I'm in a very similar position currently. Do you have any recommendations on resources/books to study? Actions to take?

That's hard to summarize in concise fashion, as my own interest in marketing dates back over a decade, and I've read a book or two here and there, read an article here and there, etc. over those years, plus took Marketing 101 at the local community college, and even went out with a woman who was a marketer for a while (that bit was, by the way, totally a coincidence). So what I know about marketing has been cribbed together over a long period of time, and I wouldn't suggest you replicate my steps (especially that marketing gal).

That said, going from memory, I'll throw out a few things:

0. Read and digest The Four Steps to the Epiphany - it's not strictly about "marketing" in and of itself, but it certainly touches on elements of marketing, and should be required reading for any startup founder, IMO.

1. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore (more marketing strategy / product strategy than marketing tactics, but a valuable read)

2. Lookup the current textbook for "Marketing 101" (or it's equivalent) at a nearby college. Go buy the book and read it, even if you don't take the class. If you have time and money, take the class.

3. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. I'm deep into studying Chet's approach now, and his book has some great stuff on it. If you can, get hold of his videos from the program he did with Anthony Robbins titled "Ultimate Business Mastery System." You can safely skip the Tony Robbins part, but Chet delivers some good stuff.

4. In Search of Stupidity by Merrill Rick Chapman.

5. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries, Jack Trout and Philip Kotler

6. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk! by Al Ries and Jack Trout

7. Re-Positioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin

8. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries and Laura Ries

9. Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin

10. Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need - Fast! by Rhonda Abrams. This is good for learning about how to find the numbers you'll want to use to put together a first cut of a marketing plan. Think your "target market" is "screw, nut and bolt manufacturers in the southeast with more than 500 employees"? Then you need to know how many of those even exist, before you know if the market is even theoretically worth pursuing. Think your market is "adolescent girls in Massachusetts?" Then you might want population demographics and birth rates, etc. This is a good basic, (and cheap) book with some good pointers on how to get started on that kind of market research.

11. Marketing High Technology by William H. Davidow

12. How to Drive Your Competition Crazy: Creating Disruption for Fun and Profit by Guy Kawasaki

13. I'm a big Seth Godin fan, I'd say read anything and everything by him. The Purple Cow stands out in my memory as a particularly good one. Permission Marketing is good as well.

14. The Cluetrain Manifesto

Also, I don't have any specific titles handy (I'm out of town consulting right now, unfortunately, so I can't even walk into the other room and check), but just go to a good used book store near you (if you have one) and find a couple of cheap used textbooks on "marketing research" and "marketing strategy". The exact title won't matter, you just want something you can read through and get the high level stuff. You're not trying to become an MBA, just to learn the language and the broad brush stroke overview of what goes on.

E.g.: - How much can you really talk to your existing customers, or potential customers, to gather information before stepping over the line?

What line? Talk to people who will talk to you. Ask them for referrals to other people. Learn what questions to ask (The Four Steps to the Epiphany is gold on this bit). One thing that we've done (because our product isn't even shipping yet) is go in with a clear "this is an informational interview only, we're not trying to sell you anything" position. People are more open if they don't think you're trying to sell to them... but later, if you come back to them, they're now a warm contact - someone who knows you and has a little bit of a connection with you.

I've been in the process of trying to redefine how we talk and show our product, build product flyers, discount flyers, pricing sheets -- all for using at conferences we attend and for attaching to e-mails. In addition, learning about the customer segment is something I've been trying -- but it is HARD!

On this, I'll go back to what I said earlier in the thread, about how Chet Holmes emphasizes that "market data trumps product data" and "talk about the customer, not about your product." I can't do justice to summarizing that in the time/space I have here, but read Chet's book and see if you can get your hands on those videos. Google "core story" and find anything you can on how to develop a "core story". Once you have a solid core story about your product, and some good market data relevant to your target customer segment, you will be much better equipped to develop good sales/marketing collateral.

If you want to talk about any of this in more detail, feel free to shoot me an email.