5 PR & Marketing Books To Add To Your Summer Reading List

Summer is in full swing, but we have to ask:

Have you added any new reading materials to your beach bag?

Sure, it’s tempting to stock up on magazines and chalk them up to research, but it’s also important to be extending your knowledge base – particularly in the PR and marketing industries! We’ve taken a moment to list 5 of the books that you should make a point of picking up (or downloading for that kindle). Lucky for you: we’ve included links to buy the books immediately – and no, we’re not part of the Amazon affiliate program, just helpful PR angels. All images and description excerpts are courtesy of Amazon.ca.

For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations by Ronn Torossian

Simply put, we’re obsessed with this book. Torossian shares his often entertaining PR battle stories and provides sound modern day industry insights. This publication sheds light on the more sensible and modern approach to PR  - along with with some tips for surviving in today’s business climate.

“For Immediate Release will show you how to:

• Frame the debate and control the conversation
• Use new and old media in tandem to find your audiences and create highly personal, relevant impressions tailored for them
• Promote the interests of your brand or business; deter or potentially stop what is not in your interest
• Build on great press, and avoid or minimize bad press
• Ensure the first thing people see about your business or brand during an Internet search is exactly what you want them to see
• Handle a crisis in the most effective and efficient manner
• See the positive difference effective PR makes through compelling case studies—Louis Vuitton, Fubu, BP, Toyota, Philip Stein, Zappos, and interviews with experts including Dr. Keith Ablow, political strategists Frank Luntz, Roger Stone and Hank Sheinkopf, and many others—and your own business.”

#FAIL: The 50 Greatest Social Media Screw-Ups and How to Avoid Being the Next One by Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans

The title of this book really says it all. We just added it to our iPad and are looking forward to scoffing at some of the industry’s worst mix ups.

“#FAIL: The 50 Greatest Social Media Screw-Ups and How to Avoid Being the Next One chronicles another kind of digital pioneer, those brands that have made iconic, early stumbles in social media that have resulted in consequences well beyond a loss of a few “friends” or “followers.” From a lock-picking geek’s take-down of Kryptonite in 2004 to Carnival Corp’s tin-eared response to the Costa Concordia tragedy in January, 2012, the blunders chronicled here cost companies millions, bruised well-honed corporate reputations and sunk careers. There are plenty of mistakes to learn from here – or at least chuckle at in disbelief.”

Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business by Barbara Corcoran

A really interesting look at Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran on her path to success. This book is more of an inspirational read, and is sure to light a fire inside of you. You’ll especially love the way Corcoran writes with such humility and honesty.

“The inspiring true story of Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran–and her best advice for anyone starting a business. After failing at twenty-two jobs, Barbara Corcoran borrowed $1,000 from a boyfriend, quit her job as a diner waitress, and started a tiny real estate office in New York City. Using the unconventional lessons she learned from her homemaker mom, she gradually built it into a $6 billion dollar business. Now Barbara’s even more famous for the no-nonsense wisdom she offers to entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, ABC’s hit reality TV show.”

If You Have To Cry Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You by Kelly Cutrone

A first hand account of the original mother monster’s rise to PR success. This book is not exactly what we expected, but a good beach read nonetheless. Pick it up, and be inspired by Ms. Cutrone’s impressive drive to succeed.

“In this New York Times bestseller, Kelly Cutrone, the brash, brutally honest boss and mentor to Whitney and Lauren on the hit MTV series “The Hills” and “The City,” and star of Bravo’s “Kell on Earth,” combines personal and professional stories to share her secrets for success without selling out.”

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

Admittedly, we have yet to read this – but now in it’s fourth (updated and revised) edition, we’ve heard nothing but amazing things about it.

“The New Rules of Marketing & PR, 4th Edition is the pioneering guide to the future of marketing, an international bestseller with more than 300,000 copies sold in over 25 languages. It offers a step-by-step action plan for harnessing the power of modern marketing and PR to communicate with buyers directly, raise visibility, and increase sales. It shows how large and small companies, nonprofits, and other organizations can leverage Web-based content to get the right information to the right people at the right time for a fraction of the cost of big-budget campaigns. “

Now it’s your turn: are there any books you’re deeming “must-reads” this summer? Tell us in the comments. 

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