recommended literature

Reading List

Modern advertising and marketing are based on science. Machine learning. Algorithms. Data analysis. Behavioral psychology. Persuasion. And a pinch of creativity. These are books that should be read by every serious marketing or business professional. Enjoy!

David Ogilvy

Ogilvy on Advertising

A candid and indispensable primer on all aspects of advertising from the man Time has called "the most sought after wizard in the business"  - the founder of Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising agency with 450 offices in 120 countries. This text covers what does as well as what does not sell, and is illustrated with 185 advertisements.

David Ogilvy

Confessions of an Advertising Man

David Ogilvy was considered the "father of advertising" and a creative genius by many of the biggest global brands. First published in 1963, this seminal book revolutionized the world of advertising and became a bible for the 1960s ad generation.

John Caples

Tested Advertising Methods (5th Edition)

A legend in advertising for more than 60 years, John Caples still serves as a guide to generations of creative marketing people. Here are all the proven selling techniques to remove the guesswork from advertising, making it a science of sure results.

Patrick Gilbert

Join or Die: Digital Advertising in the Age of Automation

Join or Die is a wake up call to digital advertisers everywhere. Patrick's writing is overflowing with practical knowledge and a unique perspective. After reading Join or Die, you'll feel energized, confident, and motivated to implement these best-in-class automated strategies into your organization's marketing efforts.

Eugene Schwartz

Breakthrough Advertising

This is not a book just for copywriters and other advertising experts but a book for every business owner, marketing expert or anyone who needs to increase sales. Breakthrough Advertising is probably one of the most powerful, and profitable, books on copywriting and marketing ever written.

Claude C. Hopkins

Scientific Advertising

Scientific Advertising is a book written by Claude C. Hopkins in 1923 and is cited by many advertising and marketing personalities (such as David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert, and Jay Abraham) as a "must-read" book. According to Paul Feldwick, it has sold over eight million copies. David Ogilvy wrote that "Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life."

Robert W. Bly

The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells

This is a book for everyone who writes or approves copy: copywriters, account executives, creative directors, freelance writers, advertising managers, entrepreneurs. It reveals dozens of copywriting techniques that can help you write ads, commercials, and direct mail that are clear, persuasive, and get more attention - selling more products.

Richard H. Thaler

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world.

Robert Cialdini

Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion

In the new edition of this highly acclaimed bestseller, Robert Cialdini, New York Times bestselling author of Pre-Suasion and the seminal expert in the fields of influence and persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and everyday settings.

Dan Ariely

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

Storytelling With Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You'll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory, but made accessible through numerous real-world examples ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation.

Joris Bryon

Kill Your Conversion Killers with The Dexter Method™

Author Joris Bryon is a longtime optimization specialist who writes warmly and conversationally, making even “dry” topics like Google Analytics easy to understand. From metrics all the way down to microcopy, Bryon distills his years of experience into a manual for continuous revenue growth.

Dr. Ali Nasser

Conversion Rate Optimization: Using Neuroscience And Data To Boost Web Conversions

Conversion Rate Optimization is a book for people looking to fast track conversion rate growth and unlock the true potential of a digital property. Dr. Ali Nasser has worked with leading brands such as GE Digital, NBA Store, Maui Jim, Workday and Netflix. He shows how anyone can craft a strategy to dominate their online market.

Chris Goward

You Should Test That: The Art and Science of Optimized Marketing

Part science and part art, conversion optimization is designed to turn visitors into customers. Carefully developed testing procedures are necessary to help you fine-tune images, headlines, navigation, colors, buttons, and every other element, creating a website that encourages visitors to take the action you seek.

Karl Blanks

Making Websites Win: Apply the Customer-Centric Methodology

Most websites lose. Almost all of them. Many never make a profit. Others are successful at first, and then get crushed by competitors. This book is about how to make websites that customers love and that are outrageously profitable.

Brian K. Johnson

The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Lawyers

Brian K. Johnson is the president of a consulting firm who teaches persuasion to trial lawyers and public speaking to transactional attorneys. Based on 25 years of experience from coaching practitioners, this guide integrates cutting edge discoveries in human factors, gesture studies, linguistics, neuroscience, and sports psychology to give litigators a competitive edge.

Kerry Patterson

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

Crucial Conversations draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, our relationships, and our world. This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time. Backed by 30 years of social science, Crucial Conversations skills represent the standard in effective communication and the marker of high performance individuals and organizations.

Tim S. Grover

Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable

For more than two decades, legendary trainer Tim Grover has taken the greats—Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and hundreds of relentless competitors in sports, business, and every walk of life—and made them greater. Now, for the first time ever, he reveals what it takes to achieve total mental and physical dominance, showing you how to be relentless and achieve whatever you desire.

Sun Tzu

The Art of War

This ancient Chinese military text dissects thirteen aspects of warfare from an strategical and intellectual point of view. Deploring the use of excess force causing economic and civilian losses while discussing strategies that are still relevant to modern warfare, the text continues to resonate with readers around the world and has been considered fundamental in military doctrine for over two thousand years.

Albert Rutherford

The Systems Thinker - Analytical Skills

What is systems thinking? Put it simply, thinking about how things interact with one another. Find the optimal solutions to your problems. Gain a deep understanding of the “what, why, how, when, how much” questions of your life. Become a Systems Thinker and discover how to approach your life from a completely new perspective.

Ken Blanchard

Leading at a Higher Level, Revised and Expanded Edition

40 Years of Breakthrough Leadership Insights in One Extraordinary Book! From The One Minute Manager® to Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard’s books have helped millions of people unleash their power and the potential of everyone around them.

Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Since its release in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 15 million copies. Dale Carnegie's first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

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Claire Harrison

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Aug 29, 2025

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We have had a great experience with Violet Neuron. Very efficient project organization and ROI-focused strategies. I’ve had some prior negative experiences with agencies that couldn’t show me any return on my investment. Instead of that, I was getting dashboards full of useless data about clicks, likes, etc. With these guys, we focus on leads, customers, and revenue. And this is exactly what I need in my business. There are some minor things I would improve, as always, but considering the results they get us, they deserve only praise.

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Damien Rhodes

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Aug 26, 2025

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Working with Violent Neuron has been a game changer. I’m extremely impressed by their professionalism, initiative and of course the results. Moreover, when setting future business and marketing goals they are always painfully honest about the stuff they can deliver and things that are unlikely to happen. So far, I don’t have any negative feedback.

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Matthew Lopez

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Aug 19, 2025

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Really capable marketing partner, they dialed our ads in very quickly. Over the last few months, I’ve been getting consistent leads for exactly the customers my company needs. Kudos to the entire team.

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Adam Howell

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Aug 12, 2025

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If you’re serious about growing your business, this marketing agency is definitely for you. Our initial goal was to grow aggressively over the next 2 - 3 years. I knew that to get there, we would have to invest heavily in marketing, especially advertising. It wasn’t easy to find a partner who could manage our significant ad budget (especially after I’d been burned multiple times in the past). Violet Neuron was recommended to us by a friend who also owns a contracting business. He had a lot of good things to say about them, and after only four months of working with them, I can wholeheartedly confirm all of it. The entire team approaches their work with ambition and professionalism. They’re very transparent and responsive. Our results improve every month: we now get 8 - 10 qualified leads daily. Almost half of them convert into customers (shoutout to my sales team, they’re doing a very good job).

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Lydia Gilbert

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Jul 31, 2025

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I recommend this company. They have been running our ads on Google and Facebook for over two years. Our company grew over 50% during this time. Very good lead quality - they even provided comprehensive sales training for our team!

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