Filed under: Books in General, Internet, Personal Development, Social Media, Technology, ethics | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, career skills, ethics, Personal Development, privacy, Technology
How many times have you composed an e-mail in anger or frustration, sat back to review it, and then hit the Delete button? I expect that the delete feature has saved many a career. In fact, it’s good to be able to delete and forget many haunting, spontaneous actions we may have done. And maybe we’ve gotten a little obsessed in our digital record saving. We probably should be doing a little more deleting when you think about it.
This notion has the support of Viktor Mayer-Schonberger author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. He believes that in our saving frenzy we are not losing enough of our digital data and are guilty of “failing to forget.” He also points to examples of stalled careers and lost jobs through events captured on Facebook and YouTube, among other things, to prove his point.
In the Wall St Journal review of this book, the writer points out that perhaps it isn’t all bad that the digital world has such a long memory. It may just cause us to be more careful about what we post in the public realm.
Certainly, the recent surge of digital-themed books would lead one to believe that perhaps caution is the better solution than deletion. Here are just a few of the titles that we have been checking out recently: Behind the Cloud – about salesforce.com’s development of cloud computing, Viral Loop – how to grow a business from scratch through the use of social media, Twitterville – using Twitter to help a business thrive, and The Laws of Disruption – disruption technologies in the digital age.
Since the digital realm shows no signs of slowing down, or moving with caution, perhaps we as individuals should make more of an effort.
Filed under: Books in General, From the Editor, General Business, Publishing, Social Media | Tags: books, Business, business books, Independent Publisher Book Awards, Innovation, Internet, Publishing
Sometimes I capture people’s names, and sometimes I’ll forget them as soon as I’m introduced. On Labor Day weekend I was standing around waiting for the start of a junior campers’ award ceremony when I was introduced to one of the other adults in the crowd, John Thompson. I remembered the name because in the course of the fleeting encounter he mentioned he’s a writer. That’s really all that was said about that. Although I later “found” him and discovered him to be the author of The Armageddon Conspiracy published in Feb.2009 by Joggling Board Press. The book has received some favorable reviews as well as the honor of being chosen the 2009 IPPY Gold Medal Winner (Independent Publisher Book Awards)!
We talked a bit about the future of books in print and entertained the possibility that schools may eventually load textbooks to Kindles or similar devices for students. He went so far as to posit that if that happened, that generation would become accustomed to reading books that way, which would spill over to all their reading habits.
As loyal as I am to print, I am open to the possibility that my grandchildren may look at my treasured books like my kids now look at my treasured record albums or VHS tapes. I guess the important thing is keeping the interest in reading alive and well.
A recent article in The New York Times, “A New Assignment: Pick the Books You Like” describes an approach by teachers in which students choose their own books instead of assigned titles to read, discuss and journal about in the classroom. Known as reading workshop, several public middle schools across the country have taken the new strategy on this fall as a pilot program. The article relates that some studies have indicated that giving students options can enhance educational results.
A NYT article written in July 2008 suggests that the Internet has created a new kind of reading. The article also mentions that by this year some countries are/will be participating in new international assessments of digital literacy.
“The question of how to value different kinds of reading is complicated because people read for many reasons,” the article points out. “There is the level required of daily life – to follow the instructions in a manual or to analyze a mortgage contract. Then there is a more sophisticated level that opens the doors to elite education and professions. And, of course, people read for entertainment, as well as for intellectual or emotional rewards.”
The key focus for protecting our readership for now appears to be convenience and quality of content. We at Soundview continue to evolve to keep up with the changes and opportunities afforded by fast-moving technology and we are turning increasingly to providing more and more online content for our subscribers.
Filed under: Books in General, Social Media, Technology, customer service | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Facebook, Social Media, Technology, Twitter
I have a soft spot for USA Today. I know that as editor-in-chief of a business publication, I’m supposed to peer down my nose at the much-maligned “McPaper,” but let’s be honest, folks … If you’ve ever stayed in a hotel and found a copy under your door when you wake up, did you just leave it on the ground? Of course not!
So, when I spotted this article from USA Todayonline, it sparked an interesting conversation here in the editorial department. Business books on social media are flooding the market. Take a look for yourself by clicking here. A personal favorite is Groundswell, a book which we examined in a Featured Book Review last year. This book is notable because it was among the first to give an in-depth look at the impact of Web 2.0. What my colleagues and I were discussing is whether or not people have reached their limit with hearing about social media. Don’t get me wrong, we’re as addicted as everyone else to Twitter, Facebook and other sites. We’re not debating whether people are tired of using social media sites, it’s whether or not they’re tired of reading about them.
