In 2008, I started on a journey to learn digital marketing. This field of was so new that nobody knew what to call it early on. Digital marketers were called online marketers, internet marketers, e-strategists, digital ninjas, and variety of other creative alternatives.
There were no degree plans that pulled together all the skill sets necessary to become an advanced digital marketer. Luckily, by the nature of the subject, much of it was available online for free.
Everything else I found in the books and courses below:
Design
Design Thinking
- Change By Design by Tim Brown
- Evil by Design: Interaction Design that Leads Us Into Temptation by Chris Nodder
- Thoughts on Design by Paul Rand
- Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
- The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
Visual Communication
- Art: A New History by Paul Johnson
- Graphic Design: A New History by Stephen F. Eskilson
- Design For Special Events by Peleg Top
- Design School Confidential by Heller & Talarico
- 100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers by Plasm
- The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
- Design Basics Index by Cris Krause
Technology
Code and WordPress
- HTML Essential Training video course on lynda.com
- CSS Fundamentals video course on lynda.com
- Introducing PHP video course on lynda.com
- PHP for Web Designers video course on lynda.com
- WordPress 3: Creating and Editing Custom Themes video course on lynda.com
- Dreamweaver and WordPress: Building Sites video course on lynda.com
- Installing and Running WordPress: BitNami video course on lynda.com
- WordPress 3: Building Child Themes video course on lynda.com
- WordPress: Creating Custom Widgets and Plugins with PHPvideo course on lynda.com
- HTML Course on W3Schools.com
- CSS Course on W3Schools.com
- HTML5 Course on W3Schools.com
- PHP Course on CodeAcademy.com
Software Mastery
- Infusioncon 2013 (now Infusionsoft’s ICON event)
- Infusioncon 2014 (now Infusionsoft’s ICON event)
- Infusionsoft University
- Peak Potential Profits Infusionsoft Automation Course on AutomationClinic.com
- Most Adobe video coures on lynda.com
High Tech Industry Fundamentals
- Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur
- Steve Jobs by Walter Iaaacson
- Idea Man: A Mémoire of the Cofounder of Microsoft by Paul Allen
- Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
- One Click by Richard Brandt
- Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Finance And Capitol Markets [Video Course] on KahnAcademy.com
Marketing
Marketing In General
- Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey
- Positioning by Al Ries & Jack Trout
- Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch
- The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
- E-Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber
- The 1% Windfall by Rafi Mohammed
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
- All Marketers Tell Stories by Seth Godin
- Meatball Sunday by Seth Godin
- Poke The Box by Seth Godin
- Tribes by Seth Godin
- Hey Whipple Squeeze This! A Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan
- Experience The Message by Max Lenderman
- Lead Generation For the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll
- Made To Stick by Chip and Dean Heath
Digital Marketing Channels, Analytics, and Automation
- Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond The Competition by Michael Stelzner
- Twitter Power by Joel Comm
- Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik
- Youtube and Video Marketing by Greg Jarboe
- Public Relations for Dummies by Eric Yaverbaum
- Web Marketing (All-In-One) For Dummies by Arnold, Michael Becker, Marty Dickinson, Ian Lurie, and Elizabeth Marsten
- The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch
- Adwords For Dummies by Howie Jacobson
- Google Adwords: Managing Your Advertising Program by Anastasia Holdren
- Ultimate Guide To Google Adwords by Perry Marshall
- Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising by Perry Marshall
- The Art of SEO by Eric Engle, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola
- Search Engine Optimization Secrets by Danny Dover
- The Link Builder’s Guide to Better, Faster, Stronger Link Building Campaigns by Garrett French
- Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt
- Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
- The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Scott
- The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani
- Landing Page Optimization Certification Training by Mclabs
- Adwords Certification Course by Google
Direct Marketing
- Being Direct by Lester Wunderman
- 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall
- Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
- The Adweek Copy Writing Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
- How to Make Millions With Your Ideas by Dan Kennedy
Marketing Psychology
- Idea Virus by Seth Godin
- How We Decide by Johan Lehrer
- Blink by Malcom Galdwell
- Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success by Aaron Dignan
- Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill
- The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
- Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich by David Garfinkel
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
- The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life by Charles Duhigg
Other Marketing and Career Books That Have Helped
Career
- StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry
- The 4-Hour Chef by Timothy Ferris
- AIGA Professional Practices in Graphic Design by AIGA
- Lynchpin by Seth Godin
- Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer by Michael Fleishman
- The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
- Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander
- The Go-Getter by Peter Kyne
- 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller
- Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute by Jack Chapman
- Mastery by Robert Green
- Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki
Faith At Work and BAM
- The Business of Generosity by Dr. Stephen Graves
- Fourth Frontier by Stephen R. Graves
- Communication & Change in American Religious History by Leonard Sweet
- More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey
- Thou Shalt Prosper by Daniel Lapin
- Work: The Meaning of Your Life by Lester Dekoster
- Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner
- The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber
- Our Souls at Work by Mark Russell
- Finding Your Way Forward by Linda Fields
- Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
- Marketplace Christianity by Robert Fraser
- Life@Work by John Maxwell and Dr. Stephen Graves
- From Concept to Scale: Creating A Gospel-Minded Organization by Steve Graves, Dave Blanchard, Josh Kwan, with Jason Locy
Business, General
- Limited Liability Companies for Dummies
- Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Clout by Dr. Stephen Graves
- Accounting for Dummies by John A. Tracy
- Small Business for Dummies by Eric Tyson and Jim Schell
- Essentials of Business Law by Anthony Liuzzo
- The Business School For People Who Like Helping People by Robert Kiyosaki
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff
- Managing Up by Rosanne Badowski
- Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless by Jeffery Gitomer
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Great by Choice by Jim Collins
- Micro Economics video course on KhanAcademy.com
Leadership Books and Others
- I Never Metaphor I didn’t Like by Dr. Mardy Grothe
- The Making of a Leader by Robert Clinton
- Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey
- 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
- Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell
- Leadership Presence by Belle Halpern and Kathy Lubar
- Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell
