Me Paradox: Gain the Social Business Edge Review

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(More customer reviews)Me Paradox is the right blend of advice and theory. It is an inspirational book for those seeking to get ahead in business. At times, the book is light and quick, with practical advice for excelling. It includes charts and practice examples to help guide you towards achieving your goals. But Me Paradox is also a philosophical work that contemplates the future of the business world as influenced by social media and the way it has been perceived and embraced. While the book is light and quick at times, it doesn't fail to delve into complicated ideas. And when it does delve, it does so in a clear and concise way.
The title Me Paradox refers to author Chae J. Pak's innovative idea for approaching social business. It is an idea that is hard to explain, but not as hard to understand once you read the book, and it has to do with putting others before yourself so that you, yourself, see gains. Pak has written from a wealth of experience and a wide breadth of research. His ideas are insightful, useful, and valuable to a world that is becoming as much about online communication as about in-person communication.


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By helping readers manage their online reputations, Me Paradox: Gain the Social Business Edge illustrates over 50 key activities that help them earn more money, more autonomy, more respect, more knowledge, more opportunities, and all things that differentiate their careers. Published by New World Press, Me Paradox uses a new concept - the Paradox of Me - to help readers realize that 'one single action has infinite ramifications." As a paradox, the concept of the Me Paradox avoids strict definition. Instead, it is an underlying theme in the book that helps guide readers to their ultimate ends: more fulfilling successes.Roughly, the paradox is about seeing ourselves as a composite of how others are connected to us. If this sounds a little too complicated, that's OK; Me Paradox helps readers gain the social business edge by taking complex and abstract ideas, and putting them into easy-to-read, workable notions. As an example, the Online Reputation Lifecycle breaks down aspects of online social interaction into its parts: engagement, presence, and networks. The book also provides real-life examples, best practices reviews, and personal assessment exercises to give readers hands-on references about themselves and their online practices.Me Paradox is the first definitive book on social business using online reputation management and the catalyst that activates regard.The book is unique in that it isn't as concerned about presenting absolute truths as it is about exploring causes and effects. An example of this is how the book details how information isn't always enough; information can become knowledge, which can then become wisdom, both of which are even more valuable than information alone. The book is real and useful, and it gives the power of action over to the reader - you don't have to live by the book, but if you take its suggestions to heart, you may reap big benefits.Me Paradox is brave enough to tackle abstract ideas, like the Economy of Regard, gift giving and social capital. And it covers these ideas clearly, alongside practical, inspirational advice for managing yourself in the online social territory ' all in the name of your success.

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Facebook Marketing For Dummies Review

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(More customer reviews)I normally adore Dummies books. I have several of them on my shelves. Facebook Marketing for Dummies is the first in the Dummies series that I did NOT like enthusiastically. I really feel this book is not up to the Dummies standard of helpfulness.
First, this book is supposed to be about MARKETING - but over half the book is about the very basics of Facebook. There are plenty of other books out there on how to use Facebook - including one by the Dummies group! It seems silly for this book on marketing to rehash the existing information and spend so much time on things covered elsewhere. It means that only a small portion of what remains is actually helpful information on Marketing.
They cover a few basics about the areas of Facebook to use for marketing - how a fan page is better than a regular "personal" account because a person can only have 5,000 friends while a fan page is completely unlimited. Fan pages are also "anonymous" - while a group makes it clear which person is the administrator, with a fan page the administrator is private. So you can run a fan page for your company or project without worrying about people tracking down and bugging your personal account.
But in terms of actual MARKETING information, the pickings are very slim. They tell you to post relevant info onto your account. Was anyone really going to post a lot of IRrelevant information? They say to post enough to keep people interested, but not so much that you bombard your users with too many messages. But they don't provide any examples or information to help newbies get a feel for which numbers fall into which ranges! They tell you not to use a "hard sell" and turn off people - but again, no examples, no further information.
In terms of drawing in visitors, they focus primarily on paying Facebook to use their ad system, and that's about it. They mention putting a Facebook tag in your email and on your site, and again, that's it. That's all you are learning about marketing your Facebook fan page?
There's an entire section on pushing contests - about how you can do them with random winners, or with the judging of submissions, and how this is great for traffic building. But NOWHERE in that entire section do they even mention legalities of doing all of this! How about the legalities of taking personal information from winners who are under the age of 13? How about the legalities of having a winner who hails from South Africa or other countries which have strict rules about entering online contests? Some countries have quite serious penalties for companies who offer contests and sweepstakes to "their residents" without doing legal paperwork first! It was completely shocking to me that a book in the Dummies series would offer seriously flawed legal advice like this.
In their "why do marketing on Facebook" section, one of their top ten reasons is "to run promotions for fans". This doesn't make sense to me. This is one of the things you use Facebook FOR but it's not a reason TO have a Facebook account. Reasons are things like "to get a higher ranking in Google" or "to get free word-of-mouth mentions by people in Facebook's network". It's as if they ran out of real reasons and they had to stick something in there to fill out the top 10 list.
When they finally hit issues which ARE important in Facebook marketing - like dealing with irate fans posting on your public business area, there is hardly a few lines dedicated to the topic. If anything, this is the sort of thing that the book should be covering in great detail.
And how about their commandment of "don't drink and Facebook"?? I run a wine site! My wine site page is ALL about drinking wine, and that is what all the members do. Many of them come online when they're drinking wine and we discuss what we're drinking. If what the book was trying to say is "don't post when you're drunk" then that is a COMPLETELY different issue and one they should have been more clear about.
I just can't state how disappointed I was with this book. Looking at other reviews on Amazon, it seems like half of them were primarily swayed by a "$50 Facebook ad credit" they got - but I don't see that credit ANYWHERE in my book. I even went back and re-read the entire Marketing chapter to see if I missed it somewhere. I still can't find a free credit. If it's in here somewhere, they didn't make it very obvious.
Not recommended. You could get far more out of their regular Marketing book, and simply apply that great knowledge to the Facebook world.
UPDATE: I talked directly with the "Dummies" publishers. The book currently DOES NOT HAVE ANY GIFT AD CREDIT. So if you are buying the book based on those "ad credit" promotions on Amazon, you will NOT GET IT.

