Books

What secrets do 40 top bloggers share?

February 1, 2009

That was the premise behind Stephane Grenier's book, Blog Blazers.  Grenier created a list of questions ranging from what makes a blog successful to you all the way to what are the most common pitfalls new bloggers fall into and several in between.

Each blogger's chapter ranges about 4-5 pages, depending on how verbose they were.  I asked Stephane what his criteria was for the top 40 and his response was "I first tried to vary it as much as possible, but obviously some types of bloggers are more common than others. That and I had certain minimum criterias I wanted everyone to meet. Than I also had to coordinate with who was interested and who had the time. It was a pretty big job."

After reading the book, I was left with a few impressions.

• Seth Godin is a master at dodging questions when he doesn't want to be pinned down or doesn't believe in the core of the question.
• There's no magic or even consistent answer to any of the questions — which reminds us that blogging, even business blogging, is about being genuinely you.  There's no one size fits all answers.  You need to blog from your organization's heart.
• Everyone seems to agree that ProBlogger is where newbies should start learning about blogging.

Beyond that…the answers are very interesting to read but if you are looking for clear-cut direction, you won't find it.  Lots of opinions but no definitive answers.

Probably as it should be.  One blogger's must is another's never!

If nothing else, you'll get a good insight into some very successful bloggers and find a new read or two.

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Holiday gifts for you (free stuff!)

December 22, 2008

I've got a few wrapped packages with your name on them!  Use them well.  Steal from them.  And of course, share them liberally. 

After all, it is the season of giving!

Drew's free stuff page:

Come download ebooks, tools and more.  (click here)

Joan Stewart's The Best of the Publicity Hound's PR Tips of the Week.

Joan pulled the best of the best and put them into an e-book.  She's inviting everyone to not only download but "re-gift."  (click here)

Chris Brogan's free ebook on personal branding

Chris is always quick to share his insights and knowledge.  This is a short (15 pages) but smart read.  (click here)

Seth Godin's Flipping the Funnel ebook

Seth gets viral marketing like nobody's business.  Check out his ebook on how he sees web 2.0 tools meshing with his Purple Cow theories.  (click here)

John Jantsch's Social Media for Small Businesses ebook

John's always got something practical and valuable to say.  Check out his free ebook.  (click here)

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How do you get someone to anxiously wait for your book’s release?

November 15, 2008

Sure, J.K. Rowling, John Grisham and Seth Godin have it in the bag.  They release a book…and voila, the audience is there.

But for most authors, especially non-fiction authors, the road is a bit more rocky.  They usually don’t have a ton of support from their publishers (if they aren’t self-published), they’re most likely still working a day job and odds are, they aren’t loaded.

So how do they get our attention?  How do they convince us to jot their book’s release date on our calendar?  Well, the irrepressible and irreverent Andy Nulman did it like this.

And yes, I put it on my calendar.  You?

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Small gestures can yield lasting results

November 7, 2008

A few months ago, Guy Kawasaki tweeted (made a short announcement on Twitter, the micro-blogging site) that he was done with his next book’s manuscript and was looking for a few people to proofread it and give him feedback.

I was what I assume was a pretty large group of people who raised their hands.  Who doesn’t want to read Guy’s book before it gets published?  Anyway…read it, proofed it, critiqued it and sent it back.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago.  I got a package and voila, it was Guy’s new book, Reality Check (released October 30th).  I thought sending it ahead of the release was a nice gesture.  But when I opened it, Guy had also taken the time to write a personal note to me inside.

Class act.

You have to figure quite a few people (like Valeria Maltoni who mentioned she got one too, although for the life of me, I can’t find her reference now.) offered to proof his book.  So it was probably no small task to get handwritten notes into each copy before sending them off.  A very nice gesture but even more than that….smart marketing.

Guy knows how few handwritten notes and cards are used today.  He knows it feels personal and that it makes a connection.

The book is a great read – very irreverent and practical. And the author – a great marketer.

P.S.  If you find any typos….I swear, I told him about it! 🙂

How about you?  What small gesture could you make to create a connection with your prospect, customer or employee?

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When does 237 = 15,000?

October 29, 2008

Image by andrewodom via Take 237 generous authors.  Cull them from 15 different countries.  Add in 8 topics of discussion and what do you get?  Hopefully, $15,000.  But for sure, you get…

Age of Conversation 2.  Why don’t they get it? 

