Ann Handley

Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, Co-Author at Content Rules

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Book Recommendations:

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Recommended by Ann Handley

A practical, simple, accessible guide to an effective content marketing program. And that's the highest praise I know. (from Amazon)

Tradition, meet innovation — this is the guide today's content marketer needs. Geared toward both new marketers and seasoned professionals, Master Content Marketing shares proven strategies for crafting compelling, revenue-generating content. Even experienced marketers will see content marketing improvement with the classic content principals and AI content tools recommended here. Optimize your business's content production process using the systems, processes, and trustworthy advice of a career marketer on the front lines of the industry. You and your marketing team will:Unlock powerful content marketing strategies to skyrocket your business growthDiscover how to use AI writing tools like ChatGPT in your content production processCreate precision-crafted content to match your customer's journeyHarness the power of a simple 7-part formula for captivating contentIgnite engagement with compelling headlines and irresistible first sentencesDiscover a proven multi-day system to produce consistent, high-quality content marketingMaster a content strategy process for long-term successGet actionable plans and checklists for revenue-generating contentAccess exclusive advice from successful content marketersMaster Content Marketing is the first book in Pamela Wilson's Master Content series. It lays the foundation for any content plan. Ready to compete with content? Grab your copy of Master Content Marketing today.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

You might call email the glue that holds so much of business marketing efforts together. You might call it the backbone, or the connective tissue, or the linchpin. But whatever you call it, you need it. And this is the book that shows you not just why you need it, but how to use it to grow your business. Rebel’s Guide is the book I’ve been waiting for, because this is the book that talks (in real, relevant, updated terms) about how email is that critical thing businesses need to market in a digital age. (from Amazon)

A No-Nonsense, Take-No-Prisoners Plan for Earning Positive Return on Your Email Marketing! “They” say email is dead. Baloney! 94% of Americans use email. Passionate social networkers use email more, not less. Mobile email is huge. Email offers marketers more opportunities than ever...opportunities to guide customers from consideration and trial to repeat purchase, loyalty, even advocacy! But email has changed. Email users have changed. To get breakthrough results, you must break the rules! Whether you’re B2B or B2C, Fortune 500 or startup, this is a complete no-nonsense plan for transforming your email marketing. Discover radically better ways to handle every facet of your campaign: lists, From names, Subject lines, calls to action, social network integration...everything! Learn how to Discover which email marketing “rules” are obsolete--and when to break the restOptimize every component of your message and campaign Drive list growth that translates directly into the top line Encourage opt-in by systematically simplifying signup Bring real humor and creativity back into your email Write a great main call to action--and great secondary and tertiary calls, tooTake full advantage of tools ranging from QR codes to texting to grow your email listMake better technical decisions about prechecked opt-in boxes and other attributesKnow when to deliberately introduce “imperfections” into your emails Use email marketing and social media to power each other Prepare for the short- and long-term futures of email marketing

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Recommended by Ann Handley

What if you launched a business with nothing to sell, and instead focused first on serving the needs of an audience, trusting that the 'selling' part would come later? Crazy? Or crazy-brilliant? I'd say the latter. Because in today's world, you should serve before selling. (from Amazon)

