Recently I had the task fo creating a resource for direct marketers on social media marketing and print books are something many people rely on as a portable source of information. The challenge with print sources on internet marketing related topics of course, is that they can become outdated more quickly than other topics.

As a result, I tried to focus on books that would retain their usefulness to readers over time. The following list was researched from the stack of books on my desk, from the good Tweeple I follow on Twitter and a few private recommendations. Enjoy!

• Cluetrain Manifesto – Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searles, Dave Weinberger
• New Rules of Marketing and PR – David Meerman Scott
• Do It Wrong Quickly – Mike Moran
• Join the Conversation – Joseph Jaffe
• Groundswell – Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
• Personality Not Included – Rohit Bhargava
• Tribes – Seth Godin
• Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky
• Age of Conversation – Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan
• Social Media Marketing An Hour A Day – Dave Evans
• Secrets of Social Media Marketing – Paul Gillin
• Naked Conversations – Shel Israel & Robert Scoble
• Freakonomics – Stephen Dubner & Steven Levitt
• Buzz Marketing – Mark Hughes
• Radically Transparent – Andy Beal & Judy Strauss
• Web 2.0: New Tools, New School - Gwen Solomon & Lynne Schrum
• The Long Tail – Chris Anderson
• The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowieki
• Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business – Larry Weber
• Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking – Andy Sernovitz, Afterward by Guy Kawasaki
• Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of Social Media Marketing – Jim Tobin, Lisa Braziel (TopRank is quoted on back cover)
• Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations – Amy Shuen
• Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs – Brian Solis, Geoff Livingston
• SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate (Voices That Matter) – Joel Postman

I hope you find these useful, if you have any favourite feel free to add them to the comments.

Often the best ways to find out how to be successful in business, is to discover from other peoples mistakes and learn how NOT to do it!

We wanted to link to a great rundown of no-no’s in social media etiquette you want to avoid on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites. From the Interactive Insight group

If you or your client want to learn from a series of case studies. Head on over to the article here.

People who are Facebook fans and Twitter followers of a brand are more likely to buy the brand’s product or recommend it to a friend, according to a new study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies.

The study of 1,500 consumers found that 60 percent of Facebook fans and 79 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower.

The most popular reason people follow brands in social media is to receive discounts, but there were also many people who responded that they follow as a customer of the brand and to show their support of it.

Read the posts at WebProNews and Econsultancy.