Categories: Articles

10 New Business Books Worth Checking Out

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.