Summer readingSummer’s here and the time is right for reading marketing wisdom on the beach. Okay, we know that’s not how the song goes, and we don’t want to mess with anyone’s work/life equilibrium, but if you find yourself with time on your hands this summer and need a quick fix of marketing mojo, here are some suggestions.

1. The eTail Blog: If you haven’t visited the eTail Blog lately you should check it out. The content there is blossoming nicely and you will find a good mix of articles, from interviews with retailers and industry thought leaders to practical advice for online store owners. In the advice category, check out David Brussin’s two-part article that draws lessons from traditional retailing to provide tips for increasing ROI from online operations: “What Online Retailers Can Learn From Brick and Mortar Stores.”

2. Bryan Eisenberg: Assuming you’ve read all of Bryan’s marketing classics, you will find fresh thoughts on marketing at the blog he writes with brother Jeffrey Eisenberg and on Google+ which Bryan has been exploring and writing about.

3. Agile Commerce: When Brian Walker, a principal analyst with Forrester Research, wrote about “agile commerce” in March of this year he got a lot of people re-thinking eBusiness and eCommerce. In this article for VentureBeat you can read David Brussin’s thoughts on what agile commerce means for online merchants, from fashion stores to travel shops and more.

4: SearchEngineWatch: This site has always been a great source of online marketing information and now it’s enjoying a fresh look and a bunch of new content. The scope of SearchEngineWatch extends from SEO topics, like this review of the state of SEO today, to practical tips for SMEs, like this timely piece on protecting your local online business listing. (Disclaimer, some of the content on SEW is penned by me.)

5. Ben Hunt’s Convert! This book is a great way to get into the world of website conversion optimization because it looks at all facets of your web presence from a conversion perspective, from how you organize your web pages to the content you place on them, from how you craft your search engine strategy and build your funnels, to the way you perfect your calls to action. Well worth reading.

6. Over 100 Years of Smart Marketing: Read how one American retailer that traces its roots back to a saddle shop in the 1800s has adapted to the world of online commerce and is riding the new wave of marketing technology all the way to Success-ville (okay, I know Success-ville is corny, but shucks, these folks jumped 154 points in the latest Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide). You can download the story here.

I hope you find the above to be helpful and interesting reading, whether you’re on the beach, on a plane, or just hanging out in your own backyard, catching some rays.