About the List Not a easy pick

Ultimately it came down to creating a mix of books that was targeted to small business owners and that will help us build our brands  and grow our businesses.  These books run the gamut from those that strive to give you an overview and strategic context for the social media trend — to more detailed how-to books that will help you apply social media in your everyday marketing tactics.

Overall, the intention of this list is to provide a spectrum of information that will leave you feeling better, smarter and faster when it comes to social media.

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg

Let’s say you are now “sold” on the idea that using social media as part of your marketing strategy is probably a good thing.  Yet, despite all the books out there, you’re still not sure exactly what to do or where to do it or how to do it – beyond establishing a basic profile or a presence.  

The New Community Rules is your next step.  This book will give you the specifics you’re looking for.  It covers a number of niche social sites you may not be as familiar with, and includes short success case studies.

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick

If you’re a business history buff who enjoyed the “Pirates of Silicon Valley” movie about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates – then you will also enjoy The Facebook Effect.  It was written by a journalist who has interwoven his interviews with Mark Zuckerberg and the key players who turned a school hobby/project into the realization of Zuckerberg’s vision to change the world by connecting people.

This isn’t necessarily a book about how to use social media, but it will take you behind the scenes of several social networking sites and how they succeeded and failed.  It’s great business reading in general.

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Whenever a CEO or small business owner comes to me and says “I’m not sure I understand the business value of social media,”  I tell them to read this book first.  Groundswell is written by a team of researchers from Forrester Research.  These people have done more research on social media for this book (and continue to empirically study social media and document it) than you or I will do in a lifetime.

Because this book was written in 2008 when social media was still “new” to even the professionals, it explains social media in a way that all of us can understand and relate to.  Groundswell will give you a framework and a context within which to place new learning.  It is well written, easy to read and full of research data that you can trust.

The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media by Paul Chaney

If you’re fed up because the time and money you’ve already invested in traditional marketing like advertising or direct mail isn’t paying off, or you’re frustrated because you see the world of marketing changing and you’re not sure how to maximize the technology for business objectives, then this book is for you.

While it won’t show you detailed nuts and bolts of how to start a blog or how to use Twitter, it will help you to start plotting your next move.

The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko and David K. Brake

When a book has the word “Bible” attached to the subject and in the title, you automatically assume that it has everything you’ll need to get through life as it concerns that topic.  And that’s exactly what you’ll find here.

This book covers some history and background, as well as tools and strategies that you can use to grow your business with social media.

Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

By now you’ve noticed that the social media revolution requires a new and different way of thinking.  This makes Trust Agents the perfect book to read next.  It’s written by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith and endorsed by Seth Godin — all trusted marketing minds whose work has stood the test of time.

This is an easy read and will get you squarely in the social media mind-set.  One warning: You may not agree with what you read.  You may not like it.  But understand this:  It’s how the technology is impacting people and small business.  Embrace it.

* * * * *

So there you have it — a mix of social media books that every small business owner should have on the shelf. If you’re wondering what social media strategies and tactics you should put in your marketing plan this year, you’re guaranteed to find them here.

From Small Business Trends

We think the beta rollout to all English searchers is more significant than the initial labs feature, as it exposes the contextual search results to a mainstream search audience. While it’s officially a beta product today, the Google Social Search rollout will occur over the next few days. If you don’t have Social Search already, you can expect to start seeing the social results fairly soon.

For a demonstration of Google Social Search check out the video below:

 The Facebook profile will accept pictures as large as 200×600. The profile image extents into the light blue area (#EFF0F5) 52 pixels above the Gray line (#D8DFEA) allowing you to  blend your profile image seamlessly into Facebook as we have done for Boost Internet Marketing  fanpage.

A few of things to keep in mind when traying to make your image  look semmless on Facebook:

1. The position of the photo is dependent on how many lines your status message occupies. The image isn’t pushed down with the rest of the page content, so the more lines your status occupies the more of the upper gray needs to be added to the image. 
2. The position of the photo is dependent on the text size of your status message, which is a similar issue to above, but actually a much bigger problem. This is to do with how the browser chooses to render that font, so it is a platform and browser problem. We have already noticed differences from Mac to Windows to Safari – each one was a pixel off even though we used Firefox to test on all three platforms.
3. The thumbnail that accompanies your Facebook feed items is only 50 x 50 pixels so if you have long and larger picture it will not fit.  Facebook has a nice thumbnail feature that allows you to pick an area of a smaller version of your profile picture so you will need to create a thumbnail of your image for you posting profile .

Examples of some profile image across Facebook below, be creative and express yourself.  If you have addition examples please post below.

Evan Carmichae has just published its 2010 list of  Top 50 Marketing Blogs To Watch. The list could open the door to the best marketing tips and strategies to help you and your business stand out.

