Hey folks:

This is my list of books you must read, learn, and inwardly digest to become
more than a copywriter. You must hone your marketing chops. Start here.

Bold Titles Are Especially Important.


1. Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got by Jay Abraham.
2. The "Mr X" Book by Jay Abraham
3. Individualized Consultation Transcripts by Jay Abraham

You aren't really in the business unless you know Jay's stuff. The transcripts will show you how Jay looks at different businesses.

4. The Ultimate Marketing Plan by Dan Kennedy
5. No BS Direct Marketing by Dan Kennedy
6. No BS Sales Success by Dan Kennedy
7. No BS Business Success by Dan Kennedy
8. The Official Get Rich Guide To Information Marketing by Dan Kennedy
9. How To Make Millions With Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy

Again, you must know Kennedy's marketing approaches. Pay special attention to his approach to niches, consulting, and direct mail. Feel comfortable ignoring anything he says about the Internet.

10. 2230 Tested Secrets For Direct Marketing Success by Denny Hatch & Don Johnson
11. Instant Income by Janet Switzer
12. Reality In Advertising by Rosser Reeves
13. Method Marketing by Denny Hatch
14. Your Marketing Sucks by Mark Stevens
15. Waiting For Your Cat To Bark? by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
16. Call To Action by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
17. RFM and Beyond by Libey and Pickering
18. Predatory Marketing by C. Britt Beemer
19. Rapid Response Advertising by Geoff Ayling

20. Fool-Proof Marketing by Bob Bly

In my opinion, this is a must read.

21. Business To Business Direct Marketing by Bob Bly
22. The Lead Generation Handbook by Bob Bly

23. Fishing For Customers and Reeling Them In by Chuck McKay
24 Marketing, Sales, & Advertising Law by Steven Meyerowitz

25. Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall

Another must read book.

26. Jump Start Your Marketing Brain by Doug Hall

27. The Complete Guide to Profitable Direct Marketing Response by Lois Geller
28. Handbook of Direct Mail by Siegfried Vogele
29. Think Two Products Ahead by Ben Mack
30. Do It Yourself Direct Marketing by Mark Bacon

31. Building a Mail Order Business by William Cohen
32. The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Scott
33. Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes
34. Experiential Marketing by Bernd Schmitt
35. The Experience Economy by Pine & Gilmore
36. Be Unreasonable by Paul Lemberg
37. Radio Advertising by Pete Schulberg

38. Direct Marketing by Edward Nash
39. Successful Direct Marketing Methods by Stone & Jacobs

If you are serious about marketing, you need this book.

40. Direct Marketing by George Duncan

41. All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
42. The Big Moo by Seth Godin
43. Purple Cow by Seth Godin

43. The Tipping Points by Malcolm Gladwell
44. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
45. Get Anyone To Do Anything by David Lieberman

46. Testosterone Free Marketing by Denise Michaels
47. Just Ask A Woman by Mary Lou Quinlan
48. Marketing To Women by Marthan Barletta

All the above are about marketing to women.

49. The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaaille

Must read. Radical concepts.

50. Positioning by Ries & Trout
51. The Origin of Brands by Al & Laura Ries
52. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al & Laura Ries

53. 7 Steps to Freedom by Benjamin Suarez
54. 7 Steps to Freedom II by Benjamin Suarez

55. Billion Dollar Marketing by Maxwell Sackheim

56. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
57. Mail Order by Eugene Schwartz

Start slowly and start to read and learn from these masters.

Peace.

Your comments are welcome.

Harlan

I feel illiterate. (Maybe I am )
I have read 10 on the list, so it looks like I need to get up to speed.
Larry Foster

Thanks so much for posting your recommended books. I hope there are plenty of snow storms this winter to keep me housebound.

Subtle, I've been waiting all day for your comments and what books I missed.

Come on. Don't keep me in suspense.

I think it's a pretty good list Doc.


I'd add:

All the books authored by Joe Sugarman

"The Natural Laws Of Business" by Richard Koch

"$12 Billion Of Inside Marketing Secrets" by Steven Dworman

The various "Wizard of Ad" books by Roy Williams

"Turn Words Into Money" by Ted Nicholas

"Million Dollar Mailings" by Denny Hatch

I'm impressed that you have Eugene Swartz "Mail Order" on there. That's one of those gems that no one really talks about.

I agree on the Sugarman books.

And the Wizard Books as well. (Though these are not my first round of inspiration reading).

I don't like Ted Nicholas's book. Too little real meat for me.

And when I saw Million Dollar Mailings, I realized I forgot a shelf.

I'll add them tomorrow.

I'll check out the others I don't have.

And just one tip from Mail Order changed the way I think about lists.

Peace

Hi Doc,

Nice list... there's a few on your list that I hadn't gotten to reading yet. If you saw the stack of "to be read" books in my office, you'd know why.

I'll add a few more to your list from my reference library that are "keepers". Bolded books are highly recommended.

1. Jay Abraham - Protege Marketing Manual
2. Jay Abraham - Mastermind Marketing Seminar from 2000 or 2001. The full course came with transcripts from the entire seminar and the powerpoint slides used... very info packed.
3. Dan Kennedy - Magnetic Marketing

These top 3 you can probably find on Ebay.

4. The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by George Silverman
5. Endless Referrals by Bob Burg
6. Word of Mouth Marketing by Jerry R. Wilson
7. Customers For Life by Carl Sewell

These 4 books focus on customer service and generating referrals which should be a critical part of any marketing program.

8. The Spirit To Serve: Marriott's Way by J.W. Marriott Jr.
9. Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton (great book on business strategy and positioning)
10. How To Drive Your Competition Crazy by Guy Kawasaki

These 3 books discuss both Marketing and Business Strategy

11. Big Ideas For Small Service Businesses by Marilyn & Tom Ross
12. Marketing Your Services by Anthony O. Putman

These 2 books focus on service business marketing

13. Monopolize Your Marketplace by Richard Harshaw

This book gives the basic marketing system which worked well with product-oriented businesses but failed as a franchise/licensed marketing agent company.

14. Customer Satisfaction is worthless by Jeffrey Gitomer

Focuses on customer retention which is another important part of a complete marketing program.

I've read dozens of other marketing books over the past 14 years and gotten rid of most of them because they were wafer-thin in terms of content.

I think we have put together a great list here which could save people a lot of time and money reading some of the fluff mistakenly called marketing.

Enjoy,

Mike

I think you've got some great stuff on there.

Note: I didn't include seminars otherwise a dozen Jay Abraham seminars would appear. His "War Room" was my favorite.

I think Jeffrey Gitomer's customer service book is excellent. In fact, I bought copies for my staff in my hypnosis office days. But I don't think it's a marketing book.

Peace.

Harlan

I'll say it for Subtle.

"Ogilvy on Advertising"

...and probably Michael Winicki's book