Here are 100 books that Marketing For Dummies fans have personally recommended if you like
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As a business development coach and mentor with a strong background in sales and marketing roles in the SME and small business world, I have always been passionate about learning as much as I can about what works well in sales and marketing. Practicing what I preach has always been important, and I love books that align with my belief that sales and marketing need not be complex or onerous to get results. From my experience Small Business Owners do not have the band width to wade through complex marketing speak, they appreciate it when it is straight forward and simple.
I love this book because it provides a step-by-step guide and is focused on low-cost, practical strategies. I have recommended it to many of my small and medium business owner clients. I also love that it covers how to be a content marketing expert and an authority in your field, as well as social media and other simple lead-generation tools.
This book is very readable and offers a lot of simple ideas that are doable. I love the Duct Tape title as it gets a strong message across simply–Duct Tape is simple and effective; we all know that, and it makes the point that just like Duct Tape, marketing can be too.
In his trusted book for small businesses, John Jantsch challenges you to craft a marketing strategy that is as reliable as the go-to household item we all know, love, and turn to in a pinch: duct tape.
As a renowned marketing guru and small business coach, John Jantsch has become a leading advisor on how to build and grow a thriving business. Duct Tape Marketing shows you how to develop and execute a marketing plan that yields more revenue and ensures the longevity of small businesses.
Taking a strategic, systemic approach to marketing rather than being constantly won over to…
As a business development coach and mentor with a strong background in sales and marketing roles in the SME and small business world, I have always been passionate about learning as much as I can about what works well in sales and marketing. Practicing what I preach has always been important, and I love books that align with my belief that sales and marketing need not be complex or onerous to get results. From my experience Small Business Owners do not have the band width to wade through complex marketing speak, they appreciate it when it is straight forward and simple.
I loved this book because it appealed to my all-important keep marketing simple criteria. I used the book to create a straightforward marketing plan for my own business at the time, and I shared it with my clients. I found it to be brilliantly clear, straight to the point, and full of insight and wisdom. It really made me think as I was putting my plan together.
I think the main idea that a simple marketing plan, laid out on a single page, can be more effective than a complicated multi-page strategy document is a good one. This way of thinking certainly appealed to many of the small business owners I was working with at the time.
To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn't get done.
In The 1-Page Marketing Plan, serial entrepreneur and rebellious marketer Allan Dib reveals a marketing implementation breakthrough that makes creating a marketing plan simple and fast. It's literally a single page, divided up into nine squares. With it, you'll be able to map out your own…
As a business development coach and mentor with a strong background in sales and marketing roles in the SME and small business world, I have always been passionate about learning as much as I can about what works well in sales and marketing. Practicing what I preach has always been important, and I love books that align with my belief that sales and marketing need not be complex or onerous to get results. From my experience Small Business Owners do not have the band width to wade through complex marketing speak, they appreciate it when it is straight forward and simple.
I love this book because it made me really think about my own Purple Cow! I wondered what makes me remarkable and likely to stand out from the competition. Reading it, made me question whether I was getting that across in my marketing or not. I love Seth Godin’s writing style. I like his creativity and his point you are either remarkable or invisible.
After reading this book, I began questioning myself and my clients more, and I started noticing businesses that have a clear purple cow. Putting a Purple Cow into everything you do is something that I found easy to remember. I love the simple genius of this message.
You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice.
What do Apple, Starbucks, Dyson and Pret a Manger have in common? How do they achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and-true brands to gasp their last? The old checklist of P's used by marketers - Pricing, Promotion, Publicity - aren't working anymore. The golden age of advertising is over. It's time to add a new P - the Purple Cow.
Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat-out unbelievable. In his new bestseller, Seth Godin urges you to put a…
As a business development coach and mentor with a strong background in sales and marketing roles in the SME and small business world, I have always been passionate about learning as much as I can about what works well in sales and marketing. Practicing what I preach has always been important, and I love books that align with my belief that sales and marketing need not be complex or onerous to get results. From my experience Small Business Owners do not have the band width to wade through complex marketing speak, they appreciate it when it is straight forward and simple.
I love this book because it is so accessible and real. It is a substantial book that is more like a good marketing course. I would say it is one of my best go-to reference books. There is so much money, time, and effort wasted on marketing that doesn’t work, and I am a big believer in putting the time and effort into creating the best strategic plan. This book has given me a resource to refer to, to check my knowledge.
