Seth Godin, Avinash Kaushik, Jeffrey Gitomer And More (Oh My!)

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If you live in and around the Montreal area, you should check out The Art of Marketing event on September 30th, 2010.

Imagine this: one full-day of learning from some of the best and brightest in Marketing (and then, there’s me ;). Join Seth Godin (Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, etc…), Avinash Kaushik (Analytics Evangelist at Google and the author of Web Analytics – An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0), Jeffrey Gitomer (The Sales Bible and the entire Little Book Of… business series), Max Lenderman (Experience The Message and Brand New World), Andy Nulman (head of the Just For Laughs comedy festival and author of Pow! Right Between The Eyes) and yours truly all live and in person.

It’s going to be one of those days.

Beyond an amazing line-up of speakers (and trust me, I have seen all of these folks present multiple times… it’s going to be great), this is the perfect opportunity for you to take a break from your day-to-day schedule, learn, grow and network with close to 2000 other business and marketing professionals. As excited as I am to be kicking the day off, I’m even more excited about the fact that once I am done, I can sit back and learn from these masters.

Win, win, win…

You didn’t think I was just going to shill for my event without offering up something fun for you to win, did you? If you’re interested in attending, the good people at The Art of Marketing are offering up:

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below with your top five desert-island business books. I have four VIP packages to give away and winners will be chosen on September 20th, 2010.

But wait… there’s more…

If you’re interested in buying tickets, I have a special promo code that saves you $50 per ticket or $100 off per ticket (if your purchase three or more tickets at once). All the you have to do is head over to: www.theartofmarketing.ca/promo/twist and use the promo code "TWIST".

I am looking forward to seeing you there on September 30th.

UPDATE – THE WINNERS!
1. Kelly Rusk.
2. Stephane Gagnon.
3. Joe Sorge.
4. Nina Obrecht

77 comments

  1. My top 5 biz books, if I was stranded on an island:
    -Love is the Killer App, Tim Sanders
    -ReImagine, Tom Peters (creative ideas will be necessary!)
    -Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrrazzi (although it might not have too much use)
    -The Dip, Seth Godin (might be encouraging when no rescue comes)
    -The Little Gold Book of Yes, Jeffrey Gitomer (again, helpful to stay positive in isolation)
    Thanks Mitch!

  2. Ooh Ooh! Me! Me!
    Top 5 desert books:
    Web Analytics 2.0 (Avinash Kaushik) – currently reading and already know it’s a book I’m going to go back to a million times over. I just hope I have a computer and net access on this island so I can put it all into practice.
    Six Pixels of Separation – 🙂
    LinchPin (Seth Godin) – Ridiculously enjoyed every other book I’ve read by him so I know this one won’t disappoint!
    The Dip (Seth Godin) I know I already have one of his books, but I just happen to think this one is the perfect pick-me-up and get back-on-track book that can be read in an hour, it just seems like it’d make sense on a Desert Island.
    The Art of War (Sun Tzu) – maybe not a traditional biz book, but apparently one of the best for biz strategy

  3. My list would change regularly, but here is a current five if the ship sank today, or actually on the day of the Art of Marketing event as one of these is just coming out and I would like to read them on the island!
    Start With Why? – Simon Sinek,
    Outstanding – John G Miller,
    The Little Big Things – Tom Peters,
    Well Being – Tom Rath, Jim Harter,
    Histories of Social Media – Jonathan Salem Baskin.
    Just my toonies worth

  4. WOW. This would be amazing to attend:
    1. Primetime Women by Marti Barletta
    2. Marketing to Women by Marti Barletta
    3. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
    4. Craft Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco
    5. I like you: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris (not a “business book” per se, but still an inspiration for ours)

  5. Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary Klein
    How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
    All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
    First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

  6. – Six Pixel of Separation – Mitch Joel
    – Flip the Funel – Joseph Jaffe
    – Linchpin – Seth Godin
    – Trust Agents – Chris Brogan
    – Socialnomics – Erik Qualman
    My favorites.

