In her follow-up to an interview, a candidate for an internship volunteered the fact that she had read 27 books last summer. This instantly gives her an edge over other candidates. Why? All other things being equal it demonstrates both initiative and a mature understanding that knowledge is not going to seek you out — you have to hunt it down yourself. Of all the things you can do to improve your marketing, perhaps the most effective is to set a goal to read a new marketing book every week or two. Because your competition won’t.