As the New Year begins many professionals revisit their bookshelves with the intention of finally starting that popular industry-changing bestseller that was purchased with good intentions 6 months ago (you know who you are). Therefore, it’s no surprise that setting a goal to read more often is one of the most popular resolutions made this time of year. But can a simple promise to yourself help get you ahead in the workplace? Our team at Tell Your Story believes so.

In our field we’re used staying up-to-date on industry trends through social media avenues like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader. However, sitting down to read an entire book on a particular topic is a much different experience. Books have the ability to alter the way we see our industry and educate us in a way we haven’t experienced since the last time we were in a classroom.

Here’s a list of books you may have missed in 2011:

		The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More by Kipp Bodnar and Jeffery L. Cohen Learn how to leverage social media to find leads and revenue in the B2B world. Read about methodology for generating social media leads, how to create conversation starting leads, advice for adding mobile strategies to your marketing mix, and a process for measuring ROI. Utilizing this actionable advice from Bodnar and Cohen will make you into a superstar of social media strategies and help you to contribute to business growth.
		Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds & Actions by Guy Kawasaki Prepare to launch an “enchantment campaign” that will change skeptics into believers and the undecided into loyal customers. Kawasaki teaches readers how to take your consumer’s goals and desires into account in order to achieve your own business goals. Examples from Apple and the author’s own experiences as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist map out how to get others to dream the same dream that you do.
		Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen It’s easy to create a successful work-of-mouth marketing campaign on the web. You just have to be likeable. Consumers have always valued personal recommendations from others and in today’s world of social media the only thing that has changed is how quickly & how far these recommendations travel. Learn how to harness this power and engage your followers on Facebook, Twitter, and more.
		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 Looking to update your knowledge of the PR & marketing industry? If so, this is your book. Learn how to get the right messages to your target at the right time through the new rules of media relations and social media. Included are fresh case studies, an explanation of the new tools at your fingertips, chapters on mobile marketing and real-time marketing & PR, and information about measuring the success of campaigns.

Here’s a bonus! Two brand new books for 2012 that we’ve been anticipating here at Tell Your Story:

		StoryBranding: Creating Stand-Out Brands Through the Power of Story by Jim Signorelli This new release reinvents the branding process by teaching marketers how to utilize their skills as storytellers in 5 easy steps. See what readers are saying about the book already by clicking here.
		Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies by Jim Stengel Stengel dissects how the 50 greatest brands in the marketplace today utilize purpose to grow their companies. Learn how to identify your own purpose and ideals in order to appeal to the emotions, hopes, values of your consumers. P.S. – Did you miss our blog post on purpose-driven marketing? Read it here to learn how we’ve been incorporating Stengel’s insights into our clients’ business strategies.