Happy Friday! How has your week been? Happy to see it end, or excited about the opportunities that presented themselves over the last 5 days? It could even be a mixed bag – it certainly was around here. But those are good weeks too – always something to learn and ways to grow. And speaking of growth…

There is so much information online – book lists and tips of the trade, personal updates and unique opportunities. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start when you only have a few minutes to dig through, so today we did the work for you!

  • Ah, the decline of organic Facebook reach. We’ve all felt it and wondered what we can do to get our posts back in front of our audience again, and now HubSpot has some ideas to help you gain traction again!
  • Speaking of Facebook, if your opinion of everyone’s life is based on what they post on social, you’d probably come to the (incorrect) conclusion that they all have perfect lives. Last week, Becky Robinson wrote a very real and very honest post about those days that are anything but Facebook-worthy.

“Keep Going. Don’t Quit.” @beckyrbnsn | http://bit.ly/1Sd0DB5 Tweet:

  • Inc. recently came up with a list (based on the feedback of their readers) of the 18 “Most Motivational Books Ever Written” – what books would you add? We can think of a few!
  • We’d certainly add Whitney’s books to the Inc. list. You might recall that Whitney Johnson was one of our very first book launches (Dare, Dream, Do), who came back to launch her second book, Disrupt Yourself. With two books and two launches, Whitney is offering her own tips (14 of them!) on how to make your book a success – and we think she’s spot on!
  • Have you ever wondered about the “rules” of social media? Do they really exist? One of our favorite companies (and tools), Buffer, has a great post out that you must read if you use social!
  • And speaking of social experts – don’t miss this post on growing your Twitter following from our very own Christy Kirk, Director of Social Strategy!
  • Closing out with some Hometown Reads news – our next city is… CHICAGO! If you’re an author in the Windy City, sign up today and follow us on Facebook to stay in the loop about our plans!

We’ve shared our links, what would make YOUR list?