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Seth Godin's Book Roundup

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Sep 9, 2009; Category: Book Review; Tags: Books, Marketing, Seth Godin; No Comments

Take a look at Seth Godin’s Book Roundup, a list of mostly business and marketing books, but even those that are not have some application to business and marketing. No doubt the list could be longer, but this is what Seth has been reading.

I’d like to mention another book that I think deserves your attention: Stories that Sell by Casey HIbbard tells you everything there is to know about using case studies for marketing.

Book Review: 18 Rules of Community Engagement

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jul 27, 2009; Category: Book Review, Communication, Marketing; Tags: Marketing, Online Community; 2 Comments

In the growing body of information about how to grow and manage online communities, Angela Connor’s 18 Rules of Community Engagement is among the best. The book is full of common sense and good advice from someone who has been there, done that, and continues to do it. Angela is a successful community manager, growing golo.com to more than 11,000 members in 18 months (currently more than 13,000 members). GOLO is a vibrant online community sponsored by Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill-area WRAL TV.

Some of the most thought-provoking information is in “The Basics” section that precede the “Rules.” The section is full of interesting information, like whether or not a community will form just because you make a platform available (nope), and why communities so often fail (most community managers focus on what the community can do for them instead of how to best support the interests of the community). Ms. Connor also writes about what community managers do, and what kinds of attributes they need to be effective in engaging and growing their community.

The rules themselves (e.g., don’t be pushy, stroke some egos, provide useful information and content) are mostly common sense. But common sense is often the first casualty of online communication, and these reminders of common sense dos and don’ts (and some things you might not consider without reading the book) can save you a lot of painful learning-the-hard-way. They’re all amplified with Angela Connor’s real-world community management experience and several links to websites that relate to some of her research or illustrate various points, which makes the book a very interesting read (allow a couple of hours for the nearly 90 pages).

Given the quality of the information, it’s bargain-priced at $19.95 for the book ($17.95 at Amazon) or $14.95 for the ebook. I reviewed the ebook, and the only complaint I have is that the publisher did not bother to reformat the book for easier onscreen reading. In order to make the text big enough to be easy to read onscreen, I had to constantly scroll the page. Finally, I printed it out and read it on paper. This, of course, undermines the value of the many links. But it’s a minor complaint about a really useful book, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to community managers and bloggers (who are community managers, though often of a smaller scale).

Find out more about the book at Growing Successful Online Communities.

Book Review: Tribes by Seth Godin

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Mar 15, 2009; Category: Book Review, Business, Marketing, Zeitgeist; Tags: Seth Godin, Tribes; No Comments

I’m guessing Seth Godin, like the rest of us, is completely capable of not thinking clearly on occasion and saying dumb things. But you won’t find evidence of that in Tribes, a book in which he has clearly and compellingly laid out what it takes to be successful in marketing in 2009.

In this little more than pocket-size book, Godin explains the difference between a crowd and a tribe (crowds don’t have leaders or a means of communicating with one another), and notes "Most organizations spend their time marketing to the crowd. Smart organizations assemble the tribe."

Godin challenges people who are passionate about something to assume a leadership role. The tools, he points out, are there for anyone to use; there’s no longer an excuse to sit on the sidelines and complain about how you wish things were different. You can attract a crowd of like-minded people willing to work toward making things different.

Some of my favorite insights from the book:

• Leadership is too important to be left to the people in charge.
• Faith overcomes fear.
• Tribes are about faith—about belief in an idea and a community.
• Heretics are the new leaders.
• Leaders transform the shared interest of the tribe into a passionate goal and desire for change.

Click on the cover image of the book above and get it at Amazon. I think you’ll find it worth reading.

Book Review: Stories that Sell by Casey Hibbard

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Jan 25, 2009; Category: Book Review, Marketing; Tags: Business, Case Studies, Change, Marketing; No Comments

I’ve known Casey Hibbard for approximately five years, and have provided web design/development services for her. She has written some case studies, or "success stories" as she prefers, for my company. She’s smart and has a lot of integrity, and I was thrilled when she told me she was writing a book about how to create and use success stories in marketing. The book was recently released, and Casey sent me a copy.

The first thing I’m struck with, in a quick perusal of the book, is its breadth and depth. Virtually no aspect of case studies is left untouched, from planning to getting customer permission, to research, to interviewing, to writing stories that get people’s attention, to how to use the stories in your marketing efforts, and a lot more I’ve left out for the sake of brevity. To call the book a "complete guide" isn’t hype, just a simple statement of fact.

On closer reading, I’m even more impressed at the amount and character of useful information provided. I’m beginning to understand how success stories are a natural outcome of relationship marketing, and how they’re complimentary to social media marketing. A light bulb has been switched on and, for me, that’s the test of a good and useful business book.

Whether you’re a writer looking for ways to incorporate case studies into your bag of tricks or a business owner, this book provides the why, the what, and the how for using stories from satisfied customers to attract new business. And in times like these, that’s really valuable stuff. If you’re a business owner, get the book and read it. If you’re not a writer, hire one and insist they read it before crafting some success stories for you. Or better yet, hire Casey and work with the "Success Stories Guru" herself (my label for her, not hers).

If You Run a Business, The New Rules of Marketing & PR is for You

Author: Ray Gulick; Published: Dec 12, 2008; Category: Book Review, Marketing; Tags: David Meerman Scott, Marketing, New Rules; No Comments

David Meerman Scott’s book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, has been around for more than a year and has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention. Not only does it outline how to use social media for marketing, it also describes how to use more traditional marketing instruments, such as press releases, to best advantage online.

Scott explains how new technology and old media can work together: blending blogs and press releases, podcasting and branding, and RSS and media rooms to help buyers find your company’s products and services.

Topics include how to write for your buyers, how web content influences the buying process, blogging, podcasts, social networking sites, search engine marketing, and a lot more. It’s a fairly quick read, and it may open our eyes to a lot of new possibilities (it did mine).

Buy the book at Amazon»