It was less than two years ago, and before Plus Your Business launched, that Guy Kawasaki gave me my first big break in Social. Well, I say ‘break’ but over a period of around six months he endorsed me and shared content both within and beyond Google+. Without his support, well, things certainly would have taken more time.
The story for me, Guy and Google+ starts a little earlier though as it was within the first week of joining G+ that I read Guy’s ‘What the Plus!’ and I pinged him an email to say ‘wow, loved it!’. He replied, and was so gracious and supportive.
Along the way Peg Fitzpatrick and I became friends, hanging out and sharing notes. And now I am watching all your efforts bear well deserved fruit. Well done Peg.
So when I was given an earlier draft copy of ‘The Art of Social Media’ it was an honour to input, and great to be mentioned in the acknowledgments as well.
Buy the book here (USA link).
What’s in it for you?
Putting relationships first is at the heart of social and the ethos of this book is very much about ‘team’. If you are looking for a few reminders on what works well for so many people in social, reciprocity, then this will wake you up!
This is not about any single platform and instead creates the opportunity for a shared mental model, with action steps, that looks at your content being at the centre and the channels being the places to distribute.
The book’s structure
This makes life a lot easier – chapters/themes e.g. how to get more followers, and units of information which are numbers from one into the hundreds, making it easier to flick about and reference a section.
Google+
And if you are reading this, then you are probably ‘into Google+’ so let’s start there…
This book is not just about Google+, but has tips and views throughout – including critical advice on promoting your HOA events, and broadening your view too.
Then when you get to Section 114 (which is a lovely way to have structured it, into bite sized chunks), you will get e.g. Peg’s perspective, not just a description, of creating and running a Google+ community (and advice not to rush to set one up!)
It is also funny – starting a community is like getting a puppy…
So, why else hop on over to Amazon to give it a try?
Well, for me, it is for information like this: Guy paid $60 for a promoted post (for Canva, in Australia) that had over 14,000 views. From this we can see it cost $6 for 1400 views i.e. around $4 per thousand (CPM) i.e. we can learn a lot from Guy and Peg’s experience, and experimentation. Between him and Peg they have (tens of) thousands of hours of seeing what works, adjusting their approach, testing, trialing and reporting back.
When you add in a list of products and services I didn’t know, one starts to see the breadth of social media finesse the Guy and Peg team bring. And I should point out, without Peg giving me a push to use Buffer on the PYB Page a year or so ago, well, it would be a lot more work. (Love Buffer). Using sites like Tumblr may well not be on many of our radars but knowing how these folks love efficiency, it is one added to my list to explore.
There is also sound ‘business’ advice about social too, like don’t delegate it to the intern! It is far too important not to have your biggest guns involved.
The ‘equipment section’ is going to save you hours of hunting around, cameras, microphones, lighting and background tips – I once interviewed Guy soon after he really upped his name on his background. Listen to him, it makes a huge difference.
There is so much ‘in it’, and the same as with Guy’s last book ‘APE’ for self-publishing advice, it has a load of hyperlinks throughout that add even more value in the digital format too.
Conclusion
All in all, it is quality, as you would expect. And there are a LOAD of trans-platform social tips which you can apply on Google+ and beyond.
More than anything though, as I sit here on my last day in Brazil before flying tomorrow, we all need to keep learning, keep reading, and stretch our social muscles. This is a perfectly weighted exercise kit for your mind. Read it and get social even more.
p.s. Thank you Peg and Guy, btw, for the mention of #StarWarsTuesday! (A weekly trend I started over two years ago…)
