Description
MARKETING BOOKS FOR SMALL BUSINESS: The Marketing Book 2020
Digital marketing made easy by Jason McDonald of Stanford Continuing Studies
- This book explains how to BUILD YOUR BRAND and SELL MORE STUFF via the THINK / DO / LEARN methodology!
Available in print, Kindle, and as an Audible marketing audiobook, TMB brings a sense of humor and a strong dose of practicality to business promotion. It’s a book that’s as practical as the competitive Marketing for Dummies 2019 but more fun to read, with not just to-dos but a conceptual framework as what will no doubt be one of the best marketing books of 2020 and no doubt one of the bestselling marketing books of 2020. Bound to be a “marketing books bestsellers,” to bend the language in a digital way.
abookreader –
In Jacob MacDonald’s “The Marketing Book” I discovered a few things I never knew about the subject, even after a long career as a tax accountant and sole proprietor who did a lot of selling and client acquisition. On top of that, MacDonald’s primer offers up a nice mixture of old and new selling concepts that he explains very well.
My favorite part of “The Marketing Book” is the lighthearted, fun way that the author digs in on topics like targeting, SEO, brainstorming, figuring out what your customers really want, and much more. The chapters are divided up logically so it’s easy to skip around if you have expertise in one or more areas already.
The sections on research and B2B marketing were the most valuable for me, and the discussions about SEO and AdWords were freshly packaged and delineated in such a way that even old “pre-digital age” folks like me could comprehend the gist of the lessons. For the price, this is the best 300+ page book you’ll find on the subject and could serve as a nice reference for any college freshman contemplating a business major.
Two other things stand out in MacDonald’s “The Marketing Book.” His examination of what he calls “discovery paths” in both digital and pre-digital forms is unique and enlightening. Nowhere else have I seen all five examples offered up in digital and non-digital form. That’s quite a learning tool for old and new marketing enthusiasts. I’d have to rate this as the best part of a comprehensive book that has a ton of teaching on its pages.
Even non-business owners will appreciate the lessons in “The Marketing Book,” because it pulls the veil off what smart business owners do all the time. Consumers will discover some surprising concepts that they perhaps already intuitively knew but never saw in detailed form.
Five starts for a wonderful business that stands apart from so much of what passes for scholarship in this genre. MacDonald has hit a home run with “The Marketing Book.” I’m told that his others are as good but have to plead ignorance because I’ve not read any of them yet.
maq224 –
This is probably one of the better marketing guides that I’ve read, especially because the author, Jason McDonald, makes the information so accessible. While I’m sure it would be very helpful to experienced marketers and those with a business background, the book was also written for the inexperienced, like me. Because just having read about marketing before has not made me an expert! McDonald does a great job of explaining key marketing principles and terms without deviating too much from the real lesson: building a real marketing plan for your business.
In each chapter he gives real life examples, naming well known businesses like Google, Amazon, Tesla, etc. He also uses a fictional example consistently throughout the book, allowing you to pretend that you are the marketing manager of “Jason’s Cat Boarding Emporium.” This really helped me to learn, as I was completing real exercises for my pretend business, instead of just reading about things. That’s really the gist of his whole method: think/do/measure. Think about the concept, go and do it, and measure what is working and what is not. You have to measure, or your marketing is not going to get better.
Learning about the AIDA model (Awareness Interest Desire Action) was very helpful, and he discussed the importance of marketing online very thoroughly: reviews, influencers, the different mediums available, and much more. I really learned a lot and with the worksheets he makes available online, I was able to work out some great ideas for the future. I
Rachel Lange –
The Marketing Book: a Marketing Plan for Your Business Made Easy via Think / Do / Measure (2020 Edition) by Jason McDonald. This is a very amazing solid marketing book. Marketing can sometimes be extremely boring but this was well written along with some laughs in the pages to make get the point across. I personal am not really a marketing kind of gal but saw this and thought well why not. This book is amazing for smaller companies or maybe if you are just curious about the marketing side of things. The way the author writes honestly makes you feel like you best friend is explaining everything to you. I love and just totally adore when an author can do this. If you have a strong marketing back ground or none at all I think this will still be the perfect book for you. It is always nice to learn about new thing or even a tune up on what we really know. This book honestly makes feel like. I get this whole marketing thing because trust me when I say it is not my strong suit. When I was done reading it I told my husband he had to read it. He agrees that this is a good fun way to learn and grow your personal knowledge on marketing. I truly believe this is for everyone. If your just starting out or have been in the field forever read this. You will not regret it at all. Keep it with you as you learn because it is that good of a tool to have.
Cheryl O’Malley –
As a complete novice to marketing, this book was perfect for my first read. The author broke content down into easily digestible sections that were easy to understand without making the reader feel like an imbecile. Important points are repeated throughout the chapters, but each time it is in a fresh way, so the concept doesn’t feel redundant. I like the author’s use of humor in areas that may otherwise have been on the dry side. He has invented some words to describe a few concepts, and while they make look silly at first look, the words are catchy and really do help to make the new concepts “stick”.
I saw on another review that there was a concern that the book does not go “in depth” enough. This is not an advanced marketing class, it is a beginner/intermediate book for people to develop their understanding on topics and to help them develop their own marketing plans. Thinking about starting to sell a product is an exciting thing, this book acts as both coach and cheerleader. I also like that it’s a book that you can return to over and over to help tweak the plan.
I have so many people think they have an awesome idea to sell something, but that idea never seems to get off the ground. The author goes into great deal about finding the niche of deciding exactly what product to sell and to which market group you want to sell to. I really learned that it’s not about throwing the biggest net and hoping to catch something, it’s doing the research to know where your future clients are.
I really recommend this book