  7. Hey Mitch,
    Started reading your blog a couple of months ago, and found some interesting thinking, so thanks!
    OK books – hmmm, funny how I mostly read blogs and listen to podcasts these days, but I would have to go with:
    – Groundswell, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
    – Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash – you can’t improve if you can’t measure
    – Linchpin, by Seth Godin
    – Purple Cow, by Seth Godin – first business book I picked up and devoured while bored on a beach down south (I’m a techie trying to reform)
    – Six Pixels of Separation (hoover move) 🙂
    it’s on my desk, haven’t had time to crack it open yet as I just came back from a do-anything-but-work-related-stuff vacation
    Hope to meet you on the 30th!

  8. 1 / The Tipping Point – Gladwell- A great first step to understand “everything that spreads”.
    2 / Diffusion of innovations – Rogers – Because this 800 pages book will be the perfect time killer on the island, plus everything written in is fascinating.
    3 / Purple Cow – Godin -because I think it’s the first business book I bought
    4 / Groundswell – Bernoff/Li – A classic
    5 / Trust Agents – Smith / Brogan – Because it’s part of a real emerging trend. Something really new.
    I Would have add Bowling alone (Putnan), but I don’t really consider it a “business book”.
    Good luck to others in this top 5 contest 🙂

  9. Love the prize and the contest entry requirement Mitch. Provides for great sharing!
    So here goes:
    1. Daniel Pink – A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future. Because it also gives me ideas for stuff to do on that desert-island.
    2.Tom Peters – The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence. Because I can pick it up and digest a nugget or two in just a minute when I’m too busy foraging for food to read my other books.
    3. I like Kelly’s suggest of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. You never know who you’re going to meet up with on that island. The natives may not be friendly. 😉
    4. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Because…see #3.
    5. Communication Arts Design Annual (actually a subscription to all the Communication Arts books would be great if they deliver to the island) – because while it’s not strictly a business book, I’d like some beautiful stuff to look at as well as read besides the islands’s vistas, of course.
    Rita

  10. This is like marketapallooza!
    Here’s my top 5
    1- Purple Cow – Seth Godin
    2- Trust Agents – Brogan/Smith
    3- Six Pixels of separation – Mitch Joel ( Hey… I am not beneath it if it will get me in!)
    4- Convergence Culture – Henry Jenkins
    5- The Snowball – Warren Buffet and the Business of life – Alice Schroeder
    Thanks for the opportunity
    Cheers

  11. As a student, I see this event as a unique opportunity to learn more about marketing. The 5 books that have rocked my world so far, and that I would bring on an island are :
    > Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Robert B. Cialdini)
    because marketing is all about influence
    > slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations (Nancy Duarte)
    because presentations is a big part of doing business
    > Web Analytics 2.0 (Avinash kaushik)
    because there’s more to a website than how many clicks you get
    > Trust Agents (Chris Brogan / Julien Smith)
    because businesses can use social networks to build trust with their consumers
    >The Logic of Failure (Dietrich Dorner)
    because things don’t always work as planned and we have to learn from mistakes
    Of course, I would bring your book to the island too 😉

  12. I would go with (in no specific order):
    – Purple Cow – Seth Godin
    – Trust Agents – Julien Smith/Chris Brogan
    – The Tipping Point – Malcom Gladwell
    – Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh
    – Made to Stick – Chip and Dan Heath
    Thanks.

  13. Here’s what I recommend when people ask(and they do ask):
    Six Pixels of Separation
    Everything by Seth Godin
    Influence by Robert Cialdini
    E-Myth by Michael Gerber
    finally, Malcolm Galdwell, the Heath Brothers, Dan Ariely, Dan Pink, Peter Drucker, War of Art, Robin Sharma, Tony Hsieh
    Yes, I read a lot, voraciously even, some would say compulsively.
    Thanks for the recommendations. My to read list has grown today.

