Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320 social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER!
… Continue Reading
Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320 social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER! … Continue Reading
Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320 social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER! … Continue Reading
Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320 social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER! … Continue Reading
Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER!
If you missed any of my first Tweetinar I will share those social media insights with you in each of two, bloginars. The second 60+ social media insights are below. Be sure to RSS this blog or check back soon for the final 60 tweets to complete your Five Steps To Social Media Success bloginar. Also remember to follow my tweets for more social media insights and the biggest Tweetinar yet!
If you want to see more than 120 insightful social media tweets, check out my very first ever Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part One of my book here in my blog! … Continue Reading
Here’s the second Tweetinar! It’s more than 320social media insightful tweets!
On March 10th I launched my second Tweetinar, “Social Media – The BIG Picture” based on Part Three of my book. This “Tweetinar” delivered social media insights three times a day, five days a week at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and runs all the way through SEPTEMBER! … Continue Reading
Here is the “Social Media – Big Picture” Tweetinar, Part 2!
As I said, I love performing seminars all over the country. I do 1/2 day seminars, full day seminars and even 2 day seminars on Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Creative Thinking, and Innovation. I also love social media, especially Twitter. So here are the two combined! … Continue Reading
I love performing seminars all over the country. I do 1/2 day seminars, full day seminars and even 2 day seminars on Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Creative Thinking, and Innovation. I also love social media, especially Twitter. So I thought…
What if I combined the two? What if I took all the great content I had from my social media seminars and sent them out as a continuous stream of tweets? So I did! … Continue Reading
I nearly always get asked the same two questions by everyone from Fortune 500 corporations to individual entrepreneurs; “How much resources should I commit to social media marketing?” and “Where’s the ROI in social media marketing?
My answer to the first question is, “Remove the term social media from that sentence and ask me again.”… How does that make you feel… Kind of silly? Of course.
Well, social media marketing is only a new set of tools that allows us to marketing our products, services, companies, and ourselves with incredible efficiency, but it’s still marketing. And, in nearly every case, it’s absolutely free, minus only the labor and creativity you would have to put into conventional marketing anyway. So the correct answer is… “As Much As You Can Afford and then a little more!” … Continue Reading
BY FC Expert Blogger Lon Safko
Mon Nov 15, 2010
We are all total voyeurs, eavesdroppers! That’s what makes YouTube so popular. Flickr photographs, blogs (web logs or on-line diaries) are what people love to share and sneak a peak at. … Continue Reading
Just like contextual advertising, Google Social Search makes your search experience contextual to you and your friends. Cool.
I’m not immediately seeing the business application of this and I’m not excited about seeing what my friends have written on a subject. I have many friends that write blogs. I aggregate them on my Google Home Page. I pretty much know what my friends are doing, what their opinions are, and what they are writing about. I can’t see myself Googling a search to find out what my friends are thinking. … Continue Reading
I was recently asked what I thought about the affect that Facebook’s “Obama Assassination Poll” would have on Facebook’s advertisers. Here’s how I responded…
Facebook is right to try to monetize everything. Google has built a more than $20b business around Internet advertising. Polls are a necessity and very popular. (My ex-fiancé’s father Bill Gaskill and his Mad Men partner, George Gallop made an industry out of taking polls in the 1940’s.) So, I think Facebook, Google’s Contextual Ads, and ole George’s polls are a perfect match. It’s unfortunate that there are idiots like the one who posted the “Obama Assignation Poll” on Facebook, but that’s human nature. Sometimes social media brings out the best in people, sometimes it’s the worst, and sometimes it brings out the stupid. … Continue Reading
Facebook Annouce today another cadre of new features and benefits, Facebook Lite & @Tagging. No Facebook Lite isn’t design as another new social network fad weight loss program, it’s a streamlined version of Facebook that loads faster. Facebook’s new @tagging isn’t just flattering Twitter by imitating them, their adding some proven secret sauce. … Continue Reading
I read a recent article on the PC World web site, “Monopoly City Streets’ Online Game: Will Buying Park Place Be Any Easier?” where Hasbro has taken Google Maps and combined it with their highly successful traditional board game Monopoly. Here are some thoughts.
