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

The Facebook Era Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff by Clara Shih.

Clara Shih works for salesforce.com, she also designs widgets for business that are used on Facebook.  Her background is both technical and sales focused.  She is of course advertising her book on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/thefacebookera




The author describes how there is increasing convergence between social networks and business networks.  Companies are using sites like Twitter and Linkedin to manage their interactions with their customers.  Recently Apple announced that they were creating a new network called Ping for iTunes which connects its customers with music and musicians.  This is an example of the interconnecction.  http://techpinger.com/2010/09/apple-announces-itunes-10-with-ping-music-social-network/ 



Clara Shih  has specific chapters on marketing, recruiting, customer service, innovation (this surprised me), sales, and networking.  She introduces the book with how social networks came into existence.  It is a step by step overview of the development from mainframes  to computers to the internet to social networking.  I especially like her description of the "social graph"-- the map of how people are connected to each other on the internet.




This book does not have a bibliography at the end.  What it does have is numerous computer screen captures depicting different activities on social networking sites as well as many urls for websites.  It is quite visual with charts, graphs, and lists.  There is an index at the back of thebook.




The best part of this book was the concepts it introduced; the social graph, the convergence of social networking and business networking, and the sense of innovation available to people who are willing to try new things with social networks. I niticed after I finished reading it, that they just came out with a new second edition on July 31, 2010.

Smart Start-Ups How Entrepreneurs and Corporations Can Benefit by Creating Online Communities by David Silver

Smart Start-Ups How Entrepreneurs and Corporations Can Benefit by Creating Online Communities by David Silver.

David Silver is a venture capitalist and an author of over 30 books on business. This book varies between being a strategy guide to start an online community and a stream of ideas for starting a variety of online businesses. The book describes online communities as being both on the internet and on mobile phones.

I found the sections on how to start an internet company quiet interesting. He was focusing on social networks like myspace.com and twitter. Social networks are described as being successful because of the ability to generate mobs of people and focus on user generated content. David Silver describes them as requiring very little capital to create.

He argues for a different strategy in creating communities. His view is that it is important to be part of the crowd, not appear to have a lot of money, ask for tips, try to encourage people to provide content for you, and create services which people will pay for.

Part of the strategy he is describing is appearing to be in opposition to large media companies. For example if you are selling ebooks, you might tell people why you don't like paper books, or if you are selling music downloads, suggest why compact discs are obsolete. Being persuasive and generating controversy, even lawsuits will generate even more interest in your sites as well as money.

Where the book did not do well with me was the constant stream of ideas which he proposed. It is easy to generate ideas but it is much harder to show how to execute on them. David Silver talked about everything from online legal arbitration societies to social sites on how to reinvent the American car. This was distracting. The sections on strategy and implementation were much better than the suggestions for new businesses.

I liked his ideas on how to create an online business strategy. It very much describes how to think like a social networking business person. The book was written in 2007 and seems to have been right on target for 2010. If you can get past the constant stream of suggestions for new businesses this book is worth reading.

Daily Thoughts 7/27/2010 ( Broadband, sribd, social networking )

Europa-Briefmarke, Kinderbücher,Ausgabepreis: 55 Cent

Daily Thoughts 7/27/2010 

This is a link to the presentations from the Library Workers Skillshare. I did not get to go to it because I was working that night http://sites.google.com/site/libraryworkersskillshare/   Some of it is quite interesting.  I created a Google Profile for example.  http://www.google.com/profiles .  It is very basic.  I am still shy of putting up images of my face on the web.  Maybe it is a personal thing.




On the train to work, I finished reading Design and Launch an Online Social Networking Business In A Week.  It provides an outline of what you would need to do to start a social media business.  I would say it is a very bare bones outline and there is still a lot missing from the book.  It is a starting point for someone interested in making a social media business.  I found it to be a little bit too simple.




Publishers Weekly has an excellent article on Scribd and HTML 5 http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20100726/43942-betting-the-house-on-html5.html




I put together a display of books on New Media this morning with a banner and some flyers for our Digital Media Catalog.  Hopefully people will take the books.  The display that seems to be going most quickly is books on cooking and drinks.




I have been reading up on the National Broadband Plan.  They are going to have a number of grants that go with this plan aimed at libraries.  Their specific purpose is to introduce digital technology into libraries.  This means there may be a chance to get devices like the Ipad, Kindle, MP3 players, digital cameras, as well as training for digital technology.

Daily Thoughts 6/1/2010

A portrait of Thomas James (1572/73 – 1629), the first Librarian at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, Attributed to Gilbert Jackson (fl. 1622–1640) From Wikimedia.

