Three Excellent Books on Social Media

January 31, 2010 By

A Triple Book Notice Because I Haven’t Yet Reviewed These Books and I Feel Remiss About That

It was actually a resolution of mine well before New Year’s Day, to review all the books that have been piling up alongside my desk, mostly books on or relating to social media.

But New Year’s Day came and went.

So this is a notice as a precursor to the review I still plan to do of each of three of those books.

And while I have read only one right through, I have read enough of the others to be able to recommend all three wholeheartedly.

Without further ado, they are:

Paul Chaney’s the digital handshake – seven proven strategies to grow your business using social media

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crushit! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion

Shel Israel’s Twitterville – How Businesses Can Thrive in the new Global Neighborhoods

Paul Chaney, whose book provides an incomparable overview of the social media phenomenon, is  highly respected by his peers and is an all-round nice guy to boot. He is one of my most valued friends – interestingly most of our communication has been virtual, partly because there is this rather large ocean, the Pacific, between our two countries. From explaining the new communications paradigm and why that should matter to anyone in business, Paul guides the reader through a complete strategic framework to employ social media to build any business.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a force of nature, a man of great passion for what he does and a truly impressive record in business, by any standard. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas in 2008. He is the real deal and his book is a great read about branding and about social media. It is also a sometimes confronting challenge for all of us to look seriously at what our true passion is and then to align our business and our life with that.

Shel Israel is a standout observer and commentator on social media, not just because he has long experience as a practitioner in and writer on communications, but because he takes a global view. He also has a wonderfully lucid, highly communicative writing style. Over the past few years he has interviewed many people around the globe on blogging and other aspects of social media, so his take on social media is as highly informed by his knowledge of how things look in Beijing and in Adelaide, Australia, to mention just a couple of places, as it is of how they look in San Francisco or New York City. His examples of how Twitter is being used by various businesses large and small – and in some specific instances not used, foolhardily as he shows, by some other businesses – are priceless.

Three very different books by very different men. One thing these three man have in common is that they are generous with information and insights. I learn from each of them every time I read or hear what they have to say.

By the way, each its own right is a good book to give to friends or associates or family members who say: “I don’t get why you are so enthusiastic about/ interested in/ curious about (Twitter, Facebook, blogging, YouTube, LinkedIn, social media – check the one that applies)” and you then spend half an hour or so trying to explain, until you notice that their eyes are rolling back in their head.

On second thoughts, maybe not family members, if you don’t want to waste your money). But do get your own copies.

Picture credit – my pic.

Disclaimer: the links are to my Amazon Associates account, so if you click through and buy them there I will benefit (about one cup of coffee, tops, I think): but hopefully good bookstores will have them too. I bought my copies of Crushit! and Twitterville respectively: Paul Chaney kindly gifted me a copy of his book.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Call Paul Chaney for All Your Social Media Handyman Needs

October 15, 2008 By

One of the things they don’t tell you when you start blogging and using other social media tools is that there will probably always be things that need fixing or improving, generally stopping short of the need for a major overhaul.

Some bloggers, especially the more technically inclined and adept, seem to relish that and take pride in being able to find the solutions and fix things themselves. For me, that sort of thing is a chore and I often wish I could hand over the task to someone else.

With a caveat or three:

  • they need to know what they are doing, so they don’t make matters worse
  • they need to respect what I have built and my intentions for how I use social media
  • they need to be ok about doing small jobs and charging accordingly

In other words, a social media handyperson.

Until about a week ago, I did not know anyone who was happy to fill that role.

Then Paul Chaney, Internet Marketing Director at Bizzuka Inc, President of the International Blogging and New Media Association (IBNMA) and all round upstanding guy, told me he was about to brand himself as the Social Media Handyman.

Handyman truck, London: photo by saba dija, Flickr - Creative Commons
“Handyman” truck, London: photo by saba dija, Flickr – Creative Commons

He has now made it official and posted about it on his Conversational Media Marketing site.

Paul tells us that in his new role as Social Media Handyman he will be posting, along with a very impressive lineup of other social media luminaries, at the prestigious MarketingProfs site and on the real estate site Active Rain.

Filed Under: Blogging, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

Appreciating Bloggers

April 14, 2008 By

appreciation n. 1. thanks or gratitude 2. assessment of the true worth or value of persons or things

Darren Rowse has done his bit to lift the NBSI (Net Blogger Satisfaction Index), by declaring this day April 14th to be Blogger Appreciation Day (Unofficial).

I took some action this morning in this regard, as mentioned on Thinking Home Business .

Three more appreciations before the day is done.

Rick Bruner who kept the Business Blog Consulting blog going when Paul Chaney encouraged him to do that, so that for those of us invited to participate there were a new platform and new colleagues – some of whom have, for me at least, become friends.

Paul Chaney who is a continuing inspiration to me in his willingness to keep pushing out from the safety of the shoreline into still-being-charted waters and who not only persuaded Rick to keep Business Blog Consulting going but somehow got me onto the list of contributors.

Stephan Spencer who has taken over Business Blog Consulting and is being very patient with me, waiting for some fresh posts. On the priority list, Stephan!

And as well as those three, all the other bloggers on Business Blog Consulting (check the sidebar for names and links).

Thank you for being great colleagues – and friends.

The more I think about it the more I realize there is a host of bloggers who have helped and inspired me. I appreciate you all!

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , , , ,