books

New Social Media eBook - And a Funny Blogger Outreach Video

leelefever — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:46:58 -0500

Wouldn't it be nice if every author actually lived in the world that they wrote about? It's one thing to be an observer, but yet another to be a resident. That's why it's my pleasure to point you to a new ebook by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications.

It's called "Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook". You can learn more (and purchase it) at SocialMediaReady.com. This video provides a quick overview too.

I've known Darren and Julie for years and there are few people whose words I would trust more regarding social media marketing. Why? Because it is their world. Through their work, their blogs, their goofy satire sites and sites like DearRockers, they've been there every day for years.

As part of the roll out, they created a Common Craft inspired video called "Blogger Outreach 101" with Sachi and I in starring roles - as horses (I think!). You'll just have to watch it and laugh...Darren reminds us that he think it's "just awful." We are flattered nonetheless.

[Disclosure] I provided a quote and some very small input as a part of the ebook's development.

New Social Media eBook - And a Funny Blogger Outreach Video

leelefever — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:46:58 -0500

It's called "Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook". You can learn more (and purchase it) at SocialMediaReady.com. This video provides a quick overview too.

[Disclosure] I provided a quote and some very small input as a part of the ebook's development.

New Social Media eBook - And a Funny Blogger Outreach Video

leelefever — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:46:58 -0500

It's called "Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook". You can learn more (and purchase it) at SocialMediaReady.com. This video provides a quick overview too.

[Disclosure] I provided a quote and some very small input as a part of the ebook's development.

New Social Media eBook - And a Funny Blogger Outreach Video

leelefever — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:46:58 -0500

It's called "Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook". You can learn more (and purchase it) at SocialMediaReady.com. This video provides a quick overview too.

[Disclosure] I provided a quote and some very small input as a part of the ebook's development.

Read This Book: Made to Stick

leelefever — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:12:07 -0400

It's been a while since I read a book that made me think and get excited about changing the way I communicate. Chip and Dan Heath's book, Made to Stick does just that. In Malcolm Gladwell fashion, they use stories and studies to describe the everyday world in new ways. Their focus and subtitle for the book is "Why some ideas survive and others die".

Every blogger, writer, marketer, etc. has lessons to learn from this book. As bloggers we're highly motivated to make our ideas sticky - to galvanize readers with our perspective. They present a framework that can be used as a checklist for sticky ideas. Ideas should be Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Stories. John Moore has more on this framework.

Here are some of the things I took from the book:

The use of mystery and suspense can keep people captivated. People are attracted to ideas that highlight a gap in their knowledge. Instead of addressing the gap directly, find a way to reveal the answer through a story. Consider the evening news teasers "which local restaurant has slime in their freezer?"

There is a difference between understanding and caring. You may be great at helping people understand, but you need to make them care to really engage them. To do this, appeal to a person's identity and self-interest. Consider the question: What's In It For Me? (WIIFM).

Get to the core. Find a way to communicate the single thing you want people to know. For writers and bloggers one big point comes from successful journalism - don't bury the lead. Identify why people should care and make it the lead of the story.

Use the power of idea spotting. You don't have to create sticky ideas, you just need to be able to spot one when it comes along and share it. Use your "Core Idea Glasses" to filter the world down to what ideas match with your core message.

Of course, these things are all easier said than done. Reading the book helps. The authors also have a blog.

Seattle, Renaissance and the Creative Class

leelefever — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 15:52:57 -0400

Jordan Rule, a former stranger who stayed at my house recently has a few things to say about his decision to quit his job and move to Seattle.

On a related note, he previously pointed me to an article by Richard Florida about the Rise of the Creative Class. It opened my eyes to some of the reasons I, like Jordan, were so attracted to places like Seattle to start a career.

Stuck in old paradigms of economic development, cities like Buffalo, New Orleans, and Louisville struggled in the 1980s and 1990s to become the next "Silicon Somewhere" by building generic high-tech office parks or subsidizing professional sports teams. Yet they lost members of the creative class, and their economic dynamism, to places like Austin, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Seattle---places more tolerant, diverse, and open to creativity.

Further, a recent interview with "Get Back in the Box" author Douglas Rushkoff by Kris Krug echoes some similar themes as he talks about a new type of networked renaissance.

On a deeper level, the book is about renaissance, and the unique moment weâ€™re in as a society. A renaissance allows for a profound shift in perspective. While the original Renaissance invented the individual, as well as competition, this renaissance has really brought us new possibilities for collaborative action - networked collectivism and a society of authorship. Weâ€™ve been wrestling since the Renaissance - and some would say since high Greek culture - with the seeming contradiction between the agency of individuals and their power as a collective.

Jordan and so many folks I've met lately can feel that there is something big afoot that will change (are changing) the basic assumptions of how to harness the power of the social Web.

Perhaps it is a sort of renaissance and I'm hoping that Seattle is becoming a place that draws more people in and gives them a foundation for exploration, innovation and community.