The online social media craze continues to create buzz and connect people around the world. Finding specific uses also continues to elude many business owners and leaders. Jeffrey Gitomer, salesman and bestselling author, has written another “short, sweet, and all meat” book, this time on effectively implementing or mastering business social media.
The book is titled Social Boom How to Master Business Social Media (FT Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-13-268605-1) and it is packed full of tips, ideas, suggestions and examples of how social media can be used by any business. It is short and full of meat.
Social Media Versus Business Social Media
According to Gitomer, “The world–class leader and expert of business social media has yet to emerge. Certainly it is not me.” He goes onto write that he is not telling the world that he is the expert but he has found successful strategies to using social media. Gitomer calls the book a “step-by-step, insight-by-insight guide that looks at the four main social media platforms in a new way-from big picture to implementable ideas and strategies that will build attraction, engagement, and connections with valuable business customers, prospects, and contacts.”
The author’s definition of business social media includes being an immediate opportunity to attract people, enhance the business’s presence and strengthen valued business relationships. As such, all of the ideas he presents are business related.
LinkedIn Tips
Gitomer covers the four major social media resources, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Business usage ideas and tips are detailed for each of the four. A good example of the LinkedIn concepts includes the 15 imperatives. Samples are listed below.
- Complete profile
- Update connections frequently
- Recommend others
- Help solve other people’s problems
- Join and participate in groups
- Start a group
Twitter Plan
Gitomer advises to make each tweet one of value that people would find interesting and compelling. He provides a page full of his tweets. One of his really good tips is to put a name at the end of each tweet. He writes, “There is a secret to Twitter success. And it’s the same secret for all of social media, especially business social media: Wake up and write.”
YouTube Boom
Probably the least used social media for business is YouTube. Those that are using it to showcase their business do appear to spend a great deal of time getting the videos right to ensure the message is right on target.
Gitomer writes that YouTube provides the biggest opportunity for business to promote itself. A few suggests he provides for using video casts include:
- Create a library of customer testimonials
- Record business philosophies to share with others
- Record best idea of the week or customer of the week
The Boom and Book Continue
For now, social media carries a lot of weight. Gitomer believes that it counts more than a resume when seeking employment. He suggests that if a company is frustrated with what they can’t do, it should start doing what it can do.
The author continues his conversations about business social media on his website given at the end of his book. In the end, Gitomer’s formula for business social media is to “Attract people, engage people and connect with people.”
The Path to Social Media Success
Gitomer is right about the book being short, sweet and it is packed full of social media meat. The book should provide newbies and seasoned users of business social media useful ideas, and more defined path to social media success. There are only two drawbacks to the book.
First, there are way too many font changes in size and formatting. Second, because of the numerous font changes, the continuity is disrupted and the book is a bit difficult to follow. Regardless of the formatting issues, the message of the book is useful and meaningful.
Resources:
Social Boom How to Master Business Social Media (FT Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-13-268605-1) by Jeffrey Gitomer.
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