
Ask HN: Marketing Books for Developers? - Jim_Neath
I consider myself to be a pretty competent programmer, but like a lot of other coders, I'm complete arse when it comes to marketing.<p>I've been working on my startup for quite a few months now and as I'm nearing launch time, I feel I should be learning more about promotion and marketing.<p>Are there any marketing books out there, that you would recommend for someone in my situation?
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bhousel
Steve Blank's 4 Steps to the Epiphany is a must read for all developers and
entrepreneurs. Lots of great info about creating a marketing plan that fits
your product and your customers. [http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-
Steven-Blank/dp/09...](http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-
Blank/dp/0976470705)

~~~
icey
4 Steps is a GREAT book, but you may want to take a Xanax before reading it if
poor editing causes you to nerdrage.

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il
Read some of the old direct response stuff from the last century. You'll
surprised at how many similarities there are between direct mail and online.
-Claude Hopkins -Robert Collier -David Ogilvy -Gene Schwartz and others.

~~~
aristus
I used to work in DM, and this is very true. Not just in the analysis part,
but in how to send the right signals with copywriting and design.

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solost
I recommend Crossing the Chasm. It is older but still relevan especially if
you still find marketing a technology start up challenging.

[http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-
Mai...](http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-
Mainstream/dp/0066620023)

~~~
sgdesign
I didn't like that book. At least I don't think its theories apply to most
projects and companies discussed here.

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limist
One of the best high-level but still applied and applicable books on marketing
I've found is "Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands" by
Marty Neumeier.

The author writes well, gives usable structure and advice, and walks you
through his 17 step process to develop your marketing strategy, from the high
level (Who are you?) to the mid-level (What do they call you? your brand name)
to the details (What do they experience?). Amazingly, I found that his
approach works for both large businesses (his examples), and fledgling web
startups (my experience). His experience and enthusiasm also shine through.

It's a quick read, but I find I go back to it often to check if my thinking
and perspective are where they need to be - that is, taking the end-user's
viewpoint.

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JangoSteve
Not a marketing book per se, but probably the book that has had the most
profound effect on my marketing efforts (and the way I communicate in general)
is Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.

Another good book I'd recommend is Hot Button Marketing by Barry Feig.

I've read quite a few others, but none that really jump out that would be a
great read for someone who's not a marketing person.

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endlessvoid94
"Positioning" by Ries and Trout: [http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-
Your-Al-Ries/dp/007...](http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-
Ries/dp/0071373586)

It was THE marketing book of the 80s, and it's still extremely relevant today.
It's quick read, too.

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MrMatt
Not sure about books, but read Creating Passionate Users by Kathy Sierra and
Dan Russell: <http://headrush.typepad.com/>

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javery
I would start with the Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside by Godin, they are
high level but they talk about that fact that you need to make your product
exceptional instead of pouring money into marketing.

I would also check out Inbound Marketing by Halligan and Shah, I just got it
and started it but so far it looks good.

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tyohn
I recommend: "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices" by Peter
Drucker, "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind", by Al Ries, Jack Trout and
"Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age" by Tom Peters. They
aren't all strictly marketing books but they are awesome as well as
informative.

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systemtrigger
I dug _Made to Stick_. <http://madetostick.com>

~~~
parka
I love this book.

Not really a marketing book but the principles are really practical to lots of
situations in life.

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dbreunig
Would anyone be interested in organizing a meetup with a panel of tech
marketers to answer questions or share case-studies with hackers? Could be a
fun event. Let me know and I'll dredge up some talent from my home here in the
ad industry...

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lanceweatherby
The Green Banana Papers, Marketing Secrets For Technology Entrepreneurs is a
good quick read that offers practical advice on what to do.
<http://bit.ly/GreenBananaPapers>

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redsymbol
In early 2009, I got sick and tired of my incompetence with sales and
marketing, and decided to learn. So I set out to learn, even if it meant
sacrificing coding for a while.

