Shameless plug. In Step One, I teach you the Surprisingly Simple Process To Research, Validate, And Choose The Perfect Online Business Idea. In this book you will learn:

• The reason why your first business should be an online business.
• The step-by-step process to find and validate a viable online business idea.
• The trusted and proven process to brainstorm a business idea list and come up with over 150 business ideas.
• The steps to take to successfully launch your business.

This is the ultimate online business book. By the end of this book, you will come away with the perfect idea–and plan–to launch your online business.

You can view Step One here on Amazon.

This ranks #1 on my list of the best books on passive income. The 4-Hour Work Week is the one that got it started for me. It didn’t click until I read this book. In fact, I didn’t think online business was a viable business opportunity until reading this book, let alone the thought of generating passive income and spending my day doing anything other than working!

This is a must-read for every entrepreneur.

You can view The 4-Hour Work Week here on Amazon.

Another must-read for every entrepreneur. Will it Fly by Pat Flynn (one of my favorite entrepreneurs in the online business space) teaches you how to test and validate a product BEFORE you build it. You must understand this concept before starting an online business. Far too often I see new entrepreneurs jump into an idea and invest thousands of dollars before ever talking to any potential customers. They end up with a wonderfully designed and very expensive product that nobody wants!

Will it Fly gives you a process for testing, validating, and pre-selling your business idea before you spend too much time investing in the wrong business. I use the Will it Fly process for every new business and every new product that I create. I would not be making $1,000 recurring passive income from my Pomsky blog without this book.

You can view Will it Fly here on Amazon.

I created a simple membership site that increased my monthly revenue by $500 (and growing) after reading The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow. This is one of the best books on passive income for the sole fact that it teaches you how to create automatic recurring revenue with the subscription model.

In this book, John gives you nine subscription business models that you can build a business around including the membership website, the monthly gift box, and subscription services.

I highly recommend this book for new entrepreneurs looking for revenue-generating ideas, and entrepreneurs with a solid business looking for new ways to generate recurring revenue.

You can view The Automatic Customer here on Amazon.

This is a new one recently added to my favorite reading list. I include Rework by Jason Fried in my list of best books on passive income because of how different it is. It takes such a different approach and it debunks many of the traditional online business myths that scare people away from the online business space. This book will give you the confidence to start your own online business and show you how it can be done.

I love the conversational tone used by Jason throughout this book. He covers a lot of the same topics that I’m constantly preaching (but in a much more concise and eloquent way) like you don’t need a business plan, you don’t need startup capital, you don’t need to work 20-hour days, and most importantly you just need to get started.

As Jason puts it, “With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You don't even need an office. Those are all just excuses. What you really need to do is stop talking and start working. This book shows you the way.”

You can view Rework here on Amazon.

This is an entrepreneurial classic. Ask any online entrepreneur, and you’ll find that 9 out of 10 have read the E-myth revisited by Michael E. Gerber. A number of online business entrepreneurs that I’ve met credit their start to this book, that’s why I’m including it in my list of the best passive income books.

Here is the description of the E-myth revisited: “Gerber walks you through the steps in the life of a business—from entrepreneurial infancy through adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective: the guiding light of all businesses that succeed—and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise. Most importantly, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business. The E-Myth Revisited will help you grow your business in a productive, assured way.”

You can view The E-Myth Revisited here on Amazon.

I highly recommend Donald Miller’s book Building a Storybrand. This is just one of the many recommended books published by Donald Miller.

I can credit a large increase in monthly sales to this book. By implementing the Storybrand process into my niche websites I increased my email subscribers, reduced bounce rate, and increased my monthly recurring revenue.

In a super quick one-sentence Building a Storybrand summary, this book will teach a step by step guide to clarify the message of your business and marketing by positioning the customer as the hero, so that you can guide them through the challenges they face to solve their problems with your products and services. You can see a full Storybrand summary that I published here.

You can view StoryBrand here on Amazon.

Copy that sells by Ray Edwards is by far the best book on writing sales copy. It is the only book I recommend for help writing sales pages, effective sales emails, and website copy.

Ray is a master copywriter, he has built a whole business and podcast around the art of writing sales copy.

I personally use Ray’s PASTOR method on my websites and sales emails. It is a must-read for anyone struggling with conversion, email opt-ins, and writing sales copy. You will use Ray’s step by step formula to writing copy in all of your businesses. This book will improve your sales and conversion.

You can view Copy That Sells here on Amazon.

The book “email persuasion” is the book that kicked off my success in email marketing. I now generate 95% of my sales through my email list. This book helped me improve my email sales funnel, improve my email open rate, and improve my email click through. This directly resulted in an increase in sales for each of my email sales funnels.

You can view Email Persuasion here on Amazon.

This is another great book by John Warrillow. Built to Sell is different than all of the other books on this list. This book by John Warrillow is written as a story, where you follow along with the fictional story of a graphic design agency as the owner scales and eventually sells the business.

This is a great book with a lot of key insights on how to master one aspect of your business to grow your sales, automated the business to run without your personal input, and then sell the business.

You can view Built to Sell here on Amazon.

This book is about business mindset, not necessarily about passive income. That being said, it is a must-read for anyone building a business. Think and Grow Rich is a must-read for any entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur. Whether you are building a passive income business or a service-based business, you should read this book. It gives you some keys to business success, how to unlock the potential of your brain, how to think through business ideas, and how to stay focus for future success. You can read my favorite Think and Grow Rich quotes here.

You can view Think and Grow Rich here on Amazon.

Similar to Think and Grow Rich, this is a business mindset book. I can't stress the importance of mindset enough. If you do not take care of your emotions and your thoughts, you will not make it as an entrepreneur. Start focusing and investing in your mindset now, whether you have a passive income website or a giant corporation with one hundred employees.

Secrets of the millionaire mind gives us insight into the thought practices necessary to become a millionaire.

You can view Secrets of the Millionaire Mind here on Amazon.