I love a marketing book that shows that the author understands the small business owner and this author does. I found the case studies brought the marketing methods and ideas alive for me. The way this book is written it feels like the author really cares about helping small business owners with their marketing. I love that.
This book is written for you if you want to get to grips with your marketing but you need a helping hand. It's packed with powerful tips, proven tools and many real-life examples and case studies. If you're looking for commonsense marketing advice that you can implement immediately, you'll find it on every page. You'll learn how to: plan and review your marketing activities, write brilliant copy that generates sales, write sales letters that sells, effectively troubleshoot when your marketing is not delivering, make your website a magnet for visitors and loads more!
I have done some pretty cool things in the arts. To share a few, I’ve given TEDx talks, I have produced and co-starred in a film that made it to Cannes, I have written 11+ books (one of which was a Barnes & Noble # 1 best seller), I have spoken at SAG/AFTRA and Writer’s Guild, I am an entertainment attorney, and I have an album up on iTunes/Apple Music/Spotify, etc. I really love inspiring people, and helping them to achieve life dreams. I hope this list will help inspire some of you to go after your dreams, too, and with a passion!
The stuff in this book is so good that I used his very techniques to end up co-writing a book with the author!
This book helped me to recognize that my success in show business (and indeed, in any field) was not going to be due to my talent (of which I have in excess supply!) but because of how well I could market that talent, and share it with the world.
Guerrilla Marketing was my trusted friend when I was starting out, and its lessons ring true 20 years later as I continue acting, producing, coding, speaking, and more. In fact, the lessons in this book helped me to book my first TEDx talk just this year (2024).
The book that started the guerilla marketing revolution, expanded and completely updated for the twenty-first century.
Jay Levinson's Guerrilla Marketing revolutionized marketing strategies for the small-business owner with his take-no-prisoners approach to finding clients. Based on hundreds of solid and effective ideas, Levinson’s philosophy has given birth to a new way of learning about market share and how to gain it. In this completely updated and expanded fourth edition, Levinson offers a new arsenal of weaponry for small-business success including strategies for marketing on the internet (explaining when and precisely how to use it); tips for using new…
After 17 years in the advertising industry, I became a professor to teach what I learned in practice. Only then did I start reflecting, researching, and discovering why we were successful in some efforts and not in others. From that perspective, I’ve been crafting new ways to approach marketing that are not based on what worked in the past, but on what works now in light of the dramatic changes to the field. Within marketing, I focus on social media strategy, digital marketing, and storytelling.
Marketing the old way took for granted that the company was in control. Now the consumer is in control. Mark Schaefer’s book will help you see the end of control and give you a manifesto for human-centered marketing. You’ll learn to see how your customers are part of your marketing department and how that is at the heart of success today. The good news for smaller brands is that winning in the rebellion doesn’t hinge on ad impressions, and big budgets, alone. Schaefer’s book helped me to see this new human-centered marketing from a more direct perspective. Instead of an evolution of the Four P’s he simply connects constant human truths to business success in “A Manifesto for Human-Centered Marketing” that ultimately leads to the new reality that your customers are your marketers.
Are you overwhelmed by the breathtaking rate of change in the business world? Are confusing consumer trends, the unrelenting pace of technology, and the breakneck speed of digital marketing making you feel irrelevant and lost? Path-finding author Mark Schaefer provides an achievable and realistic framework to help you stay ahead of the curve by re-imagining marketing in a world where hyper-empowered consumers drive the business results. Marketing Rebellion will teach you: • How cataclysmic consumer trends are a predictable result of a revolution that started 100 years ago. • Why businesses must be built on human impressions instead of advertising…
Mentioning health and safety is a great turn-off at parties when someone asks what you do for a living! Starting my training company 30 years ago, and later representing UK small business, it also became clear that we needed a practical, hands-on approach not a theoretical framework to ensure the safety and health of workers. Having five sons of my own (yes, really) gave even more reason to ensure people understood risk assessment, so my first book was published. Twenty years later, I am still writing non-fiction books and passionate about health and safety.
We all know how important it is to reach the target audience for your product or service, whatever business sector you operate in, so as an author, this is particularly relevant for me.
The good thing about the book is that it does not just focus on having an online presence but confirms the need to ensure you have offline presence too.
It is a practical approach based around four steps to creating your brand and the strategy to reach the audience, with examples of how the suggested strategies work. It is a realistic discussion about techniques we need to use today in order to reach the widest possible audience. I shall be trying the four steps out for myself!