The NEW Rulebook for Entrepreneurial Success What's the surest way to startup failure? Follow old, outdated rules. In Content Inc., one of today's most sought-after content-marketing strategists reveals a new model for entrepreneurial success. Simply put, it's about developing valuable content, building an audience around that content, and then creating a product for that audience. Notice a shift? Author Joe Pulizzi flips the traditional entrepreneurial approach of first creating a product and then trying to find customers. It's a brilliant reverse-engineering of a model that rarely succeeds. The radical six-step business-building process revealed in this book is smart, simple, practical, and cost-effective. And best of all, it works. It's a strategy Pulizzi used to build his own successful company, Content Marketing Institute, which has landed on Inc. magazine's list of fastest growing private companies for three years straight.  It's also a strategy countless other entrepreneurs use to build their own multi-million dollar companies.  Build an audience and you'll be able to sell pretty much anything you want. Today's markets are more dynamic and customers are more fickle than ever before. Why would you put all your eggs in one basket before securing a loyal customer base? Content Inc. shows you how to get customers first and develop products later. It's the best way to build a solid, long-lasting business positioned for today's content-driven world.  This is the simple but profoundly successful entrepreneurial approach of one of today's most creative business minds. A pioneer of content marketing, Pulizzi has cracked the code when it comes to the power of content in a world where marketers still hold fast to traditional models that no longer work. In Content Inc., he breaks down the business-startup process into six steps, making it simple for you to visualize, launch, and monetize your own business. These steps are:The "Sweet Spot": Identify the intersection of your unique competency and your personal passionContent Tilting: Determine how you can "tilt" your sweet spot to find a place where little or no competition existsBuilding the Base: Establish your number-one channel for disseminating content (blog, podcast, YouTube, etc.)Harvesting Audience: Use social-media and SEO to convert one-time visitors into long-term subscribersDiversification: Grow your business by expanding into multiple delivery channelsMonetization: Now that your expertise is established, you can begin charging money for your products or services This model has worked wonders for Pulizzi and countless other examples detailed in the book. Connect these six pieces like a puzzle, and before you know it, you'll be running your own profitable, scalable business. Pulizzi walks you step by step through the process, based on his own success (and failures) and real-world multi-million dollar examples from multiple industries and countries. Whether you're seeking to start a brand-new business or drive innovation in an existing one, Content Inc. provides everything you need to reverse-engineer the traditional entrepreneurial model for better, more sustainable success. Joe Pulizzi is an entrepreneur, professional speaker, and podcaster. He is the founder of several startups, including the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), recognized as the fastest growing business media company by Inc. Magazine in 2014. CMI produces Content Marketing World, the world's largest content marketing event, and publishes the leading content marketing magazine, Chief Content Officer. Pulizzi's book Epic Content Marketing was named one of Fortune magazine's Five Must Read Business Books of the Year.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

A zero-nonsense guide to using your business's biggest asset: Email. Gift it to that exec who keeps asking, Why aren't we selling more on TikTok? (from Amazon)

The most comprehensive email marketing book from the most prolific email marketing author helps you master the most misunderstood marketing channel. Updated and greatly expanded, the 4th Edition of Email Marketing Rules demystifies this vital channel, guiding you through its complexities to find the best execution for your brand—the one that serves the needs of your business and the needs of your subscribers. Volume 1 of Email Marketing Rules discusses 184 best practices that help you…Build productive, safe email lists by identifying valuable subscriber acquisition sources, using appropriate permission practices, and managing inactives wiselySet the right program goals by understanding “deep metrics” and properly interpreting campaign, channel, and subscriber metricsCreate relevant messages with subject lines that draw in subscribers while avoiding “opener’s remorse” and designs that focus subscribers on taking actionCraft high-performance triggered emails, including welcome programs that set you up for long-term successEffectively plan and produce emails with workflows that allow you to seize opportunities and avoid errorsAnd much more, including understanding the law, optimizing email frequency, using the best landing pages, and doing A/B testing

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Recommended by Ann Handley

For those organizations struggling to create a content marketing program that drives results, Joe delivers. Again. (from Amazon)

NAMED one of  5 MUST-READ BUSINESS BOOKS BY FORTUNE MAGAZINE Publishing is the NEW MARKETING. How do you cut through the noise, commotion, and bad information that is right now cluttering up your customers' digital space? Epic Content Marketing. One of the world's leading experts on content marketing, Joe Pulizzi explains how to draw prospects and customers in by creating information and content they actually want to engage with. No longer can we interrupt our customers with mediocre content (and sales messages) our customers don't care about. "Epic Content Marketing" takes you step by step through the process of developing stories that inform and entertain and compel customers to act--without actually telling them to. Epic content, distributed to the right person at the right time, is how to truly capture the hearts and minds of customers. It's how to position your business as a trusted expert in its industry. It's what customers share and talk about. Once we hook customers in with epic content, they reward us by sending our sales through the roof. Epic Content Marketing provides everything you need to: * Determine what your content niche should be to attract and retain customers * Discover and develop your content marketing mission statement * Set up a process for creating and curating epic content * Learn how to leverage social and email channels to create--and grow--your audience * Measure the performance of your content--and increase your content marketing budget With in-depth case studies of how John Deere, LEGO, Coca-Cola, and other leading corporations are using content to drive epic sales, this groundbreaking guide gives you all the tools to start creating and disseminating content that leads directly to greater profits and growth. Whether you're the CMO of a Fortune 500, a digital marketer, or entrepreneur, "Epic Content Marketing" gives you the tools you need to vanquish the competition. Start your epic journey now! Check out EpicContentMarketing.com for book bonus material and to download "20 Epic Examples of Content Marketing"

