Before I start off with my recommended social media books of the year, we always must first begin with those classics that were updated and revised for 2011 that should be on anyone’s wish list for the holidays. These include:

• Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies [Expanded and Revised Edition] by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
• Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build,  Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web. Revised and Updated by Brian Solis
• The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly [3rd Edition] by David Meerman Scott
• The Social Media Survival Guide: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

The above books are all classics and still highly recommended, even if you might have already purchased an earlier version.

Now on to the list! Here are 25 books that have been published in 2011 that I believe are recommended reading in order to keep up with understanding social media from a wide variety of perspectives. The below list is in no particular order, but I have done my best to classify these social media books according to convenient categories.

SOCIAL MEDIA IN CONTEXT

The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund

With the publication of The NOW Revolution, Jay Baer has emerged as a thought leader in the social media space and one of the most popular speakers on social business. Combining his expertise with Amber Naslund, former Vice President of Social Strategies for the leading social media monitoring software Radian6, and you have a book that defined for all of us how social media and the real-time revolution impact business in far greater ways than we had imagined. Follow Jay and Amber’s advice and you too will learn how to adapt and thrive in the social business environment of today. (Note: Thanks to the comment from Lisa Loeffler I realized that I thought this was a 2010 book – and have now added it to the list, making it a best 26 books list!)

Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy Kawasaki

While it’s never a guarantee that every book Guy publishes will make this list, Enchantment continues to showcase the fact that Guy Kawasaki is one of the rock stars of modern-day marketing. In this book, Guy sets out to make believers out of naysayers; the undecided into loyal followers. For him, it’s not so much about manipulating people, whether they be your potential customers or employees, but more about transforming minds, situations, relationships and hearts through “enchantment.” While this book is not specifically about social media per se, you can begin to see how reading this puts social media in context – and provides the reader invaluable insight.

The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

Two years after the successful publication of Crush It!, Gary Vaynerchuk is back with The Thank You Economy, where he shares with us a more human and personal side to technology & social media by showing us that at the very core, it is really about personal relationships and honest, open communication. It’s not about merely connecting and reaching out, but also about listening and keeping our customers happy. A good read to understand how social media can make the Thank You Economy a reality.

The End of Business As Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consumer Revolution by Brian Solis

Brian Solis has been busy in 2011, revising his best-selling social media book Engage while also releasing another noteworthy book. This time around, he peels off the many layers that comprise the complex consumer revolution that is changing the future of business, media and culture. He sets out to change the way view the world of business through critical insights into brands and growing consumer influence in the marketplace. The title of the book is a bit sensational, but social is increasingly changing the way businesses operate, whether they realize it or not.

GENERAL SOCIAL MARKETING

Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (And Other Social Networks) by Dave Kerpen

If you need your business to be “likeable”, Dave Kerpen will teach you how. Through his experience and work as the CEO of the social media agency Likeable Media, he teaches us how to engage fans and followers alike, offering up actionable tips that will greatly improve your company’s social media presence. What I like about the author is that he really talks the talk: whatever he teaches in the book, he also applies in real life to grow his own social media following.

No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing by Jason Falls and Erik Deckers

Jason Falls might not be a household name yet, but his blog Social Media Explorer is recognized as a leading source for social media advice. If you have never heard of his blog, then this book is the wake-up call you need to go out and start using social media for your business. It’s the perfect book to buy for that boss that just doesn’t get how social media fits into the company’s priorities. And while it leans more on the conceptual side rather than a practical how-to book, it still delivers the kick in the backside that most companies need to break out and charge head on into social media.

The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web by Mari Smith

Mari Smith is the most loved figure, and potentially the most genuine and nicest person, in social media. She also knows a thing or two about Facebook. Her new book, however, focuses on relationship marketing and serves as an easy to follow guide to growing your business through social media. It presents 9 steps that will help you build relationships with your contacts, increase your authority online and optimize your offline marketing efforts. It’s written in a personal, friendly manner that appeals to both newbies and veterans alike, something that every social media practitioner should emulate as well. Mari is for real, and so is this book!

Social BOOM!: How to Master Business Social Media to Brand Yourself, Sell Yourself, Sell Your Product, Dominate Your Industry Market, Save Your Butt, … and Grind Your Competition into the Dirt by Jeffrey Gitomer

Jeffrey Gitomer, a best-selling Amazon author as well as an avid salesman, shares with us his knowledge (as well as those of a few guest authors) on how to make social business work. He stresses that the path to success is through, “creating value that others will perceive as important to fulfilling their needs.” Be prepared to be on the receiving end of each Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn “BOOM!” he’s got in store for you.

 SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MANAGEMENT

The Executive’s Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy: How Social Networks Are Radically Transforming Your Business by Mike Barlow and David B. Thomas

Targeted more towards the corporate executive, this book by two highly experienced communication strategists provides us with actionable frameworks for developing successful social strategies as well as how they can be best implemented in the enterprise. An executive’s primer on social media strategy, which includes in-depth interviews with corporate executives that provide further insight and validation.

Smart Business, Social Business: a Playbook for Social Media in your Organization by Michael Brito

This is a step-by-step social playbook that delivers proven, real-time solutions for improving organizational dynamics and workflow vis a vis social media, covering such topics as change management, internal communications, governance and employee activation. And because the author Michael Brito is well entrenched in Silicon Valley, having worked for such firms as HP and Yahoo, he draws on his own personal experiences to deliver concrete examples and insightful case studies to help businesses be social even behind a firewall.

The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and Employees by Anthony J. Bradley

The mark of an effective leader is one who can bring out the very best from his employees by bringing out their skills, talents, knowledge and expertise. In the Social Organization, Anthony J. Bradley teaches us how to make use of social media in nurturing employees and customers, by fostering an environment of collaboration that is guided by a clear cut vision and a singular purpose.

The Social Media Management Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Get Social Media Working in your Business by Nick Smith, Robert Wollan with Catherine Zhou

So you already have a social strategy in place in your company, but do you know if it’s actually being implemented effectively? Is your organization taking the right steps? The Social Media Management Handbook might just be the guide you need in implementing your key social media strategies. It is a comprehensive resource on how to consolidate the various departments in your company, each with their own specific responsibilities, into a cohesive unit that’s working together to meet your company’s social business goals.

B2B SOCIAL

Social Marketing to the Business Customer: Listen to Your B2B Market, Generate Major Account Leads, and Build Client Relationships by Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman

B2B (business to business) social marketing is an area ignored by many because it is simply not as intuitive as the B2C (business to consumer) side is. This book, arguably the first of its kind devoted to the subject, is a hands-on guide that delves into subjects that are unique to this segment, especially those engaged in marketing and sales to other businesses.

SOCIAL CRM

The Social Customer: How Brands Can Use Social CRM to Acquire, Monetize, and Retain Fans, Friends, and Followers by Adam Metz

The Social Customer sets out to change the way we look at social media users, by helping us understand how they think and how they work, in order to establish long-term customer relationships and repeat business. It introduces us to social customer relations management, social marketing, as well as social topics in general. Written by social CRM guru Adam Metz, this book is a must add to any CMO’s library.

SOCIAL MEDIA ROI/METRICS/ANALYTICS

Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization by Olivier Blanchard

As a brand strategist with 15 years worth of experience under his belt (he’s not called @TheBrandBuilder on Twitter for nothing!), Olivier Blanchard brings to the fore his best practices not only for planning and implementing, but also for measuring and analyzing your social program. He teaches us to get serious, to buckle down in business, and how to gain the most returns from your social media investments.

Measure What Matters: Online Tools for Understanding Customers, Social Media, Engagement, and Key Relationships by Katie Delahaye Paine

Measuring the success of your social presence is crucial for any company that is investing any amount of budget into social. Rather than relying on mere guesswork, Measure What Matters explains in simple terms the procedures that you need to undertake to accurately gather the data needed to assess the impact your company is making in the social media sphere.  What do people think of your brand? How will this affect sales and profits? Through measuring what matters, you will get answers to these and many other pertinent questions so you can deliver results that matter.

Social Media Analytics:  Effective Tools for Building, Interpreting, and Using Metrics by Marshall Sponder

In this book, we can learn how to derive valuable information, and extract deeper meaning from, all the data and metrics we can collect in our social business activities. Featuring in-depth case studies, this book helps us in understanding the how and why certain things relating to social media need to be done and how they can affect our way of doing business.

CONTENT MARKETING

Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide to Creating Passionate Customers to Your Brand by Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi

Blogs, guest posts, storylines: it seems content is the next big frontier in marketing online these days. Experts Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi, who many consider to be the “Godfather of Content Marketing,” have come together to provide a definitive guide on how to create and execute a successful content marketing program.  If you have been looking for a playbook to help you create a content marketing strategy, this is the one for you. You can even visit the authors’ website to grab a great companion document that is full of helpful case studies you can learn from.

