Don’t strike-out with social media … At least get to first base!
Apr 15, 2008 Michael Brito
… and maybe, just maybe you will be hitting home runs in no time.
I agreed to review this ebook back in late 2007; and I just finished it last night. Sorry it took me so long (Darren & Julie); but life has sure been hectic transitioning to a new job, computers crashing, etc. It literally took me a few hours to get through the entire book. It was an extremely easy read and Darren and Julie did an excellent job articulating the basics of social media.
The target audience for this book is just about anyone who dabbles with social media in any capacity (internal marketers, agencies, consultants, small business owners). It is filled with tips, tricks, strategies, tactical elements, and case studies. By reading this book, you will:
- Understand the landscape of social media
- Learn how to launch a social media relations campaign
- Learn how to optimize your web site for social media (SMO)
- Discover new ideas and inspiration for social media
- Understand the risks/challenges of social media
Most of the ebook is focused on the acquisition side of social media; and less with the conversational element. This led me to reach out to Darren via Facebook and inquire about this. I asked him if he had any plans on writing a follow up book about using social media as channel to engage and foster conversations. Here was his response:
I think it’s fair to say that the ebook does focus on starting the conversation–getting to that first date, as it were. To rephrase your question, how does one manage the second date, and all the ones thereafter?
Just like the dates, I do think the process gets easier. That said, we’re expanding our ebook–doubling its size, actually–for offline publication. That’s definitely something we could include as a section in the expanded book.
It turns out that their ebook will be published as a hard copy, in Darren’s words “ into a full-on dead-tree edition”, published by No Starch Press. More details here. A big congratulations to Darren and Julie for this awesome achievement.
Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook.
Tags: social media, Darren Barefoot, Julie Szabo, getting to first base, a social media marketing playbook
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April 16th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Sounds like a great book -- would be interested in ultimately reading the hard copy! Congrats to the authors for getting the opportunity to get it published!
April 16th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I read the ebook. It was really good. I'd like to read the hard cover too, especially if they expand on the "conversational" element.
J
April 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Thanks for reading our ebook and for the review, much appreciated! It's a great suggestion to incorporate more about fostering conversations into the next version.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I would love to have a read of the hard copy too. The converstaional element i think needed to be expanded on.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
read the book. It was more for agencies and/or consultants. I didn't find much value in it from my perspective.