pressure, Lauren has done a lot of work to reshape how she prioritizes her time and health. She and Charelle are excited to cover Rest is Resistance because it offers sustainable ways of being, and shows us how when we prioritize rest, we also reclaim power.
Episode release date: April 15th, 2024
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Book Selected: Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Method to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy*
Author: Ryan Levesque
Why We Chose It: Finding your ideal customer, learning what their pain-points and wants are, these are foundational to successful marketing. Ryan Levesque offers a unique take on figuring your ideal customer out, and we always love learning new ideas.
Episode release date: March 15th, 2024
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You*
Author: Ali Abdaal
Why We Chose It: I have long advocated for following your inspiration as a small business owner. In this book, author Ali Abdaal walks us through how feeling good in your work, not grinding, not toiling, but enjoying, is the hidden secret to productivity.
Episode release date: February 15th, 2024
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products*
Author: Nir Eyal
Why We Chose It: Author Nir Eyal walks the reader through creating consecutive "hook cycles," via the four-step Hook Model, bringing product users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.
Episode release date: January 15th, 2024
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Book Selected: This is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See*
Author: Seth Godin
Why We Chose It: While he may not use the words “ethical marketer” specifically to describe his work, Godin is definitely a non-bro marketer. He was one of the first to popularize the idea of “permission marketing,” not pushing a product or idea onto anyone, but selling to your ideal customer by adding value and being invited in by our customers.
Episode release date: December 15th, 2023
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Book Selected: Fascinate: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist (Revised, Updated)*
Author: Sally Hogshead
Why We Chose It: In an overly crowded marketplace, it can be tough to figure out how to make your brand stand out. Fascinate offers practical tools backed by research into the science of fascination, so that your ideal customers can’t get enough of you.
Episode release date: November 15th, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business*
Author: Kindra Hall
Why We Chose It: Storytelling can be a powerful tool in marketing, and it is such a specific skill. In this book, Kindra walks readers through developing that skill so they can leverage their own stories for their businesses.
Episode release date: October 15th, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months*
Author: Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington
Why We Chose It: There are several books on our list that are so, so Charelle, and this is one of them. We are excited to dig into this book because it shaped how Charelle organizes her time in such a profoundly helpful way, and we feel it would do the same for anyone whose time management is in their own hands.
Episode release date: September 15th, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Company of One*
Author: Paul Jarvis
Why We Chose It: If you’re someone who is considering the future of your small business, this book is worth a read. In it, author Paul Jarvis makes the case for why keeping your business small is the best plan, rather than aiming for growth just for growth’s sake.
Episode release date: August 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Rework*
Author: Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Why We Chose It: As the name implies, this book, written by the founders of the project management tool Basecamp, is a book that challenges the assumptions and the traditional approaches to business…. In such a good way. I think you’ll learn a ton from this book and come away inspired to think about things in a whole new way.
Episode release date: July 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business*
Author: Gino Wickman
Why We Chose It: Traction has been recommended to us as a practical guide for getting organized and achieving your business goals. Perhaps the polar opposite of last month’s read, Traction offers actionable approaches to running a successful and frustration-free business.
Episode release date: June 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters*
Author: Priya Parker
Why We Chose It: While this book isn’t a business or marketing book specifically, there are a lot of ideas here that can apply to both. Priya Parker is a master facilitator who has worked with everyone from folks planning a dinner party to gathering diplomats from around the world. Her human-centered approach to gathering resonates with our human-centered approach to marketing.
Episode release date: May 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less*
Author: Greg McKeown
Why We Chose It: This book isn’t just about time management, it’s about discerning what’s essential and what isn’t. McKeown shares the systematic discipline of Essentialism to help us effectively use our limited time, and cut out the things that are wasting it.
Episode release date: April 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support
Book Selected: 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think*
Author: Laura VanderKam
Why We Chose It: This book is all about managing your time – and specifically thinking about life as a series of 168 hour weeks – in which we get to decide how to use these 168 hours. This book is not specifically a business book, but one that there are tons of business-related takeaways.
Episode release date: March 21st, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea*
Author: Bob Burg and John David Mann
Why We Chose It: This is a book that has been recommended to us a LOT over the last couple years. While this book is a business book with business lessons, it’s told in the format of a story where you get to follow a main character as he learns five surprising, but essential, lessons.
