The Internet show about small business marketing.

Podcast Episode #60 – Power to the Small Business

If you want to grow and learn, the best way to do that is read books. I once heard Brian Tracy say that in five years you will be the same person you are today, except for the books that you read and the people you meet. In this special episode of Power to the Small Business, I present my small business marketing essential reading list, and will features five of the authors of books on that list. But first, let’s reveal the list:

The Essential Small Business Marketing Reading List

The list is organized around The Marketing Circle of Life. It is comprised of books that will give you a foundational understanding of the four essential spots of small business marketing.

Branding Books

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
Microbranding: Build a Powerful Personal Brand and Beat Your Competition by T. Scott Gross

Experience Books

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore
Managing the Customer Experience: Turning Customers into Advocates by Shaun Smith and Joe Wheeler
What’s the Secret: To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience by John DiJulius

Conversation Books

Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Promotion Books

Advertising Secrets of the Written Word: The Ultimate Resource on How to Write Powerful Advertising Copy by Joe Sugarman
Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

The Guests:

Five of the authors listed above will be guest on this podcast…with one exception. Brad Shorr will be discussing Ogilvy on Advertising (David Ogilvy passed away in 1999)

• Jack Trout, Co-author of Positioning – www.TroutAndPartners.com
• T. Scott Gross, Author of Microbranding – www.TScottGross.com
• Jackie Huba, Co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists – www.ChurchOfTheCustomer.com
• Charlene Li, Co-author of Groundswell – www.AltimeterGroup.com/blog
• Joe Sugarman, Author of Advertising Secrets of the Written Word – www.JoeSugarman.com
• Brad Shorr, discussing Ogilvy on Advertising – www.WordSellInc.com

Length: 41 minutes

Email subscribers and feed readers – If you don’t see the embedded player below, click here to listen to The Essential Small Business Marketing Reading List

You can also download the mp3 file here: Download Power to the Small Business #60 (for personal use only)

Press the play button on the Box player above and get started. Comments, questions? Please share it in the comment section below.

Show Notes:

Bonus Authors:
There were no authors from the recommended experience books. However, authors of all three books have previously appeared on Power to the Small Business. Here are the links to those shows:

Instinct and Remarkable Customer Experience Creation with Shaun Smith
What’s the Secret to a World-Class Customer Experience? with John DiJulius
The Experience Economy: 10 Years Later with Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore

SELECTED QUOTES FROM THE AUTHORS

JACK TROUT on Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
“It was the first book that really introduced psychology and marketing and crossed the two of them, and essentially introduced the mind as the key battleground.”

T. SCOTT GROSS on Microbranding
“The definition of a microbrand is a little brand, that sits on top of a big brand, and is often the more powerful of the two.”

JACKIE HUBA on Creating Customer Evangelists
“These tenets that we looked at among the businesses who have great evangelists, these are evergreen concepts.”

CHARLENE LI on Groundswell
“We designed it to be a book that would have some legs, because it’s not a technology book. It’s a book about how you can accomplish goals by changing the relationships you have with people.”

JOE SUGARMAN on Advertising Secrets of the Written Word
“Knowledge of copywriting is extremely valuable…I’ve had a lot people contact me and tell me that their life changed because they spent time learning how to be a copywriter.”

BRAD SHORR on Ogilvy on Advertising
“David Oglivy was a guy who was way ahead of his time…There’s just so much in here that I think is still of value to any business for writing, for marketing, for advertising.”