After a very long process, the hardback, paperback and e-book versions of Age of Conversation 2 are on sale, starting today.

As many of you will recall, Gavin Heaton and I got a wild hair in the spring of 2007 and solicited 103 authors to help us create the first book, Age of Conversation. 

With that book, we were able to raise over $14,000 for Variety, the Children’s Charity.  Surely, with twice as many authors, we can top the $15,000 mark. I’m hoping for $20,000 – truth be told.

Each author contributed a single page chapter and wrestled with topics like:

• Manifestos 
• Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation
• Moving from Conversation to Action?
• The Accidental Marketer
• A New Brand of Creative 
• My Marketing Tragedy
• Business Model Evolution
• Life in the Conversation Lane

Put it all together and you have insights from social media pros, traditional agency veterans, authors, ministers, directors of marcom, artists, PR experts, non-profit directors and many others in between.

The book will make you think, shake your head and on occasion, laugh.  It will also mean that you helped us raise money for a very worthy charity that cares for the world’s children. 

As my friend (and one of the authors) John Rosen succinctly said…Buy this book.  Period.

Here’s a complete list of our gracious authors.

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Book Review: The Authentic Brand

October 24, 2008

I just finished the book The Authentic Brand written by Christopher Rosica, CEO of Rosica Strategic Public Relations.  It’s a cotton candy sort of read.  Lots of good stories and some sticky fun.

Rosica did some in-depth interviews with the business leaders listed below.  He mixes their comments with his own take on how these entrepreneurs developed authentic brands. 

• Wally Amos of Famous Amos Cookies
• Jerry Baldwin of Starbucks
• Bobbi Brown of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
• Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s
• Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm
• Jim Kock of Samuel Adams Beer
• David Neeleman of JetBlue Airways
• David Oreck of Oreck Corporation
• Roxanne Quimby of Burt’s Bees
• Andy and Kate Spade of Kate Spade
• Jeff Taylor of Monster.com

The book tackles topics like marketing strategies, leadership traits, and customer service practices from each of the entrepreneurs’ perspectives. 

The aspect of the book that I appreciated the most, as a business owner, is that in many of the interviews, the big name entrepreneurs talk as much about their failings as they do their successes.  I’ve always thought there was more to be learned from the mistakes than the triumphs.

I think you’ll find yourself quoting some of the stories and hopefully apply some of the lessons learned.

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Here’s how you EARN someone’s attention and respect

October 20, 2008

I get a lot of PR pitches, will you review my book requests and can you tell people about our conference sort of e-mails.

I appreciate getting them because it helps me make this blog useful to you, the readers.  But, what I appreciate even more is when the person doing the pitch actually makes an effort to personalize the interaction which is in direct opposite to what happens most of the time – I get a generic e-mail (no doubt sent out to 100 of my closest blogging friends) and just filling in my name at the top.

This is NOT a post about how to pitch a blogger.  I think it’s about PR and building relationships, as opposed to the mass production mentality of just doing a mass mailing and wondering why no one picked up the story.

I’d like to tell you a little about two pitches that stood out and the results of those pitches.

John Rosen, author of Stopwatch Marketing

A few months before John’s book was released, he started reading and commenting here at the Marketing Minute.  He also engaged me in a genuine e-mail conversation about the work we both do, his familiarity with Des Moines and eventually his book.

By the time he asked me to review the book – we knew each other.  So when I got his book – I read it right away (my review here) and shared it with my readers within the week.  (Keep in mind, I get 2-5 books a week and am always struggling to keep up.  Normally, he’d have had to wait a month or so.)

Then, John really proved that he was a savvy marketer.  He didn’t need me anymore (in terms of his new book) but he continued to invest in the relationship.  We e-mail, comment on each other’s blogs and stay in touch to this day.  When we were looking for giveaways for Blogger’s Social – John was willing to donate copies of his book.  Having your book in the hands of 100+ smart and vocal marketers is a wise strategy.

John understands the power of relationships and investing your efforts before you ask for the favor.  Smart.

