Fellow blogger Graeme Harrison recently dropped me an email asking me to contribute to his list of Timeless Classics, a list of a list of books that have shaped the advertising and marketing communications landscape.

An impressive list of bloggers have contributed to the list so far including Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Helge Tennø, Adam Richardson, Russell Davies, Neil Perkin, Jon Steel, Eoan Pritchard, and last but certainly not least, Katy Lindemann.

I’ve been thinking about which book should be included in this wonderful list over the past couple of weeks, and have finally settled for THE social media bible, Groundswell.

Right now your customers are blogging about you, creating spoofs on YouTube, complaining about you on Twitter, and hating you on Facebook. As a Brand Manager you can either a) get scared and quit your job, or b) turn social media into an opportunity. I choose the latter…

Companies are increasingly turning to PR agencies (thank you for keeping me employed!) to help them with their online WOM, and this book should be on every bookshelf across the country world. With Google soon to index Twitter updates, Social Media is something that can no longer be ignored. Groundswell explains how organizations need to adjust to remain relevant to consumers, and how can they actually benefit from this trend.

Although the platforms we use may change in the years to come, web 2.0 marks an important shift in the way we use the Internet, and communicate in our daily lives.

The search continues – what’s your Marketing Timeless Classic? Let me know in the comments alternatively write a blog post linking back to Graeme’s blog.

Earlier this year, my good friend C.B Whittemore launched a weekly social media series on her brilliant blog, Flooring the Consumer on Bridging New & Old, interviewing 26 UK and US-based Social Media professionals including:

- Toby Bloomberg from Diva Marketing Blog
- Jeanne Byington from The Importance of Earnest Service
- Mack Collier from MackCollier.com
- Yvonne DiVita from LipSticking
- Jay Ehret from The Marketing Spot
- Kristin Golliher from Otterbox
- Kristin Gorski from Write Now Is Good
- Lewis Green from BizSolutionsPlus
- Ann Handley from Annarchy
- Karin Hermans from Wood You Like
- Chris Kieff from 1 Good Reason
- Andrea Learned from Learned On Women
- Lori Magno from Moda Di Magno Blog For Stylish Living
- Valeria Maltoni from Conversation Agent
- Doug Meacham from NextUp
- Peg Mulligan from Peg Mulligan’s Blog
- Rich Nadworny from Digital Strategy Blog
- Amber Naslund from Altitude Branding
- David Polinchock from Experience Manifesto
- Arun Rajagopal from Arun Rajagopal’s Blog
- Dan Schawbel from Personal Branding Blog
- Mario Vellandi from Melodies in Marketing
- Steve Woodruff from StickyFigure
- Alan Woody from Carpets By Otto
- And last but certainly not least, yours truly

The e-book takes the responses of the 26 first participants in the series and can be downloaded directly from her company’s website by clicking right here.

This must-read e-Book focuses on the question: “what suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?” – 26 brains are better than one, right?

I also wanted to mention that Christine recently started her own business, Simple Marketing Now, a New Jersey-based marketing communications consultancy, which is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for an all-round marketeer! (and she’s lovely too!)

Thanks again Christine for including me in your e-book!

One of the books that has hit my mailbox lately for review is Blog Blazers - a book of interviews with 40 top bloggers exploring how to create successful blogs.

The book was written by Canadian entrepreneur Stephane Grenier from FollowSteph.com,  and features 40 (mostly American) great bloggers including:

• Seth Godin
• Alex Papadimoulis (The Daily WTF)
• Anita Campbell (Small Business Trends)
• David Armano (Logic + Emotion)
• Manolo Blahnik (the Manalo Shoe Blog)

The format of the book is interview style with Steph asking  the same set of questions to all bloggers and the bloggers responding. Each interview makes a chapter of the book. Steph asks questions such as:

• What makes a blog successful?
• When did you decide you finally reached success with your blog?
• How long did it take you to become a successful blogger?
• Who do you think are the most successful bloggers on the Internet today?

The book is overall very easy to read, providing bite-size pieces of information about the secrets you’ve always wanted to know about the top bloggers out there! I also really enjoyed discovering new bloggers such as Jennnette Fulda (hilarious!), The Secret Diaries of Steve Jobs or the Manalo Shoe Blog. There is something for everyone, not just marketing and business bloggers.

I think the book is great for advanced bloggers willing to use a refresher course and willing to pick up blogging tips from top bloggers!  I guess we all secretly want to know how really successful bloggers made it…

The book has definitely given me some inspiration and I’ll try to follow their advice and implement a few changes to my blogging technique.

Thank you Steph for contacting me directly – I really enjoyed reading your book!

 ‘Tout s’achète: l’amour, l’art, la planète Terre, vous, moi. J’écris ce livre pour me faire virer. Si je démissionnais, je ne toucherais pas d’indemnités.’ 

  ’99 Francs (€14.99)’ by Frédéric Beigbeder.

‘99 francs (€14.99)’  is a wonderfully entertaining post-modernist reality-novel. Octave Parago is a successful advertising creative, and while everybody wants to be him (or perhaps his job?), Octave hates himself. Octave gives the reader a harsh yet hilarious criticism of the advertising industry in France and the impact advertising has on the French society.

If you speak French, you’re in for a treat!