Don’t strike-out with social media … At least get to first base!

Apr
15

Don’t strike-out with social media … At least get to first base!

… 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.

Business Software

Tags: social media, Darren Barefoot, Julie Szabo, getting to first base, a social media marketing playbook

Author: Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital. All thoughts and opinions on this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or clients; neither past or present. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

michelle ramos

read the book. It was more for agencies and/or consultants. I didn't find much value in it from my perspective.
Dave

I would love to have a read of the hard copy too. The converstaional element i think needed to be expanded on.
Julie Szabo

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.
Jason

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
Social Marketing Journal

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!