PUBLISHED BY IDEAPRESS PUBLISHING
(Without a Big Budget)
WINNER OF 17 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS!The truth is, every business leader and entrepreneur needs to understand how marketing really works. In this candid guide, bestselling author and award-winning marketing expert Rohit Bhargava offers the ultimate guide to every part of marketing - from writing a tagline to building a simple one-page marketing strategy. This guide will give you the inspiration and tools to put together a winning marketing strategy to grow your business - no matter how much you know about marketing already.
WATCH AND READ
ABOUT THE GUIDE
An all new updated 2021 edition of the popular original guide to marketing and branding featuring actionable advice that will help you tell a better story, win more customers, earn more loyalty and make more money.
Being good at marketing might seem like a dark art. All those in-your-face ads, annoying pop-ups and desperate $497 online training courses make most people hate marketing. But the truth is, every business leader and entrepreneur needs to understand how marketing really works.
Inspired by real life conversations and experiences with hundreds of business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as the author's 15+ year career leading marketing for some of the most successful brands in the world, this is the rare guide that will skip all the useless definitions, avoid the fluff and cut right to the point to give you the real-life advice you need to hear with an irreverent "non-obvious" perspective you deserve.
From downloadable one page guides to real life stories and examples, this guide will give you the inspiration and tools to put together a winning marketing strategy to grow your business - no matter how much you know about marketing already.
SPEAKER SERIES
In Fall of 2023, Rohit went on a 12 city tour sponsored by Chase bank to share insights from this book with rooms filled with small business owners. The idea was to help demystify marketing and offer valuable advice to grow their businesses.
IN THIS GUIDE
In this candid guide, bestselling author and award-winning marketing expert Rohit Bhargava offers the ultimate guide to every part of marketing - from writing a tagline to building a simple one-page marketing strategy.
01
How to get an unlimited marketing budget by doing things that work.
02
The key to creating unstoppable word of mouth for your idea or product.
03
Why it is a mistake to try and be on every social media platform.
04
The secret to buying advertising at a fraction of the "sticker price."
05
How to create a tagline that people remember for your business.
06
Fit your entire marketing strategy on one page and maintain your focus.
READER RESOURCES
Every Non-Obvious Guide comes with companion resources organized by chapter, hosted here so they are always available.
A bonus chapter from Personality Not Included on bringing more authenticity to your brand.
Download PDF
A template for mapping how your customers research and buy.
Download PDF
The Non-Obvious Company's own current brand guidelines, as a real-world example you can use as a template for your own.
Download PDF
A bonus chapter from Personality Not Included on crafting your brand's backstory.
Download PDF
An easy one-page template for building a complete marketing strategy.
Download PDF
A list of platforms to evaluate your website and uncover problems.
Download PDF
A list of tools for website design and do-it-yourself website platforms.
Download PDF
A guide to creating a strategy for using social media.
Download PDF
Tools and resources to help improve your search marketing.
Download PDF
Platforms and tools to improve your email marketing.
Download PDF
Tools and resources to help you start doing PR and publicity.
Download PDF
Tools and resources to help you network better.
Download PDF
A one-page guide to measuring the impact of your marketing.
Download PDFINSIDE THE GUIDE
A few spreads from the guide.
GO DEEPER ON CONTENT CURATION
The 5 Models of Content Curation began as a single blog post in March 2011, building on Rohit Bhargava's earlier and influential 2009 "Manifesto for the Content Curator," which predicted that curation would become one of the fastest-growing and most important jobs of the future.
GO DEEPER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media Optimization is a foundational digital marketing concept first coined and described on Rohit's then-titled Influential Marketing Blog in 2006, introducing the five foundational rules of social media optimization in a viral blog post that has been viewed more than 2 million times.
GET YOUR COPY
Available from your favorite bookseller, or get bulk and signed copies from the Non-Obvious store.
RECOGNITION
Counting both the original Small Business Marketing edition and the updated Marketing & Branding edition, the guide has been honored 17 times. Here is every honor, and what each award is for.
SILVER MEDAL
Silver Medal, Reference
The IPPY Awards honor the best independently published titles from around the world.
BRONZE MEDAL
Bronze Medal, Advertising/Marketing/PR
The Axiom Awards recognize exemplary business books, judged on quality of content, originality, design and production.
WINNER
Winner, Marketing & Public Relations
A global competition for independent publishers in which judges weigh each book against a broad set of editorial and production criteria.
WINNER
Winner, Nonfiction: Marketing
An annual competition recognizing outstanding independently published books across nonfiction categories.
WINNER
Winner, Business: Reference
A competition that receives more than two thousand entries from authors and publishers worldwide each year.
WINNER
Winner, Marketing & Public Relations
A program that has evaluated and promoted thousands of independently published books since 2007.
WINNER
Winner, How-To
A global competition that honors excellence across all types of literature, with separate placings inside each subject category.
WINNER
Winner, Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business
A global competition for independent publishers in which judges weigh each book against a broad set of editorial and production criteria.
WINNER
Winner, Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business
A program that has evaluated and promoted thousands of independently published books since 2007.
WINNER
Winner, Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business
A competition that receives more than two thousand entries from authors and publishers worldwide each year.
FINALIST
Finalist
One of the largest mainstream book award competitions in the United States, judged across dozens of subcategories.
FINALIST
Finalist
Foreword Reviews' annual awards for the best books from independent and university presses.
FINALIST
Finalist
Foreword Reviews' annual awards for the best books from independent and university presses.
FINALIST
Finalist
One of the largest mainstream book award competitions in the United States, judged across dozens of subcategories.
FINALIST
Finalist
Named for the longshoreman philosopher, the Hoffer Award honors salient writing and the independent spirit of small publishers.
FINALIST
Finalist
Foreword Reviews' annual awards for the best books from independent and university presses.
DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE
Distinguished Favorite
An international competition open to independently and traditionally published authors alike.
AUDIO BOOK
The audiobook edition, recorded for the original Small Business Marketing edition of the guide, is available now.
FOREIGN EDITIONS
The guide is also available in translated editions.
EVEN MORE PRAISE
All 4 advance endorsements the book received, unedited and in full.
I've had big, high-profile jobs, but I now know nothing's harder than running your own small business. Rohit's Non-Obvious Guide is the primer every ambitious owner needs for the most frustrating part of their work: marketing.
Social Media Consultant and Chief Digital Officer OF Columbia University and The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In a crowded marketplace, it's hard for small businesses to stand out and get noticed. Consider this book your secret weapon. You'll learn tested strategies you can put to use today, to bring in new clients and new revenue.
Adjunct Professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Author of ENTREPRENEURIAL YOU and STAND OUT
Strategy before tactics is the secret ingredient to small business marketing success and this guide simply drips with the strategy recipe that will help your business soar.
Author of DUCT TAPE MARKETING and THE REFERRAL ENGINE
The Non-Obvious Guide to Small Business Marketing is a great primer for budding entrepreneurs. It is jam-packed with useful, actionable advice that is critical for all start-up founders to understand. Rohit’s stories and real-life examples make the content very relatable and help readers to envision the real-world implementations of the strategies. Starting a business? Start here.
Managing Director of Forefront Venture Partners
BRING THIS THINKING TO YOUR STAGE
Rohit speaks on marketing, branding and storytelling for teams that need results without a big budget.
Want More Non-Obvious Ideas?
The Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter brings you the five or six most fascinating and overlooked stories of the week, with a quick take on why each one matters.
One email every Thursday. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Rohit Bhargava is on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world.
© 2026 Rohit Bhargava. Washington DC.