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Discover how to leverage the power of the Facebook community to achieve your business marketing goals
Facebook boasts an extremely devoted user base, with more than 65 billion page visits per month. With Facebook, an organization can market and promote their brand, products, or services via the network's built-in components of profile pages, polls, community building, advertising, word-of-mouth marketing, and business applications. This insightful resource focuses on the strategies, tactics, and techniques necessary to lead your organization into the world of Facebook marketing.
Packed with vital real-world case studies, the book serves as a must-have guide for the most reliable, responsible, and ethical business and marketing practices with Facebook.
A helpful reference that discusses essential strategies, tactics, and techniques for excelling in the world of Facebook marketing
Examines setting up a business profile page, hosting an event on Facebook, and tracking your return-on-investment
Shares strategies for successful Facebook advertising campaigns
Demonstrates how to create widgets and Facebook applications

Face it: this essential book contains everything you need to know for your foray into Facebook marketing.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

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SocializeWith.Me: Or Someone Else Will Review

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(More customer reviews)This book has alot of value to offer that clearly explains the Social Media and what it does for business and personal lifestyles. Not everyone knows about Social Media but if you been looking for a great read this book is a must have Social Media Resource Guide to add to your library. It took me from tips, tools and online strategies to use while I was reading and applying the techniques to clean up my very own marketing pages. I love how Gaspare explains about the Do's and Dont's of marketing and branding in this book, it is going to hit home with alot of people who are on Facebook and Twitter that are lost. I had the honor of interviewing the author on my show The Ahauldri Show on [...]about his book and he is indeed honest and Genuine! I would say this is going to be a best seller!!!

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Social media is an obvious force in the modern world. It's used by both the average person and by businesses, from your Uncle Joe to Fortune 500 companies, and everyone in between. SocializeWith.Me (Or Someone Else Will) helps you with tips, tools, and strategies to engage friends, followers, and contacts using Social Media.

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Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media Review

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(More customer reviews)The world is online and it's not going to stop being online anytime soon. "Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media" is a guide for blending marketing and social media in the modern day. Public relations, sponsorship still reign true as aspects from the past, but more than ever social media, direct selling, and an engrossing website can prove to be major contributions to a products success. Staying on top of the game and recognizing trends are vital, and PR Smith and Ze Zook come together to provide a complete and comprehensive guide for a dual approach to marketing. "Marketing Communications" is a highly useful and highly recommended resource.

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Advertising 2.0: Social Media Marketing in a Web 2.0 World Review

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(More customer reviews)Informative, but better yet Dr. Tuten's great writing style makes soaking up the information pleasant. Great `real world' examples show that this is not just an academic exercise. She also tackles those yucky metrics that have plagued us since the dawn of this new medium. Bottom line, if you're reading this, you have pre-screened yourself for what this book provides, go ahead and grab a copy.