Cut through the noise and create the biggest possible audience for your work. This book offers a proven method for expanding your reach online so you can make a meaningful difference for others.
Anyone who makes the bold decision to put their ideas out into the world wants to reach as many people as possible. Unfortunately, too many think it’s a question of numbers—the more people you can get in front of, the better. But true reach is about expanding your audience while making a meaningful and enduring difference that has a lasting impact.
The more I learn about the brain, the more I want to dig in and discover more. Why do we procrastinate? Why do people buy things? Why do some people love unlocking these topics weekly on The Brainy Business podcast (where each person on this list has been a guest) and sharing those insights with the world? When it comes to selling and buying in a brainy way, behavioral economics is the best way to get there, and these books are all a great first step into learning what behavioral science is, how the brain really works, and up-leveling your brand.
“The opposite of a good idea can still be a good idea.” Rory Sutherland is full of practical tips and examples from big brands and projects that can be applied to any business. By not being afraid of asking the dumb and obvious questions, you can open up a whole world of possibilities in your branding and experience.
HOW DOES MAGIC HAPPEN?The Ogilvy advertising legend—“one of the leading minds in the world of branding” (NPR)—explores the art and science of conjuring irresistible products and ideas.
"Sutherland, the legendary Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, uses his decades of experience to dissect human spending behavior in an insanely entertaining way. Alchemy combines scientific research with hilarious stories and case studies of campaigns for AmEx, Microsoft and the like. This is a must-read." —Entrepreneur ("Best Books of the Year")
Why is Red Bull so popular, though everyone—everyone!—hates the taste? Humans are, in a word, irrational, basing decisions as much on subtle external…
I’ve always been fascinated by the American counter-culture and its promise to change society, be it with radical lifestyles, drugs, or creating new cultural settings. I was going to study this from a more sociological approach until I discovered the history of the psychedelic movement and its promise to create a new society by reforming American individuals from within. Although I wound up becoming more interested in what the counter-culture actually achieved rather than dwelling on its excesses, I am currently working on a new book project that will shed light on an organization that managed to achieve both.
I had always been interested in the contradictions of the American counter-culture, so I loved how Frank underscored how rebellion and dissent had such a surprisingly positive impact on the corporate world.
Far from seeing counter-cultural messages as threats to American capitalism, marketing, and advertising executives welcomed these non-conformist ideals as a fantastic way of commercializing their mundane products by connecting them with hipness and authenticity. Frank’s contrarian position jibes well with my own thoughts on the topic, and I really enjoyed how he takes the reader through the genesis of hip advertising.
An evocative symbol of the 1960s was its youth counterculture. This study reveals that the youthful revolutionaries were augmented by such unlikely allies as the advertising industry and the men's clothing business. The ad industry celebrated irrepressible youth and promoted defiance and revolt. In the 1950s, Madison Avenue deluged the country with images of junior executives, happy housewives and idealized families in tail-finned American cars. But the author of this study seeks to show how, during the "creative revolution" of the 60s, the ad industry turned savagely on the very icons it had created, using brands as signifiers of rule-breaking,…
Drew Eric Whitman is known internationally as a dynamic consultant and trainer who smashes old advertising myths like a china-shop bull. Teaching the psychology behind the response for nearly four decades, he worked for the direct-marketing division of the largest ad agency in Philadelphia, was a senior copywriter for the country's leading direct-to-the-consumer insurance company, and was the associate copy chief for catalog giant Day-Timers. His work has been used by companies ranging from small retail shops to giant, multi-million dollar corporations. A popular keynote speaker at international affiliate marketing conferences, Drew’s intensive CA$HVERTISING Clinic teaches business people how to use consumer psychology to boost the effectiveness of their ads, brochures, sales letters, Websites, and more.
What’s it like to climb inside the mind of one of advertising’s most iconic legends? Reading this book is probably the closest thing to it. You’re sure to come out with a dramatically changed view on how the industry works, and doesn’t. I’ve quoted him often in Cashvertising because his no-bull approach to advertising resonates strongly with everything I’ve been teaching for nearly four decades. Make his words your own and then--when you speak to others about advertising--you’ll be speaking with the voice of unquestionable authority.
David Ogilvy is well known and respected as the most successful adman of all time. His bestselling book, Ogilvy on Advertising, gives valuable advice to young hopefuls and veterans of the industry wanting to improve their success rate.