First off, this is a great idea! Of course, Monopoly and Google Maps! I’ll bet that one was thought up over a pint or two!
One of the Lon Safko quotes on my web sites says, “Innovation is taking two things that are ordinary and combining them in a way that makes them extraordinary”. That’s kind of what I’ve done throughout my career. Nothing truly new is ever invented. This is just two items we all knew, combined in a unique way. Still, very innovative! … Continue Reading
The June 15th cover of Time Magazine showed us all an iPhone with a Twitter Tweet from journalist Steven B. Johnson that read, “Twitter is changing the way we live-and showing us the future of innovation.” But what does the future hold in store for us, business, and Twitter? My guess is that unless some of the rules about “Tweets”, the text messages that user send out to their “followers” change, the future of Twitter for business is questionable. http://twitter.com/
During the research for my book, The Social Media Bible, by John Wiley & Sons, I had an amazing half hour conversation with Biz Stone, the cofounder of Twitter about why he invented Twitter and how Twitter is being used for business. I learned a lot about the technology, its applications, and how Twitter really has changed the world of communication, news reporting, and business marketing ROI using free Tweets. You can click http://tr.im/u6ct to listen to our conversation. … Continue Reading
Whenever I speak with a government agency or often with larger, Fortune 500 corporation I hear “Oh, we don’t allow social media in or organization…” Ah, yeah…
I was working as a nuclear engineer at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state when email first hit the scene and we were told ‘We will never allow email at any of our facilities because people could just email top secret information outside and even to the Russians”. When cell phone first became popular, they were outlawed also because they didn’t have control over their use either. Then it was the Internet and now it’s the dreaded “social media”… … Continue Reading
Welcome to the Extreme Digital Marketing – Social Media eBook download area of my web site. I have provided these eBooks to you for free so that you may better understand the power of social media, its tactics, tools, and strategies.
Feel free to distribute them to anyone who could benefit from them and please feel free to comment below and and let me know your thoughts on them and on Social Media!
TSMB (The Social Media Bible) Sampler
This is an ebook offered in two versions; 78 pages with the complete 33 page index and 43 page without. This ebook has been taken directly from The Social Media Bible and includes;
Table Of Contents: This is the actual Table Of Contents from the original book.
Introduction: This is the 9 page Introduction, Preface, and Acknowledgement from the book.
Chapter 1: This is the complete, 21 page Chapter 1.
Strategies: This is a 3 page excerpt from Part 3, “Building A Foundation For Social Media Success”.
Index: This is the 33 page Index from the book.
Download the TSMB Sampler eBook with the Index – 23mb
Download the TSMB Sampler eBook without the Index – 9mb … Continue Reading
As coauthor of the Social Media Bible, I was asked “What are the Ten Commandments” of Social Media?” So here they are!
Here is Lon’s parody on the YouTube sensation; Fred Figglehorn. Fred is a 14 year old pretending to be an 8 year old with anger management problems. Fred creates his 3 minute improv videos with his voice pitched high.
When I interviewed George Strompolos, the Content Partnerships Manager For YouTube, he said that he couldn’t be specific, but 14 year old FRED was earning more than $100,000 in advertising revenues from his videos. He’s also generated more than 33 million views. … Continue Reading
Here is a transcript of the audio and video posts on YoutTube and here at The Social Media Bible web site of my Five P’s Of Social Media Implementation. I hope it is helpful!
Hello, my name is Lon Safko, co-author of The Social Media Bible, published by John Wiley & Sons, the most comprehensive book ever written on the subject of social media.
And today I will be speaking about the Five P’s of Social Media Implementation. Everybody asks, “Okay, now that I’m getting a better idea of what social media is, “How do I actually apply it?” Well, these five P’s actually are Profiles, Propagate, Produce, Participate, and Progress. … Continue Reading
It always seems to happen. Anytime the economy goes into a downturn, the first thing corporate hatchet people do is go after the training and education budget. Honestly, when times are the most difficult do you really think this is the best time to attack morale and eliminate necessary training? … Continue Reading
As promised, I am keeping you up to date on the progress of The SMB book design and launch. We have had some incredible additions to the Executive Conversations, we’ve nearly completed the book cover design, and still have a great deal of opportunity for you to participate and contribute your insights to the design and content of The SMB!
