After years of trial and error and months of writing, The New Community Rules (O’Reilly link | Amazon link) has been released, and I wanted to dive into some of the concepts I discuss in the book, many of which I hope to explore in depth in future blog posts.
The New Community Rules talks about the important role social media has begun playing in our lives. Most importantly, however, is the role the emerging technology puts on the business owner who is tasked with finding out how to make an impact in this evolving landscape. We’ve seen that individuals nowadays don’t sift through their Yellow Pages to find a local business (nor do many people even own such a big book any longer); they turn to the Internet for help. By using the power of search, they are able to find what they want or would be reasonably happy with.
Search alone, however, isn’t cutting it. What if, on the first page of search results, you discover that people are very disappointed with the business? What if someone can’t stop singing praises about the product she just bought? If you’re looking at buying a product or utilizing a service, chances are you’re looking for the sentiment about that product or service as well.
That’s why social media is important. It’s incredibly easy for someone to put up a web page and show how much they like or dislike a company. And when the reviews are genuine and diverse, people are able to make a decision whether to proceed with the purchase or look elsewhere.
It doesn’t end there, though. There are two things that act as an extension to social media: #1: great customer service, especially since everything is now public, and #2: great content, so that you can do something that is clearly remarkable that people would want to talk about.
How do you do #1? Listening. You’ll get exposure to case studies of companies that do this well and review cases of companies where listening severe impacted the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. You’ll learn the importance of transparency and understand why this matters to your business.
Great content, #2, works across the board for social media. Why does one have to visit the same old web page with the same old messaging? How does one actually make their great content something people want to talk about and share with their friends? Fortunately, we have social media communities to inspire us. The best part? Access to these social media communities is free.
We’re seeing an incredible paradigm shift from a paid model to a virtually free model. The only substantial cost for you is time. How many of you would really want to ignore such a viable source of business that comes at such an affordable price? Why not dive into the landscape and understand it so that you can better target your messaging to achieve substantial return on investment? Social media is here to stay. You need to be ready to play or you’ll die out while your competitors continue to evolve while you sit on the sidelines.
After you’re quite certain you’re ready to dig into the social media world and you have formulated a strategy, the latter half of the book will guide you through popular existing tools that can ease your way into social media. You’ll learn:
- What’s the hype about LinkedIn and how can I use it?
- How do I make a killer Facebook page?
- Is MySpace marketing really worth it?
- How do I craft a corporate strategy for blogging?
- When should I use Digg?
- What is the benefit of delicious?
- How are small and large companies using Twitter, and how can I do the same?
- Should I start a video blog?
- How can I market effectively with Flickr?
- How can I get changes made to my company’s Wikipedia page?
- How can I navigate the millions of questions on Yahoo! Answers so that I can make my mark?
- What content works best on StumbleUpon?
- …and more
The New Community Rules will serve the needs of the one-man business to the corporate entity looking to understand the fast-changing nature of social media as they look to market their products and formulate strategy. It can also impart valuable knowledge to the agency or press relations entities looking to understand how to craft their messages so that it can make a real profound impact.
I hope you enjoy the book and find it valuable. Feel free to contact me if you want me to expound upon concepts discussed in the book on this blog or if you have any thoughts or feedback!
Tamar Weinberg is a social media enthusiast with a passion for all things tech and productivity. She provides consulting in internet marketing and blogs for numerous online publications, most notably Real Simple Magazine, Lateral Action, and Mashable. She is also a former Lifehacker and Search Engine Roundtable contributor. Tamar is also the author of 
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Congrats Tamar! Looking fwd to checking it out…
Fully embracing the social collaboration arena in our start-up, your intro gives me high motivation to buy your book… Is there any audiobook version scheduled in the near future?
Thanks Yossi!
At this point, I don’t think an audiobook is in the pipeline. There are a lot of screenshots that would have to be referenced, so that might be a bit difficult. I’ll be sure to contact you directly if I find out otherwise (and I’ll update you anyone else here as well).