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Recommended by Ann Handley

What if you launched a business with nothing to sell, and instead focused first on serving the needs of an audience, trusting that the 'selling' part would come later? Crazy? Or crazy-brilliant? I'd say the latter. Because in today's world, you should serve before selling. (from Amazon)

From one of today's leading experts in content marketing, Content Inc. is the go-to guide to building a solid small business by establishing a loyal audience before you sell products or services. Do you create digital content? Well, this is the business model you've been looking for...In these pages, Joe Pulizzi provides a lower-risk, more effective way to create a path to success by re-engineering the process that so often leads to failure: You'll learn how to develop valuable content, build an audience around that content―and then create a product for that audience. Content Inc. walks you through the entire process, showing how to: Choose a topicUnearth an area where little competition exists (break through the clutter)Choose your best channel to build your platformBuild long-term customer loyalty (an audience)Start making money from your contentExpand your content into multiple channels/platformsSell your content asset or scale it into a successful business This updated edition includes new and enhanced coverage of platforms like TikTok, SnapChat, and Instagram, a new section about the exit strategy for the model, more practical how-tos, and current examples of companies that have successfully implemented these strategies. Content Inc. provides an ingenious approach to business based on a profoundly simple concept: Having a singular focus on audience, and building a loyal audience directly, provide the best, most nuanced understanding of what products ultimately make the most sense to sell. Apply the methods laid out for you in Content Inc., and create the business of your dreams.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

If your lead gen needs a Red Bull, Tom's book is here. (from Amazon)

If you’re frustrated with your lead generation results and you’re looking for powerful ways to fuel new leads growth, this book is for you. Rethink Lead Generation teaches you how to think differently to unleash growth. Read the book and uncover strategies to leverage creativity, lateral thinking, and marketing innovation to attract more attention, leads, and revenue. Learn to transform your B2B lead generation results through innovative approaches to your website, SEO, content, account-based marketing (ABM), and referrals. The book walks you through how to rethink your current lead generation activities. You’ll see why it’s so important to ignore “best practices” and why using marketing jujitsu instead is so effective. Explore non-obvious approaches to lead gen and you’ll be far more likely to ignite growth. Get ready to rethink your lead generation strategies, and get ready for more leads for your business.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

Marketing doesn't need another content marketing book. But we do need a practical, accessible, ridiculously useful guide to reimagining our great ideas in a hundred different ways (literally!). The Content Fuel Framework should come packaged with every 2020 marketing plan. Highly recommend! (from Amazon)

"Marketers struggling to create engaging content will have a savior in The Content Fuel Framework. The Focus + Format approach is a simple yet highly effective way to inspire numerous rich ideas to rescue any content marketing program." —Lee Odden, CEO and Co-Founder of TopRank Marketing In The Content Fuel Framework, trained journalist and award-winning content marketer Melanie Deziel shows you how to maximize your creativity by systematizing it. This simple framework catalyzes the brainstorming process, making idea generation effortless and nearly automatic. No more writer's block. No more asking "what should I post?" No more waiting for that "big idea" to show up in its own time. This system allows storytellers from any industry to produce fresh story ideas on demand, any time. Never before have we consumed as much content, in as many forms, and in as many places as we do now. This means marketers, creators, and anyone who communicates with an audience is under more pressure than ever to deliver unique content, consistently. How can you fill all those web pages, social feeds, blogs, and newsletters, every single day? The Content Fuel Framework will challenge you—and enable you—to tell stories in entirely new ways. It's an adaptable and evergreen guide you'll come back to again and again.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