Executive Interviews
Expert Insights
A special thank you to all of those who have participated in the Expert Insights, Executive Conversations. These podcast conversations with industry giants has brought an incredible array of fascinating insights. We added quite a few new names to the already impressive list of participants for you to listen to. … Continue Reading
This is a list of 35 major corporations engaged in using Social Media. It was so compelling I had to blog about it! The results for these corporations have been great.
Every corporation both large and small will have to engage in social media sooner or later. Those that wait will be left behind by their competition.
Blendtec is famous for its bevy of inexpensive “Will It Blend” videos posted on YouTube and shared by millions.
Adobe maintains a list of interesting company related websites and conversations on the social bookmarking site Delicious. … Continue Reading
This is one of the most innovative, albeit silly applications of social media I have seen yet. A company called Botanicalls
has come up with a combination of do-it-yourself electronics and computer code that allows your house plants to Twitter you when they need water!
Everything you need is listed on their web site. All you need is a DYI moisture sensor, an Arduino electronic board and either an old Blackberry or laptop with internet access. They provide the computer code download which allows your plant to communicate directly with you through Twitter, the extremely popular microblogging service. … Continue Reading
Now is the time for all good men & women to come to the aid of their party!The project is now finally underway with John Wiley & Sons to produce the largest book ever written on Social Media, called The Social Media Bible.
The book contains three parts; the first part is an overview of all of the social media components and their history. The third part is how to apply social media to a company to increase revenues. And, the middle part, a reference which is the largest part, are profiles on all of the social media participating companies. Companies like Jott, WordPress, Twitter, Yahoo!, and LinkedIn will be represented in this huge directory / reference bible.
We want every company that has contributed in any way to the Social Media Ecosphere included! I need help finding and contacting all of them! I don’t want to miss a single one. Let’s put the value of our own trusted networks to work.
PLEASE, text, twitter, Jott, blog, call, and email this to everyone you know! We want every Social Media technology that should be in the guide, in the guide!
This is the link to the on-line form where each company can input their basic information for the profile: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2mVrAUTbTEzoikD3ecPEiA_3d_3d
The initial web site has only just been set up and is really under construction. This site can be found at http://www.TheSocialMediaBible.com, and my background is at http://www.LonSafko.com.
If you have any questions whatsoever, please contact me at lonsafko@lonsafko.com.
Please, help us to be sure that everyone is included.
Thank you!
Lon Safko & David Brake
Extending The Experience Through 3D Advertising…
On Saturday afternoon, March 15th, I was one of the guests of honor at this year’s American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. The event was like many other events I have attended in the past. The room was a modern elegant theater style auditorium, the podium was strategically set on a lavishly decorated stage with large screens at either end of the stage. While I sat in one of the many comfortable director chairs set on the stage for the guests and speakers, I could see my partner Linh Tang and several of our designers sitting in the audience. I could hear the D.J.’s background music playing one of my favorite Beatles songs, and the M.C. at the mic repeating the infamous pre-show “testing, testing, testing”, sound check mantra.
I watched the nearly 400 attendees filing and flying into the theater rushing to find just the right seat with the best view of the stage; and that’s when it happened. I heard someone yell, “I think were crashing! We’re going down!”. At that very moment, everyone froze; literally. The number of attendees (or avatars), exceeded SecondLife’s computer capacity and we crashed their servers. Second Life was down… … Continue Reading
The Social Media Book Survey results are in and finally available for download!
Thank you for your patience through this process and especially for participating in the first of two steps in development of the Social Media Book Project.
As we begun working on the Social Media Book Project we realized that we were onto something bigger than the standard 250-page business book that most publishers punch out by the hundreds. The feedback and level of participation in the initial survey was more than double and nearly triple the usual participation Content Connections sees when they survey a standard business book idea. We had nearly 1,000 people assist us in the creation of this new book so far! … Continue Reading
I really wanted to share this recent Social Media success story I heard on “On The Media” which is broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). This was an interview with Bruce Schnier, security specialist speaking about the T.S.A. (Transportation Security Administration). A recent poll showed that our beloved TSA has tied for last place as the “most hated” federal agency. Guess who they tied with… Yeah, the IRS.