Accelerate!: Move Your Business Forward Through the Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing by Arnie Kuenn

Did you know that once you put up a website, you are automatically seen as a publisher? That means you need to have great content for your site to attract the right people and to stay relevant. Being an expert online marketer himself as the Founder of the Internet Marketing firm Vertical Measures, Arnie Kuenn has first hand experience when it comes to crafting content marketing plans that work. This book is chockful of the essentials you need: 8 steps for creating a great content marketing plan, 16 content examples you can use as a pattern for your business, real case studies and even contributions from other content marketing experts.

Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition by Michael A. Stelzner

If you are familiar with the tiny explorer from the Social Media Examiner blog and subscribe to their posts, then you already know about Michael Stelzner’s approach to marketing on the web. His goal is to help people, believing that if you put other people first, they will eventually help you in return, growing your business in the process. All of this is summed up by this neat equation: great content + other people – marketing messages = growth. Simple, elegant and something that just works. Read and learn from the master.

FACEBOOK

Facebook Marketing All-in-One For Dummies by Amy Porterfield, Phyllis Khare and Andrea Vahl

Sure you’re good at using Facebook as a user but have your really dug into it as a marketing channel for your business? Since Facebook is now the de facto standard for online communication, it’s high time that you learned more than just the basics. Find out how to create your own company Facebook Page, create helpful and viral content, link your page to your existing online store, and much much more in this huge bible of Facebook marketing. Backed by three industry veterans, including Facebook expert Amy Porterfield, this 9-in-1 Dummies book will create a Facebook genius out of you in no time.

Facebook Application Development For Dummies by Jesse Stay

Facebook isn’t just about posting and sharing; it’s also a the central hub for social apps on the web. If you want to start creating your own runaway hit, or maybe just want to build an app to make your business stand out, this book is definitely for you. This book covers many of the basics you need to know about developing for Facebook, from APIs to SDKs, and it even helps you create an app in just 5 minutes. Written by the co-author of “I’m on Facebook — Now What???” Jesse Stay, this book is the long-awaited book on Facebook apps that the market has been waiting for.

TWITTER

The Tao of Twitter: Changing your life and business 140 characters at a time by Mark W. Schaefer

Twitter is an excellent communications tool but despite each tweet only having 140 characters maximum, it still can get quite confusing to use. In this book, Mark Schaefer (no relation, obviously, but we do call each other “social media cousins”) demystifies the secrets of using Twitter effectively. In an hour, you will learn enough tricks and tactics that you can use to improve your Twitter presence and communicate better with your customers and followers.

LINKEDIN

Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing: An Unofficial, Practical Guide to Selling & Developing B2B Business on LinkedIn by Neal Schaffer

First, an obvious disclaimer: As you might have noticed, I’m actually the author of this book. And I wouldn’t add my own book to this list if I didn’t have the confidence to tell you that it unlocks the mysteries of how to generate business from LinkedIn that no other book does. If you think LinkedIn is only for professionals and job seekers, think again. If your business markets and sells to other businesses, LinkedIn should be your top social media marketing priority, even above Facebook. Attract more leads, become an industry leader and improve your online reputation: you can accomplish all these things and more through this book. Includes more than 15 case studies to help you see exactly what others have done to see positive ROI from their LinkedIn investment.

JOB SEARCH

HeadStrong: The Keys To A Confident And Positive Attitude During Job Search by Tim Tyrell-Smith

Looking for a new job can become frustrating and stressful, often shaking a person’s confidence and putting a damper in one’s spirits. Ironically enough, if you don’t have the confidence and positive attitude most employers are looking for, you probably won’t even be able to get past the first interview. This book will help you keep up your morale high during your job search and at the same time provide you with a step-by-step guide you can follow to nab that job you’ve always wanted. Although not specifically written for social media, personal friend and founder of Tim’s Strategy and Fix, Build & Drive Tim Tyrell Smith’s advice in this book can be universally applied to social, job search, your career, and your life.

Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies by Joshua Waldman

Needless to say, social networking, both offline and online, is a critical tool that can definitely help your job search. More and more employers are turning to social websites to fill key positions as well as find out more about you, the potential applicant. That means to get ahead of the race, you really need to know how to use social networks to your advantage. This book will teach you how to create an online personal brand, find opportunities in the “hidden” job market and how to sell your strengths using your social media profiles. I’ve met the author, Joshua Waldman, in person, and I can tell you that he’s the real deal.

As you can see, 2011 was a landmark year for social media books, both in terms of breadth as well as depth. As social business becomes more and more mainstream in Corporate America, we can only guess about the gems of writing that await us over the next several months.

Now it’s your turn: Were your favorite social media books of 2011 included in this list? Any missing? Please chime in!

