The Basics

Whether you're keeping up with family members or growing your business' brand, social media has become the center of activity for many aspects of our lives. And it's getting hard to keep up. We've created a short list of helpful e books that can get you started on your path towards social media success, or help you kick things up a notch if you're already an active member of the online social media world. The Basics If you're just getting your feet wet or you'd like to learn more about the relative history of social media, check out some of the following ebooks, which cover the basics. Sometimes boiling things down to their simplest forms could give you the greatest perspective, and that never hurts when it comes to a complex phenomenon like social media. 1. What Is Social Media This book answers one simple question: what is social media? From iCrossing, "What Is Social Media" runs down all the basics, from how social media is being used to providing definitions the ever-changing jargon that personifies social media. 2. Content Nation: Surviving and Thriving as Social Media Changes Our Work, Our Lives, and Our Future Both broad an analytical in its approach to social media, "Content Nation" goes over the importance of social media, and how it has effectively changed our culture and the way in which we communicate with each other. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! 3. ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income Yes, blogs are part of social media. With various ways in which to integrate blogs and social media, the end result is a cohesive, fluid and mobile conversation about a plethora of topics. The beauty of social media is that it enables every voice to be heard. Blogs are a great starting point to get your shout on. 4. Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards Forums and discussion boards are still thriving areas in which people converse about every aspect of their hearts' desires. If you're looking to leverage these sometimes forgotten areas of social media, then start with this book. Learning the ins and outs of forums can really help you leverage social media in the end, whether you're profession is as a community manager or you're eventually looking to build your personal or business brand. 5. I'm on LinkedIn--Now What??? (Second Edition): A Guide to Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn LinkedIn is one of the core social networks when it comes to professional networking. But a lot of people don't know just how well they can actually network once they're on LinkedIn. This book will help you take advantage of LinkedIn's networking capabilities, which is increasingly important when it comes to today's job market. 6. The Twitter Survival Guide A primer for the most talked about social network today, this guide gives you the basics from how Twitter got so popular to what that means for you as a social networker. Setting up your profile for optimal use, proper etiquette for tweeting and examples of successful users are all part of this ebook. Enterprise and Business If there's one group that has been striving to "figure out" social media, enterprise and business takes the cake. With the popularity of social media and the large virtual congregations of users within online properties, the monetization of social media has been a blessing and a curse when it comes to business and enterprise use. For those CEOs out there, here are some ebooks that might be helpful for navigating these social media waters. 7. Social Media Liabilities In The Enterprise Yes, there are ways in which you need to caution yourself and your business when jumping into the social media pool. Make sure all your bases are covered and check out this book, which offers a very specific yet needed view of how to go about preparing your business for social media, from a conceptual and practical perspective. 8. Sales 2.0 - Leveraging Web 2.0 to Sell Another joy of the online world is sales, direct or indirect. Social media can help you in this department, but it will take some know-how. Get the basics and then some with this book, which speaks to social media marketing and a few other aspects of online marketing. It's a helpful look at how the various aspects of the online world create sales opportunities from which you can profit. 9. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day A lot of the people I speak with about social media often complain about how time consuming it is. This time obstacle is a huge barrier to entry for a lot of businesses looking to leverage social media, so whittling it down to an hour can sound very appealing. Learn a few tricks of the trade to help you better manage your time. Social Media is a Cocktail Party That's right. A cocktail party. What could be more fun? Just as a cocktail party is just a dressy and intoxicating way in which to power up your networking opportunities, so too is the realm of social media. Learn how the various aspects of social media, from blogging to social networks, can be helpful when it comes to your online marketing initiatives. 11. Mom 3.0: Marketing WITH Today's Mothers by Leveraging New Media & Technology Mothers have long since been at the center of financial decisions when it comes to many purchases made for the family, which is why mothers have been highly targeted through marketing campaigns since the dawn of modern advertising. Things haven't changed too much, but the channels for such marketing have been modified a tad. Learn how to target moms online, as they have been a quickly growing group of very active online users for over two years now. 12. Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online It's true, Twitter has changed the face of online marketing. But as a mobile tool, Twitter has changed the face of mobile marketing as well. One of the benefits of Twitter is its ability to provide a method of mobile communication without mutual or one-sided contact information exchange, which preserves privacy and is appealing because of its opt-in attitude towards said mobile communication. Get the scoop on how Twitter is being used to push a mobile advertising revolution, so you can be ready for your next move. The Rules of Engagement As an evolution of sorts from the basics of enterprise and business use of social media, engagement is the buzz word of the year. Engagement is the way in which brands have found to be the most effective when it comes to online marketing. This means you're not only leveraging the fact that people are networking about and around your brand online, but you're interacting with them in a direct manner for important brand maintenance. Stay on top of trends by checking out some of the ebooks that have been written specifically for user engagement purposes. 13. Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media One way in which to directly engage users is for customer service purposes. Through platforms such as Twitter and Facbook, the necessity of "friending" a customer is no longer necessary, opening up the lines of communication and enabling brands to communicate in a less intrusive manner. It is truly an art. 18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online Nothing's more straightforward than a set of rules to follow. This guide for community engagement will take you step by step through the ways in which you can not only build relationships with customers, but maintain those relationships as well. It's this maintenance that will enhance your brand-building when it's all said and done. 15. Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time Twitter has become an avidly used platform for direct communication with brands and consumers, so it's only fitting that there is a book on dominating your market in particular via Twitter. It's rather easy to engage consumers on Twitter's openly conversational platform, making for a great tool for monitoring their brand while engaging their customers all the while.

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15 Must Read Social Media eBooks

The Basics

Kristen Nicole

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Kristen Nicole