Marketing (and its cousin, sales) has many facets, perhaps surprisingly many,
with significant differences among them. Just like compiler implementation
requires skills and knowledge different from 3D graphics coding, or secure web
development, for example. At the "high end" of the marketing food chain, there
are things like public relations. I personally don't know much about that yet.

Instead, I chose to focus on copywriting. Basically, the art and science of
creating powerfully effective ads using only the written word. Often this
means writing sales letters, i.e. several-page-long texts that sell something.

This focus has proven to be a good choice. It gives a very strong foundation
that applies to other kinds of marketing and sales. For example, Adwords ads
can be viewed as extremely short sales letters.

You asked specifically about books. Over the course of 2009, I worked through
(not just read!) about half a dozen marketing tomes that people had
recommended to me. In descending priority, my favorite three:

    
    
      * Hypnotic Writing by Joe Vitale
      * The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugerman
      * Cashvertising by Drew Whitman
    

If you can read only three books, I'd suggest these, in the order listed. But
if you can only read one, Cashvertising might actually be the best for you.

CAVEAT: Make sure you work through all the exercises the book has - and if it
doesn't, invent them! Sugarman's book, for example, has few explicit reader
exercises. So after each section or chapter, close the book and write an ad
for your product, and/or some other product (real or imaginary), applying and
exercising the principles you just learned. Use pen and paper, or better yet,
a dedicated notebook. You'll miss out on at least 80% of the value of these
books if you fail to do this!!

Another very good thing to do is to HAND COPY a good sales letter. Do it in
long hand, on sheets of paper, with a pen or pencil. Why in the world, you
ask? Because it's a powerful, powerful way to drill some of the more subtle
advertising patterns into your subconscious.

Several important marketers - Dan Kennedy is one - famously recommend doing
this with 100 long sales letters if you really want to manifest great skill in
marketing. I've done about six of them myself, so far. Doing just the first
one produced a difference in my skill that was too great to ignore.

Almost no one will do this, because it's so much work. A good solid sales
letter may be ten pages, which takes me about three hours to hand copy. Let me
just suggest that it's worth it, and you may want to try it out once to
evaluate for yourself. Just make sure you use a GOOD (meaning, highly
financially successful) sales letter - you want to make sure you ingrain good
habits, not bad ones!

P.S. Cialdini and Collier are often recommended. Personally, I found less
value in them. Cialdini's is good, but very, very mental and intellectual.
That can be great for a typical advertising person. But most people reading
this (programmers) need to be LESS mental, to grok marketing, not more.
Reading even a few pages of Cialdini makes me feel "stuck in my head".

For Collier, I'm personally glad I took the time to read it, but for most
people in your shoes it is probably not the first priority, and IMO not even a
"must-read" at all.

EDIT: fixed formatting and a typo

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Alex3917
All Marketers are Liars, Permission Marketing, Crossing the Chasm,
Positioning, 4 steps to the epiphany

That's probably enough for a while. And if you haven't already read Getting
Real then read that too.

------
tortilla
Not exactly a book, okay, a blog:

<http://www.copyblogger.com/>

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docpepin
Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin

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mos1
Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini.

[http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-
Busine...](http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-
Essentials/dp/006124189X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216856193&sr=8-1)

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Violate Them at Your Own Risk!

[http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-
Violate/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-
Violate/dp/0887306667/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216858700&sr=1-1)

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to We Usability, by Steve Krug:

[http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-
Usability/dp/032134...](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-
Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216860599&sr=1-1)

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large Scale Web
Sites, by Paul Rosenfeld and Peter Morville:

[http://www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-World-Wide-
We...](http://www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-World-Wide-
Web/dp/0596527349/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216860826&sr=1-1)

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, by Paco Underhill

[http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Shopping-Updated-
Internet/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Shopping-Updated-
Internet/dp/1416595244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264609112&sr=1-1)

And at least one Jakob Nielsen Usability book.