Bob Bloom, author of The Inside Advantage:  The strategy that unlocks the hidden growth in your business

Bob Bloom is the former U.S. CEO of advertising mega-giant Publicis Worldwide.  Suffice it to say, I had heard of Bob’s work.  Pretty sure he had not heard of mine.  I received a pitch to review his book and it came from Bob’s publicist.  As you might expect, the publicist followed none of John Rosen’s techniques, so the book got tossed into the pile and I reviewed it about 2 months after receiving it. (My review here)

I thought it was an excellent and insightful book and said so.  Bob is not just a marketing guy, he gets business. A valuable and rare combination, in my eyes.

Fast forward about a month after I posted the review.  My desk phone rings and I pick it up.  Who is on the line – but Bob Bloom.  He called so that we could get to know each other a little bit and to thank me for the review.   We ended up talking for about 15-20 minutes and much like my contact with John Rosen – it was genuine.  We talked about clients and he told me about his new effort – working one on one with business owners. 

Bob went out of his way to listen, comment thoughtfully and I completely forgot what a big deal he was…which just goes to prove what a big deal he truly is.

Two different approaches but some common threads:

• There’s no substitute for you.
• There’s no substitute for human interaction.
• There’s no substitute for being genuine.
• There’s no substitute for making the effort to connect and start a relationship.

As we continue to slog through the economic downturn – these truths don’t cost much but can yield long-term gains. How can you bring these truths to life in your dealings with customers, prospects and the media?

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flickr photo courtesy of soooosh

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Do you want to save the world? Your employees do.

October 18, 2008

Want to significantly impact employee satisfaction?  According to Tim Sanders, one key factor is whether or not your employees believe they can change the world through their work.  And they want to do it with your help and support. 

Tim, former Chief Solutions Officer for Yahoo! thinks its not only possible but necessary.  In his new book, Saving the World at Work he explains how.  This book is filled with memorable anecdotes and tangible  steps for taking action.

This is a business book — don’t be fooled by the mission or the title.  Within its pages, you’ll learn how to ignite your employees’ passions, earn their loyalty and turn them into your biggest evangelists.

Tim also has a website devoted to this topic and an excellent blog.  If you recognize his name, you might have read his earlier Love is the Killer App.  He truly believes that any individual can be an agent of change in the workplace and any workplace can be an agent of change in the world.

Not a bad belief to hang onto.

You can also read Tim’s interview in US News and World Report.

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Age of Conversation 2008 promotion starting to trickle out

October 11, 2008

The official launch of Age of Conversation 2008 is mere weeks away and we have lots of exciting things planned to tell the world about the book, the authors and the charity that benefits from the book — Variety, the children’s charity.

For a sneak peek into the book’s origination, how the ’08 version is different from the original and what’s next, check out the podcast that Jay Ehret did with Gavin Heaton and myself.  Jay’s (who blogs over at the Marketing Spot) goal is to interview all of 237 authors of this year’s edition.

Hat tip to Jay for taking on the project and be sure to watch for future podcasts over at the Age of Conversation site.

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Fine…content is king. Now what?

September 14, 2008

We’ve heard it for the past few years (longer, if we were really listening).  Content is king.  Less hype, more value.  Talk directly to your customers about what matters to them.  The explosion of social media tools (blogs, twitter, Facebook etc.) is proof that we can actually be the media.

That doesn’t mean you have to launch a magazine or put a broadcast antenna on your office building.

It means that consumers are open to listening, if you’re open to creating relevant content and offering it to them.  You can do that on-line.  You can do that in a traditional printed piece.  And you can do it in person.

That’s a critical point — this is not just an internet-driven marketing solution.  Which means this book is relevant to just about everyone.

So how do you do it?

Well, there’s the rub.  Fortunately, in this case, there’s a solution.  Newt Barrett and Joe Pulizzi have written the book Get Content.  Get Customers.  Think of it as your toolbox to Content Marketing.  It is right on the mark, easy to understand and implement.

The book has excellent case studies from all kinds of companies in all kinds of industries.  You’ll see what’s possible.  But what you’re really going to love is the play by play instructions and insights that will help you get from nodding your head to actually implementing the ideas.

If you’ve read this blog for awhile, you know I really love books that actually tell you how to do it.  This book is all about that.  You’ll read this book with a pencil in hand so you can write in the margins.  My copy is a sorry looking dog-eared and highlighted book.   A high compliment to any business book, in my opinion.

If you’re a business owner or leader — you will do something different as a result of this book.  It’s just that relevant.

 

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