  14. You’re on a dessert-island and you want a marketing book to read? Good luck with that.
    1) The NYC Phone Book (good for kindling)
    2) The Bible (finally get around to reading it)
    3) Life of Pi (cuz that would be ironic, or something)
    4) How to Build and Sail Small Boats – Canoes – Punts and Rafts by Tony Read
    5) A Moleskin Notebook (good for keeping a journal)

  15. Mitch here is my list. Keep inspiring us with your blog and thoughts. We appreciate your commitment and dedication to the evolution of marketing!
    Stop Selling do Something Value by Steve Walmsley
    Six Pixels of Separation by the legend
    Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julen
    Purple Cow by Seth Godin
    Free the future of Radical Price by Chris Andersen
    Make it a great weekend!

  16. Top 5 business books:
    1. Good to great – Jim Collins
    2. The Power of Full Engagement – Jim Loehr (all professionals / business owners must read his – it’s up there with S Covey (snr), Dale Carnegie & Maxwell Maltz classics)
    3. Thinking for a change – John Maxwell
    4. Tribes – Seth Godin
    5. The tipping point – Malcolm Gladwell.
    If on a desert island I’d prefer them on an iPad plus a solar powered generator plus a radio/microwave tower for occasional web connectivity so i could feed my unquenchable appetite for Mitch’s media hack podcast and other 6pix interviews. Haven’t finished the new book but from what I hear it could make my top 5 – who knows?! Would also want a soccer ball that I could call Wilson (or perhaps Wilma) so I could read to him (her) about business concepts that have absolutely no utility on a dessert island. My ipad would have pre-loaded all the survival and craft-making apps I’d ever need.

  17. Great blog. Here is my list.
    1. Good to great by Jim Collins
    2. Wizard of Ads by Roy Williams
    3. Over promise and Over deliver by Rick Barerra
    4. Secrets of closing the sale by Zig Ziglar
    5. Winning by Jack Welch
    Cheers

  18. Drat. I already bought my tickets. Also had the chance to have Avinash speak yesterday at my Customer’s and Sales’ event. What an insipiring talk. See you there! 😉

  19. The Power of Simplicity by Jack Trout
    Story by Robert McKee
    Finding the Winning Edge by Bill Walsh
    Who Moved My Cheese
    How to Get Off a Desert Island by Gilligan

  20. Like Hugh said… Blogs are like books, but better;
    so with that in mind:
    Occam’s Razor
    Matt Cutts
    Gladwell.com
    Chrisbrogan.com
    Un-Marketing
    (Six pixels, but that would be brown-nosing.)
    Actual books: Wikinomics, Groundswell, Everything is Miscellaneous, Linked, Here Comes Everybody.

  21. Linchpin – Seth Godin
    Trust Agents – Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
    Art of Non-Conformity – Chris Guillebeau
    Re-Work – Jason Fried
    Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs – Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah
    Thanks!

  22. Appreciate the opportunity to participate. Jumped at the shot for consideration.
    Must come out of the gate with Michael Gerber’s E-Myth. Changed my view of being out there alone in a sea of cats.
    Malclom Gladwell’s Tipping Point. A great view of the evolutionary gains of culture shift.
    A Guide to the I-Ching. This would keep me busy on a desert island as it provokes thought and changes everytime I use it for business.
    Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind. This is the way we’re moving creatively in our increasingly right brained world. At least mine!
    Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Had me thinking differently about community and marketing from a critical mass perspective in business.