That sounds great! It will be a big help to all of us wanting to learn more on how to expand our business through social media. Social media is great by the way. It’s probably one of the easiest ways to get word around.
Can’t wait to check it out.
Looks interesting Tamar! You are definitely hitting on some very timely topics. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas in this dynamic area. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats, Tamar! nice work, can’t wait to read more. =)
Looks like a great read. Best wishes on the success of your book.
Congrats Tamar!
Thanks and hope it sells like a train!
Hey Tamar,
I found your book in a downloadable PDF format. Did you make a free e-book version or is this stolen??
Thanks!
very useful article about social marketing boom in internet maketing industry..
Daniel – nope – not available for free. Anyone who is distributing it at this point is doing so illegally. If you know the source, please contact me.
I hope that doesn’t detract you from buying the book!
Tamar,
Your book is fantastic. I posted a review of it on my website at http://donholloway.com/social-media-marketing/.
You did a great and thorough job. I’m not sure if it came through in my review, but I thought that you balanced some short term “quick wins” with information that will deliver value for a long time.
Thanks Don! I love the review! I am putting it on the official book page if you don’t mind!
Hi Tamara, can’t wait to read this! Thanks.
So excited, Tamar~! The cute guy in the brown shorts just brought me the book…damn~! This makes me want to lock the door, silence the phone and explore~!
Thanks for writing…
Here’s a little silly for you: http://bit.ly/1kznTz (it’s a flickr link)
Ta,
~Janet (Eureka Janet)
I wrote this book!! FriendFeed is in it.
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O’Reilly was the publisher. They were great. I have to thank Colleen Wheeler — she was fantastic!!!!
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Congratulations, Tamar.
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Thanks.
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Can I say I’m very proud of you? A published author no less…
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This comment was originally posted on FriendFeed
Thanks. When I was a kid, the thing I said I wanted to be when I grow up is an author. I can now say that’s a reality
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Thank you for this. When I asked myself those two questions, it gave me new perspective.
How are WE (as communication experts) transitioning into the new age?
Are we allowing for a paradigm shift?
It is a new age and my transition is a constant struggle. My old hold-out marketing ideas battle with my new creative media juices. It seems the more I try to grasps new concepts and educate others the more the concept is divided into opposing ideas. This journey is totally whacked.
I will take your advice and will "use the Internet to communicate both internally and externally," I suppose my growth is the best example for educating others.
This comment was originally posted on KyleLacy.com
Fantastic post. The 3 E’s are well defined and I’m enlightened. It’s not hard to understand the meaning of social media, but the real challenge is how to make the theories into actions. Stumbled. Well done!
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
This comment was originally posted on KyleLacy.com
Kyle, this is good. But it needs that very big 4th E: ENGAGE.
Social Media is NOT about broadcasting. It’s a two-way communication. Brands and individuals need to see this as a dialogue, not a monologue. This means responding to people on Twitter and Facebook. Inviting participation. Acknowledging and encouraging it. Answering questions on LinkedIn. It takes time and commitment. The prizes will go to those who dont complain about ROI, but look to building a presence, increasing loyalty, and focus on connecting first.
This comment was originally posted on KyleLacy.com
The New Community Rules talks about the important role social media has begun playing in our lives. Most importantly, however, is the role the emerging technology puts on the business owner who is tasked with finding out how to make an impact in this evolving landscape. We’ve seen that individuals nowadays don’t sift through their Yellow Pages to find a local business (nor do many people even own such a big book any longer); they turn to the Internet for help. By using the power of search, they are able to find what they want or would be reasonably happy with.
This comment was originally posted on FriendFeed
Mike, the name will have been filed away in your memory in the Miscellaneous Crap folder.
For Doug McClure was the actor who appeared in, amongst many other things, The Land That Time Forgot.
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Thanks Mike. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book.
This comment was originally posted on DigitalAgency
I posted something similar on a guest post over on Search Engine People: http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/turn-downt…;
Educate. Empower. Example. <- the 3 E’s to turn companies from reactive to proactive in the social media world.
This comment was originally posted on KyleLacy.com