Even if you are not Catholic nor religious, I think we can all learn a lot about social media through Brandon’s teachings.  It is with this intent, of finding a unique perspective to help us all understand the depth of social media, that I embarked on this interview. 

Q1. Brandon, you were already a Catholic blogger, but with your new book out you are now a Catholic author! Can you describe to the average person the role blogging has made in your religious activities and why others should use it as part of their religious practice? Or is Catholic blogging only for a small subset of religious Catholics?

Blogging is one of the most powerful communication tools the world has ever seen. No other medium creates such immediate, instant conversation about important topics, and few others connect such different groups of people. Look at any comment box and chances are you’ll see a panoply of characters: angry teenagers, joyous mothers, radical socialists, immature zealots, and more. Where else would you ever see these people gather if not in the comboxes?

For Catholicism this is huge. Blogging allows a probing skeptic who would never darken the doors of a church to stumble into a conversation with a priest. Bloggers help expose false caricatures many people have of Catholicism, instead revealing the radiance, brilliance, beauty, and texture of the Church. And in terms of displaying the humanity of an often distant institution, few tools are better.

Blogging has also been a useful spiritual discipline for me. It’s helped me refine and untangle many thoughts while connecting me with people much wiser than I. Where else could I instantly bounce ideas off of theologians, scholars, scientists, friends, family, and even my local priest?

So while, of course, blogging carries some negative baggage, its potency can’t be neglected. I don’t think blogging is only for a subset of Catholics anymore than a mouse is only for a subset of computer users. And I’m not alone in that. Last year, Pope Benedict XVI issued a rousing call for all Catholics to gird their keyboards and engage the so called ‘digital continent’, using all the modern tools to “cast wide our nets.” If an 84-year old Pope can see the value in blogging, all Catholics should.

Q2. Your new book, The Church and New Media, is about the unique convergence of old traditions and new technology. Who is the intended reader of the book? Can you give us a short summary as to what the book is about?

Simply put, The Church and New Media helps Christians use new media both effectively and faithfully. More specifically, readers learn how Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, podcasts, and text-messaging can be used to connect with non-Christians, form the Church’s faithful, build deep community, and change the world. Covering both the benefits and dangers of these tools, the book is both practical and theoretical. We explore not only how to use these tools but how they are shaping the religious landscape around us.

And as every good, first-time author should boldly proclaim, “my book is for everyone!” But in this case, the book does appeal to every Christian demographic–professed technophiles, Christ-following Luddites, inquisitive leaders, and even those looking for a “Facebook” at their local Barnes and Noble. The books’ contributors are just as diverse as its intended audience. More than a dozen Catholics have a chapter including tech-savvy priests, stay-at-home moms, full-time bloggers, Internet activists, Catholic bishops, and even me, a full-time mechanical engineer. Because it’s both intelligent and approachable, it doesn’t matter whether you know 47 different coding languages or have no idea what a “tweet” is–you’ll learn a lot from The Church and New Media.

Q3. How does the advice in your book transcend religion and be potentially applicable for any professional or business?

The Church and New Media  shows how these tools can further the mission of the Catholic Church. But every business, every professional, every author, and every creator has a mission they’re trying to push. So in that sense, the book’s advice is applicable everywhere. How can you plunge your message into the global conversation? How can you link up with people who are currently disconnected? How can you use new media to change hearts, build movements, and rally support for a world-changing cause? All these questions transcend religion and therefore the answers are applicable everywhere.

Ultimately, the best social media experts realize that this digital revolution is grounded on relationship. That to build love for your brand, product, or movement, necessitates a focus on intentional connections. That’s what the Church does. And that’s what this book helps everyone to do.

Q4. If you were to name a few blogs or Twitter users who you consider to be authoritative on the topic of social media and religion, who would they be and why? 

Some of my favorite experts include Matthew Warner, Fr. Robert Barron, Angela Santana, Lisa Hendey, and Tim Challies. But I’ll also point readers to the resources page on the book’s website for more on religion and social media. And finally, if his brilliant messages and iPad forays are any kind of sign, Pope Benedict XVI is increasingly becoming a global authority on faith and social media.

(end of interview)

If global religions represent some of the biggest “brands” and communities on earth, those of us involved in social media as part of our profession can learn a lot from experts in how religion uses social media.

Do you use social media as part of your religious practice? Any takeaways here that you can use for your business?

Brandon Vogt is a 25-year old Catholic writer and speaker who blogs at  www.ThinVeil.net. He’s an expert on religion and new media, and in May 2010 was invited by the Vatican to dialogue with Church officials on the topic. His first book, The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts,Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (Our Sunday Visitor) was released this August. You can learn more about the book at www.churchandnewmedia.com where you’ll find a list of contributors, endorsements, and many special resources. You can also download a free excerpt from the book and purchase it in paperback or eBook form.