  23. I would absolutely fly to Montreal if I were to be selected for this ticket! Thanks for the opportunity.
    Top 5 Desert Island Business Books:
    – The E-Myth – Michael Gerber
    – All Marketers are Liars – Seth Godin
    – Bag the Elephant – Steve Kaplan
    – Fascinate – Sally Hogshead
    – Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh
    Wow, that was harder to do that I thought it would be as the request was for business books so I tried to make an attempt at being well rounded in my choices. Interestingly, none of the marketing choices speak directly to digital or new media because I felt that the premise and core of the books applied in any style medium for marketing.
    Thanks again Mitch, hope to see you in Montreal.

  24. Fascinate :Sally Hogshead
    Tribes:Seth Godin
    Engagement marketing : José Martí & Pablo Muñoz
    Web analytics 2.0:Avinash
    Iníciate en el marketing 2.0: Enrique Burgos &Marc Cortés

  25. I really appreciate the opportunity. So here’s my top 5
    -tipping point by Malcom Gladwell
    -the long tail by Chris Anderson
    -who says elephant can’t dance by Louis Gerstner
    -The art of war Sun tzu
    -purple cow by Seth Godin

  26. Thanks for a shot at this. I’ve recently had to pass on this because of the overall cost.
    I’m a relative newbie at marketing books so here is my amateur list:
    1. The Art of Choosing by Iyengar
    2. Cognitive Surplus by Skirky
    3. HTML, XHTML & CSS by Castro (no, not that one)
    4. Purple Cow by Godin
    5. I Live in the Future & This Is How It Works by Bilton
    I’m ashamed to say that I only just got Six Pixels. But I’m sure it will knock one of the above off the list once I crack the spine.
    I’m crossing my fingers and getting my hopes up.

  27. Mitch-
    Here are my top 5 books on this subject:
    / Seth Godin – Linchpin
    / Chris Brogan and Julien Smith – Trust Agents
    / Chip and Dan Heath – Made to Stick
    / Seth Godin – Purple Cow
    / Chris Anderson – The Long Tail

  28. Hi Mitch! I so want to win this VIP package…!!
    Difficult to get down to a short list, but here’s my Top 5:
    1) Tribe (Seth Godin)
    2) Trust Agents (Brogan/Smith)
    3) 4 Hour Work Week (Ferris)
    4) Six Pixels of Separation (not to suck it up… Truly one of my past two yrs dav)
    5) Social Media Marketing – an hour a day (Evans)
    Have a super wk end!
    Looking forward to the winner on Sept 20!

  29. My top 5 :
    – How customers think by Gerald Zaltman (not available in Amazon Canada for now)
    – Consumer Tribes by Bernard Cova, Robert Kozinets, and Avi Shankar
    – Consumer Culture Theory (Research in Consumer Behavior) by Russell Belk and John F. Sherry Jr
    – The Necessary Art of Persuasion by Jay A. Conger
    And by equal interest:
    – Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
    – Six Pixel of Separation by Magic Mitch…(Ok I promise I’m not sucking up !)
    – Groundswell by Bernoff & Li
    Cheers

  30. Unleashing the Ideavirus – Seth Godin
    Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel
    The Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
    The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People – Stephen Covey
    Go Put Your Strengths to Work – Marcus Buckingham

  31. I just pulled these from my Desert Island Business Book” shelf:
    How to Win Friends & Influence People
    by Dale Carnegie (You never know who you might meet)
    The Dilbert Principle
    by Scott Adams (Always good to laugh at our mistakes)
    Chief Customer Officer – Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action
    by Jeanne Bliss (Appreciate what you’re not missing)
    Trust Agents
    by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (Trust yourself – you’re the only one left))
    Linchpin
    by Seth Godin (Finally, I’m a Linchpin!)
    Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead
    by David Meerman Scott (Just startingf to read – life before FB)
    (I had loaned Six Pixels to a friend. If it is returned before I land on said island, I’ll knock off one of the above since you’ll probably be speaking there at some point as well and I’d like my copy signed.)