This success story is actually about our government using cutting edge technology to communicate with us. This is worth repeating; our government is using cutting edge technology to communicate with us… … Continue Reading
This is another great example of Social Media Viral Marketing at its best and WII-FM (What’s In It For Me). I am often asked when I speak, “How can I create a video, blog, web site fish food, that will become viral and spread on its own?” The answer is always WIIFM. There always has a “What’s In It For Me” or “What’s In It For Your Customer”. In many cases it’s a white paper with value, a take-away, or in this case the WII-FM is humor or entertainment.In this video Tom Dickson, President of BlendTech a manufacturer of consumer blenders blends a brand new iPhone! … Continue Reading
Here’s a terrific and fresh example of the power of “User Generated Content” video on YouTube and iFilm. Like a lot of Social Media Marketing, this video had some unanticipated results, both good and not so good results. … Continue Reading
I just met with Don Mock at Jobing.com here in Phoenix. This is someone who really understands the importance and effectiveness of using Social Media as a key component in their corporate marketing and sales strategy plan. Don explained to me that he has recently implemented a blog site for each of his Jobing job categories and that the most recent one he has created was for Construction/Trades. … Continue Reading
Last Friday I got a unique opportunity to travel back to the Holy Land. Being a computer geek and developer for the past 20 years, I am of course, referring to Silicone Valley, Mountain View in particular. I got to fly out and meet with Google at their headquarters in Mountain View. Talk about Déjà vu!
When I walked onto the Google campus, I had a total flashback to 1987. No, this wasn’t like a 1960’s flashback. This is when I started traveling back to visit with Apple Computer in the eighties. Google so reminded me of Apple in the old days. The college campus look, the industrial college type buildings with their stark Ikea type furnishings, and even the college age employees all in their jeans and sweatshirts. Only the logos on the shirts had changed over the last 20 years. … Continue Reading
The Social Media Survey Is Off To A Great Start! But, still needs your help.
… Continue Reading
Wow! We’ve launched the survey site that is the first design step in the creation of The World’s First Book On Social Media Using Social Media! I am proud to say that we have some outstanding people that have already agreed to participate in this history-making event. People like Chris Heuer, the Founder of The Social Media Clubs Worldwide, Robert Scoble, the Famous Microsoft Blogger and “Scoble-izer”, Pat Sullivan, the Creator of ACT Contact Management Software, and even Marc Cantor, the Founder and Creator of Macromedia, and FLASH! … Continue Reading
Over the weekend I was doing some research for my upcoming book on ‘Social Media, The Impact On Your Bottom Line’ where I am collaborating with Chris Heuer, Founder of the Social Media Clubs worldwide and Robert Scoble, the famous Microsoft Blogger and “Scoble-izer”. I was asked what my first experience was with Virtual World’s or Virtual Environments similar to Second Life. After thinking about my history in the computer industry since it started in the mid ‘70’s, I came upon an epiphany. The first virtual environment I ever came across was the one I invented! … Continue Reading
Date Line: Pinastri, Second Life, October 20, 2007
Contact: Lon S. Safko, President, Paper Models, Inc., LonSafko@LonSafko.com
Paper Models Inc, announced today that it opened its first virtual store in a virtual world, selling it’s real world products in a virtual format to virtual citizens said Lon Safko, president and creator of Paper Models, Inc. (www.PaperModelsInc.com). … Continue Reading
Disney’s miniature, multi-ethnic, animatronics, were right! In my entire career in technology I don’t believe that I have ever experienced such an Alice in Wonderland day as I did this weekend. I bounced around cyberspace in and out of virtual reality, real reality, and around the globe until it almost became a blur. … Continue Reading
Social Media
Is the hottest business topic out in business right now, and is affecting the way business is done in America. It’s affecting small, medium and large companies alike. It is affecting all forms of media from newspapers, to magazine, to television, to the Internet. It’s even affecting the way press releases are designed and submitted to media, and product launches, and customer service. It’s affecting sales, marketing, and P.R. Social Media WILL affect you and your business in ways we don’t yet fully understand. … Continue Reading
Here’s an observation I made the other day about innovation, ideas, thoughts, and invention. It’s out there, but I wanted to share it with you.
