When I Win, YOU Win: Giving Away FREE Social Media Books to Those Who Participate in Social Media!

By Neal Schaffer

Yesterday, I issued a press release talking about how my LinkedIn book, “Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn” won and Honorable Mention for Best Non-Fiction Book of 2009.  To say that I am happy about this is an understatement: as someone who risked all credibility with publishers by going the self-published route, it is extremely satisfying.  But social media is about you, not about me, so I want to share in the victory by offering you some free social media books.  What do you need to do?  Just participate!  Keep reading for details

Social media is all about participation.  If it weren’t for all of those that connected with me and participated in conversations with me, I obviously couldn’t have written the book that I did.  Participation in social media is where you gain expertise, how you find new friends, where businesses can develop relationships with their old customers and create new ones.  That’s why the theme of my giving away social media books is also about participation: not just your participation, but participation of authors themselves.

I wrote a blog post late last year on what I thought were the best social media books of 2009.  I was happy to provide my opinion to the world on the books that I thought were best, although there were many excellent books that didn’t make the list.  A lot of people tweeted the article.  You know what else happened?  A lot of the authors themselves came to my blog to comment and thank me.  Thank me?  I wanted to thank them for sharing so much knowledge with everyone!  But they were also participating in and continuing the conversation that I started.  And it is these authors’ books that I want to give away to YOU!

The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff by Clara Shih

Crush It! Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk

Facebook Me! A Guide to Having Fun with Your Friends and Promoting Your Projects on Facebook by Dave Awl

Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business by Erik Qualman

The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools & Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko and David Brake

A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization by Deltina Hay

As a bonus, I just saw Seth Godin speak last night for the first time.  To be honest with you, I had never read any of his books and wasn’t sure what to expect.  But after seeing the excellent video on Seth’s speech at the TED Conference this week in Long Beach, I realized that he was speaking to me: I wrote about the need for us to connect and embrace social media and the social networking potential that it implies, and that, in essence, was how I created the “Windmill Networking” concept.  Seth talks about the same need for us to connect, and for us to lead each other and form our own “Tribes” in this video.  I am in no way saying I am a leader or that you are part of my “Tribe”, but maybe Windmill Networking adds to the infrastructure to help YOU create your own Tribe.  Here’s the video in case you missed it:

And, finally, circling back to my book winning a prize, Seth last night spoke about how we all need to be a “Linchpin,” and in his speech he talked about how we all need to be artists…and that there is nothing holding us back.  Anyone can now become a radio broadcaster, podcaster, video producer, author…all because of the Internet and what it provides us.  I don’t know if I’m a Linchpin or not, but his speech was compelling enough that I want to recommend it to you as well.

So, if you made it this far into my blog post rambling, congratulations!   Here are the Contest Details:

How to Win a Free Social Media Book:

• Over the next 4 weeks I will be giving out 2 of the 8 above books and 2 of my own books each week.  That’s a total of 16 books to give away!
• In order to win, please join either of or both of my Windmill Networking LinkedIn Group and/or my Windmill Networking Facebook Fan Page.
• Finally, just joining either group is not enough: social media is about participation, right?  So winners will be chosen from those who participate!  How to participate?  These are just some examples to give you some ideas:

Ways to participate in a LinkedIn Group:

1. Start a Discussion.  Ask a question.  Just say “Hi!”  Go on, try it!
2. Is there a Discussion that interests you that you’d like to comment on?  Do it!
3. Share some News.  Tweeted or read something interesting that you think the group might be interested in?  Share it!
4. Do you blog?  If your blog is social media related, I would be more than happy to import your RSS Feed and automatically display it in the News Feed.  Just ask me!
5. Are you a recruiter or hiring manager?  Post a job!

Ways to participate on a Facebook Fan Page:

1. When you look at the Facebook Fan Page, there is a “Wall.”  I have tried to share articles that I think you might find interesting, most not from my other bloggers or free webinars that I find out about.  If there is an article that you read and find interesting, press the “Like” button or comment on it!  Just saying “Hi!” is OK as well!
2. Want to share an interesting article that other Windmill Networking Fans might be interested in?  Post it!
3. There is a “Discussions” tab at the top that you can navigate to.  Just like with LinkedIn, if you want to ask a question or start a discussion, go for it!
4. You can also share photos and videos of yourself as another way to Windmill Network with the other Fans!

Here is the schedule:

Participants from February 15 to February 21 (Announced February 22): 1 copy of The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff, 1 copy of Crush It! Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, 2 copies of Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn

Participants from February 22 to February 28 (Announced March 1): 1 copy of Facebook Me! A Guide to Having Fun with Your Friends and Promoting Your Projects on Facebook, 1 copy of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business, 2 copies of Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn

Participants from March 1 to March 7 (Announced March 8): 1 copy of The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools & Strategies for Business Success, 1 copy of A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization, 2 copies of Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn

Participants from March 8 to March 14 (Announced March 15): 1 copy of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, 1 copy of Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, 2 copies of Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn

That’s it!  Any questions?  Contact me!  Otherwise, looking forward to your participation!

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