Marketing is a fundamental skill which has to be mastered if many business owners are going to succeed.
Not all. Some operate in businesses where you can get by with next-to-no marketing because of favourable characteristics of their trade or profession. Even these businesses are likely to benefit from a better, deeper understanding of marketing.
Here are details of the marketing books I’ve read and reviewed. This has books from 5 Stars (excellent) down to 1 Star (terrible). The books feature in the reverse order I reviewed them i.e the most recent first.
If you just want to focus on the best then I have two separate lists – 5 Star Marketing Books and the 4 and 5 star books combined in the Best Marketing Books.
Is this all the marketing books I’ve reviewed? No because there are a host of separate categories. Here you’ll find the more general marketing books along with some of the most important.
If you want to delve deeper into a specific category try Direct Marketing Books, or Internet Marketing Books or USP Books or a category focused on a specific skill like Copywriting Books.
At the very bottom of a book review, after my bid to capture your email address, you’ll see links to categories and tags. These are your chance to drill down further into categories. There is also a list of Similar Posts which is generated automatically but should point you to books on a similar theme.
This is a big category with a lot of pages – Page 2 – Page 3 – Page 4 – Page 5 – Page 6 – Page 7 – Page 8 – Page 9 – Page 10 – Page 11
The full title of this book by Marco Lucchina is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 1 Star rating. This means it is Very Disappointing.
Here is my book review.
Very hard to read.
I’m beginning to think it’s hard to write well about customer value, value propositions and similar topics. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Malcolm McDonald and Grant Oliver is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 2 Stars rating. This means it is Disappointing.
Here is my book review.
Very disappointing. High expectations not delivered
How well businesses differentiate themselves in the eyes of their potential customers is a bit of a hobbyhorse for me.
I believe it’s often one of the fundamental problems that lie at the heart of underperformance in business. It’s also an area I find fascinating. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Yaakov Bloch is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 2 Stars rating. This means it is Disappointing.
Here is my book review.
High level academic notes
This isn’t so much a book of checklists but a book of high level notes on marketing. It’s the highest level I’d put on to index cards when I used to revise for exams. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Dan Kennedy is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a Five Stars rating. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my book review.
Magnetic Marketing is the name of the author’s most famous premium priced course and it’s the one that has helped make his excellent reputation.
Kennedy didn’t invent direct response marketing – its origins go back at least as far as the late 19th century – but he’s done a great job of bringing it to the attention of business owners and entrepreneurs along with others including Jay Abraham. I’ve always felt Kennedy was stronger on the initial aspect of attracting new customers while Abraham was better at expanding the backend, that is the ongoing business with the customers. Books by both deserve a place on the bookshelf of a well read business owner. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Craig Simpson with Brian Kurtz is
In my review of the book posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my book review.
I’m ashamed to say I bought this book in November 2016 and hadn’t even opened my Kindle copy until January 2019. Why? Well I tend to go on buying binges and there’s the constant risk I start my next buying binge before I’ve worked my way through my last purchases.
The problem was I don’t like the main title – The Advertising Solution – or the subtitle if I’m getting picky because it mentions brands. After I’d bought it, I’d forgotten it was based on the work of six direct response marketing legends. Nor did my unfamiliarity with the main author – Craig Simpson – help me. It became a book to read some time, not next [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Rebecca Geier is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of 4 Stars. It is good and well worth reading.
There are few marketing books which look at B2B marketing issues and those that focus on selling technical products or services to engineers are rare and precious.
This one looks at the post Internet development of inbound marketing, sometimes called content marketing. It’s about establishing credibility so customers come to you when they want to buy. This contrasts with traditional marketing where businesses blast out marketing messages to anyone and everyone who might buy some time. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Craig Simpson with Dan Kennedy is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of 4 Stars. This means it is good and well worth reading.
Here is my book review.
This is a useful guide to direct mail although it’s more targeted to B2C mass mailings than it is for anyone who wants to mail to B2B targets and small lists.
As is often the case when there is a bug name author sharing credit with a less known author, it us the less well known one does most of the work. To be fair, there are more chapters from Dan Kennedy than I expected. As is normal in his books, you’ll be urged to buy plenty of other DK books. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Michael Masterson is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my review.
I read a lot of business books and especially about marketing. I have to admit many of them are quite dry and only appeal to my inner geek who wants more knowledge and understanding.
Thus book is different. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Hugh Davidson is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 5 Stars. This means it is Excellent.
Here is my review.
Back in the mid 1980s, this was the first great marketing book I ever read and I must have read it half a dozen times in total. I’ve also bought the two updates of the book.
This is the book that taught me the POISE acronym for marketing: [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Ryan Barton is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.
Here is my review.
I think this book is a nice idea. What are the key factors to look out for as you develop your marketing?
The application of that idea is another matter altogether. [continue reading…]
I was a consultant, small business coach and advisor based in Birmingham, with over 35 years business experience, including more than 20 years as self employed.
My main business qualifications are:
– Chartered Accountant
– MBA
– Certified Guerilla Marketing Coach
My main interests are in helping business owners who are stuck get unstuck by thinking more clearly about their issues and possible solutions.
I no longer provide professional business coaching but I will be sharing more ideas on my blog and will continue my popular business book reviews.
I can be contacted by email at Paul@BusinessDevelopmentAdvice.com
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