(God Told Phil Collins To Yell At Me)
Over the next few months I continued to work on the SoftVoice System, by expanding it’s capabilities, improving it’s voice recognition rate with new software, adding the ability to draw in color, and I even got to system to speak back to you! I installed voice synthesizing for the first time. I guess at this point I created another first. I created a computer that will speak and listen to its user and do what it’s told.
It was great to see Herb alive and smiling. Herb was cautious, and happy. Herb eventfully left St. Elizabeth’s hospital to live and work on his own. A funny note I remembered as I completed the last entry. The last time I saw Herb I was with my new wife Sherry. She joined me on a trip to visit Herb. As we were leaving the hospital I was explaining how sever Herb’s injuries were and how close to death Herb was, when we heard someone behind us. It was Herb in his regular, not an electric wheelchair. Herb, by now, had the partial use of both of his arms. He could use his arms enough to push his own wheelchair and type on his keyboard.
(Innovators Rules #10 & #11)
From the last story we realize two more important Rules of being an Innovator; Rule #10: Don’t Force Your Product Into One Category and Rule #11: The Roller Coaster Ride.
Rule #10 is easy to forget but important to remember. If you aren’t constantly aware of this rule, you could miss out on market segments you never thought of and like in the examples below the missed markets were larger than the original markets. And, of course when I say “markets” I mean “revenues”.
Rule #11 is a rule you can never forget about. Being an Innovator is getting up every morning, driving to the Innovator’s Amusement Part (your office), and stepping on that roller coaster ride for another 12 hours of excitement.
Here are the next two Rules of Innovation…
(Is It Possible?)
As I left ST. Elizabeth’s hospital that morning I had a strange sense of profound satisfaction. It was the first time I had ever designed and built something for someone who was so in need. It was gratifying. It was very exciting for me to see that someone could benefit so greatly from a product the I developed. I never experienced anything like this before. … Continue Reading
(Are your Cheap, Committed and Self-Confident?)
In the last installment of our Innovators story we saw three new Rules of Innovation emerge; Rule #7: Innovators Are Cheap, Rule #8: Commitment Versus Contribution, and Rule #9: Embrace Your Self – Confidence.
… Continue Reading
After several months of therapy, rehabilitation, and instruction on how to live as a quadriplegic, Leon returned home, was working as an engineer, earning a good living, and doing very well on his own. In the fall of 1998; however, we lost Leon due to medical complications. Because of the quadriplegic’s paralysis, they remain physically inactive and often contract pneumonia and die of infection. This is how most quadriplegics die as we have recently seen with the actor, Christopher Reeves who became a C-2 Quadriplegic due to a horse ridding accident. Chris was the last disable person I got to work with using my SenSei System.
(The World’s First Voice Activated Environmental Control Computer)
During the remaining four days before the demonstration, I retreated to my garage both day and night. What would this country be without its garages? Some people think that it’s the entrepreneurial spirit that makes us so innovative, but it may very well be that most everyone has a garage.
(WII-FM)Whenever I go into a company or organization to train, or teach any marketing class the first thing I teach is always ask “What’s In It For Me?”, WII-FM. What do I get out of it? What do I walk away with? What are my take-a-ways?
(In The Beginning…)
I’m going to step away from the technical aspects of Innovative Thinking for this entry and interweave actual practical examples. Below is the story of how I co-founded the $5.3 billion Assistive Technology industry and how Innovation helped me to develop the first commercially available voice recognition, voice synthesizing, environmental control, the HeadMouse, and the first fully graphic operating system, computer system for the physically disabled.
(‘C’ #1 – “Collection”)
As I stated in my earlier blog entry, there are 3-‘C’s in the Innovative Thinking process. Everyone can become an Innovative thinker if they only knew the actual process. It’s like riding a bike, playing the piano, playing sports, or any learned activity. You first learn how to do it, then you practice, and the more you practice, the better you become at it.
(An Introduction)
Welcome to Innovation…
I wanted to launch this blog with what I believe is the most important thing you should do–become better at Innovative Thinking. Innovative or Creative Thinking has the highest rate of return of anything you can do for yourself and your company.
