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Marketing Books for Small Business
Do you want to maximize your time by reading only the best marketing books? Do you wonder which marketing books give the most down-to-earth, practical marketing advice?
I've read hundreds of marketing books and there are only a few I'd recommend. Plus, because I'm a published author, I'm very picky. Some marketing books are entertainingly written, but lack substance. Others are filled with usable information, but boy are they dull.
Below are my picks for the "best of the best" marketing books. Most of them will appeal to small business owners, but some are classic marketing books that will appeal to companies of all sizes. After reading some or all of these books you'll be more confident in your abilities to market (and grow) your company.
Click on the book or the title to order…
 | The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Business by Jay Lipe - This is my first book and one I'm very proud of. I wrote it picturing myself and a small business owner sitting on a porch swing. I tried to anticipate what a business owner's most pressing marketing questions would be and set about answering them (I've worked with literally hundreds of small business owners, so it wasn't that hard coming up with the content for this book. It's really just the lessons I teach each of my consulting clients day in and day out). In addition to chapters on targeting, goal setting, and developing a marketing plan, I also includes more unique chapters on search engine positioning, how to market your company during a recession and tips for successfully implementing your marketing effort.
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 | Stand Out from the Crowd; Secrets to Crafting a Winning Company Identity by Jay Lipe - Branding isn't just for Fortune 500 companies; growing businesses must brand themselves too. In this, my second book, I cover a host of topics including elevator speeches, positioning, brochure how-to's, website tricks and tips, and lots more. There's also a branding quiz in the upfront section that lets you grade how well your organization brands itself currently. Once you take the quiz, I'm confident you'll know exactly where your company brand measures up and where it falls down.
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 | The InfoGuru Marketing Manual by Robert Middleton - This is an outstanding resource for service professionals. If you're a consultant, free-lancer, or independent professional, Robert's advice will be right up your alley. I especially like his treatment of creating your Audio Logo; that is, how you answer the question "What do you do for a living?" Most independent professionals I meet fail the test of answering this question. With Robert's InfoGuru Manual you'll get an A+. The book also includes detailed sections on packaging your services so buyers get interested quickly and how to promote your company in the most effective (and affordable) ways. I break out my copy of this valuable manual every year and refer back to its many dog-eared pages. Highly recommended.
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 | Streetwise Marketing Plan; Winning Strategies for Every Small Business by Don Debelak - I personally know Don and salute his approach to marketing: Keep it simple. Don offers simple, step-by-step instructions for writing your company's marketing plan, but then goes one step further. He includes an extensive "Sample Marketing Plans" section. There he features sample marketing plans for a retail coffee shop, a manufacturing company, and an internet company. There's also a workbook section at the end that allows you to fill in the blanks when writing your own marketing plan.
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 | Selling your Services; Proven Strategies to Get Clients to Hire you (or Your Firm) by Robert Bly - If you don't have at least one of Mr. Bly's books on your shelf, your collection is incomplete. This book is a masterful walk through every step of the process a service provider goes through to win new business. From generating interest in your services, to getting appointments with prospects, to submitting a powerful proposal, to following up after the presentation, to closing the sale, Mr. Bly covers all the steps. If you have a service business, you really need to have this book. I also wholeheartedly recommend two of Bly's other books: Business-to-Business Direct Marketing and The Copywriter's Handbook.
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 | The Market Planning Guide by David Bangs, Jr. - This was one of the first marketing planning guidebooks I ever bought and I still own my copy. When I get stuck on some aspect of developing a marketing plan for one of my growing company clients, I invariably turn to this resource. This book is lighter on the detailed discussion of marketing plan elements and heavier on the "fill-in-the-blanks" approach to produce a workable marketing plan. If you want a marketing plan book that's short on theory and long on practical approaches, this is it.
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 | Don't Make Me Think; A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug - This is probably the most entertaining book on website design I've come across. Krug identifies the most common mistakes when designing websites and then gives recommendations on how to address them. But the way he writes the book is the real clincher. All throughout, he uses cartoons to help you understand what's really going on inside people's heads as they navigate through a website. A fun read.
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 | The Insider's Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet by Derek Gehl - Many of you already know about this resource. But if you don't, it's definitely worth the price. Two binders filled with 61 chapters of information and 2 bonus resource disks that cover designing & building a web site, email marketing, search engine marketing, testing and tracking, and just about any other aspect of selling on the web. Warning: some of the copy on this site is over-the-top hype, which I don't care for. But know this: this resource is still one of the best ones I've ever come across for marketing your business on the web. I constantly refer back to my copy.
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 | Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples - To me, the best word to describe this great book on marketing copywriting is: timeless. Although the book was first written in 1974, every principle Caples covers still applies today. When I write an ad, direct mail piece, or even a letter, I keep this book close. I especially like his three chapters on headlines: "What kinds of headlines attract readers?", "Right and wrong methods of writing headlines" and "Twenty nine formulas for writing headlines". If you write marketing copy (and what marketer doesn't?), you'll gets lots out of this book.