This is year 3 for the list covering categories such as :

• Search Marketing Blogs
• Small Business Marketing Blogs
• Marketing Trends Blogs
• Social Media Marketing Blogs
• Marketing & Advertising Blogs
• Online Marketing Blogs
• Marketing & Public Relations Blogs
• Affiliate Marketing Blogs
• Marketing & Technology Blogs
• Brand Marketing Blogs

For the 3 year running Search Engine Land (one of my fav sites) has been listed along with  the site provided by Brian Solis which focuses on strategy within integrated marketing communications. can be your “hot knife” and reveal the best marketing tips and strategies to help you and your business stand out.

 Here are the links to 2008  and  2009  Top Marketing Blogs to watch list.

Google Wave combines e-mail, instant messaging, social networking, browsing, open-sourcing and project management into one integrated communications tool. Its concept: to unify communication on the Web.

Here is a video from Google Wave:

According to Mashable, who was able to test the new platform, Google Wave’s interface looks like an incredibly enhanced version of G-mail. The chat function is real-time, character-by-character that allows you to add and reply anywhere within a conversation (wave). Instead of the traditional way of attaching documents to e-mails, you can simply drag and drop a file from your desktop to Google Wave, where anyone that is invited can see it.

Google Wave also allows you to run outside applications (APIs) – Facebook, Twitter or even video games – inside of Google Wave, allowing it to function as an “all-in-one” communication platform tool. You can also embed these threaded conversations (Waves) onto a Web site or blog, allowing you to share real-time conversations with the rest of the internet. Users can also recreate/rebrand their own versions of Google Wave, as the system is completely open-sourced.

Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy).
Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere).
Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them).
Thou Shalt Upload Videos (all you can find).
Thou Shalt Podcast (often).
Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately).
Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs).
Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone).
Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week).
Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)!

Commandments 1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy)
Blog. Please. That’s the first priority. Set up a blog, a personal blog, a business blog. It’s easier than you think. Use an existing blogging site such as Blogger.com or GOingOn.com or install your own branded blogging site right on your own server by using WordPress. And, WordPress is free.

Commandments 2. Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere)
Create your profiles; do it now before someone else takes them. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. That’s called cyber squatting. So get out there. Use Open Social to make filling in your profiles as easy as a click of a button.

Commandments 3. Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them)
Upload photographs. You’ve got them. Don’t upload the one with you with a lampshade on your head…counterproductive; but other photographs? Absolutely. Customers want to see and participate. You want to give people a face to go with your company.

Commandments 4. Thou Shalt Upload Videos (all you can find)
Videos. You all have got videos. I don’t care whether it’s training videos or customer videos, grab your video camera and go interview some of your customers. What’s better than seeing your customer’s smiley face on your Web site? And it doesn’t cost anything.

Commandments 5. Thou Shalt Podcast (often)
Podcast. If you’re too cheap to get a camera, use the free audio software that’s in your computer. That’s what I did. I created 48 audio podcasts. If you take the podcasts I did for my book and played them back-to-back, they run 24 continuous hours of interviews. You can do that. It’s free. It just takes time.

Commandments 6. Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately)
Set alerts. People are talking about you. You probably need to know what they are saying and you want to participate.

Commandments 7. Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs)
Comment. Commenting is like going to a cocktail party. You wouldn’t walk into a networking event, walk up to a group of people talking, and tell them your name and what you do in your business. That would be rude and unacceptable. Listen first. Read the blogs and add comments. You can be controversial, that’s okay. But participate. Get involved.

Commandments 8. Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone)
Get LinkedIn. Put it in your email that you have a LinkedIn account, you have a FaceBook account, and that you have a Twitter account. Make it a part of your heading on your letterhead, because that’s how you propagate. That’s how you sell it.

Commandments 9. Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week)
Explore social media. Give me thirty minutes a week, that’s all I’m asking. Friday morning grab your coffee, lock yourself in your office, and give me thirty minutes. Just Google something. I promise you within the first 30 days you will be excited. You’ll be as excited as I am. You will get excited because of the ROI.

Commandments 10. Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)
And the most important commandment is creativity. That’s all. It’s just creativity and having fun. But you know what, that’s what your customers want. They want to see transparency. They want to see authenticity. They want to see you having fun. They want to be able to relate and communicate.

Article Info from: www.fastcompany.com Author: Lon Safko

Here are some great videos on each of these topics:

For more info: Social Networking in Plain English (video)
For more info: Social Media in Plain English (video)

The study indicated that adults make up a larger portion of the US population than teens, which is why the 35% number represents a larger number of users than the 65% of online teens who also use online social networks.

Still, younger online adults are much more likely to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, the younger adult still dominates the use of online social networks.

PWE reported that young people are more likely to use social networks.

75% of online adults 18-24 have a profile on a social network site

57% of online adults 25-34 have a profile on a social network

30% of online adults 35-44 have one

19% of online 45 to 54 year olds have a profile

10% of online 55 to 64 year olds have a profile

7% of online adults 65 and older have a profile

Though adults use the social networks for both personal and professional reasons 89% of adults still use the networks to connect with familiar people and friends and only 28% use this media to promote or create new business.