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Every day, print and online trade magazines and news sources tout developments in online advertising, branding, and marketing. Seismic shifts in the industryâ€"like major advertisers setting up shop in Second Life and other alternate realitiesâ€"have forced marketers and advertisers, ready or not, to employ new advertising models. But the potholes for advertisers using Web 2.0 are many, and missteps by companies that don't understand the new rules of the game guarantee lost time and money ill spent. Advertising 2.0 ensures that readers understand the advertising options possible in the Web 2.0 environment, provides examples of companies using these options, and offers guidelines for their application.



Advertising 2.0 goes way beyond running banner ads on Web sites and explores the rapidly burgeoning world of social media marketing. Among other things, expert Tracy L. Tuten covers viral marketing, doing online research, advertising within online games, and leveraging online opinions to increase sales or grow a brand. She also describesâ€"way out on the leading edge and sure to turn conventional advertising on its headâ€"how smart marketers let consumers generate ad content for products and brands. While the trade press frequently publishes news of companies using innovative communications techniques, there are hardly any books telling people how to take the plunge into the newest forms of advertising. Advertising 2.0 presents the current state of online advertising, and best practices for using techniques like consumer-generated advertising, social networking, online product reviews, viral video, Second Life, alternate reality games, and more. It also includes case studies and examples of successes and mistakes. Companies and brands featured include Nine Inch Nails, Audi, 42 Entertainment, MySpace, YouTube, Dogster, Vodaphone, Leo Burnett, and others. Best, each method described includes guidelines for getting the most out of the technique, thereby letting advertisers cut through the clutter to touch the hearts of customers worldwide.

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Perspectives on Social Media Marketing Review

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(More customer reviews)Social Media has almost exploded in recent two to three years, and has suddenly become the main way of consuming information online for the significant number of Internet users. Consequently it has become increasingly important for all sorts of organizations to adjust their online marketing strategies in order to take a full advantage of the power of social media. In the early days attempts by even the largest corporations to reach their users through social media were haphazard at best (see for instance Twitter Power 2.0 for a few examples of good and bad use of Twitter by several companies), but over the last year or so this mode of marketing has really come a long way and has matured considerably.
"Perspectives on Social Media Marketing" aims to bring some up to date insights into this new mode of marketing. The book is organized around 89 topics/questions. Each question is answered by Stephanie Agresta, who represents the perspective of marketing agencies, and by B. Bonin Bough, who represents a brand perspective. These two seem to be quite familiar with this topic and are able to respond to each of the questions in a fairly informative and detailed manner. Nonetheless, the responses feel more like sales pitches than educationally motivated explanations. I find this rather odd, since I presume that whoever is reading this book is already "sold" on the whole idea of social media marketing. The responses are also filled with some mild jargon and overhyped ideas and terms. There are a few useful actionable hints and strategies, but these tend to be few and far between.
Overall, this is a useful book if you are new to social media marketing, as it will provide you with some basic ideas of what this kind of marketing is all about. However, if you are considering launching a social media campaign, or are interested in promoting your product or service through social media, then you may be disappointed in the amount of useful advice that this book contains.


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PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING addresses 89 of the most compelling and important issues that marketers face on a regular basis when it comes to social media, providing advice and insight on how to deal with each issue from the perspective of two thought leaders in this arena: Stephanie Agresta from Porter Novelli and B. Bonin Bough from PepsiCo. Together, they discuss what social media is, how it has changed the marketing landscape, how to implement a tactical and strategic social media plan across your organization, how to best measure the ROI of a social media campaign, and more.

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RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY: An Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet Review

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(More customer reviews)Penny C. Sansevieri is a no nonsense thinker and writer. Beginning her career as an author ('Candlewood Lake', 'The Cliffhanger' etc) she faced the beast of competition in the publishing world, and instead of caving in, she took control, learned all the ins and outs of getting books published, and shared that hard won information and experience in such highly successful books as 'Get Published Today: An Insider's Guide to Publishing Success' and 'From Book to Bestseller: An Insider's Guide to Publicizing and Marketing Your Book!'. Now she has synthesized all of that information in this newest book that is the most complete guide to marketing books on the Internet available.
Sansevieri does not waste the reader's time with puffery or examples of her own successes. Instead she opts to jump right to the essentials, giving a nod to the importance of the Internet as a tool of communication and commerce. She doesn't merely suggest such valuable skills as creating a website for authors to attract attention, she carefully and very thoughtfully provides exact guidelines for squeezing the most benefits from the time involved in design, wording, linking, blogging, networking, virtual book events (and in the age when bookstores become less friendly as opportunities for authors to read and sell their books during spicy evenings, this is a unique concept) - all the techniques she has mined and understands thoroughly.
Sansivieri's book RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY contains more useful web resources, addresses of the best blog sites and web design and tool sites, and pieces of sound advice in this brief 200 pages than any on the market today. She is the epitome of a user-friendly teacher and expert and her writing contains not only valuable information and insights but wit to boot! For all authors in search of the keys to the value of Internet promotion, this excellent book will be an exceptional value. Grady Harp, June 07

