Book Review- Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook

I'd like to start with a disclaimer.  Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo, the authors of Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook, are friends. While I may be biased, knowing them for years also means I know the depth of the their knowledge and experience. And that's the big point of my review of their book - these people know what they're talking about because they live in social media every day and have for years. I've asked myself in the past - What would Darren and Julie do?

Friends with Benefits is very much a handbook. It provides direct, actionable and easy-to-understand advice on getting started with social media marketing. And that's one of the aspects of the book that I think is most valuable.  They don't speak in generalizations, like you should blog "often."  They say business bloggers should to try to blog 3 times a week. They don't say it takes significant time to do social media, they say to plan on at least 25% of your marketing time. This kind of directness takes away some of the anxiety that people feel about getting started and readers will appreciate it.

Along with in-depth introductions to the Twitters and Facebooks of the world, the book comes with a healthy dose of the realities of social media. The online world brims with supposed "social media experts" who will have you believe that anything and everything is possible. Darren and Julie know better because they've been there. The truth is, social media marketing can be amazingly valuable, but comes with real risks. I was happy to see that along with strategies for achieving the very real benefits, the book is clear about the reality of social media: it's difficult, it takes time and the results can vary widely. This book will keep you from looking foolish online.

If you're ready to get off the sidelines and get serious about social media marketing, you must read this book first. Friends with Benefits is tactical, practical and above all, useful.

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Two Quotes on Simplicity

The first is by Antione de Saint Exupéry, author of The Little Prince and a pioneer in aviation:

Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away. 

The second is by William of Occam (1288-1347)  You might know the name from Occam's Razor.

It is vain to do more with what can be done with less.

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Managing Online Forums - A New Book By Patrick O'Keefe

Patrick and I go way back in web terms, but met for the first time this year at SXSW.

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Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start

I while back, I posted an entry about an excerpt I read from Guy Kawasaki’s new book: Art of the Start. I just finished the book this week and thought I’d give you some of my thoughts.

I liked Guy’s irreverent style and simple delivery. In looking at the market for my services, the book made me ask myself these questions:

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Guy Kawasaki- Art of the Start

I just read (and recommend) this .pdf from Guy Kawasaki's book, Art of the Start. For folks thinking about starting a company, I think it's good and somewhat non-conventional advice.

I thought this was an interesting this "key principle":

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Paradox of Choice

As usual, I get some of my best reading done at 35,000 feet. On the trip I just returned from last night, I read Barry Schwart's The Paradox of Choice- Why More is Less

I'm about 2/3 of the way through it and really like it so far. The basic premise is that, as a culture, we value choice and assume that more choices mean better experiences and outcomes. Yet, the research shows that choice has a downside.

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Making Your Business Click: New eBook

I don’t think anyone would disagree with the age-old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. It applies across our business and personal lives- the one who connects the best wins. Using a network of people to your advantage is as old as business itself- a strategy that hasn’t changed much over the years.

However, just recently, the networking landscape has changed significantly. The same principles of trust, communication and relationship building still apply, but the tools have changed. Internet-based resources such as online communities, weblogs, email lists, contact managers, etc. are enabling a new kind of networking- a new way to make and nurture the connections you value.

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