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Your online marketing knowledge is a painting. You add a few brush strokes onto a blank canvas when you read your first book about Internet marketing. The next online marketing book provide extra tones, colors and shapes. Advanced Internet marketing books, perhaps within your niche, help define the edges and create contrast. Before long, the big picture emerges.
Here are my reviews of an ever-growing list of Internet marketing books. (disclaimer: affiliate links)
Review Date: 3/11/12
As a one-time World of Warcraft junkie, I thoroughly enjoyed Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken, a look at how game mechanics and gaming culture can improve real life and even the very future of human civilization. Read this excellent book, and you'll understand why it's a good thing to introduce unnecessary obstacles into your life.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 3/11/12
Uncertainty is inevitable when you're doing something new and great, according to author Jonathan Fields. He asserts that the more certain something is, the more likely that it has already been done. Uncertainty, while often uncomfortable in a business environment, is a necessary part of innovation. This engaging read will be a handy reference the next time things get uncertain on my new projects.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 3/11/12
Influencer was an engaging read that delved into the principles of influence. Drawing upon previous works in the same space, Influencer entertained, but failed to push the envelope.
Rating: 3/5
Review Date: 3/11/12
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing is like a crash course in all the things that matter in traditional marketing. Online marketers often neglect tried-and-true offline marketing tactics. This brief, yet helpful look at marketing best practices is well worth the read.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 3/11/12
The notion of how to generate demand for a product or service seems to be pretty abstract on the surface, but authors of Demand, Adrian Slywotzky and Karl Weber, lay out a systematic approach to the trade. They outlined an iterative approach to product life cycles where features are added after continuous rounds of testing and user feedback. Products become complete, and therefore magnetic, which can help drive demand. I enjoyed Demand.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 12/11/11
Marketers and advertisers have been using tricks from sociology, psychology and other social sciences for years to persuade consumers to buy goods and services. Martin Lindstrom explains some of the tricks of the trade and cites case studies from his own and others' experience. Find out how the sound of a soda can opening can affect sales, why many food don't actually require refrigeration after opening, and why word-of-mouth is the ultimate marketing tactic. This book was a great read.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 11/20/11
As a fan of Chris Hardwick from Singled Out and The Nerdist Podcast, I was really excited to read The Nerdist Way. Hardwick loves nerds because of our ability to hyper focus, and uses his experiences as a nerd to build a framework around self improvement. As a former online RPG gamer myself, I found myself identifying quite a bit (perhaps too much?) with Hardwick's arch type nerd in The Nerdist Way. Highly amusing and recommended!
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 11/20/11
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind was a great look into the art of positioning in marketing. This book explored classic theory and positioning strategy by great marketing companies such as Proctor and Gamble. Anyone bringing a product to market will benefit from reading this book.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 11/20/11
How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age is a re-examining of Dale Carnegie's famous guide to networking redone for the digital age. While the principles behind the book were still solid, I'm not sure they gracefully integrated the business acumen and social media tips. I would have preferred to read the original instead.
Rating: 3/5
Review Date: 11/20/11
Your Brain at Work is a look into how our brains operate in the context of work. Author David Rock uses a fictitious couple Paul and Emily, to illustrate how our brains respond to stimuli in the workplace. Your Brain at Work was a good look at how you can increase your performance at work using the biology of your own brain.Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 10/06/11
SEO has grown to include many aspects of content marketing and social media. Content Rules is a comprehensive list of ideas for sourcing, producing, managing, creating, and socializing content that your audience will love. I'm of a fan of C.C. Chapman, so this book was a long time coming!
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 10/06/11
Anything You Want is the story of how to run a great customer-centered business, as told by the founder of CD Baby, Derek Sivers. CD Baby's disregard for traditional business models paired with a knack for building customer loyalty through great customer service and zany, yet wildly popular expressions of gratitude turned it into a Internet success in the early 2000's. Forget your business training and open your mind to Sivers and his positive approach to running a business.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 10/06/11
Good to Great has been out for over ten years now, but it's a book recommended by many people I admire greatly. After reading Jim Collins's book on how great organizations became and stayed great, I am energized by what I can do if I can further define my own personal "hedgehog concept" and become better than I am today.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 10/06/11
Doug Edwards writes a fascinating account of working at Google as their 59th employee and first marketer in charge of the Google brand. Edwards covers the early days of Google from just a project by Page and Brin to just after Google going public and becoming the dominant force it is today. Every search marketing professional should try to understand not only the search engines, but those who make them as well!
