communication/marketing books?

[kalilalita]

Hi,

im looking for a few good books on communication/marketing for small businesses.
i am starting my own business soon and i know that communication and marketing are crucial in these times to actually make something of your business!
Any book/ebook/blogs/website tips are welcome!
If anyone has any other tips that could really benefit me, theyd be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

kalilalita

[Harold Mansfield]

Hi,

im looking for a few good books on communication/marketing for small businesses.
i am starting my own business soon and i know that communication and marketing are crucial in these times to actually make something of your business!
Any book/ebook/blogs/website tips are welcome!
If anyone has any other tips that could really benefit me, theyd be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

kalilalita

Wow. There are like a bazillion. Let's try and narrow it down some.
When you say "Communication/ Marketing" are you trying to learn Sales Techniques? Advertising? Social Media? Copy-writing?

If you can get it down to something manageable, I can probably recommend a few blogs.

[iltaj]

What kind of business is it? Different businesses need different strategies. What is your marketing budget?

[Harold Mansfield]

What is your marketing budget?

I don't think that's really applicable to someone who is just asking for suggestions for reading material.

[KristineS]

You could check out UnMarketing (http://www.unmarketing.com/) and Peter Shankman (http://shankman.com/). Both have good blogs and make good points.

[kalilalita]

the whole thing!
when i say communication : i mean any external communication. so ranging from social media to advertising.
i know there are so many books out there, but i cannot seem to find one book that translates this all back into simple language.

[Harold Mansfield]

the whole thing!
when i say communication : i mean any external communication. so ranging from social media to advertising.
i know there are so many books out there, but i cannot seem to find one book that translates this all back into simple language.

That's because they don't exist.

Ad people talk about ads. Social Media people talk about Social Media. Search Engine Optimization people talk about that.

There's books for online marketing and books for offline marketing.
There's blogs on latest technologies, and blogs just about blogging.
There's books on using adwords and books just about writing ad copy.

You won't find a book that covers every possible aspect of marketing online, offline and every possible form of communication because it would have to be as big as a set of encyclopedias and would be outdated by the time it's published.

You are going to have to pick certain aspects of what you are looking for and narrow it down if you want to get a start on something.

Communication means verbal, sales, copy, technology..how you express and present yourself or your business.
Marketing is using those skills to present your product, brand or idea in a way that causes your target demographic to take notice and take action.

If you are looking for books on Social Media, you wouldn't normally ask for a book on "Communication".

I personally read for Social Media news :
http://mashable.com/social-media/
Social - AllThingsD (http://allthingsd.com/category/social/?mod=atdnav)

I watch videos on TED to hear insights from business and marketing professionals:
TED: Ideas worth spreading (http://www.ted.com/)

I also read:
Marketingland
The Next Web
ReadWriteWeb
Fast Company
HOW

If you are just starting out and need to know the basics of Social Media and Marketing online and offline, then maybe someone can suggest a starter kit.
But "the whole thing" is far too wide of a net.

You could get 100 books just on Facebook, and Facebook Marketing alone. Just the Facebook graph is a day of reading.

Or spend a week just reading on the different types of communication options there are for businesses today.
What area of "Communication" do you want to know about? Video conferencing? Email? Sales Strategies? Mobile technologies? Web Design? Telephony Systems?

You see what I mean? That's why you can't find "one book" .

[patrickprecisione]

I hear what you're saying and while it probably makes sense for you to get an overview regarding the principles of marketing, as others have pointed out, it might be best to just focus on a few avenues that make the most sense for your business (be it direct mail, social media, PPC etc.) and put your time and money into them. Depending on your business, certain tactics simply won't make sense, so narrowing your focus is a smart move.

[Harold Mansfield]

I hear what you're saying and while it probably makes sense for you to get an overview regarding the principles of marketing, as others have pointed out, it might be best to just focus on a few avenues that make the most sense for your business (be it direct mail, social media, PPC etc.) and put your time and money into them. Depending on your business, certain tactics simply won't make sense, so narrowing your focus is a smart move.

That's exactly it. If you just go general with no direction you are going to waste a lot of time on things that are outdated, wrong, or don't pertain to the way that you need to do things or don't work for your industry or niche.

[Cannon]

Any books by Philip Kotler is really useful

[markhendricks]

the presentation secrets of steve jobs

very good.

Mark Hendricks

[patrickprecisione]

the presentation secrets of steve jobs

very good.

Mark Hendricks

I bet that is a great book. Although is it really a marketing book? I honestly don't know, just curious.