It started with a simple need. I had been part of book clubs before. And that had always ensured that I always finished the book I took up. Meeting with other book readers also brought out perspectives I had not thought of.

So, when I joined the Product Marketing Alliance Community and wanted to learn all I can about Product Marketing, it felt so obvious. I should start a book club.

It was just a slack channel “#book-club” and a few messages to the community. And a few people trickled in.

And that was good enough. I had taken turns running a meetup before but never fully taken responsibility for one. I wanted to start small.

Our First Book

The first book we read was “Loved” by Martina Lauchengco. In retrospect, we couldn’t have picked a better book to start. Product Marketing touches so many aspects of the business from Product, to Marketing, Sales and Customer Success and so much more. This book neatly delineated the role of Product Marketing in companies of all types and sizes and neatly tied to the KPIs of the business. It provided me with a solid grounding on what to expect from the role and how to measure success.

Challenges of Running a Book Club for Professionals:

1. The books we choose are non-fiction business books. So there are no two ways to interpret the book. Creating discussions around the book takes an entirely different approach compared to the usual book clubs.
2. Most people are busy. And PMMs, so much more so. So, the chances of someone finishing a book is slim. I needed to have strategies to keep people engaged even if they hadn’t read the book.
3. The timezones. We had people from all over the world. So, I had to make sure that the time I chose was convenient for most people.

Our Second Book

Ever since I joined the community, I heard one book being recommended a lot. “Obviously Awesome” by April Dunford. It was one of the books we voted on and it came out a clear winner. And it was a revelation! The book looked smaller than any book I had read before. This piqued my interest. And opening the book, I discovered the contents too were very different from any other book I had read before. There was some theory, yes, but it was supported by many practical examples and the whole book was one neatly laid out methodology anybody could follow.

I realized that the PMMs would benefit a lot from books of this kind. Short, so chances of finishing it was high. And practical, so they could implement the learnings immediately. This then became a major criteria for choosing books for the book club.

Plucking up Courage

The idea of inviting the author was one that was always there in the back of my mind, but one I thought may not be feasible for a small book club like ours. But this time, there was something so different about the experience of reading this book, I decided to give this a try.

I plucked up the courage and asked April Dunford if she would be interested in joining us for a discussion. And she responded and I was ecstatic! She was interested but the time we had chosen was not convenient for her. It was all so unplanned and close to the deadline, we couldn’t change the time. She promised to join us for the next book club and I vowed to make it happen.

Our Third Book

With a new criteria for choosing books that will help PMMs, we chose “The Pocket Guide to Product Launches” by Mary Sheehan next. This was also a short book and very practical. This time we did not decide on the time for the book club. I decided to try to contact the author first. Mary Sheehan very graciously agreed to join us for the book club.

It was one of the liveliest, most interactive book clubs we had. Product Launch forms a major part of the PMM’s role and there are very few books that address this topic in a helpful way. This book burst on to the stage with a lot of practical advice and groundwork laid out for PMMs.

Our Fourth Book

Our fourth book was a slight departure from the usual core PMM topics, but a skill crucially needed by PMMs. We chose “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley. This book was a bit longer than the usual books we read, but it was so engaging that most people finished it. Ann Handley was also very excited to join us for the book club. This book changed how I viewed content. For the first time, I fully understood what it meant to write from the reader’s shoes. This book changed how I create content ever since.

There were so many fans of her writing in the meetup that the excitement was through the roof. Ann Handley was so engaging and so interactive. She recounted inspiring stories of how her journey into marketing began. She also shared her source of inspiration and how she keeps her writing fresh. “Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White”. Now it is a favorite at our home, for me and my kids!

Our Fifth Book

A new book had just been released called “Forget the Funnel” by Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi.

There was talk around the book already in a few channels and I was intrigued. So it was added as one of the options for the next book club. And it won by a landslide.

This is the book of choice for PMMs who are looking to scale their marketing efforts in a PLG company. It maps the customer’s journey from the first touchpoint to the final sale and beyond. It also gives a framework for identifying bottlenecks in the journey to maximize the impact of the marketing efforts.

The most fascinating part of the book was the 100 page workbook that came with the book. It was a done-for-you guide to immediately start implementing the learnings from the book.

Georgiana Laudi and Claire Suellentrop were very amiable when we contacted them and agreed to participate. Georgiana Laudi joined us for a very engaging meetup and shared a lot of insights from the experience. She also shared how the book came to be and all the ideas they had to leave on the cutting table to keep the book on the point.

Our Sixth Book

Around this time, April Dunford’s “Sales Pitch” had launched. We missed having April when we read “Obviously Awesome” and now we had another chance. So, it was a no-brainer to choose this book for the next book club.

This book was aimed at B2B companies that have sales teams but there are learnings for PMMs in all types of companies. (Fun fact: April insists that “Obviously Awesome” is most applicable for B2B companies with sales teams, while everyone else asserts that it is equally effective for any other type of company.).

This was one of the most anticipated meetups with the highest turnout and the event did not disappoint. April shared a lot of insights even beyond the contents of the book and we just didn’t have enough time for everything.

Our Seventh Book

This april we had “BackStage Pass” by Harvey Lee. It was very different from our usual books as it was autobiographical and dealt with how the author’s career evolved culminating in becoming PMM of XBox in Microsoft. It steps out from the official aspects of product marketing and delves into how the author’s personal experiences shaped his career. How relationships played a major role in his career. Each chapter is a story that ends with a lesson that he learned to apply to his life.

We discussed how the book was conceived, the nitty-gritties of writing a gumptious autobiography, how to build relationships with the people in your career and how to not corner yourself into the success pyramid and reach out to explore new opportunities.

Best Practices I have learned so far

1. Choose the book with your audience in mind. For PMMs who had many areas of responsibility, short, practical books meant an easy way to catch up in many areas.
2. Authors love to meet their readers. I was awed to see the authors as excited to meet the readers as the readers were to meet the authors, everytime. Don’t hesitate to ask them to join your book club. They may not always be able to join, but they will appreciate the invitation.
3. Try to collect audience questions before the book club. In a professional setting such as this, the questions will often be about interesting situations and edgecases. Sharing the questions in advance with the author, when possible, ensures they have enough time to prepare and the book club is more interactive. Having said that, most questions we had over the book club were spontaneous and the authors were very engaging in answering them.
4. Try to make the meetup useful for both those who have read the books and those who couldn’t. Inviting the authors is one way to do this. Often, people who have not finished the book are hesitant to join. I try to make it easier for them by providing summaries in advance.

Our Book Club Community

Through the year, the book club has grown from a few people to a few hundred people. Each of the above meetups has been a success thanks to the participants who take the time off their busy schedules to join us. They bring out questions and perspectives about the book that are thought-provoking for not just the audience but the authors too.

The last few months have been one of the most demanding times of my career, yet the encouragement and excitement from the community keeps me going.

Christina Graham, our community manager, has been very supportive of the book club, while giving us the space to set our agenda and try our experiments.

Looking Forward

The process of organizing the book club has been a learning experience for me. I have learned not only about the role of Product Marketing and the skills needed to excel in the role but also a lot about organizing events and keeping people engaged.

I look forward to organizing more meetups and meeting more people. I would love to try out new ideas and collaborate with more people to make the book club more engaging and beneficial for the community. Please reach out with ideas big or small. I would love to hear from you.