social_networking

Social Networking: The Essence of Innovation
$35.00
Selling books is almost like building a social network. Find early adopters to share the value and message. Unfortunately with a retail price tag of $35 for a paperback, I'll never know the value of this book. Good luck to the publisher/author...

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
$24.95
We all know that popular websites come and go. If you're running a business, it's important to utilize these sites while they're hot. We also know it's almost impossible to utilize all these sites and keep up with how to use them, which is why I was glad that Joel Comm published this book. It helped save me a lot of time trying to decipher what Twitter is, get on the site, and help the business I work for.

The only problem I have with this book is that it was more about the Twitter platform rather than using it in subtle ways to make money. There is some of that in there, but it's nothing earth-shattering, like some of the reviews here would have you believe. Still, I think this is a pretty good book and worth checking out if you are new to Twitter and want a quick education on it.

The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking
$18.99
"A numbered list of tactics and ideas. If I were starting out completely cold in social networking I may have found this to be more useful, but for me, I found few new nuggets, and would have preferred more of a traditional organizational format."

The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff
$24.99


Clara Shih's "The Facebook Era" is excellent, but it is lacking something that I can't quite identify that leaves the book feeling somewhat unfinished. Quite possibly, because social networks and the concept of using them as marketing channels are so new, it is impossible to provide a definitive work.

Aside from feeling there is some indefinable "something" missing, author Shih has done a very fine job of detailing the history of online social networks, explaining her theory of how social networks are transforming the way we do business and, finally, a "step-by-step guide to using Facebook for business".

The problem with new developments, such as social networking, is that a slew of "instant experts" emerges, all willing to tell you how to make millions or billions from these new mediums. As might be expected, most of these experts soon fade back into the woodwork.

Clara Shih, happily, seems to know what she is talking about. She created what may be the first business application for Facebook and works day-to-day in a job using it for marketing advantage.

As you might expect from any marketing book, little of the information is actually new: marketing is marketing and the old techniques are easily adapted to new channels. The "step-by-step" guide feels a little light in the sense that it tells you about things like setting up a Facebook account.

Overall, considering the subject matter, I would rank this as an excellent guide to using social networks for marketing and the other purposes Shih describes, such as recruiting. She describes many experiences which have the ring of truth to them. There is, in my eyes, something missing. As I said, I can't identify what it is and the feeling probably has more to due with the fact that this field is evolving so quickly, no one is currently able to write a definitive work.

Until someone does, Clara Shih's book fits in nicely.

Jerry