  32. My five books?
    Very tough to decide. Here’s an almost random pick:
    – Information Anxiety, Richard Saul Wurman;
    – Be Unreasonable, Paul Lemberg;
    – Thank You for Arguing, Jay Heinrichs;
    – Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive;
    – The Copywriter’s Handbook, Bob Bly.

  33. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
    Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
    Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
    Your Marketing Sucks by Mark Stevens
    All Marketers Are Lairs by Seth Godin

  34. Conf is p retty close but i give it a shout:
    1 / carnegie – how to win friends and influence people
    2 / keith ferrazzi – never eat alone
    3 / taleb – the black swan
    4 / eric d beinhocker – the origin of wealth
    5 / ogilvy – ogilvy on advertising
    Keep it up and warmest from berlin

  35. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
    My top five:
    — …And the Clients Went Wild!: How Savvy Professionals Win All the Business They Want
    — Trust Agents
    — Purple Cow
    — Micromarketing
    — Love is the killer App

  36. I obviously couldn’t stay away from a post about business books. Here’s my two cents:
    – Web Analytics 2.0 (why the hell don’t more marketers read this book???)
    – The Black Swan (not a marketing book, but a good reminder that we know a hell of a lot less than we think we do)
    – Six Pixels (I know you’ll think I added this because you have thin skin, but it’s the first SM book I read and I love it)
    – Here Comes Everybody (to remind us that web 2.0 changes a lot more than just marketing)
    – Made to Stick (for a simple, easy to remember formula for creating lasting ideas)
    See you there 🙂

  37. Some goodies above. Here’s mine:
    1. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries & Jack Trout
    2. Fascinate by Holly Hogshead
    3. Brand: It Ain’t the Logo by Ted Matthews
    4. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasian by Robert Calidini
    5. Tribes by Seth Godin
    A little new media bonus goodie:
    6. Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel

  38. I actually have a top 10 and but the top 5 were requested so here they are:
    All Marketers are Liars – Seth Godin
    Keith ferrazzi – never eat alone
    The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
    Midas Marketing by Rob Slee
    and of course
    Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler
    Not read Six Degree’s, it’s next 🙂

  39. Hi Mitch,
    Here’s my list of books that I’ve enjoyed reading :
    1. The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott
    2. Web Analytics an hour a day, by Avinash Kaushik
    3. Tribes, by Seth Godin
    4. Strategic Market Management, by David a. Aaker
    5. Purple Cow, by Seth Godin (yeah, I like what Seth Godin writes)
    Cheers,
    Claudine

  40. 1. Influence, by Robert Cialdini (could proove very useful on a desert island…)
    2. The origin of wealth, by Beinhocker
    3. The innovator’s dilemma, by Clayton Cristensen
    4. Blue Ocean Strategy, by Kim and Mauborgne
    5. The sovereign individual, by Rees-Moog and Davidson
    Bonus
    6. Scaling a business on a desert island, by Robinson Crusoe
    7. Stop reading and build a raft, stupid, by myself

  41. My top 5 so far would be:
    Six Pixels of Seperation by Joel
    How to Win Friends & Influence People by Carnegie
    Effective business writing by Forsyth
    Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 by Levinson
    Linchpin by Seth Godin (next on my list)
    Thanks!

  42. 1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasian by Robert Calidini
    This is worth two spots.
    2. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries & Jack Trout
    This one as well.
    You can pretty much derive all other books from these two :).
    3. Crossing The Chasm, Geoffrey Moore
    A lot of indirect parallels to Positioning.
    4. Marketing Warfare, Ries & Trout
    A lot of indirect parallels to Crossing the Chasm.
    5. Good to Great, Jim Collins
    A lot of indirect parallels to Marketing Warfare.
    I only chose books I’ve made a point of giving to other people. ‘Selling The Invisible’ by Harry Beckwith would be my 6th choice.