The power of five is something that was researched by the people at Future Now (Future Now – ROI, 2006). Future Now helps traditional companies increase the effectiveness of their sales force and their eCommerce conversion rates. Understanding the concept can be very rewarding and has great value. There are ten business metrics, or operating measurements, an eTailer must track to measure the on-line performance: … Continue Reading
As promised, whenever I find information that will help you and your business through Creative Marketing, eMail Marketing, and Search Engine Marketing, I’ll pass it along. I recently came across this study done by Oneupweb and presented as part of a Master’s Thesis. I found the results interesting and thought your web site’s search engine optimization could benefit from it.
In 2005, Oneupweb conducted a study to determine if the number of keywords in a search query was related to conversion rates. The hypothesis was that the longer the keyword string, the higher the conversion rate. They focused their study on data generated by natural or organic search engine results listings, not sponsored listings or pay-per-click advertising. (Remember the exercise in our SEO/SEM Conference that one key word would fit into 100 sentences, two key words together would only fit in 10, and three keywords together would only be appropriate in one sentence?) … Continue Reading
Here is your Email “Checklist to Success” for your email marketing campaigns!
9/3/06
By now you know that email marketing is still one of the most successful ways to market on the Internet, giving you the greatest ROI (Return On Investment), while providing you with the highest possible conversion rate.
Just follow the few simple rules and concepts we discussed in our “Success Strategies for Internet and Email Marketing” and our “Search Engine
Optimization Best Practices in SEO and SEM” conferences and you be emailing with success! … Continue Reading
A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services produced or provided by one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Any distinctive words, letters, numerals, drawings,pictures, shapes, colors logotypes, labels or combinations used to distinguish goods or services may be considered a trademark. In some countries, advertising slogans are also considered trademarks and may be registered as such at national trademark offices. An increasing number of countries also allow for the registration of less traditional forms of trademarks such as single colors, three dimensional designs [shapes of products or packaging], audible signs [sounds] or of factory signs [smells]. … Continue Reading
eMarketing Requirements for Search Engine Marketing – Printed with permission from Frank Fiore.
A little over a year and half ago, I wrote an article for InformIT entitled “Is Your IT Staff Giving You the Business”. Briefly, the article took the position that the online channel should be treated like any other marketing channel; it should be planned, designed, and marketed by business people, leaving the building of the infrastructure to the IT staff. Not the other way around. The article created quite a stir and the discussion board was hot with debate. Business people and IT professional took sides and had at it. … Continue Reading
The Eight Things You Need To Know About…
How to write a successful Press Release is a question I get asked often. Like anything else, once you know the guidelines, it’s really easy to write an effective press release. You’ll find it has one of the highest R.O.I. of anything you can do for your company.
1 . Format: Follow the standard format! Everyone who receives press releases expects to see the same format right down to the “# # #” at the end of the release (the “# # #” is from the old days of the teletype where it meant end of transmission.) Look at the partial example below and go to www.LonSafko.com, Articles (top right) to download the entire example; … Continue Reading
Computer History Museum
Mountainview, California
View the photograph album of the Donated Inventions.
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Acquisition Item Photograph Page
Smithsonian Acquisition Visit Photographs
Smithsonian September 2, 2005 Press Release (pdf)
Lemelson Center Records Collection Location Aide (pdf)
Lemelson Center Annual Report (pdf)
Smithsonian Certificate of Gift
"The social media phenomenon is still ramping up and this book provides useful and timely business advice."
Vint Cerf, Father Of The Internet
"Lon is a serial technologist who really understands social media and is also blessed with the gift of being a great communicator. His book deftly takes you from "Social Media 101" all the way to PhD status in a format that is easy to browse, informative and powerful."
Tom Asher
Director Consumer Relations North America
Levi Strauss & Co
“Lon Safko and The Social Media Bible address the key questions – Why should I take part in Social Media? How should I take part? How do I reap the greatest benefits? – while also providing the push to take the next step.”
Jeff Hagen
Director, Consumer Services
General MIlls
"Effectively harnessing the power of social media is a top priority in corporate America. “The Social Media Bible” with its informative and tactical approach, provides an easy-to-follow roadmap for how to do social media right."
