Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords

This book is the perfect way to understand search advertising and pay-per-click strategies and mechanics. Authors Perry Marshall and Bryan Todd explain everything, and they make it sound easy. Of course, there are many nuances, and the rules change almost daily, but they even explain that -- and offer strategies for managing the constant change.

Honest Seduction

Once you have a strategy for attracting visitors to your website, you need to figure out how to convert them into customers. That's what "post-click marketing" is all about, and the authors of this book are masters of how to do that. The book itself is a collection of blog posts and articles on the subject, and by the time you're finished with it you'll be a convert to the "landing experience" mindset.

The Culture Code

This book is more about psychology and anthropology (and some linguistics thrown in for good measure) than it is about marketing, but author Clotaire Rapaille has applied his perspective to marketing for some major corporate clients, and the basic concept of "culture codes" is fascinating. Worth reading for true marketing professionals -- and frustrated psych majors.

The Big Red Fez : How to make any web site better

This book is so "short and sweet" you'll finish it in one sitting. The basic premise is that for a website to be effective it has to communicate clearly and quickly what the reader is supposed to do, and make it easy and idiot-proof at the same time. After you read it, you'll never look at a web page the same way again.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This book isn't about marketing at all. It's about personal change and some ways of managing your time that will make all the difference in your own effectiveness. Author Stephen Covey has built a consulting practice on the platform of this book, and his "seven habits" have become legendary in business circles. If you haven't read the book or listened to the CD/audio tape, you will almost certainly find it worth your time and effort.