  43. Hola Mitch 🙂
    Seeing how this sounds like a great event to attend, I thought I would throw in my mix.
    The obvious answer – considering the company – would be:
    Joel – Six Pixels
    Godin – Purple Cow
    Nulman – POW
    Gitomer – Red Book series
    Lenderman – Experience the Message
    But, excluding that fine repertoire (and sucking up, which I ain’t too good at anyway), I would say:
    On Competition – Michal Porter
    Business is competitive, so best to know your competition and the playing field you are on.
    The 22 Immutable Laws Of Branding- Al Ries
    Strategy to take you places. Don’t just walk aimlessly.
    Ogilvy on Advertising – David Ogilvy
    Because what you say and how you say it will connect you to your market
    Getting to Yes – Roger Fisher
    Because all along the way you will have to negotiate ideas, emotions, conflict, interests, expectations with those around you; you had better be good at it to succeed!
    Funky Business
    Cool book on business; how to put it all together with fresh thinking.
    They could also be burned to signal for help once read.

  44. There are so many more I could list but here are 5:
    Mitch Joel – Six Pixels of Separation
    Seth Godin-Linchpin
    Gaar Reynolds – Presentation Zen
    Dan Heath – Made To Stick
    Tony Hsieh – Delivering Happiness

  45. Top 5 Business Books:
    “The New Influencers” by Pat Gillin
    “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuck
    “UNMarketing” by Scott Stratten
    “Inbound Marketing” by Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah
    “Start with Why” by Scott Sinek

  46. If I were on a desert island…why would i need business books? i would be by myself…on a desert island – i can’t see my business succeeding in such a dire environment.
    regardless, if i were FORCED to bring biz books – i’d bring
    Linchpin – Seth Godin
    Web Analytics an hour a day, by Avinash Kaushik – although this would be quite useless, unless there were computers and websites I monitored on this island.
    The Copywriter’s Handbook, Bob Bly
    Good to great by Jim Collins
    The Tipping Point – Malcom Gladwell
    honestly, though…i’d probably bring pr0nz.

  47. Well…I’m not in a desert island, but I’m halfway across the world from home now and the books I have with me are:
    – The Think Big Manifesto
    – The Pirates Dilemma
    – The True Believer
    – The Dip
    – Linchpin
    Some of which are not necessarily business books per se, I guess, but still.

  48. Mitch, top 5 desert island biz books are (not in any particular order but have had the most dramatic impact on my business life and business growth in the last 12 months):
    1. Presentation Zen – Garr Reynolds
    2. Jeffrey Gitomer Sales Bible
    3. The New Rules of Marketing and PR – David Meerman Scott
    4. Six Pixels of Separation (total transparency – not sucking up! I purchased at the Art of Marketing in TO back in March – this book and your insights led me to the others – Garr, David and inspired me to get going.
    5. Putting the Public back in Public Relations – Brian Solis

  49. On Competition – Michael E. Porter
    Linked – Albert-Laszlo Barabasl
    The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss
    Rework – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
    Ready, Fire, Aim – Michael Masterson

  50. I’m a newbie, an old style publicist, grassroots outreach organizer and offline event producer now working for a non-profit media-maker. This is a great reading list, thanks!!
    Here’s what I’m consuming.
    1) Don’t Make Me Think, 2nd ed. by Steve Krug
    2) Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
    3) Web Marketing for Dummies, 8 books, 5 authors
    4) Purple Cow by Seth Godin
    5) a bunch of blogs and podcasts including yours.
    I would l-o-v-e to be there on Sept 30.

  51. Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel
    Fascinate – Sally Hogshead
    The Magic of Thinking Big – David Joseph Schwartz
    Linchpin – Seth Godin
    Made to Stick – Chip Heath and Dan Heath
    Currently getting into the Making Ideas Happen – Scott Belsky – so far looks very promising.
    Pick me! 🙂 I read your/Godin’s blogs daily, and I’d love/need to attend the conference in Montreal.