Episode release date: February 15, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content*
Author: Ann Handley
Why We Chose It: In a world dominated by short and snappy captions and headlines, honing your skills as a writer matters more than ever. Your ability to communicate about yourself and your business is essential to cutting through the noise. In this book, Ann shares strategies and practical approaches to delivering compelling, engaging content.
Episode release date: January 17, 2023
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Drop the Ball: Achieve More by Doing Less*
Author: Tiffany Dufu
Why We Chose It: We all have a lot on our plates and most of us experience overwhelm from time to time. What if the key to bigger results and a more fulfilled life was actually doing LESS, not more?
Episode release date: December 15, 2022
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear*
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Why We Chose It: Big Magic is one of the most highly recommended books by Making Good podcast guests — and for good reason. This book is all about how to create something new… even when you’re scared.
Listen to our podcast episode on Big Magic.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance*
Author: Erica Dhawan
Why We Chose It: We’re currently in the “wild wild West” era of digital communications. We’re still figuring out how to adjust our in-person communication norms (tone, silence, response time, etc.) and put them online. This book has some invaluable advice on how to effectively work with others — online.
Listen to our podcast episode on Digital Body Language.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles*
Author: Steven Pressfield
Why We Chose It: The War of Art is really all about this concept of Resistance, how to spot it, and how to break through it, and I have to say, it’s one of my all-time favorite books. This is a great read for anyone who does the creative work of bringing something new into the world.
Listen to our podcast episode on The War of Art.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level*
Author: Gay Hendricks
Why We Chose It: This book is all about how we can face our fears, overcome what’s called the “upper limit problem” and achieve our true potential by living in our zone of genius.
Listen to our podcast episode on The Big Leap.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power*
Author: Rachel Rodgers
Why We Chose It: Whether we like it or not, money is power. One of the best ways of enacting the change we all want to see in the world is by having money. This is why Rachel Rodgers believes that We Should All Be Millionaires.
Listen to our podcast episode on We Should All Be Millionaires.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen*
Author: Donald Miller
Why We Chose It: This book is all about story, the universal elements of powerful stories, how to simplify your message, and much more. This book will help all of us change how we talk about our businesses, ourselves, and what we have to offer.
Listen to our podcast episode on Building a StoryBrand.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle*
Authors: Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. and Amelia Nagoski, DMA
Why We Chose It: Even if you love what you do (and we hope you do!), running your own business can be stressful. That’s why we chose Burnout for Making Good Book Club — even though it’s not specifically a business book, better understanding how our stress affects our health and other parts of our lives is relevant to every one of us.
Listen to our podcast episode on Burnout.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Hype Yourself: A No-Nonsense PR Toolkit for Small Businesses*
Author: Lucy Werner
Why We Chose It: PR is a corner of marketing that can feel like it’s only accessible to those in-the-know. But we love this book by Lucy Werner, because she pulls back the curtain and introduces us to the practical ins and outs of everything you need to do to get your small business featured.
Listen to our podcast episode on Hype Yourself.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine*
Author: Mike Michalowicz
Why We Chose It: This book flips the traditional model of approaching profit in a really good way. If you really apply this book to your business, it WILL transform your finances and what's possible in your business and life.
Listen to our podcast episode on Profit First.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business*
Author: Pat Flynn
Why We Chose It: This book is all about how to really develop those relationships with your audience that will take people from learning about your business to becoming Superfans…. And Superfans can be some of the most important and powerful parts of your business success, so this is really an effort worth pursuing.
Listen to our podcast episode on Superfans.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones*
Author: James Clear
Why We Chose It: So often we know exactly what it is that we want in life… we might even know how to get it. But we don’t actually take the actions that would help us get that result. Why not? This extremely practical book explores how to build the habits that will help you create the life (and business) you want.
Listen to our podcast episode on Atomic Habits.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Book Selected: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success*
Author: Carol Dweck
Why We Chose It: We started off with Lauren’s all-time favorite self-improvement book: Mindset. Mindset is a science-based book all about the two different mindsets — we each gravitate naturally toward one or the other. And the mindset we have has huge impacts on the results we experience. This book shows you how to cultivate a Growth mindset in all areas of your life.
Listen to our podcast episode on Mindset.
* purchasing with this link helps support Making Good
Note: We’ve shared affiliate links for the books — using these links helps support Making Good!
