Books are great but marketing books are awesome. Here is my list of books that I think every plumber should read at least once and why I recommend it. Check back occasionally, I may update this list over the years.
Ogilvy on Advertising – David Olgilvy
All marketing is a form advertising. It’s a core message designed to influence a particular outcome. Crafting an ad is marketing distilled down to it’s core because it’s all about ensuring you’re communicating properly. This book helps people understand the flow of the audience when interacting with communication.
MAGNETIC MARKETING – DAN KENNEDY
Oh the power you have if you’re the attractant in a marketplace. This book is a great primer on how to build marketing that brings people to you. Dan Kennedy is a legend in the marketing space so when he puts something to paper I do my best to learn as much as possible. I just wish I could remember it all.
Marketing Made Simple – Donald Miller
Donald miller understands a lot about building a company that resonates. This book in particular is how to mobilize that company into a market. It’s predecessor StoryBrand is also great. Keep in mind that the core concepts here are good, but you’ll still have to interpret them through your own lense.
Wizard Of Ads – Roy H. Williams
The first marketing book I ever read and it’s still awesome. Writing is under appreciated when it comes to service companies and it’s a core pillar of connecting with an audience. These memos taught me the value in reframing my world around the customer. I still find myself picking it up, and thumbing through it 20 years later.
Pre-Suasion – Robert B. Cialdini
I recently finished this one after re-reading it’s companion “Persuasion”. Both are good but I think this one demonstrates the concepts of influence and persuasion in a unique way. This is the book that influences me to look deeper than leads and reinforced by belief that controlling psychology is the singular goal of marketing. Controlling the mindshare will control the market.
From Pool to Gold: The Marketing Magic of HArmon Brothers – Chris Jones
This one is a great cross section of creativity and advertising. I’m an ads forward marketer because mass communication is influence and that form of influenced is bought. Which also puts pressure on the creative to perform. If you ever remembered a Super Bowl ad. This book helps you understand how and why.
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Lean Marketing – Alan Dib
Simple, tactical and full of good information. I read this one a couple of years ago and bought copies for the team as it’s good marketing primer built for today’s marketplace.
How to become a hometown hero – TIM BROWN
I know Tim through agency circles (he runs Hook Agency) and while he’s a swell guy, he also put together a pretty great collection of concepts that I agree with here. It’s a blueprint of how to become an influencer in your community for home service companies and encourages companies to do MORE.
$100M Leads – Alex Hormozi
Okay, Hormozi talks to everyone with his stuff so you really have to learn what you need out of this and realize that you are a plumber, not a gym owner or a retailer brand so keep that in mind. My favorite thing about Hormozi is that he teaches tactics and consistently hammers SCALE. Many businesses need to learn about how much effort your desired outcomes will take.
The Secrets of a Mammoth Plumber – Tyler Williams
I mean, it’d be silly not to mention mine. When I set out to write a book, I didn’t want want it to be like anything else on the market. What you get here are a collection of parables about plumbers learning core lessons of marketing that are very true and important. Read one a day and you’ll understand more about marketing your own plumbing business than most of the competition in the market.
While written with a style influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