  52. Here are my top 5:
    1. Good to great – Jim Collins
    2. Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning – Thomas H. Davenport ( anything by Davenport is gold)
    3. Moneyball – Michael Lewis ( Amazing author…I wil read all his books)
    4. The Goal – Goldratt
    5. A sense of Urgency – John Kotter ( also anything by Jon Kotter)
    I will not be able to attend on the 30th…but love the recommended books from these posts. Thanks .

  53. Top five desert-island business books
    1. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, Andy Warhol.
    2. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson
    3. Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy
    4. Charisma: A psychoanalytic look at mass society, Shamir, House & Arthur
    5. Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, Avinash Kaushik

  54. Hi Joel,
    Thank you very much for giving us the chance to listen to these great panelists.
    First, if I’d be stuck in an desert-island I’d rather have a list of top 5 surviving books, biz books wouldn’t be much help I guess 🙂
    But since Montreal, is still not a desert-island here’s my top 5 biz book list 🙂
    Chrush it – Gary Vay Ner Chuk
    The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowiecki
    Linchpin – Seth Godin
    The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs – Carmine Gallo
    Trust Agents – Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
    Unfortunately I can’t suck up (yet) 🙂 but your book is in my list. I need to finish two books I’m reading first 🙂
    Thanks again for this opportunity

  55. The “Charisma” book is acrtually by Irvine Schiffer from the early 70s. If you can find it, a really prescient view of what we now know in digital relationships.

  56. All marketeers are liar – Seth godin
    Crush it – Gary Veynerchuk
    The long tail – Chris Anderson
    Starbucks, one cup at a time – Shultz
    Outlier – Malcolm Gladwell
    They were all great inspirational book!
    J-Y

  57. My five books would be
    1. Open Leadership by Charlene Li (follow-on to Groundswell)
    2. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
    3. The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
    4. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
    5. Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David
    Weinberger
    Cheers,
    Ken Knitter

  58. The Little Gold Book of Yes, Jeffrey Gitomer
    Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy
    Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik
    purple cow by Seth Godin
    Start With Why? – Simon Sinek

  59. There’s too many but these were the first that came to mind. Love a good story that teaches while entertains.
    Good to Great – Jim Collins 
    The goal - Eliyahu M. Goldratt
    Blink – Malcum Gladwell
    Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner.
    The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencion
    PS I’m not allowed to go – lol – politics

  60. Hey there-
    Don’t Make Me Think
    Tribes
    Your Marketing Sucks
    The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People
    Six Pixels of Separation
    Thanks for being you-
    Michael

  61. Hello,
    In no particular order, I’d recommend:
    Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (yes, seriously… as a way to understand where and how you are supposed to be in the first place)
    Getting Things Done – David Allen (alas… being creative *and* organised don’t always happen naturally)
    Convergence Culture – Henry Jenkins (well, I work in media)
    Clay Shirky – Cognitive Surplus (tapping into this surplus to finance a project in this tight economy and your employees will be fulfilled and happier)
    Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel (only started the book itself last weekend but already sold on the ideas)
    A lot of good suggestions in the previous comments. Now if I can only find more time or be more organised (grin)

  62. I am closing the contest right here. So, please feel free to keep adding the marketing books that matter to you, but the contest winners will be announced in a couple of minutes above and will only include those people who posted prior to this Blog comment.
    Thanks for playing along!

  63. Here are my “Big Five” Best Business Books:
    1. Michael E. Porter – Competitive Advantage
    2. Robert B. Cialdini – Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
    3. Gary A. Klein – Sources of Power
    4. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff – Groundswell
    5. Robin Williams – The Non-designer’s Design book
    Richard

  64. Annabelle Agnew – So honored to be in such distinguished company on your list – Thank you!
    Inspired to add my own nominations:
    — Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini
    — Switch, by Chip & Dan Heath
    — A Whole New Mind, by Dan Pink
    — Selling the Invisible, by Harry Beckwith
    — Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, by Dan Ariely

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