Mark Schaefer Explains Social Media for Business

Social Media Explained: Untangling the World’s Most Misunderstood Business Trend, Revised and Expanded Second Edition

Author: Mark W. Schaefer

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Date of Publication: February 7, 2018

Length: 143 Pages


About the Author
Mark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized speaker, educator, business consultant, and author who blogs at {grow} - one of the top marketing blogs of the world.

Social Media - An Unstoppable Force
Mark Schaefer believes the potential for marketing through social media platforms is a significant and unstoppable force.

The author explains that behind every social media marketing success story, you will find the following three elements:

1. Targeted connections +
2. Meaningful content +
3. Authentic Helpfulness = BUSINESS BENEFITS

This updated book offers business leaders solid strategies and case studies for implementing, managing and measuring a social media marketing program.


My Thoughts

Social media marketing requires more expertise in marketing than social media. Do not assign Tammy from the mail room to run your new social media effort because she's good at Facebook.

I had to smile when I read the above quote, but the author makes a very valid point. Social media offers platforms to promote and market your business. You are always marketing. 

How do you handle complaints and criticism on social media? 
"Deal with it. Adjust. Adapt. Get your house in order because the social web will make you miserable if you don't."
This book spells out exactly what you need to do to establish a successful social media marketing program for your business. I found the social media marketing case study in Chapter 11 extremely interesting and inspiring.

"Social Media explained" is recommended for social media newbies as well as experienced professionals. Mark Schaefer is a natural teacher and he EXPLAINS some advanced strategies and techniques in an understandable manner. I am confident you will find value in this book. Read the book and then go back and really study it. 

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 

FYI ~ I borrowed a digital copy of this book with my Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Thank you for reading this book review. Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review: Roadmap To Revenue; How To Sell The Way your Customers Want To Buy

Are you a business owner, marketer or salesperson?  Are you seeking ways to increase your sales and grow your company?
"Roadmap To Revenue; How To Sell The Way Your Customers Want to Buy", by Kristin Zhivago, offers you a roadmap for taking your business to the next level and selling the way your customers want to buy.


About the Author
Kristin Zhivago is a "revenue coach" whose clients range from thriving young start-ups to those in the Fortune 500, including Dow Jones, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson, and the fastest-growing companies, including Bazaarvoice and Eloqua.

Ms. Zhivago has become one of the world's leading experts on the customer's buying process. She speaks and teaches frequently for companies and organizations. She is the author of the blog RevenueJournal.com.

Making The Shift
Ms. Zhivago advises businesses to stop trying to "sell" and "market". Instead try to figure out how to make the purchase easier for the customers who would benefit from your product or service.

The Roadmap to Revenue method consists of the following three phases;

• Discover ~ Interview current customers (or prospects) on the telephone to find out what they want to buy and how they want to buy it. Record and organize the information that is collected in these interviews and present the information to the leaders of your business.
• Debate ~ Analyze, discuss and prioritize what the customers have told you. Identify the issues most important to the customers.
• Deploy ~ Map out the customer's buying process so you can support it at every step. Develop an action plan. Your goal is to fix what is broken, and improve what needs improving. Develop strategies that will better support your customers' buying process.

The author provides detailed information to support a business that wants to make the shift from company-based to customer-based. This book provides everything you need to know to start the process. The author emphasizes that this is an on-going process that will lead to significant increases in your sales. This is not a quick or easy fix, but it will lead to long-term rewards.

My Thoughts
I do not have a formal education in business or any of the business-related fields. This was a challenging read for me, but the book is organized in a way that a layman can understand and benefit from it. I found this book to be a very content-rich offering that really goes deep into the "meat" of business management. The author offers free pdf downloads on her blog that will support the information in this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about taking their business to the next level. The information is this book can be applied to all types of organizations that focus on selling a product or service.

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a complimentary digital copy of this book to read and review from the author's publicist.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

The Thank You Economy

The Thank You Economy, by Gary Vaynerchuk, is about caring about your customers. It is as simple as that. How we cultivate our relationships is often the greatest determinant of the type of life we get to live. Business is no different. Real business happens in the small, personal interactions that allow us to prove to each other who we are and what we believe in, honest moments that promote good feelings and build trust and loyalty.
Mr. Vaynerchuk believes it is important that brands and businesses learn how to properly use social media to develop one-to-one relationships with their customer base. 

Word Of Mouth Is Back
Mr. Vaynerchuck tells us about how small town businesses operated in the days of our grandparents and great-grandparents. The customers weren't just walking wallets; they were friends and neighbors. The business owners cared about their customers and tried to please them. Relationships and word of mouth could have a direct impact on an individual's personal and professional reputation, and on the success or failure of one's business. Word of mouth is now back. Social media sites allow us to discuss future purchases with people that we like and trust. These conversations are traveling across the world in real time.

The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
The ROI of a social media user is deeply tied to that user's sense of community and the emotional attachment he or she associates with a product. Last year, the motherboard on my Dell laptop computer went out.  The computer was only 13 months old so I was quite upset. I was even more upset after being put on hold for a very long time by a Dell customer service representative.  So, I started tweeting on Twitter about how upset I was with the computer and the customer service.  I soon attracted the attention of the Dell social media team.  A representative asked me to call him on the phone and he did a great job resolving the problem. I recently tweeted that I think the Dell social media team does an excellent job resolving problems.  The next day I received a tweet from MICHAEL DELL (a verified account) that said, "thanks for the nice kudos about our social media team."
I think I will always buy Dell computers ~ the heart wants what the heart wants.

This Book Will Inspire You
Gary Vaynerchuk wrote Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion in 2009.  I read that book and I love it. I believe The Thank You Economy explains why a business should use social media marketing and Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion tells you exactly how to do it.

Those who are willing to look are witnessing the humanization of business. It will have one of the greatest impacts on commerce we've ever seen. The brand that touches and creates the most emotion will win.
Read these books and then get busy building relationships with everything you've got!

Please let me know what you think in the comments below.

Book Review: Social Media For The CEO

I recently read Social Media for the CEO: The Why and ROI of Social Media for the CEO of Today and Tomorrow by Eve Mayer Orsburn.  I read this book in digital format on my Kindle.  I borrowed the book from a fellow member of the Kindle Lending Club. 
Ms. Orsburn is the founder and CEO of Social Media Delivered in Dallas, Texas.  This book provides an abundance of information for the CEO who is interested in promoting his/her business.  You are not a CEO?  The good news is that this book will benefit anyone who wants to learn more about social media marketing. 
Ms. Orsburn emphasizes that social media is about communication and building relationships.  Social media delivers (1) customer service, (2) marketing and (3) communication.  It is as simple as that. 
The author provides 14 case studies of companies that use social media to build their client base and grow their businesses.  Some of these companies are the Mayo Clinic, Anheuser-Busch, Texas State Optical and General Motors.  Ms. Orsburn explains how she built her reputation as a social media consultant on Linked-In. 
I found the author's "Social Media Equation" the highlight of this book.  She breaks down the amount of time that you should spend in providing information, entertaining and interacting with people that you connect with on social media sites.  If you follow this formula, you will reap the rewards of new friendships, professional contacts and clients.  I am going to write this formula on a piece of paper and tape it to my desk. 
This book is a quick read and is very easy to understand.  The concepts that are presented in this book are very doable.  I have read quite a few books on this subject and I honestly believe that I learned more practical information from this book than from any other. 
PS: The last pages of this book lists hundreds (thousands?) of Twitter names that the author follows.  I found this list fascinating and I am using it to find many new people to follow.