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 08/18/11
One of the most comprehensive guides on planning, creating and managing content for the web. Kristina Halvorson's strategic guide is somewhat brief, yet I deliberately read it over the course of several months to let the depth of the author's knowledge and experience. The spine is worn and pages are filled with dog ears on my copy of this book.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 8/14/11
I love Gary Vaynerchuk. His passion for integrating business and social media is as a awesome as is his lack of patience for those willing to embrace it. In The Thank You Economy, Vaynerchuk asserts that the company that cares the most is going to be the company that leaves its mark on the 21st century. Let The Thank You Economy inspire you to do great things.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 8/14/11
The Steve Jobs Way tells the story of Apple and Steve Jobs from the perspective of long-time Jobs' employee and Apple Senior VP Jay Elliot. If you're a fan of Apple, Steve Jobs, or both, you'll want to read this book. The Steve Jobs Way explains some of Jobs' obsession with products and how Apple adopted a culture of pirates.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 7/24/11
The Happiness Advantage explores the relatively new branch of psychology of positive psychology, the student of positivity and happiness and their effects on our behavior. Once thought to be a simple absence of fear, the species-saving emotion responsible for our fight or flight reactions, happiness is now looked upon as having its own role in human evolution. The Happiness Advantage also asserts that success follows happiness, not the other way around. What a great book.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 7/24/11
The Upside of Irrationality is Dan Ariely's follow-up book to his behavioral economics hit, Predictably Irrational. In this book Ariely provides further examples of human's irrational behavior and what we can do to avoid falling victim to our own irrationalities. The Upside of Irrationality covers topics such as why we think our ideas are usually better and why things we build take on greater value than the things we don't.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 7/24/11
Brothers Dan and Chip Heath's most recent book dives into the difficult topic of how to get people to change. With backgrounds in behavioral economics, the Heaths lay out a mental framework for making the most of your efforts to change a group's behavior (or your own), which includes tips for appealing to both your logical and your emotional partsof your brain. If you like learning how humans tick, you'll love Switch.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 6/17/11
If people aren't acting on your good ideas, it's probably becauseyou are cursed. At least that's what the authors of Made to Stick think. Authors and brothers Chip and Dan Heath assert that your good ideas aren't gaining enough traction because of something called the Curse of Knowledge. If you've ever had a great idea and wondered why everyone didn't accept it immediately, you'll certainly want to check out this 2007 examination into what makes ideas stick.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 6/17/11
I'm a strong believer that my success depends on the success of those around me as well. You have to give to get, which is why I loved Strengths Finder 2.0. Gallup's Tim Rath details each of 30+ personality themes and the science that goes behind maximizing your ability to work, live and thrive with your colleagues, friends and family. My themes are Activator, Communication, Futuristic, Maximizer, Strategic. What are yours?
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 6/17/11
I enjoy meeting new people and making connections. Never Eat Alone is a modern guide to networking strategy and etiquette according to author and consultant, Keith Ferrazzi. While Ferrazzi's collective efforts may seem a bit much at times, anyone can build their own plan a la carte from the author's insights.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 5/25/11
Unthinking is a look at the subconscious activity in our minds, and how these powerful forces are responsible for many of our purchase decisions. It was a easy read, but I prefer meatier, yet similar books on neuroscience and/or behavioral economics such as Buyology, Predictably Irrational, and/or Influence. It was a good read overall.
Rating: 3/5
Review Date: 5/25/11
In the Plex is a look behind the scenes at Google from the perspective of Wired's Senior Writer and author, Steven Levy, who provides a fascinating look at the history and development of Google, as well as a look into the personalities of Google's leaders. I learned about everything from multi-word bigrams to the story of how Montessori school had a profound impact on the shaping of Google. Required reading for SEOs.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 5/4/11
Although not marketing-related, this book is one of the best books I've read for business in a long while. Rand explores the value of an individual's mind and their ability to contribute to society. Is it better to serve one's own interests or to serve the good of the people? Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical page-turner that fundamentally changed the way I look at work and how I contribute.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 4/24/11
Seth Godin is one of my favorite sources for workplace pep talks. In Poke the Box Godin encourages us all to be starters because, as he explains, it is the only thing that differentiates companies these days. There are too many options for consumers to be simply good at what you do. You have to doing new things and changing all the time. If you're a fan of Linchipin, Free Prize Inside or Tribes, you'll like Poke the Box. Tip: Download the audio version of the book via Amazon or Audible to hear Seth Godin himself narrate the book.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 4/2/11
I appreciated this book as Guy Kawasaki's unique and personal business philosophy. As a former evangelist for Apple and a successful new media presence, I liked how Kawasaki's book was a melding of many different perspectives on how to be successful through enchantment.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 3/25/11
This is probably the best book I've read on social media to date. Brian Solis does an amazing job at going beyond the buzzwords and really delving into the sociology, ethnography and anthropology of what happens in social networks. A must-read for any social media professional.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 3/16/11
Attention! This Book Will Make You Money was an OK read. There are scores of online marketing books out there, and it's getting harder for each new one to offer something unique and different. Kukral's slant is how to get attention and profit from it. There were some decent case studies and tactics presented but I wasn't completely blown away.
Rating: 3/5
Review Date: 2/28/11
If you like The Social Network, you'll appreciate this book even more. Kirkpatrick's account of Zuckerberg and Facebook is completely factual. He covers the history of the company and the product, as well as insights into the mind of one of the most unique minds in social media. If you're using Facebook for marketing, you can't afford not to read this book.