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DISCOVER... 6 need-to-know rules of publicity for the Internet age The best way to design, write, and promote a website to sell your book 12 blockbuster techniques to use blogs for book publicity Proven "live promotion" techniques you can use to reach a worldwide audience, and much more.The Internet has changed the landscape of book publishing forever, which is why leading New York book publishers hire Penny Sansevieri to mentor their own publicity staff. It's also why these major publishers routinely recommend Penny to their authors as a top Internet publicist."Penny made one of her own books an Amazon bestseller for three months running. She's the inventor of the Virtual Book Tour(tm) and is a leading expert on using the Internet to promote books of all kinds. No ivory-tower theorist, she is a hands-on visionary with her feet on the ground and her eyes on the prize.

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The Definitive Twitter Guide: Making Tweets Work for Your Business: 30 Twitter Success Stories From Real Businesses and Non-Profits Review

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(More customer reviews)I started reading this book and almost immediately started saying things like, "I didn't know that", or "Well, that makes sense, why didn't I think of that?", or even a few versions of "Huh?". The book isn't written over my head, nor is it under my ability. Let me give you a better idea. I'm no genius. I frequently misspell frequently misspelled words. I'm no slouch either. I'm proud of the fact that I essentially taught myself much of what I needed to know in order to pass the tests that helped get me in a classroom. I guess I'm average.

But in being average, I feel that I'm like a lot of people out there. I use Twitter, but probably not to the full potential. I have a blog, but I'm sure I could do more with it. Just like a lot of other people out there. Given that, I feel uniquely qualified to tear into this book and give it a good once-over.
I think this book is essential for those who want to use Twitter for more than telling us what you are making for dinner. When I talk to young people, many want to start some sort of business. That's great, and for those people I suggest finding ways to use Twitter to their best advantage. The Definitive Twitter Guide should be your first stop.
This book is extremely well written, to the point that it could hold my attention long enough for me to read it, start following it, and get up here and write a bunch of words about it. If you are like me, young enough to use Twitter but old enough to be slightly intimidated by the tech, Shannon makes the information accessible.
The PF guy in me wants to leave it at "buy this book", but the teacher in me feels the need to jump in as well. Any of my students will tell you that I rarely give "A's". This is one of those times.


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Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn help businesses share information and connect with potential customers. What business can succeed without getting to know its customers? What business can survive without being seen as a reliable place for information or products? Social media promotes and supports businesses prospecting for new customers, connecting with existing customers and listening to what is going on in their community and their industry. Twitter is a powerful way to connect with people and other businesses. Connections ultimately keep you in business. This book will help you de-mystify Twitter for business. focused on small business marketing on the Internet. The Definitive Twitter Guide provides quality resources, tips, and techniques for small business owners looking to effectively compete on the web.

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101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site (101 Ways series) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first picked up 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site, I really didn't expect to find 101 different methods. After reading the book I am sure that 101 is a conservative number.
The author includes two chapters on search engine considerations, as well as chapter-length treatment of marketing in newsgroups, signature files, e-mail, discussion lists, newsletters, link trading, award recognitions, meta-indexes, online advertising, affiliate programs, cybermalls, encouraging repeat visits, press releases, e-zines, web rings, offline promotion, traffic analysis, webcasting, and launching a website. In addition, the book has five appendices, including a brief glossary and a sample implementation and maintenance schedule. The book is especially rich in providing URLs for hundreds of sites that provide additional information.
I was disappointed to find little or no treatment of two very important Web marketing strategies: search engine positioning through doorway pages and viral marketing.
Sweeney does a great job of exposing the reader to the wide variety of methods that can be used to promote a website, but for an in-depth treatment of any of these, the reader will need to consult more specialized books. 101 Ways to Promote Your Website provides an excellent introduction to Web marketing for small to medium-size businesses, and deserves the wide acceptance it has already found in the marketplace.

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With hundreds of proven tips, tools, and techniques, this freshly updated edition explains how to make the most of the latest Web 2.0 trends and techniques such as RSS, blogs, podcasting, and mobile marketing for online success. Entrepreneurs, corporate marketing managers, small business owners, consultants, webmasters, individuals, new media professionals, and website designers will find this guidebook invaluable for developing online strategies. A companion website provides up-to-the-minute internet marketing news and expanded information. From optimizing websites for search engines and incorporating dynamic public relations strategies to offline promotion and ensuring customer satisfaction, this handbook is unbeatable for helpful online promotional resources.