Generally speaking, by the time the number of titles about a time-sensitive subject reaches a few dozen, the subject might be wearing thin with readers. This is particularly true about any book that deals with technology. In our “here today, gone later today” world of innovation, book publishers occasionally have trouble keeping up with the pace at which technology changes. We struggle with it ourselves from time to time, and we have the good fortune of being able to publish a monthly product.
I thought I’d toss this question out to you. Help turn the tide in this week’s great editorial debate. Are you interested in more coverage of books that deal with the business applications of social media? If so, reach out to us via one of our own social media sites. The links are listed above.
Or you can always go the traditional route and send us a comment via our Web site, Summary.com.
Filed under: Social Media | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Twitter
In a world where social media has permeated every aspect of life, there were probably some serious cases of separation anxiety occurring yesterday. Where were you when Twitter went down? What always amazes me about this type of online incident is the way in which even the most massive, well developed Web sites in the world are still at risk to hackers. If you have a second, check out the link above for PC World’s story about the possible cause of the incident.
Fortunately for “tweeters” everywhere, the site came back online within a day. We’re among those that are pleased by its return. For those of you who haven’t checked us out yet, Soundview Executive Book Summaries is on Twitter. Click this link to check out our tweets about business books, authors and happenings in the business publishing world.
Filed under: Books in General, Economics, Publishing, Social Media, Technology | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Economics, Publishing, Social Media, Technology
Taking a stroll through some of the lists of upcoming business titles, there are a few interesting reads on the horizon. Here’s a quick peek at a pair of titles:
Create Your Own Economy by Tyler Cowen (Slated for July 2009 hardcover release). With its subtitle promising “The Path to Prosperity in a Disordered World,” this book would appear to be a how-to on entrepreneurship. Incorrect! Cowen’s look at behavioral economics actually contains an examination of the ways in which behavioral economics mirrors autistic behavior. The autistic tendency toward categorizing stimuli is something Cowen believes to be a strength in economics. It is a strange and, one might postulate, controversial central argument, but it makes this book highly anticipated amongst our editors.
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich (Slated for July 2009 hardcover release). A business book as a beach read? Believe it, folks. It seems like even the publisher is selling it as such. Why else would they subtitle this book “A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal”? Toss in the fact that Mezrich is the author of the best seller Bringing Down the House, later adapted into the movie 21. With this book alleged to also be receiving the Tinseltown treatment, this book should be receiving a good bit of press. What we’d like to know is whether or not Mezrich found time to include relevant take-aways for executives looking to leverage their own company via the Facebook phenomenon.
If these two titles are any indication, it should be an exciting couple of months in our editorial department. Don’t forget to visit us at Summary.com to see which books are selected as one of the 30 best of 2009.
Filed under: Books in General, From the Editor, General Business, Internet, Social Media, Technology | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Guy Kawasaki, Innovation, Internet, Leadership, management, Reality Check, Social Media, Strategic Management, Technology, Twitter
I’m sure my subject line today is as original as writing “Seventh Heaven” after a sports team wins a seven-game series. However, it’s the week after Memorial Day, and we’re all dragging a bit. A couple of individuals who aren’t dragging, by any means, are Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Don’t know them? You probably have been affected by their creation, or at least, you’ve asked your kids about it. The pair created Twitter, the social media site that allows individuals to create 140-character, text-based posts, called “Tweets.” Check out this Wall Street Journal blog that features an interview with the creators of Twitter and gives a small behind-the-scenes peek.
Whether you’re a long-time tweeter or someone who’s new to the platform, it does offer an interesting way to follow friends, family and other favorite people without investing much of your time. Around the Soundview editorial offices, we first heard about Twitter from our friend Guy Kawasaki, author of Reality Check. Here’s his Twitter page, one of the favorites of our editors.
And while you’re online checking out Guy’s entertaining Twitter page, check out ours. You can follow Soundview on Twitter by clicking on this link. Scroll down and you can see one of our Tweets about Guy Kawasaki. Sort of brings this whole post full circle, doesn’t it? Maybe I’m not as tired as I thought.
The social media phenomenon Twitter just can’t shake its popularity—and honestly, is that a bad thing?
Now, fresh off the press from John Wiley & Sons comes Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm, New York Times bestselling author.
Comm is back, and aiming to show business leaders how they can use Twitter to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. And who better than Comm, an Internet marketing and Web innovation expert, to lead readers on the path toward integrating Twitter into marketing strategies, expand product/service awareness, authentically create excitement about their companies, and much more.
