Good Reads: Marketer-recommended Industry Titles

Apr 1

Written By 108 Degrees Digital Marketing

Thanks to the advent of self-publishing, it seems like every marketer today has released at least one book or ebook, which makes for a long list to choose from. But which sources are the best to reference when building your marketing knowledge, library or plan?

Personally, I like people to start with “the classics”. When it comes to these, I have a few that I always recommend and keep on my shelf:

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
Al Ries and Jack Trout
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers
Seth Godin
Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition
Jack Trout

Each of these was authored in the mid to late 90’s, so they offered information that was vital in the early days of digital marketing. Even today, the advice in these books is still sound, as they are based in the relevant principles of marketing that still hold true.

My fellow Mailchimp Partners also offered some fantastic resources to consider...

I like The Four Hour Workweek, obviously, but also the books and ebooks from Basecamp and Intercom, which put a lot of thought into their publications.

Doug Dennison, CEO & Co-founder
MailNinja

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I read a lot of business books, but one book that was not necessarily intended as a business book but is applicable to businesses is Never Split the Difference - Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It. Picking up a few key negotiating tactics can greatly help you with how you approach your business negotiations.

I'll also plug my book called How to Win at B2B Email Marketing - A Guide to Achieving Success which is available for purchase on Amazon.

Adam Q. Holden-Bache, Director of Email Marketing
Enventys Partners

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James Clear's Atomic Habit is a must. If you haven't read Get Rich, Lucky Bitch (an incredible money-mindset read) by Denise Dufflefield-Thomas, I highly recommend. There are also a lot of great books by Mailchimp Experts/Partners. Adam Holden-Bache's book on all things email marketing is a must. And two books which really had an impact on me are the Steve Jobs biography (fascinating) and also Rework by Jason Fried.

Emily Ryan, Co-Founder and Email Strategist
Westfield Creative

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One of the business books that I’ve liked most is Rework, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Nowadays their unconventional approach can sound not so revolutionary, but more than ten years ago the idea of less meetings, less paperwork, cutting the obsession of scalability and understanding that when you’re starting a business you simply have to work on what you do best (and link to the rest) was so refreshing! And their advice, “hire the better writer”, is one of the best things you can do.

Alessandra Farabegoli, Digital Strategist
alessandrafarabegoli.it

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Anything from Seth Godin I've usually read several times. Permission Marketing is the foundation for the way I think about email marketing to this day.

Glenn Edley, Director & Email Strategist
Spike

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I've got two... one which combines my love of the NFL and business (but is very old) and another which I've taken to recently.

The first is called First Down and Billion and is an autobiography of an NFL Owner - lots of useful business bits to take and use, even if most of the stories are from the '60s and '70s.

More recently, I've been a fan of The Motivation Myth.. all about how routine turns into motivation and keeps you going... If you're a small business owner, it's a must read.