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99 Ways To Make Money Using Twitter Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a few other Twitter books, and once I really started to use Twitter, I put the the other books aside, since they were more like beginner user manuals. But this book is different. In this book -- lots of ideas and SUCCESSFUL examples of Twitter users using Twitter to make money or promote their business. I loved the chapters on Twitter coupons and joint ventures.

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Produced by entrepreneurial blog Geekpreneur (www.geekpreneur.com), creators of the popular Geek's Guide to Twitter, the book covers methods as varied as TwitPitching, app-building, trend-spotting and affiliate selling, and is filled with practical ideas for everyone.Illustrated with case-studies and proven examples, 99 Ways to Make Money with Twitter reveals how individuals and businesses are using microblogging to build brands, land sales and win new customers. Each chapter explains where to start and how to do it, and even provides a real-life commercial model to copy.

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Facebook Advertising For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Good:
Facebook Advertising for Dummies was written by Paul Dunay, Richard Kreuger, and Joel Elad, who I'd never heard of before, but that doesn't mean they're not reputable experts -- after all, I'm sure they've never heard of me.
And the book is formatted and structured just as every other Dummies book, so if you've read one before, you'll know how to get to what you need.
Now the question for a book like this is: is it worth the $30 Canadian? And there's no way to say it's not. Facebook ads are one of the things that the Zuggernaut has gotten right (there's no need to enumerate what it's got wrong here), and they represent a cost-effective way for businesses and groups of all sizes to access online advertising in an easy, powerful way.
Facebook Advertising for Dummies gives you a practical and commonsense guide to using ads on Facebook. Some of the things that I think are particularly useful in the book:
* how to design and optimize your ads
* how to test ads before launching a campaign
* how to integrate Facebook ads into your overall marketing strategy
* how to manage multiple campaigns
* how to work with the copious data that Facebook provides on ad performance
The Bad & The Ugly:
Overall, the book is a super resource, plainly written (which is a compliment) and useful. For me, the section that was least useful was how to design landing pages in Facebook. While I could likely figure out how to use FBML, I don't see that happening any time soon. Most of the time, someone better with code than I would be designing the landing pages (if the ads were going to point people to Facebook pages).
There's a lot of resource here, and it would likely be especially useful for small businesses or not-for-profits that want to get online but don't have an agency or money to spend on consultants. However, I suspect that as a PR guy who sometimes recommends that consulting clients use Facebook ads, I'll be continuing to refer to this book in time to come. Unless, that is, Facebook changes the way things are done. In which case I really will look like a dummy. And not the good kind.


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Profitable ideas and techniques for advertising on Facebook
Tap into the explosive growth of social media and reach your customers with effective Facebook advertising campaigns and savvy insights into how to use this social media phenomenon effectively. It's all here and more in this detailed, easy-to-follow guide from two award-winning marketers. You'll learn what makes a good Facebook ad, how to apply the latest strategies and tactics for effective pay-per-click and cost-per-impression advertising, how to test your ad results, and much more.
Explores Facebook advertising inside and out; there are now more than 400 million active Facebook users and over 1.6 million active Pages on Facebook
Works as an all-around, hands-on guide for both experienced and new Facebook advertisers
Walks you through planning and creating an advertising campaign
Explains writing effective ad copy, how to use landing pages, and how to test and optimize your ads
Shows you how to use Facebook Insights to understand your results and how to create reports that analyze data

Put your company's best face forward with the sound advertising tips and techniques in Facebook Advertising For Dummies.

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Listen First: Turning Social Media Conversations Into Business Advantage Review

