A quirky book that flies in the face of conventional business advice, Rework (by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson) talks about the bottom-line issues that you need to get your product out the door and your business launched. The writers speak from their experiences launching 37signals (maker of Basecamp) with such thoughts as: Instead of trying to do it “right”, do “something”. Instead of trying to make it “perfect”, just make it “good enough”. Stop talking about doing something and do something, then talk about it.

As a bonus, here’s the chapter about Marketing:

Marketing is not a department

Do you have a marketing department? If not, good. If you do, don’t think these are the only people responsible for marketing. Accounting is a department. Marketing isn’t. Marketing is something everyone in your company is doing 24/7/365.

Just as you cannot communicate, you cannot not market:

• Every time you answer the phone, it’s marketing.
• Every time you send an e-mail, it’s marketing.
• Every time someone uses your product, it’s marketing.
• Every work you write on your Web site is marketing.
• If you build software, every error message is marketing.
• If you’re in the restaurant business, the after-dinner mint is marketing.
• If you’re in the retail business, the checkout counter is marketing.
• If you’re in a service business, your invoice is marketing.

Recognize that all of these little things are more important than choosing which piece of swag to throw into a conference goodie bag. Marketing isn’t just a few individual events. It’s the sum total of everything you do.