Posted by There have been a bunch of new business books launched recently.
The stack on your night table is about to get a whole lot higher. Here are ten new business book that are worth checking out right away:
- Connected – The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler. Many people are calling this the online social networking book for the TED crowd. I’ve just started to dive in and it’s some high-brow thinking (in the best possible way).
- Crush It! Why now is the time to cash in on your passion by Gary Vaynerchuk. I finally got to meet Gary this past week on his book launch tour, and he is the real deal. His book (which hit #2 on New York Times‘ best-seller list) is a shot-to-the-gut reality check on how New Media is changing everything.
- Inbound Marketing – Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. Dharmesh presented shortly after me at Mesh Marketing the other week. This book brings together some new thoughts and new techniques on how to change the way you market your business. Here’s a visual: this book will help turn your business into a magnet for customers.
- The New Community Rules – Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg. Weinberg is the Blogger behind Techipedia, and she knows everything there is to know about how to grow and manage a community. This book is perfect for companies trying to figure out the role online communities will play in their business and how to find the right people to help manage them.
- Socialnomics – How social media transforms the way we live and do business by Erik Qualman. I have not had a chance to deep-dive into this one, but it is next on the pile. This books looks at the latest trends in Social Media and what it means to businesses the world over.
- Superfreakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt. You know Freakonomics was an incredibly fresh and fascinating book. Superfreaknomics seems just as challenging and fascinating.
- Trust Agents – Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Good friends, co-hosts of Media Hacks and overall caring and giving guys. Their debut book is a New York Times Best-seller and it deserves all of the attention and praise it is getting. If you don’t have trust (online or otherwise), you’re going to struggle in building your business. These guys know trust. They live it. And, in this book, they teach it.
- Viral Loop by Adam L. Penenberg. Penenberg first wrote about the concept of a viral expansion loop in Fast Company magazine (Ning’s Infinite Ambition). That article lead to a major book deal, and that book just came out. The article was fascinating and I can’t wait to read – in detail – how new companies grow their market share.
- Web Analytics 2.0 – The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity by Avinash Kaushik. I wrote a testimonial for Kaushik’s latest book. Here is what I sent him (unedited): When it comes to the Digital Marketing channels and understanding what and why people do things online, there is no one smarter than Avinash Kaushik. His first book, Web Analytics – An Hour A Day, should be on every Marketer’s desk. Now, with Web Analytics 2.0, there’s something to put on top of the first one. When people ask, ‘who is the smartest guy in the room when it comes to Online Marketing?’ only one name comes to mind: Avinash. I’d tell you to buy this book, but I would prefer if you didn’t. I’d love to keep these concepts and theories all to myself and my clients. Yes, it’s that powerful, awesome and actionable.
- What the Dog Saw And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell. If it’s at all possible for the business book industry to have a rock star, that person would be Gladwell. HIs latest is a collection of 19 essays from The New Yorker, and each one validates his rock star status. If you just finished Outliers and need another fix, this is perfect and will hit the spot.
Any other new business books that you’re either reading or can’t wait to get your hands on?
Never another podcast episode or article 
Great list. I’ve read about half of them, the other half are awaiting my order at Amazon. BTW… Your book should be on this list as well.
Dear Mitch:
A great resource list, and I agree they’re all important.
However, I also agree with David’s comment, above, your Six Pixels book should appear on the list. It provided with a new perspective and new possibilities, plus helped me create a strong action plan.
Roger
I’m definitely interested in reading a few of these. Following your book and presentation at the cleverbridge event in Montreal, I’m looking forward to more great ideas from a reliable source!
Thanks!
craig.
All good books – Have read most of them, really liked Trust Agents and Crush It. Probably need to add Collins new book: How the Mighty Fall — “Thank God its Monday” had some fun ideas — and “Awesomely Simple” is a good read – I hope! The last book by Ram Charan was also good:Leadership in the era of economic uncertainty.
If you haven’t already done so, check out The Opposable Mind, by fellow Canadian Roger Martin. Loved this one.
Finally got around to Purple Cow and The Long Tail recently (I know, I know – I’m behind!)
This is a great list. Just finished “The Go-Giver” and in the middle of “Outliers”. I will get through these and yours shortly, thanks for the direction!
Victor
I suppose it’s not that new anymore, but I would highly recommend adding Free by Chris Anderson to this list along with your book.
One more -Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.
Great List – I am currently making my way through it.
I bought Socialnomics the week it came out from Amazon. It is a really fast read and has a lot of good information. If you are really interested on the potential impact of social media on the world, business, and how we communicate, I definitely recommend giving it a read.
I just read Midas Marketing by Rob Slee. The Midas theme is kinda hokey, but the ideas are interesting. It talks a lot about the new age of aggregation and leveraging knowledge and resources to bring about enormous amounts of opportunity. There are a number of useful case studies to back up the ideas, most notably, the online t-shirt company Threadless. The book also goes into crowd sourcing, pull market (opposed to push marketing), the death of salesmen as a business model, and global niches. This was a good book for my company because we work in an industry still stuck in the past. These ideas are radical and fresh compared to current culture of our peers and competitors.
Right now I am reading Six Pixels of Separation.
Thank you for this list, I will definitely check these out!
Not only was “Trust Agents” a great book but it made me feel good just reading it!
I would also suggest “The Digital Handshake” by Paul Chaney and your book “Six Pixels of Separation” I have just started reading it, I am finding it inspiring and am already putting the techniques into action.