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(More customer reviews)Quick Review:
Being a good listener, argues Stephen Rappaport, is an increasingly important skill in the age of effective Internet marketing. This playbook by the Advertising Research Foundation is a detailed (perhaps over detailed) effort to help businesses both small and large learn how to leverage social media as a platform for marketing research. Although quite difficult to read, its value lies in its difference: unlike most social media marketing books, this one is all about listening and research.
I teach Social Media Marketing both online and in San Francisco (you can click on my profile or Google Jason McDonald to find me), and this book is a one-of-a-kind new perspective on social media marketing and reputation management, that I will recommend to my students and colleagues who want to look before they leap into social media marketing!
Detailed Review:
Listen First! Social Media Marketing Research
Marketing ultimately is about selling; marketing is to selling, as strategy is to tactics. So as marketers, we are the eyes and ears of our companies - constantly scanning the environment for opportunities and threats. As Rappaport argues in this book, the new social media landscape provides unprecedented opportunities for us to 'listen in' to our customers - and thereby gain insights into both opportunities and threats.
Whereas previously marketing research was largely about surveys, focus groups, observational methods, and sales data, now we can hear customers as they complain, customers as they praise, customers as they suggest ideas to us (and to each other). Social media venues such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and the like are a veritable gold mine of untapped marketing intelligence.
For that brilliant insight alone - I recommend that you buy this book. Heretofore, most social media marketing books have largely been about talking and getting customers to talk about you; this book switches our focus to the logic of listening.
Defining Marketing Objectives
As marketing needs clear objectives, so too does marketing research and so too does listening in to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Rather than provide clear outlines and guides, however, this is where the book falters a bit. It has many, many case studies but all written in small fonts without clear breaks between concepts and best practices. There is a ton of information in the case studies, but it is really up to you (the reader) to tease it out. It's unfortunate that the book's editor didn't know where the BOLD key was in Microsoft word! That would have made the book a lot easier to read, and to get the correct take-aways.
I especially liked the distinctions made. For example, Rappaport distinguishes between Brand Backyards like one's own Twitter account, blog, or forum and consumer backyards such as the Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts of others. Too often, corporations have tried to control the social media marketing dialogue rather than embrace the necessary chaos of this new marketing world order.
The case study on Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow who provide bacon-flavored products is especially informative. Rather than getting stuck down with academic research agendas and objectives, the two basically trolled user forums and blogs to realize the obvious: everything tastes better with bacon! From this social media marketing insight a bacon powerhouse was born.
At the level of theory, Rapaport reminds us, an overly academic researcher might have objected to the lack of statistical rigor in the I-love-bacon listening strategy. But, he reminds, us the results (sales!) speak for themselves.
So first define your objectives, and then listen. Or better yet: define your marketing objectives as you listen, and don't get too hung up on social science rigor!
Reputation Management and Social Media Marketing Listening
Among the new social media marketing buzz words is reputation management. Rapaport only touches on this subject, but reminds us that listening is a critical element of an effective reputation management strategy. You have to know your reputation, after all, before you can manage it!
He concludes the book with a list of online resources, that I will peruse and investigate during my summer break. I track hundreds of free social media tools, and I am eager to investigate his picks. My hat goes off to him for having a list of resources as many otherwise great books, leave us hanging. In this age of the Internet, no book is complete without a list of links and Rapaport obliges. Thanks!


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"This superb book synthesizes the industry's best thinking on the massive upside of listening. Listen First! is an invaluable resource for marketing executives and will help organizations create real competitive advantage."—Dave Hudson, CEO, NM Incite, a joint venture of McKinsey and Nielsen
"Listening is a business imperative . . . especially in a world of empowered consumers. Brands are getting built and nurtured in a very different way. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in this new world order."—Stan Sthanunathan, Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Insights, Coca-Cola
"One by one, the best marketing companies are putting 'listening to consumers' on their strategic agenda. Following each announcement, we hear . . . silence, as staff groups try to grapple with the new directive. Listen First! is a timely, unhyped, and pragmatic field guide for those exploring the world of listening."—Ted McConnell, EVP Digital, Advertising Research Foundation; former head of Digital Marketing Innovation, Procter & Gamble
"How many of you have an effective listening strategy? To help guide you in the listening maze, identify new business opportunities, and select the right partners for the development and implementation of an effective listening strategy, this book is a must and an enjoyable read!"—Prof. Yoram (Jerry) Wind, The Lauder Professor, The Wharton School
"We started J&D's with a single idea – to make everything taste like bacon. All we needed now were customers. So we decided to go where the conversations were, and we've been listening ever since. We use social media to connect with our customers, promote our advancements in bacon-o-vation, and ask for their feedback on new product development. If you're an entrepreneur or run a small business, this book will give you lots of examples and terrific and practical ideas for creatively listening to your customers and growing it."—Justin Esch, cofounder, J&D's Foods

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The Network Is Your Customer: Five Strategies to Thrive in a Digital Age Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a fabulous book. A lot of marketing experts offer half-baked hints and tips for exploiting the potential of social networks. Rogers, however, has thought long and hard about the implications of the network for companies, and he applies his intelligent analysis to examples in various industries and in politics. His five strategies derive from this analysis. They're clearly presented and supremely actionable. Among the millions of words written about marketing in the digital age, this book stands out as really insightful and important. If you want a deep understanding of the implications of digital connections for marketing, as well as some practical tools you can implement in your own enterprise, this is the book you want. I recommend it very highly.

