{"id":5325,"date":"2017-11-05T08:39:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-05T16:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/?p=5325"},"modified":"2017-11-05T08:41:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-05T16:41:57","slug":"business-reads-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/2017\/11\/business-reads-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Business Reads: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Running a tiny, but profitable, business takes a lot of work. For me, it\u2019s all about good time management, and having a pretty good understanding of all the different aspects of effectively running a business. When you\u2019re an independent business person, you wind up, to use an old adage, \u201cWear all the hats.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

I frequently find myself talking to my fellow entrepreneurs and recommending a small collection of books that have really helped me keep my business profitable and on target. These are part of my essential reference collection that I keep on hand to reread when I need the info.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Note: I’ve included links to these books in both print and Kindle form.\u00a0 If you use these click-through links, I get a tiny commission from Amazon that supports this website.\u00a0 However, many of these books are business mainstays are widely available on the used book market so be sure to check out your local used bookstores.<\/span><\/p>\n

Essential Reads (for every independent business owner)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"Getting Things Done<\/em> <\/b>by David Allen<\/span><\/h3>\n

This book has been in my collection so long, that I just purchased the Kindle version update to give it a re-read and see if there are new tips and techniques for the new technologies. I\u2019m not going to kid ya, this book is a bit dry. But for the patient, it has so many excellent ideas about mental organizations and productivity techniques that I consider this an essential read for everyone!\u00a0 Available as\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a> &\u00a0<\/span>Kindle<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World <\/span><\/strong><\/em>by Michael Hyatt<\/span><\/h3>\n

Although this book is starting to feel slightly dated in this era of social media changes, the concepts included in this book are fundamental. I find myself quoting this book frequently in conversations about digital marketing. For me the key takeaway was thinking of your website as your personal domain or \u201ccountry,\u201d and each social media outlet as an \u201cembassy.\u201d At any moment, a social media platform could fold, like an insolvent country and there will be no one there to airlift you out! (Note: He\u2019s a religious man and references his Christianity, and that might bug some folks.)\u00a0 Available as\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0<\/span>Kindle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Book Design and Layout<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Of course, one of the major components of my business is creating books, magazines, and printable .pdf publications. Although I\u2019m using an ancient version of InDesign for my document layout program, I\u2019m always looking for inspirations for new page designs. For inspiration, I frequently flip through the hundreds of free magazines on the issuu.com<\/span><\/a> website, where I\u2019m housing my new magazine, Amabella. But there are times when I just want to go back to basics and I refer to these two books.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Editing by Design <\/b><\/em>by Jan V. White <\/span><\/h3>\n

This book is a CLASSIC! I think I used the second edition when I was in college, and the copy I currently own is the third edition. This was the single most important book on page layout and design that I ever used. Now you can get it on Kindle and there are numerous used copies online and probably in your favorite local used bookstore. Available as\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a> &\u00a0<\/span>Kindle\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Best Practices for Graphic Designers, Grids, and Page Layouts: An Essential Guide for Understanding and Applying Page Design Principles<\/em> <\/span><\/strong>by Amy Graver & Ben Jura<\/span><\/h3>\n

I consider this the modern sister of my Editing by Design book. The information, quite frankly, is similar, but this book is simply smaller and doesn\u2019t have the depth and breadth. That said, this book uses images and examples that reflect our modern design aesthetic. It\u2019s a good read, and I seem to be in the habit of flipping through it casually before each publication design session.\u00a0 Available as a\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

VIDEO Production<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

The latest news in the world of marketing is the rallying cry, \u201cUse More Video.\u201d In our brave new world of video everything, there are literally dozens of places to put videos. From Instagram and Facebook to Vimeo and YouTube, the ability to make a video is essential in our modern age. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Vlog Like a Boss <\/span><\/strong><\/em>by Amy Schmittauer<\/span><\/h3>\n

This book has an upbeat infectious optimism and \u201cyou can do it\u201d attitude! It\u2019s filled with tips on all facets of video making. Although it says \u201cVlog\u201d like boss, don’t let the title fool you. Much of the information would be useful for folks making any kind of video content from DIY\u2019s and tutorials, to behind the scenes “day in the life” style vlogs. Available as\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a><\/span>\u00a0& <\/span>Kindle<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"IMovie: The Missing Manual<\/em> <\/span><\/strong>by David Pogue & Aaron Miller<\/span><\/h3>\n

As a business person, who uses a Mac, I have turned to the free software, iMovie to edit my video content. This is the software I used when I made the Kickstarter Pitch video for my collaborative book release, \u201cBecoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage.\u201d Reading online manuals are not always the most time effective method for me. I like having a book sitting open beside me as I work, that I can turn to and quickly flip to the information I need without leaving the iMovie software to look up YouTube tutorials or to read the online manual.\u00a0 Available as\u00a0<\/span>Book<\/a> &\u00a0<\/span>Kindle<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This small collection of resources will get you started.\u00a0 I’ll be sharing another batch of my most essential business books in the coming weeks. And now, I’m off to spend some quality time on my couch reading the updated edition of Getting Things Done!<\/p>\n

Best of luck in your business!<\/em><\/strong>
\nDawn Devine ~ Davina<\/em><\/strong>
\nNovember 4, 2017<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

Running a tiny, but profitable, business takes a lot of work. For me, it\u2019s all about good time management, and having a pretty good understanding of all the different aspects of effectively running a business. When you\u2019re an independent business person, you wind up, to use an old adage, \u201cWear all the hats.\u201d I frequently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-pubs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/51TLWMEVT0L._SX324_BO1204203200_.jpg?fit=326%2C499&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YZtR-1nT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5325"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5347,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5325\/revisions\/5347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}