I've read a fair bit of the material out there (currently reading
Waiting for your cat to bark? and Actionable Web Analytics as well.
When you've read enough of them, a lot of the material repeats but
it's always interesting to hear different practitioner's perspectives.

With regards to Avinash and Clifton's material, the former is really a
framework for how analytics as a whole should be thought about and
practiced. I wrote long reviews for both under Alex B on Amazon, but
essentially, Avinash's greatest strength is his humility and if you're
going to get one thing from his book it's this.

"You don't know a damn thing, luckily, the customers will tell you all
you need to know"

In essence, get over yourself and follow the numbers. If your goal is
clear and you work towards it from as objective of a standpoint as
possible, things will be just fine.

Clifton's book on the other hand is much more technical and a great
manual on how to actually use Google Analytics to help you achieve
what Avinash is talking about technically and practically tools wise.

Actionable Web Analytics is, so far, a mix of Avinash's message with a
focus on how to achieve his goal within an enterprise from a
social/political angle, though that is not to say that they don't give
good practical advice as well.

Finally, Waiting for your cat to bark? is really just one of those
essential reads on the changing landscape of marketing/the online
world. There are more books on my list/others I have read, but I'll
stop blathering for now. I'm continually impressed that, despite a
relatively small community and, what I would consider a rather nascent
industry, there is such a plethora of excellent books, blogs and
commentary readily available.








--- In webanalytics@yahoogroups.com, "Kris Groulx" <krisgroulx@...> wrote:
>
> Chris this is a good post for all newbies to analytics (I consider
myself a
> rookie in this field as well)
>
> I am currently reading "Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics" by
> Clifton, and am finding it very useful as Google Analytics is the main
> resource I'm using in my current role. It starts with a very basic,
easy to
> understand intro to the user interface as well as some basics on
analytics
> itself.
> I highly recommend this for anybody using Google Analytics.
>
> Kris
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>