Social Media 101 Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online by Chris Brogan

Social Media 101 Tactics and Tips To Develop Your Business Online by Chris Brogan.




This book originates in tips from the blog http://www.chrisbrogan.com/  . Chris Brogran is giving 87 actionable steps for business to use social media. Each step gives specific tactics to improve outcomes for business.



On most of the pages of the book, there are footnotes with links to website or online articles. This makes it easy to find interesting social media sites. For example, Chris Brogan sites meetup http://www.meetup.com/  and upcoming http://upcoming.yahoo.com/  as places to look for events.



In each of the 87 different sections there are many bulleted lists with things you can do with social media. This creates a large volume of ideas to draw from. It is very hard not to find something useful. For example, he suggested that a thin header for a blog makes a site more visible.



The book is designed so you can easily pick and choose what you are interested in. For example, I am not that interested in photoblogging or doing youtube videos, but I am interested in tips on what to do at social media gatherings and how to build a loyal, consistent readership. Chris Brogan suggested that I get a business card on heavy paper stock with my blog name on it to hand out at meetings. He also reminded the reader to post almost every single day.



Social Media 101 is a very upbeat book. Chris Brogan is using the tech evangelist style. This means he smoothes over some of the rough spots in social media. He does not go into how to protect your privacy, or secure your site from hackers. There is no mention of that twitter spammer taking over your account, or that denial of service attack because you posted something that another blogger didn't like. He does tell bloggers to accept negative comments if they are not derogatory.



He wants you to have headshot, put down your cell phone prominently on your site, and link to a lot of different sites. Maybe, I need to be enigmatic and not post my photograph and prefer to contact people via email. It is easier for me. 



If you want a book that is focused on branding, marketing, public relations, sales, and customer services this book is for you. He is very much writing about how to reach out to people using popular networks like twitter, facebook, linkedin, flickr, youtube, and meetup. He even includes a lot of smaller networks like meebo, tumblr, and reddit.



The book was very easy to read. Chris Brogan is writing in an open style that focuses on self disclosure. His layout uses lots of bullet points, lists, bolded headings, and numbered sections. It is very action oriented. The writing is meant for people who produce content online.  I found it useful.

Trust Agents Using The Web To Build Influence , Improve Reputation, and Build Trust by Chris Brogan

Trust Agents Using The Web To Build Influence , Improve Reputation, and Build Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Chris Brogan is a master communicator using the web. He runs one of the top marketing blogs at http://www.chrisbrogan.com . His main focus is showing people how to build a following in social media using openness and trust. He is also the founder of Podcamp which is a conference on podcasting. Julien Smith is a web analyst.

The ideas in this book are actionable. Every chapter gives suggestion on how to improve your use of social media. I have already used two of the suggestions; make sure you follow less people than are following you on twitter and try to make all the sections about yourself on blogs consistent and professional.

His aim is to teach you how to use social media like blogs, twitter, facebook, and linked in to create a network. This is supposed to help you eliminate the need for resumes and cut back on using business cards.

In addition to the social media tools Chris Brogan and Julien Smith suggest philosophical and strategic outlooks for looking at business. These include looking at work as a game, jumping the gates to create new opportunities, life hacking, leverage, and digital nativism. These strategies are the strategies of the most successful producers of web content and marketing.

There is a message that marketing and communications are becoming more personal. Customer service is described as being public relations. Marketing is about being open and listening to people. Networking is about helping others achieve their goals by pulling them up.

The book is a tool to change your perspective and improve your ability to network on the web. It is the mindset of the native producer of digital content. The ideas are different and interesting. There is a lot that can be used directly from this book to succeed in building your own extensive network of contacts.

Daily Thoughts 12/3/2009

Mark Twain Photo Portrait c1907

Daily Thoughts 12/3/2009

I thought this article on a Vermont bookstore using the Espresso Book Machine as a device for self publishng was quite interesting. It opens some very novel opportunities.
http://bit.ly/YruvG

I am off today. I went to the local Barnes and Noble and looked around. There was an interesting book, Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James which is something which looks like it is worth getting. I also looked around the mall a little bit. It was not that full. Mostly people seemed to be window shopping.

I also watched a bit of Cowboy Bebop the Movie which is subtitled in english from the Japanese.

Right now, I am reading Chris Brogan, Trust Agents which is about how to build transparency and trust using social media tools. I have already found a few suggestions that are useful. I updated my social networks so the message they gave was more consistent.

Going on New York Library Meetup tour for the Center for Fiction on December 8. It should be interesting. http://www.meetup.com/NYLibrarians/