Just about every book written about marketing that you can pick up today at a bookstore is worthless. They are just a bunch of meaningless tomes describing ways to trick your market, cheat, entertain, or “be creative” that ultimately amounts to nothing. I know that sounds harsh, but hey—do you realize that you can’t get the time back that you wasted on a lousy book that you read?

And in terms of marketing, it’s even worse—bad marketing advice can make you lose money, tarnish your reputation, and frustrate your customer base. The bottom line is this—most marketing books are all full of the same junk about creativity, techniques, and strategies that do not ultimately facilitate the customer’s decision making process. They are all the same old stuff, repackaged and regurgitated.

So, to help you out, I’m going to share with you the only real marketing books you should bother reading. Read these books, implement the strategies you find in them—and you will reap significant rewards. I guarantee it!

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham

Monopolize Your Marketplace by Rich Harshaw

The E-Myth by Michael Gerber

My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins

Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

The Plain English Approach To Business Writing by Edward P. Bailey Jr.