Todd Simon
Senior Vice President
Omaha Steaks
"Social Media and Customer Care are rapidly coming together. This Second Edition is a must read for any professional who wants to stay on top of this rapidly changing topic. From the basics to long term Social Media strategy, this is the only resource book to have on your desk."
Scott Ross
Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing
NCO Group
This book is an 800-pound guerilla when it comes to social media marketing. Four thumbs up!
By: Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA)
Great book! Loved it! It's huge and heavy and not particularly pricey. I found it to be well organized and well written. And it was certainly packed to the gills with content. There are 43 chapters split into three different sections: (1) Background basics & tactics, (2) Tools, & (3) Strategy. The chapters in the first part provide an introduction and framework regarding the book. The numerous chapters in the second part cover 100+ social media tools. And the last five or six chapters in the third part can help you do an audit of the social media marketing your company does (or doesn't do).
The book is comprehensive. I haven't seen a book that covers so much and in such depth on the topic of social media marketing (or Internet Marketing). There were a ton of "Expert Insights" sprinkled throughout the text that really made the book shine. And each chapter ended with three summaries: (1) Commandments, (2) Conclusion, & (3) Readings & Resources. Each were well done. In particular the Readings & Resources for each chapter were better than most books have at the end of an entire book. 6 stars!
PS. To see the chapter titles and how the book is specifically organized I encourage you to peek at the Search Inside feature Amazon offers for this book. With 43 chapters there are a lot of chapter titles to read.
A Comprehensive Social Media Resource
By David J. Perdue "MINDSTORMS author" (St. Paul, MN)
Ask a hundred people what "social media" is, and you may get a hundred different definitions. Frankly, social media doesn't just connect people--it baffles them, too. The authors of "The Social Media Bible," however, have made a considerable attempt at creating a resource that helps readers gain an overall understanding of the social media "ecosystem" (to put it in the authors' terms) and how the social media phenomenon relates to business.
First, I think it's in order to discuss what this tome covers. Part I, Background Basics and Tactics, comprises the first 23 chapters. This section of the book defines social media, explains the different types of social media, and helps you understand why it's important. You get coverage here of everything from social networks to microblogging to virtual worlds. If you've read other books about social media, you may already be familiar with some of this content. If you're brand new to social media, you'll find it especially helpful.
Part II, Tools, comprises chapters 24-38 and revisits the different categories of social media, focusing on current popular tools. The authors discuss each tool, focusing on who should use them and why; you'll even find some more technical information in these chapters. Although I appreciated the broad look at all the different types of the social media, I felt that the sections could have gone into more detail. However, you could easily write an entire book on each type of social media presented, so the authors clearly had to limit coverage of each type of social media resource.
Part III, Strategy, includes the final chapters of 39-43 and offers some excellent advice on how to apply everything learned in the book. I appreciated the bits of advice spread throughout as well as the cohesive strategies presented. I especially found the chapter "The Four Pillars of Social Media Strategy" helpful, which discusses how a social media strategy should have goals of communication, collaboration, education, and entertainment.
Although some of the principles in this book will endure, much of the descriptions for current social media tools will quickly go out of date (as some already have). However, the author clearly recognized this and intended it to be a timely book. If you're new to the concept of social media and seeking how to apply social media to your business, the "Social Media Bible" is a great resource. If you're already familiar with using social media, you may find yourself skipping some of the basic information in the book. Overall, I believe there is wisdom for everyone to find in this useful guide--the kind of wisdom that will help you to give new life to your company's online marketing efforts in the social media world.
From A to Z- it's all here!
By Mark Amtower "Mark Amtower, consultant, autho... (Highland, MD)
Lon Safko's 2nd edition of The Social Media Bible literally covers everything from A (apps) to Z (Zooomr) and everything in between. This is the most comprehensive book on social media available! If you currently use or plan to use social media in ANY form, I suggest you add this to your library TODAY!
Good resource for business leaders wanting a greater understanding of social media
By Chris Ray
Rapidly advancing technology has produced new ways for individuals, groups, and businesses to communicate, collaborate, and market their products to consumers. Social media is leading the way in improving how business is conducted but many businesses and individuals are nervous about when and how to enter this new wave. In The Social Media Bible the author indicates the book is a comprehensive guide on social media intended to help readers increase revenues, profits, and competiveness in the marketplace. The book is divided into three main sections; part one, the background and basics of social media; part two, the plethora of social media tools available; and part three, developing a social media strategy. Within each of these sections the author provides the reader with the overall footprint of social media: its uses, platforms, and strategies currently employed by various companies. The book is well organized with each chapter providing definitions, examples of successful strategies, and multiple references that afford the reader a helpful guide should they continue their own research on the specific topic.