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"An incredibly useful and valuable guidebook to the new consumer economy. Buy it. Learn from it. Succeed with it."—Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do "This is the stuff that every business and nonprofit needs to embrace if they're going to succeed in a changing world."—Vivian Schiller, CEO of NPR With clear analysis and practical frameworks, this book provides a strategic guide that any business or nonprofit can use to succeed in the digital age.
Marketing expert David Rogers examines how digital technologies—from smartphones to social networks—connect us in frameworks that transform our relationships to business and each other. To thrive today, organizations need new strategies—strategies designed for customer networks.
Rogers offers five strategies that any business can use to create new value:
ACCESS—be faster, be easier, be everywhere, be always on ENGAGE—become a source of valued content CUSTOMIZE—make your offering adaptable to your customer's needs CONNECT—become a part of your customers' conversations COLLABORATE—involve your customers at every stage of your enterpriseRogers explains these five strategies with over 100 cases from every type and size of business—from shoes to news, and software to healthcare. In The Network Is Your Customer, he shows:
How Apple harnessed a host of collaborators to write apps for its iPhone How IBM designed a videogame to help sell its enterprise software How Ford Motors inspired an online community to build brand awareness for its new Fiesta...and countless other cases from consumer, b2b, and nonprofit categories.
The book outlines a process for planning and implementing a customer network strategy to match your customers, your business, and your objectives—whether you need to drive sales, to enhance innovation, to reduce costs, to gain customer insight, or to build breakthrough products and services. Because today, whatever your goals and whatever your business, the network is your customer.

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Online Marketing Help: How to promote your online business using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networks. Review

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(More customer reviews)I was very grateful to have stumbled upon this book recently. In the past few years, I've read quite a bit on the subject of SEO and web presence. This book was just easy to understand, incredibly insightful and opened my mind to the vast potential of social networks. Highly recommended to anyone looking to increase their search ranking, traffic, etc.

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If you really are ready to Crush it! and want to work the four hour week.If you really are ready to take the uncertainty out of your online marketing. If you really want to make succeeding online possible, then Online Marketing Help is perfect for you.This is no wake up call (you should have already had that by now), nor is it a rousing speech of a book to action. It is however a book packed with practical steps and explanations. Everything you need, in short, to start using the real-time web to your advantage.Understand how to mine Twitter and use Facebook for active marketing. See what free online tools are available to help your marketing efforts. Learn how to social network optimize your website and how to employ real-time web marketing tools to promote your online business.Online Marketing Help is a practical, step-by-step guide which takes you through all the steps you need to social network optimize your business, set up the time-saving tools you need to run its marketing and set up the activities which will increase its online impact and help you succeed at next to no cost. An online business which is social networked properly has:
Greater online visibility
More targeted visitors
More online sales and advertising enquiries
Greater opportunities to make a profitWhat usually stops you from succeeding in the online world is that by the time you have learnt all the valuable lessons you need, you have run out of time and money.

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30-Minute Social Media Marketing: Step-by-step Techniques to Spread the Word About Your Business Review

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(More customer reviews)I have "Blogging All-in-One for Dummies" by Susan Gunelius and loved it, so when this book came out about social media marketing I wanted to get it right away. I'm amazed by all of the information in this book. It includes links to tools, sample plans, and examples from small business owners rather than just big name brands that other books include. The best part for me is that this focuses on strategy. I'm not a marketing professional, so understanding WHY I might want to do one thing or another to promote my business through social media really makes this book worth every cent. Of course, it was less than $12, so I think I got way more than my money's worth. If you're trying to promote your business or your blog or yourself (or anything else frankly) online then you really need to read this book.

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BIG PRESENCE isn't just for BIG COMPANIES anymore!A social media marketing handbook for small business owners on the go
Social media has opened the door to anyone who wants to promote themselves--including small businesses. Designed specifically for busy small business owners, this book puts you on the fast track to maximizing your business's visibility and generating profits—regardless of thesize of your marketing budget or the time you have to devote to it.
30-Minute Social Media Marketing provides 22 short chapters packed with real-world examples, templates, sample marketing procedures, and screen shots taking you step-by-step through the essentials. With little time and effort, you will master the arts of:
Blogging and microblogging
Social networking and bookmarking
Audio and video
E-books and webinars
Direct and indirect marketing
Brand and relationship building
Word-of-mouth marketing
Expanding your reach and establishing your position
Integrating with traditional marketing
Evaluating results

By the end of the book, you will have completed a social-media marketing plan that produces real results and created a strategy for future marketing plans--all in just 30 minutes a day.

