The bad news, of course, is that the Queen of England has died, we’re experiencing global supply-chain chaos, and it’s gonna be a cold, cold winter.
The good news is that there’s a business-book boon, especially if you consider back-listed titles–older books–along with new ones.
The Productivity Project
by Chris Bailey
Piatkus, 2016
This is a good book for those who want to stop reading these kinds of books. Chris Bailey (not the musician, but the productivity consultant described by TED as “the most productive man you’d ever hope to meet”) spent a year researching productivity and tested every possible method–so we don’t have to.
Bailey states that we need to learn to balance three elements: energy, time, and attention. Energy comes from a healthy lifestyle (which includes plenty of sleep); time comes from learning to manage your priorities; and attention comes from reducing distractions in your environment.
Bailey challenges us to take a holistic view of our routines, and to make changes to our habits in order to boost productivity. And the good news is…there isn’t a one-size-fits-all productivity system. Don’t get up at 5 a.m. if you’re a night owl (it’s not going to make you more productive); don’t use productivity apps if tech is not your thing; don’t meditate 5 hours a day either. You get the drill. So, get the book, do the exercises, and find out what works for you.
Of course, if you’re too busy, you can just listen to Bailey’s podcast, or watch his TED Talk.
Google Semantic Search
by David Amerland,
Que Publishing, 2013
While Chris Bailey’s book might bring minor changes to your work routine, this book by David Amerland will completely change the way you approach SEO projects.
Semantic search seeks to understand natural language the way a human would. From here, it follows that semantic SEO should focus on an entire topic, rather than on a single keyword. For a good SEO strategy, then, you need to contextualize the keywords and clearly understand user intent.
This book frees you from the stewardship of keyword density, which in turn means that you can craft content that is, yes, easier for search engines to understand, but also more informative for your readers.
Amerland also talks about the Knowledge Graph, the importance of trust and influence, semantic markup, and the four Vs of semantic search: Variety, Velocity, Veracity, and Volume. He also includes a comprehensive content-marketing preparation list to create a kick-ass strategy. Good news: This book is available for free, courtesy of the author.
Complement Amerland’s book with the great “Brave New Text,” by Teodora Petkova. An SEO-game-changing combination.