Publishing a textbook (or any book) is no walk in the park. For the last few months we have been living, sleeping and breathing all things textbook. Instead of dreams about flowers, puppies and ponies, I have been dreaming about deadlines missed, printing errors and typos. Of course, it all seems worth it now…
The second edition of eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing looks fantastic and contains a wealth of new information and content, new case studies and is generally bigger and better than the last one  – amazing considering the awesomeness of Edition 1! Anyway, now that the publishing part is over, I got to thinking about all the ways that the textbook can be used as a learning material.

1). Read it cover to cover

While each of the chapters in the eMarketing textbook can be used in isolation, they are in a specific order for a good reason. There are levels of knowledge and understanding and each chapter draws and builds on the information that came before it. If you’re looking for context and a general overview of everything you need to know about Online Marketing, this is the fastest way to get it.

2). Read interactively

eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing offers students, marketers and educators a holistic learning experience. Reading the content in the book is certainly a good start, but you’ll come to grips with it better if you use all of the resources that it offers you. Read the notes, consider the discussion points, try your hand at the chapter questions and use the case studies to consolidate what you have learnt. 

3). Give feedback – an important part of learning is critique

Think you know something we don’t? Sending us your feedback is the best way to get the most out of eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing. This is a book that is all about collaboration, if you have any thoughts or feedback, we would love to hear it. If it’s helpful, your feedback will be taken into account when we publish Edition 3.

4). Take advantage of Quirk’s other amazing resources to complement your textbook learning

The QuirkStars represent a wealth of knowledge and useful information and while we’ve put much of this into the textbook, we are also continually learning. Fortunately, we’re a generous bunch and we like to share. Much of the knowledge and information we gather is freely available. Signing up to our fabulous fortnightly newsletter is a good place to start. Still left wanting more? Subscribe to GottaQuirk – it’s where the QuirkStars come together and share their thoughts, opinions, knowledge and ideas about eMarketing. We’re some sharp cookies so this is one blog that always worth a read. There’s a bunch of other fantastic stuff on the site too.

5) Go to lectures

Your mother was right. Going to your lectures is a sure way to ensure long term success, especially when it comes to eMarketing. We’ve spent some time putting together lecture slides for your educators, to lighten their workload and make sure you get information from the horse’s mouth. Not a student? Attend Quirk’s eMarketing over Breakfast sessions or The UCT Graduate School of Business’ Nomadic Marketing Course and get the most up to date eMarketing information.

6) If none of these sound appealing, you can always use it as a weapon

Being roughly 370 pages, Edition 2 of eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing is pretty heavy. So, if you’re working with a marketing manager who doesn’t see that online is the way forward, a battering about the ears with the new book might just be the gentle nudge he needs. And, if you’ve just bought Edition 2 and are wondering why you never bought Edition 1, beating yourself over the head is a good form of punishment for not jumping on the band wagon earlier. If violence isn’t your thing, I’d go back to my first point – read it.

Happy learning!