Daily Thoughts 6/1/2010

I'm back to work today. I distributed some of the books and publishing catalogs which Igot from Book Expo as well as some recommendation lists for titles. I also checked the displays to make sure they were in order and updated the books in the current events display. I ordered some free marketing material from Playaway as well. We are discussing budgets a bit. I also printed some flyers for my two programs this month, the graphic novels club and the poetry club.

I have a couple review journals to read, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. I also have to do some weeding later today.

My boxes from Book Expo America came in. I unpacked them and distributed to different places, childrens, young adult, and adult department. I am looking at a bookmark for Steven Moore's book, The Novel an alternative history Beginnings to 1600 and an advanced reading copy of a teen book which has a few comic book sections in it, Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin.

There is a nice pamphlet by Romance Writers of America called Romance Writers of America Presents A Quick Guide to the Romance Genre for Readers' Advisory Librarian, A Collaborative Effort by John Charles, Shelley Mosley, and Kristin Ramsdell.

We keep a patron requests sheet at the reference desk for titles which we don't have. This may we had six pages of title requests. It is growing steadily. Hopefully, we will be able to add a web form to make patron requests.

Seth Godin's book Linchpin came in for me to read.

Presentation and Representation, Symbol and Name.

I am on Facebook, Linkedin, New York Librarians Meetup, ALA (American Library Association) Connect under my own name. I use Facebook to connect with authors, colleagues, and friends. Some of the authors I try and connect with are Ellen Datlow, John Ordover, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jeff Vandermeer, Gail Carriger, and Tobias Buckell. On Linkedin, I connect with colleagues and people who are associated with the book trade. I also am a member of numerous groups on Linkedin including American Library Association, Book Publishing Professionals, Books and Writers, Comic Book Business for Creators and Creations, Ebooks Ebook Readers Digital Books and Digital Content Publishing (This group is excellent, it has over 6100 members.), Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MOCCA) which is a museum in Manhattan which is mainly an exhibit space, New York Librarians Meetup, and Tools of Change for Publishing. I use New York Librarians Meetup to go to library tours and understand library advocacy in the area around New York. I am a member of ALA Connect which is the American Library Association social network. I have mainly used this to take online classes. It has been excellent bulletin board and chat forum for the class, Collection Development and Management. I plan on taking Readers Advisory 101 in June. I am sure that they will use ALA Connect for their chat session and online message board. I use my name directly in these networks.

For my blog, I use the name Book Calendar as well as my twitter account. I do not think of these the same way as professional networks. I also use Book Calendar on Bookblogs on Ning, Blogcatalog, and Fuelmyblog. Maybe, I am stretched out too far. I feel there is a dichotomy between professional spaces and online social networks. It made me a little uncomfortable when I was at the Book Bloggers Convention. I even received a comment that it seemed a bit dangerous to blog as a librarian. Some people find it a bit outrageous. I think part of it has to do with acceptance of technology. There are a number of questions that are raised. Where is it important to be a symbol? Where is it important to be a name? I am thinking this over right now.

There are spaces where the line blurs between the personal and the professional. Going to author tours, book signings, library tours, reviewing books, librarian socials, networking meetings, and even gallery openings where there are lots of people in the book profession blurs the line between the professional and the personal. This can be a little bit uncomfortable. I felt a bit disconcerted at the Book Bloggers Convention because of this. Where do you stand?

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 12/1/2009

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-54231] Maugham, W. Somerset--(William Somerset),--1874-1965. The Razor's Edge is a great novel.

Daily Thoughts 12/1/2009

I am back from vacation today. I returned my book and checked out a bunch of items, Me 2.0 by Dan Schwabel which is about building a personal network online, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel, Trust Agents by Chris Brogan (Chris Brogan spoke last year at Tools of Change for Publishing), Diving Into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Halo Evolution, Essential Tales of the Halo Universe ( Tobias Buckell has a story in this book.)

There are a few books which I was interested in but didn't take, Vladimir Nabokov, The Original of Laura (this is Nabokov's manuscript for his final work, it is on notecards and unfinished. Vladimir Nabokov did not want it published, but his son published it anyway after his death.) The other book which I'll probably read later is Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Sometimes, there are just too many books.

I had various things to do including updating the displays and catching up on my reading. I still have quite a bit to do. I read some of Booklist and Publishers Weekly. I also finished putting in my orders for the month of November. Tomorrow, I have to work on the display stands for the "New Arrivals" section.

On the way home, I read some of Me 2.0, Build A Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. The book is on personal branding. The book comes across as a bit narcissistic. Still, it has quite a bit that seems useful to say about how to market yourself as a person. There is a lot for people just entering the job market. It makes the claim that people need to have more than a resume and recommendations to succeed.