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Social Media for Business: The Small Business Guide to Online Marketing Review

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(More customer reviews)Full disclosure: I'm a contributor, a friend of both co-authors, and business associate of most of the other contributors. I am a touch biased. On the other hand, I am also a prolific reviewer--you can see what I think about a range of books by clicking on the "see all my reviews" link. Didn't just duck in here to promote one book.
Social Media for Business is written for the solopreneur and micro-business market, where you (mostly) are doing most of everything yourself. I teach classes on social media in the local Chambers and Community College system, as does Martin Brossman. If you're likely to take those classes but can't get to one, this is a good book for you.
Social Media for Business steps you through the theory of what's happening in this space--primarily LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter--and then provides you with specific activities you can do, in a reasonable amount of time, to promote your business. The book touches on Mobile (phone apps for smart phones); GooglePlus did not make it into the printed copy but we anticipate online updates at the website, accessible to people who buy the book through QR codes and a password.
I've read some other books about social media marketing that open with, "Start with a small test budget of no more than $200,000.00." Brossman & McGaha will not take you down that path. If you're overwhelmed by all the online marketing you are being told you should be doing (especially by people who want you to pay them to do it for you) and need to get an understanding of the whole field before you start spending marketing money, Social Media for Business is a good place to start.

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Social Media for Business is an insider's guide to online marketing for the small business owner, manager or entrepreneur who wants to build the right multidimensional Web presence.Guaranteed to boost your social networking IQ, this book invests in your future with tips for sustainable tactics and savvy communications that are proven to deliver the real social media ROI - higher levels of customer engagement.Co-authors Martin Brossman and Anora McGaha speak from experience in educating small businesses and solo-professionals in the everyday strategies that drive social media results. In all, more than twenty experts contribute theirperspectives on Web marketing and social media management. Social Media for Business:' Explains the competitive advantage for small and micro-business owners' Clarifies how businesses attract, engage and retain new customers' Demystifies social media strategy, implementation and content creation' Helps you define and evaluate your social media management program ' Alerts you to the risks of not monitoring the online conversation' Discusses the value of fully integrating social media into your business' Guides you through the exciting cultural changes and paradigm shifts

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The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing: How to Attract and Retain Customers and Grow the Bottom Line in the Globally Connected World Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was sent to me for free from a textbook company that I use. It is a very current primer on social media, why it is important and how it can change your business/organization. I have a feeling it will be dated in another year or so but right now it is a terrific book to read to build your social media knowledge base and understand how all types of organizations are leveraging social media. There are a bunch of case studies in the middle of the book that are interesting, especially the one on how the Red Cross used social media to raise money for the Haiti earthquake relief. I recommend it, especially if you are someone without a strong base knowledge of the topic.

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Today's Hottest Trends for On-the-Spot Marketing!
"A must read for media and marketers."—Alan Cohen, CEO, OMD USA

"What do fish tacos, data storage, and disaster relief all have in common? Each has harnessed the power of marketing that amplifies via the real-time social web. These and many other case studies are part of this engaging new book that details strategies for marketers to understand, evolve, and profit in the social age."—John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer, Young & Rubicam, and coauthor of Spend Shift
"Understanding what's possible and how to use social media will be essential for every marketer; this book will hold your hand in this brave new world."—John Miller, CMO, NBC Universal TV Group
"Like it or not, social media is here to stay. It needs to be understood, managed, and harnessed. This book tells you how. Read it!"—Zhihang Chi, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager, North America, Air China Limited
"Beverly Macy is a true innovator and thought leader in the field of social media marketing."—Cathy Sandeen, Ph.D., MBA, Dean, UCLA Extension, University of California Los Angeles
About the Book

In an era when information travels at phenomenal speed along the "real-time Web," a brand can explode into popular culture overnight--and die just as quickly. As a marketer, how can you stay ahead of the curve? How do you control the chaos? Two words: Social Media.
With The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing, you'll learn how to take advantage of today's "fluid" business environment and develop innovative ways to meet market demands. And here's the best part: all your tools--Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other sites--are free!
Leading figures in the exciting new world of sophisticated social media marketing, Beverly Macy and Teri Thompson explain how you can use this global, real-time platform to change how consumers interact with your brand. They then present detailed case studies illustrating how top organizations and emerging brand giants have proven the remarkable effectiveness of social media marketing. Find out how:
The American Red Cross turned a single "tweet" into $33 million worth of donations to earthquake victims in Haiti
Orange County Transportation Authority engaged citizens to participate in transportation planning and use
DIRE CTV boosted customer loyalty and trust by finding and solving complaints in real time
EMC transformed business processes by leveraging workforce social media proficiency and "open" behavior models

Marketers no longer have the luxury of time to develop, test, and measure a brand. Use the lessons in The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing to launch your brand in a fixed amount of time, accurately measure the impact of your activities, and instantly adjust to any unforeseen events.

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