Clearly the freshness of the content of any book on social media is limited given the rapid pace of technological innovation in the social media universe. However, for the reader who needs a starting point for discovering the basics of utilizing social media strategically, The Social Media Bible is an excellent resource from which to begin. Furthermore, the author effectively communicates the necessity for business leaders to get in the social media race or risk becoming extinct. This is true for both businesses and the individual business worker. Social media holds promise for improving both the internal and external communication strategies of companies. The book outlines both how social media can improve productivity as well as penetrate new and existing markets more effectively. The chapters on the various social media tools available provide the reader an extensive list of platforms to research, explore, and choose from when considering how one medium might be a more effective choice depending on the reader's particular business environment.
The author could have improved the book by shortening the history and background section that contained too much basic information. In addition, for readers already active in utilizing social media tools in business it is doubtful they will discover any earth shattering new information in The Social Media Bible. However, for those just beginning to consider social media as part of their business strategy, the author does provide sufficient information readers will find helpful. Certainly there are companies and organizations that have yet to utilize social media as part of their overall business strategy. Readers who find themselves working for those companies will find the book to be effective in giving them an adequate knowledge base in social media that could be useful in educating their organizational leaders on the potential benefits of including social media in their business model. The book may also inspire some readers to launch new initiatives at their workplace or even to become entrepreneurs themselves.
Book & Purchase experience review
By R. Freeman (Sharon, MA United States)
Great book. Really covers Social Media and related online marketing concepts (like SEO). Worth the price. And, the buying process was efficient, easy and painless. I would buy this all over again in a minute.
Highly recommended for any business collection
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
The second updated edition of The Social Media Bible has been revised and updated with user feedback and content, and offers the latest techniques, platforms and technologies for understanding and effectively using social media marketing. Interviews with 50 experts accompany keys to winning in social media efforts in this fine survey, highly recommended for any business collection.
If you need to know about Social Media - OWN THIS BOOK TODAY - Six Stars !!!!
By Richard Stoyeck "StocksAtBottom.com" (Westport, CT)
The BOTTOM LINE If you must know about social media (SM), this is the only book to get on the market RIGHT NOW. First of all it was copyrighted in September 2010. This material changes quickly and new books are being printed all the time. At this time this is the most current and best book on the market. If it involves the Internet, you do not want to order anything that is more than one year old. So my first tip is always look at the copyright date. Older than a year, it's no thank you.
The second tip is that you want something that you do not need to read from cover to cover, so the table of contents and the index is very important. The author went to a 1000 people involved with the Internet and asked them what do you need from a social media book. More than 66% couldn't define social media, while 99% recognized that SM would have a direct impact on their firm's bottom line. Based on their input, the author selected and developed the chapters, and the content.
ORGANIZATION of the BOOK
The 723 page SM Bible is divided intelligently into 3 parts.
Part I TACTICS This runs from page 3 to page 447 and is contained in 15 chapters. This is where you will find out about podcasting, vlogs, blogs, followers, SEO, life casting, and flaming among others.
Part II TOOLS of the TRADE This section runs from pge 447 to page 675. Here you will find the results of 100 companies that the author interviewed including marketing providers, game platforms, and the software you will need, plus the apps, websites, text messaging, mobile insights, and e-mail.
Part III STRATEGY Here we have the Five Steps to Social Media Success. Each step gets a chapter, they are:
* Analyze your existing media
* The Social Media Trinity
* Integrate Strategies
* Resources
* Implement and Measure
CONCLUSION:
If you need to learn more about social media, if you need to employ it for your business on whatever level, this is the book for you until the next new thing comes along. You have to be current, and stay current, and that means you do not want an old book. If you are a one person company or you have a thousand people in the company, at the moment there is no better source of information than this book. I heartily recommend it and thank you for reading this review.
Richard C. Stoyeck