UnMarket to build trust and make lifelong customers! In 2009, Scott Stratten and Alison Stratten wrote the bestselling UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging and began a journey that would take them around the world sharing their message of engagement with corporations, entrepreneurs, and students.They are now back with this second edition, because Everything has Changed and Nothing is Different, with all the brilliance of the first edition, plus new content and commentary to reflect the rapidly changing landscape we all live, buy, and work in today. For generations, marketing has been hypocritical. We've been taught to market to others in ways we hate being marketed to (cold-calling, flyers, ads, etc.). So why do we still keep trying the same stale marketing moves? UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You'll stop just pushing out your message and praying that it sticks somewhere. Potential and current customers want to be listened to, validated, and have a platform to be heard-especially online. With UnMarketing, you'll create a relationship with your customers, and make yourself the logical choice for their needs. We know you've been told to act like other people, talk like other people, and market like all the people, but it is time for you to unlearn everything and start to UnMarket yourself. UnMarketing includes the latest information on: Idea Creation, Viral Marketing and Video, Marketing to Millennials, Authenticity, Transparency and Immediacy, Ethics and Affiliates, Social Media Platforming, UnPodcasting, Word of Mouth, Customer Service, Consumer Advocacy and Leadership. With examples of what to do, and what not to do, from small business right up to worldwide corporations in areas such as real estate, travel, service, retail, and B2B.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

The Elements of Style book cover

by William Strunk Jr·You?

"No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume." - The Boston Globe You know the author's name. You recognize the title. The advice of Strunk is as valuable today as when it was first offered. This book has conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use "the little book" to make a big impact with writing.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy clarifies the muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world. Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.” He introduces nine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning, and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis. Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

The international bestseller&;now in a new editionWhen it comes to marketing, anything goes in the Digital Age, right? Well, not quite. While marketing and public relations tactics do seem to change overnight, every smart businessperson knows that it takes a lot more than the 'next big thing.' The New Rules of Marketing & PR is an international bestseller with more than 375,000 copies sold in twenty-nine languages. In the latest edition of this pioneering guide to the future of marketing, you'll get a step-by-step action plan for leveraging the power of the latest approaches to generating attention for your idea or your business. You'll learn how get the right information to the right people at the right time&;at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. The Internet continues to change the way people communicate and interact with each other, and if you're struggling to keep up with what's trending in social media, online videos, apps, blogs, or more, your product or service is bound to get lost in the ether. In The New Rules of Marketing & PR, you'll get access to the tried-and-true rules that will keep you ahead of the curve when using the latest and greatest digital spaces to their fullest PR, marketing, and customer-communications potential. Keeping in mind that your audience is savvy and crunched for time, this essential guide shows you how to cut through the online clutter to ensure that your message gets seen and heard. Serves as the ideal resource for entrepreneurs, business owners, marketers, PR professionals, and non-profit managersOffers a wealth of compelling case studies and real-world examplesIncludes information on new platforms including Facebook Live and SnapchatShows both small and large organizations how to best use Web-based communication Finally, everything you need to speak directly to your audience and establish a personal link with those who make your business work is in one place.

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Recommended by Ann Handley

This life-changing manifesto shows how you have the potential to make a huge difference wherever you are. Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books that have been translated into 36 languages and reached millions of readers around the world, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas. In Linchpin, he turns his attention to the individual, and explains how anyone can make a significant impact within their organization. There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art. Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn't reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back. Linchpin will show you how to join the likes of... · Keith Johnson, who scours flea markets across the country to fill Anthropologie stores with unique pieces. · Jason Zimdars, a graphic designer who got his dream job at 37signals without a résumé. · David, who works at Dean and Deluca coffee shop in New York. He sees every customer interaction as a chance to give a gift and is cherished in return. As Godin writes, "Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It's time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must."