More than a million new book titles are published each year. Few people have the time to read even 0.01% of that number each year. Blinkist is a book summary service that has condensed over 3,000 of the most impactful non-fiction books into summaries that take about 15 minutes to read.
I maintain a list of about a thousand books that I want to read. I know I will never read the majority of them. That’s where Blinkist comes in. I use book summary services to “read” the books that I realistically will never find the time to read. These are mostly the longer books that I simply don’t have the enthusiasm to pore through.
Typically when I read a book, I take note of all the helpful and actionable content that I may want to revisit. Here are ten books I’ve read on Blinkist, along with the notes I took from reading the “blinks” (as Blinkist likes to call them). Think of it as a summary of the summary 🙂
One Simple Idea, by Stephen Key: You don’t need a lot of money to start a profitable business. The first thing you do should be to find an experienced mentor in your local area who has successfully launched a similar business. The easiest way to start is to make a small modification to an existing, successful product. Study the marketplace and find out its trends, major players, and customer characteristics. Find your unique selling point by solving a common problem or unmet demand in a new way. Test your idea on the market to make sure there’s enough demand and your price point will be profitable. A rule of thumb for estimating the retail price is to multiply the cost of manufacturing by 5. Write a short, focused business plan describing what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and why. Forecast what you think your revenues and expenses will be to ensure your business will be profitable. Set up a home office and get a business address like a PO Box. Register your company with your state as an LLC or corporation. Two sources of “free” money to fund your business are crowdfunding and grants. For manufacturing, it’s best to find one based in your home country for now. Ask potential manufacturers for a quote with prices, capabilities, and services. Use cheap or free marketing channels like websites, social media, and Youtube. Reach out to influencers and give them something of value. Design a strong brand including company name, logo, and tagline. Start with small orders at a few local stores. Keep track of finances and inventory. Use social media to learn about customers and maybe advertise.
The $100 Startup, by Chris Guillebeau: You can start your own business with less than you think. All you need is a product, customers willing to buy it, and a way for them to pay you. Find the intersection of your passions, your skills, and the needs of others. Usually you can’t make money directly from your passion, but you must instead work in an adjacent field to help others with the same passion. Research your target market’s demographics. Talk to your target market and find out what problems they have. Hustle and get creative with marketing rather than paying for advertising. Only invest in things that will directly impact sales. Actively follow one or two key metrics. The subscription model is most profitable. Set prices by the benefits you provide, not by the cost of producing the service. To maximize profits, give customers a limited range of prices. Outsource tasks as you grow. Your business plan should fit on one page. Keep everything simple. Give yourself deadlines.
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott: Becoming a good writer means writing about everything that you observe in your life. Write about everything that’s important to you. All good writers follow a strict routine that includes finding a place to write, then going there to write around the same time every day even if you don’t feel like writing. Don’t be afraid of writing shitty first drafts, just write. After you’re done with the first draft, you begin to edit and fix it up to produce an improved second draft. The third draft is the “dental” draft where you poke and prod to find and fix problems. Write at least a single page each day, no matter what. Go out and strike conversations with people and discover their stories. Find writer friends, a writing group, or writing class to discuss your work with.
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, by Darren Hardy: Starting a business is tough. The key to business success is igniting your passion and following your dreams. Focus on sales: personalize your sales pitch to address each individual client’s wants. People make the company: hire only the best, even if they’re better than you. Productivity means prioritization: Say “no” to almost everything, but carefully pick one “yes.” At the start of each day, consider the tasks you want to accomplish and pick one to concentrate on finishing. Set aside everything else and focus on the one task until it is completed before moving to other tasks.
The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley: The typical millionaire doesn’t live a glamorous life, but lives below their means. Budget your expenses, living costs, investments. Set a goal for retirement and put aside a certain amount to save each month. The expected wealth of a person can be calculated by multiplying the person’s age by their pre-tax annual household income, divided by ten. To become a millionaire, you need to accumulate wealth by spending significantly less than you make.
Loving What Is, by Byron Katie: Use “The Work” to gain a deeper understanding of your thoughts. Start doing “The Work” by writing down the thoughts that trouble you. Then ask yourself: Is this thought true? Can I be absolutely sure of its truth? How does this thought make me react? Without this thought, who would I be?… turn around your thoughts and look at it in different ways. And don’t stress over things you can’t change.
The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan: Science is looking at the world with critical skepticism and trying to make sense of it. Many common superstitions can be debunked with science, though science does not necessarily rule out the existence of God. Science can only thrive in a free society. We must provide better science education to our kids the governments and mass media should support science.
Out of Control, by Kevin Kelly: We are headed toward technologies that intermingle natural and artificial elements. Vivisystems like beehives consist of hundreds of individual bees that are networked together and act as one. The future of technology will blend artificial intelligence, networks, and biological principles.
What If?, by Randall Munroe: Sometimes taking ludicrous hypothetical questions seriously and running with them will lead to intriguing answers. Next time someone asks you a silly question, try doing the math and figuring out the answer.
The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck: In order to grow spiritually, you must start practicing self-discipline, delayed gratification, love (as an action), and grace.
Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. If click these links and buy a book, you will pay the same low price, but Amazon will send a few coins my way. If you enjoy the work I do on this blog, buying from the links is a great way to show your appreciation and motivate me to do more work on it.
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