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 | Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto - This is a book that will blow you out of the water (pun intended). Using high-speed photography, Dr. Masaru Emoto discovered that crystals formed in frozen water develop differently when specific, concentrated thoughts are directed towards them. He shows that water, that's been exposed to loving words, shows brilliant, complex, and colorful snowflake patterns. In contrast, water exposed to negative thoughts, forms incomplete, asymmetrical patterns with dull colors. Reading this book (and it's a short read, the real value is looking at the pictures) will transform how you think about your company's marketing effort-and how you think about your life. I can't think of a better way to prove the fact that our inner voices define who we are (and what we accomplish).
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 | Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - Al Ries and Jack Trout - Let's face it; our world is cluttered with plentiful competitors dying to steal your customers. Given this environment, what's the most effective marketing weapon? I think it's how you position your company. This book is a classic and it not only gives you step-by-step instruction on how to position a company, but it's filled with ample examples. This is a must read for anyone who wants to get better at marketing.
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 | Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss - This is the best book on building a consulting practice that I know of. Known as the "consultant's consultant", Mr. Weiss will shift your paradigms, that's for sure. His discussion of value pricing (pricing based upon the overall value your consulting brings to the organization vs. pricing by the hour) is worth the price of the book alone. But he also covers how to raise capital, reel in new clients, set fees, accelerate growth, and more. Don't buy this if you dabble in consulting; do buy it if you make your living from consulting.
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 | Influence; The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini - In this book, Cialdini explores the psychology behind such marketing devices as the classic "limited number" technique (e.g. "there are only a few seats left for next week's seminar"). The book covers other tried and true marketing techniques (e.g. the principle of reciprocity, the use of authority figures in advertising, etc) and then explains their psychological impact on consumers by drawing on non-business related examples. If you're interested in the interrelationship between marketing and psychology, this is the book for you.
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 | The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber - Even though I've been an entrepreneur running my own business since 1994, when I read this book just a few years ago, it hit me between the eyes. One of the most important lessons Gerber teaches you is the value of working "on your business", rather than working "in" it. He also walks you through the stages in the life cycle of a business-from entrepreneurial infancy through maturity. If you own your own business, you'll like this book. If you're about to start a business, this is also a good read. It's also available in Audiobook.
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 | Marketing with Newsletters; How to Boost sales, add members & raise funds with a Print, Fax, E-Mail, Web Site or Postcard Newsletter by Elaine Floyd - This is a fun book to read because it's chock full of examples, sidebars, graphics and quizzes. If you write a newsletter (whether it's online or offline), this book is filled with ideas to significantly upgrade its quality. She also answers questions like "How can I save time when I write my newsletters?" and "How can I cut my budget by 25%". Leafing through my copy recently, I saw 3 improvements I should make to both my online and offline newsletters.
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 | The Self-Publishing Manual; How to Write, Print and Sell your Own Book by Dan Poynter - A lot of people out there call themselves gurus, but Mr. Poynter really is one. When I wrote and self-published my first book, The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses, Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual literally sat on my desk within arm's reach. The amount of practical, helpful and insightful information contained between the two covers is astounding. If you are self-publishing a book (or just considering self-publishing) this is a solid resource. The last time I checked, the book was in its 15th printing-that tells you how good it is.
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 | Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love by Barbara Winter - Barbara Winter is a wonderful person, a first-rate encourager of entrepreneurs, and a mentor of mine. I first heard her speak in 1992 and I still think about how that speech changed my life. If you're serious about starting a business, read this book to get the jolt you need. You'll get bucket loads of encouragement and enlightenment. Highly recommended.
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 | How to be your Own Publicist; Everything you Need to Know to Act like a PR Pro by Jessica Hatchigan - This book shows small business owners and entrepreneurs how to generate good PR without hiring an outside firm. Written in an engaging and accessible style, it combines guidelines to maximize, multiply, and even recycle publicity leads with templates, checklists, and step-by-step instructions to help publicity beginners secure positive, profitable media coverage. Some books just feel good on my shelf, this is one of them.
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 | Words that Sell by Richard Bayan - This is a must-have desktop reference if you write marketing copy. It lists more than 2,500 high-powered words, phrases, and slogans, and provides instant access to key words that will move your readers. If you're stumped about how to write a convincing call-to-action, crack it open. If you wonder how you can creatively begin a letter with a generic salutation, open it up. If you've overused a word and need to find another way of saying the same thing, crack it open. Just for starters, it gives you 62 different ways to say "exciting" and 57 variations on "reliable". If you write copy (and what marketer doesn't), this book will expand your vocabulary every time you open it. This book was so successful it spawned Phrases that Sell and More Words that Sell. Five stars. |
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