Product Description
Social media is a crucial tool for success in business today. People are already talking about your business using social media, whether you’re using it or not. By becoming part of the conversation, you can start connecting directly to your customers, as well as finding new ones, easily and inexpensively spreading the word about your products or services.
But social media marketing isn’t like traditional marketing-and treating it that way only leads to fr… More >>
#1 by Stephen M. Wade on April 4, 2010 - 10:08 pm
When I sat down to enjoy Shama Kabani’s new book, the Zen of Social Media Marketing, I was expecting to absorb a couple chapters a night during my quest to take my online marketing prowess to the next level.
I read the entire thing in one evening.
Not since Claude Hopkins’ 1923 classic Scientific Advertising has a marketing book held my attention so intently. Shama, a lively and personable genius in her own right, didn’t see any need to fluff her book up with generalities and useless anecdotes. Rather, every word, every case study, every personal story is crafted to bring the reader into a deeper understanding of how to lay an effective social media marketing foundation.
I like authors who respect my time and give me exactly what I need. Shama does both.
It’s no surprise that digital marketing guru Chris Brogan chose to write the book’s foreword. Brogan’s philosophy of putting people over platforms aligns perfectly with Shama’s style of nurturing very real, human relationships through online mediums. She sees the internet as an extension of (not a replacement for!) community and draws on common real world interactions like coffee houses and office-networking events to illustrate her point.
Chapter one is all about the philosophy of online marketing. “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” is what my mother always says. Shama writes: “online marketing is the art and science of…leveraging the internet to get your message across so that you can move people to action.” The message is clear: you don’t do social media marketing because your competitors do; you do it because it has the ability to “convert strangers into consumers and consumers into customers.”
“Strategy should always come before tactics.”
Shama evidently prefers her readers to know where they are going and why they are on the journey before she expends any energy on telling them how to operate the car.
The rest of the book is packed with tactics on how to relate to your audience using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and web video. I pride myself on being a decent online marketer, and even I found myself taking notes on when to engage people through Facebook Groups and when to encourage the following of a Facebook Page. Should I care how many Twitter followers I have? Shama says I should, but not in the ego-stroking way I may be inclined to.
The only disappointment I faced was that my tech-savvy, Star Trek watching side wasn’t fed. Not because the material wasn’t solid, but because…
Shama speaks the language of small business.
You may not be a marketer; you may sew quilts or manufacture plantation shutters. Shama understands, and she writes with you in mind. Easy to remember acronyms and formulas, like Visability + Credibility = Success, and succinct, numbered checklists will help you implement her recommendations immediately.
I should quit talking before I begin to ramble. The bottom line is: social media marketing is something you, a small business owner, can participate in quite successfully. Shama Kabani’s book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing, will show you how.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Stephanie A. Cross on April 4, 2010 - 11:51 pm
I have read many books on social media, and this one far outshines all the others. Great, practical and easy to follow advice on how to leverage Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, video, and blogging to further your brand and your business. Social media works, but you have to have a strategy, and this book definitely makes an easy-to-follow plan of action to get you noticed online.
In addition, the fact that the book is live and is online with monthly updates to the fast-paced and ever changing world of social media is invaluable.
Shama is a rockstar in the digital marketing world, and this book is further proof. I give it “two thumbs up”!
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Danielle M. Miller on April 5, 2010 - 1:47 am
I also read my book on the plane ride home and read it from cover to cover. This is a very practical guide to the 3 pillars for Social Media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn), as well as very, very useful information and strategies for video and a great Q and A section.
In addition there is a workbook and I love that Shama has created a way to for the reader to access the most up to date information in an online format. An easy to read, easy to follow guide for those looking to really amp up one’s presence and build your own online community.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Deborah Mcalister Holland on April 5, 2010 - 2:18 am
I’ve been reading social media marketing books for about a year, and most of them over-promise and under-deliver. This one is different. For the first time, I feel like I “get” it.
It’s filled with no-nonsense, practical tips that actually work instead of pie-in-the-sky talk about what social media “can” do.
I started reading the ebook on an airplane, and wasn’t quite done when the plane landed — so I made my husband drive, so I could finish it. If you’d ever ridden with my husband, you’d know that meant I just didn’t want to stop reading.
If you want a step-by-step guide to what to do — and what to avoid — this is the book for you. I’ve been a marketer for a long time, so I have some habits to unlearn according to this author. She explained why in a way I can understand, so I might actually follow her advice.
Rating: 5 / 5