Rating 4/5
Review Date: 1/23/11
Describing and illustrating successful marketing in 2011 is a lengthy conversation. David Meerman Scott does a wonderful job of showing how marketing and consumer relationships have fundamentally changed with the mass adoption of the Internet.
Scott goes into depth on first the importance of creating content that solves your customers problems and then on the details of how to apply to the idea to each channel of new media (e.g., search, blogs, podcasts, etc.).
This is a great book to give to anyone who needs to understand the importance and general process behind a brand's content strategy for the web, including small business owners, VPs and just about anyone in marketing.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 1/8/11
As an economics major, I always was disappointed by the level of rationality attributed to people as they make their decisions within the balance of supply and demand. Sure, price influences our decisions, but it's more than just that.
Enter Dan Ariely and Predictably Irrational. Ariely walks us through his efforts in behavior economics, or the study of humans' irrational behavior and its effect on our economic choices. Traditional economics predicts how we SHOULD act. Behavioral economics attempts to explain why we act the way we do.
It's a truly fascinating read for anyone in marketing, business or the web.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 12/19/10
You see a lot of information on the web today about persuasive design conversion optimization. Influence: Science and Practice goes into incredible detail about the different psychological triggers that fuel factors of influence such as reciprocity, social proof, liking and authority. This is where online marketing is headed, making Cialdini's ground-breaking book a must-read.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 8/17/10
The Art of SEO is a tome of SEO knowledge. At over 550 pages, this book covers the major areas, tactics and nuances of SEO. Even in an industry where information is out-dated nearly instantly, The Art of SEO is and will remain an incredibly valuable resource for years. If you're an SEO, owning this book should be mandatory.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 7/21/10
Search engine optimization (SEO) is tough to get into for a lot of marketers because it can be incredibly technical. Vanessa Fox does an excellent job of explaining technical search engine and SEO concepts in language familiar to most marketers. In doing so Fox is able to illustrate the importance of search engines and break down the technical barriers to understanding an often misunderstood discipline. Great book for SEO beginners and all marketers.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 6/30/10
Seth Godin is always good for some healthy can-do ideas. In Linchpin, he describes the process to become indispensable at an organization not by talent or natural ability, but rather by choice. Overcome your "lizard brain" and make some art!
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 6/16/10
I know I recommend a lot of books, but this is a must-read. Assuming you have a basic appreciation for online marketing tenants (e.g., SEO, usability, etc.), this book is the end-game for the modern digital marketer. Optimization is a journey, not a destination, and Eisenberg et al. provide a framework and nearly infinite suggestions on how to improve anyone's online results.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 5/30/10
Tim Ash is a very smart man. And that's an understatement. In Landing Page Optimization, Ash describes the steps necessary to maximize the likeliness of your website to convert visitors into customers: awareness, interest, desire and action. From strategy to the complex math involved, Landing Page Optimization is a complete guide for those beginning to tweak their landing pages for conversion.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 5/19/10
I am a sucker for inspiration and Godin delivers as usual. In Tribes, Godin points out how organizations have the "religion" of process and rules and the "faith" of a mission and vision. He urges his readers to embrace others that share your faith, even if it means breaking some rules and being labeled a "heretic." This is the only way to create truly remarkable products and services. And it's up to you and me.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 5/6/10
Martin Lindstrom packs this book full of information on nueromarketing, the new field in marketing that combines traditional marketing stimuli with scientific brain scans to reveal what REALLY gets us to buy things. From basic definitions within the new field to many helpful case studies, Buyology is a fascinating look into this new and exciting way to market products.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 4/1/10
Chris Brogan and Julien Smith use arbitrage, kindness and a willingness to try new things to fuel this best seller with tips and guidelines on how to become a Trust Agent, a helpful entrepreneurial type in the center of a vast network of colleagues and (more importantly) friends. Very good and original take on "what to do with social media.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 2/3/10
Depending on what you've read, Mitch Joel will either open your eyes to a new way of marketing and doing business or cement some important concepts you may already know. As a big fan of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast, I was very pleased to find that Joel's book was a big picture version of his weekly show.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 1/23/10
Don't Make Me Think is the first book you should read if you're new to web sites. Steve Krug has an uncanny knack for providing keen insights with a witty saying or an excellent visual.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 12/10/09
Don't Make Me Think is the first book you should read if you have any part in creating websites. Steve Krug has an uncanny knack for providing keen insights with a witty saying or an excellent visual.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 12/10/09
Letting Go of the Words is the definitive guide on how to develop content for web sites. Ginny Redish does a wondeful job of explaining how to present content to your visitors in a way that will meet their needs and compel them to meet yours.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 12/10/09
This is a great tactical guide on how to utilize the current online marketing landscape to bring customers to you rather than push your message at them.
Rating: 4/5
Review Date: 12/10/09
Avinash Kaushik is one of my heroes. This book is an excellent blend of passion, know-how and no-nonsense. It provides wonderful insights on how to measure and improve your business through web analytics, no matter who you are. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5
Review Date: 12/10/09
While this book was a pretty good read, I found there were some parts that were quite out-of-date. Overall, the book was a useful how-to on Internet fundraising.
Rating: 3/5
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