Wednesday’s promoting tip for authors

Everything authors need to know about social media can be found in the just-released Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.

Inbound Marketing is the first volume in David Meerman Scott’s New Rules of Social Media series published by Wiley. Inbound Marketing is a hard cover volume with over 225 pages of overview, tips, resources , and suggestions.

The “missing link” in social media marketing books

There are dozens of social media marketing books on the market: hardly a day goes by without a new one appearing.

What sets Inbound Marketing apart is its balance of overview & perspective with the details authors need to implement a realistic social media marketing program.

Most books frustrate because they are unbalanced

Most social media marketing books fail to balance perspective and details:

• Perspective heavy books. Many books offer valuable perspectives and are good at inspiring action, but don’t contain the detailed “how to” steps necessary to set up a social media profile or create on-going relevant and useful content. These books leave you all dressed up with no place to go; you still have to hire a consultant or a web designer/programmer to get anything done.
• Implementation heavy books. These books are equally frustrating; they describe the details and the nuances and the shortcuts, but–in doing so–they fail to explain the relevance and the opportunities that social media offer writers and authors.

What authors need to know, and how to do it

Inbound Marketing does both; it provides a needed perspective as well as guides you through the steps needed to succeed using Google, social media, and blogs. Equally important, it’s reader friendly–the writing is concise without being dry. There are frequent subheads to guide your eyes and organize the contents, as well as relevant screen shots.

I stress relevant screen shots because Inbound Marketing doesn’t show every dialog box or prompt, it only shows the most important or the most easily misunderstood.

Additional resources

In addition to the book’s description and reviews on Amazon.com, you may want to check out HubSpot, a valuable resource and marketing blog that Inbound Marketing’s authors contribute to.

At HubSpot, you’ll find several very strong e-book reports and videos, like a Free Website Redesign Kit and a free 49-page plus multi-video Social Media and Business Marketing Kit. There are also several powerful online software tools to measure the SEO effectiveness of your website or receive immediate reports.

Invitation

If you’re an Inbound Marketing reader, I’d like to know your reactions to the book. I’d like to hear how you feel it compares to others on the topic. Use the Comments form, below, to share your impressions.