But that’s not all—as they would say in those late night infomercials—Twitter Power also contains case studies, something that might come in handy for anyone who needs to give hard and fast evidence about how Twitter can produce returns.
The book, which hit bookstore shelves on Feb. 17, has done well on Amazon.com, gaining a rank of 5 stars. If that’s not enough to convince you to take a look at this book, perhaps a testomonial from the back of the book will help:
Chet Holmes, business consultant and strategist, author of the No. 1 business bestseller The Ultimate Sales Machine says, “When Joel Comm speaks about anything to do with making money on the Internet, I listen. If you want to learn what you need to know for your business to profit from Twitter, you will find it in the pages of this excellent guide.”
Stop by and visit Soundview on Twitter. And, if you’re looking for some marketing guidance, but would rather stick with something a bit more traditional than Twitter, take a look at Soundview’s latest collection.
Your kids are on Facebook — you know you want to keep an eye on them. Your former classmates are on Facebook—you know you want to catch up with them. Your siblings, friends, and neighbors are on Facebook—you know you want to share photos, groups and apps (applications) with them.
Now I have another reason—or perhaps 32 reasons—why you should high tail it over to Facebook and register that user name of HockeyDad72: business Facebook apps. According to the Mashable.com post, these applications “help promote, network, communicate, collaborate and accomplish more with your business.”
Does your company have a blog? Perhaps you should look into the Networked Blogs app. This app appears on your Facebook profile, or can be located in your boxes tab, displays your blog as well as any of the blogs on your blogroll. Networked Blogs is definitely a great application for promoting your blog, as well as your favorites.
Interested in digital business cards? Try GLPrint Business Cards on for size. Another solid promotion app is IEndorse. According to Mashable.com, “Testimonials are a great way to build the value of your company. This app allows Facebook denizens to endorse your company or find it via the IEndorse business database.”
These are just three of the 32 various apps you could use to spruce up your company’s Facebook account, as well as utilize to do some promotion legwork. All the apps are fairly easy to set up and operate in a straightforward manner.
As budgets tighten, companies should look into how they can use free social media to connect with colleagues and consumers. Facebook is evolving from a place to post your company’s picnic photos into a place to do business. Don’t miss out.
Traditionally, in the realm of search engine marketing and advertising, marketers bid on key words, and when an individual performs a search for any of these words using a search engine such as Google, the ad from that marketer appears somewhere near the results. The location of the ad is either above or beside the search results, depending on what the marketer spent on the bid and the algorithm used by the search engine to determine the relevance of the ad to that search.
However, according to a WSJ article, marketers have begun shaking things up a bit. And I can bet that you may have already noticed some of this happening, especially if you frequent social networking sites.
The article claims that more search have taken place on YouTube than on Yahoo; see for yourself. I did a search on YouTube for “inauguration day,” which gave me a variety of video results on the left hand of the page, ranging from clips of the parade to the white house to Obama escorting former President Bush to his awaiting helicopter. On the right hand side of the Web page displayed “sponsored videos” (also known as video ads), one being from TimeLife for the “Change is Now: The Official Inauguration Collection” CD and DVD. Below the sponsored videos is a link about promoting your video, which walks the interested party through the process.
Think of it this way: If you can produce a good-quality short video about your product, promote it, and get a potential customer to take the 1-2 minutes to watch the video, there’s a good chance you can make a sale. Remember, it’s not enough to know what customers want; you need to know they want it before they want it.
On Dec. 12, Businessweek.com editor John Byrne posted a list of all the magazine’s staffers who have a Twitter feed.
Byrne writes: “As part of our effort to deeply engage our readers, a good many of us at BusinessWeek have been having great success and fun with Twitter, the hot micro-blogging site that allows users to blog in 140 characters or less. Two months ago, in a post entitled Twittering Your Way Into Our Newsroom, I invited readers to follow me and partake in an experiment to bring the outside in and the inside out. Some 2,640 people are now following me. Thousands of others are following the more than 30 journalists at BusinessWeek who are now on Twitter.”
However, it seems that Byrne’s attempt to get more BusinessWeek readers engaged has gone a bit awry … according to a post on Talking Biz News, a number of BW’s staffers are unhappy about the fact that their Twitter feeds have been made widely public—true, Twitter feeds are public, unless you lock your posts so only people you have given access can read. However, now a many of the staffers have begun receiving article pitches—in 140 characters or less—from PR firms, who quickly circulated the list of Twittering BW staff.
Getting readers engaged is a great thing, but perhaps a better idea would have been to create a specific staffer Twitter feed that could be shared and contributed to; I’ve noticed this is a common marketing tactic.
How do you use Twitter?