To be honest with you, some of you might remember my top social media books blog post several months ago where I said, “…be forewarned that my Twitter book is next in line.”  It was in late March of this year, with the manuscripts of both that Twitter book as well as this new book more than half done, that I made the decision to finish this new book first.  The IPO, the continued belief that there were too many common LinkedIn fallacies that needed to be addressed, and the need for more literature on B2B social media marketing made me feel that it would provide more value to my readers to release this one first.The  new book goes into practical details, enhanced with more than 15 case studies of others who have accomplished what I say is possible, on the plethora of ways that exist in which both businesses as well as professionals can maximize LinkedIn to generate new leads, foster brand loyalty, increase targeted website traffic, and close deals.  As a sneak preview, I wanted to summarize some points of my book in a 10-step approach to give you some ideas to help you maximize the professional social networking platform for the sales and marketing efforts of your own business.  Each point represents a preview of one of the chapters to give you a feel for the content and scope of what I cover in the book.

1. LI requires a certain mindset in order to be successful on it.  Just as there are some who go to business networking events who come back thinking it was a waste of time, there are others who come back with leads or relationships that when cultivated will lead to business.  As one of those who I interviewed for the book suggested, “LinkedIn is only valuable if you decide to be an active member.”
2. Still don’t think your business needs to be on LinkedIn?  Many companies are missing out on potential business by paying too much attention to other social media platforms and not taking advantage of the tools that LinkedIn allows companies, and professionals, to utilize to promote themselves and their businesses.  If you’re a B2B company, make no doubt about the fact that most decision makers you want to target are already on LinkedIn, and they can potentially be far more approachable than on a personal networking platform such as Facebook.  Even B2C companies, like the Irish Dog Bloody Mary Mix case study in the book, show that B2C companies have B2B relationships (distributors, marketing partners, et. al.) that can be cultivated on LinkedIn to develop new business.  In the case of the bloody mary mix company, they are now generating 25% of their business from LinkedIn!
3. Just as you need a website to promote your company on the Internet, your employees need an optimized LI profile to best represent their company and products and services.  LinkedIn is a database of professionals that is often used to find other professionals and businesses. If Facebook were the White Pages, LinkedIn is the Yellow Pages. Because of this, professionals and companies need to be found just like they need to be sure they are classified correctly and displayed prominently in the phone book.  Creating a sales-oriented profile starts by understanding where your customer is and what they might be looking for and adjusting your profile appropriately.  In other words, your profile is not about you – it is a sales tool to help your potential customers find you.
4. Because it’s 2011 and LinkedIn has grown by 60% in the last year alone, it’s time to re-establish your online network.  Every connection added gives you that much additional reach to find and be found.  It’s also time to rethink your connections policy and begin to strategically target new connections who might be able to help you and your sales and marketing objectives.
5. Every business needs to understand the importance of establishing and optimizing their presence on LinkedIn Companies.  Having a presence on Companies is not just about putting your company in the LI database just as professionals do with their profiles.  It is about recognizing that recommendations from your products and services within your Companies page can play a vital role in generating business similar to how personal recommendations give instant credibility to professional profiles.
6. Why do so many companies have Facebook Pages but never think about creating their own LinkedIn Group?  Not only do Groups have far more moderating features than Facebook Pages have, but they allow you to create a community of potential customers or present users in the most lucrative demographic of any social media website.
7. Many professionals create their profiles and then wait for something to happen.  Similar to the business networking event analogy, just showing up will get you nowhere.  It’s about engaging on LinkedIn, and there are many public forums and applications which, with a little out-of-the-box thinking, give you the opportunity to engage with other professionals in a business atmosphere for business objectives.
8. With new applications such as LinkedIn Signal and LinkedIn Today, the professional networking website is quickly becoming a source of business intelligence for the sales and marketing professional.  Since social media monitoring tools do not cover LI yet, you will have to manually look through various public forums and applications for information, but there is a great deal of intelligence to be gleaned that can lead to new business for the effort.
9. Social media optimization is about using social media activity to bring more visitors to your website.  For many websites like TechCrunch or even this Windmill Networking site, LinkedIn provides the 2nd largest source of website traffic from social media websites.  From my experience, traffic from LI also provides the lowest bounce rate as well as highest number of page views per visit.  There are many ways to use LI to drive traffic back to your website, but if you’re not getting enough traffic from LinkedIn to your website, you’re missing out on potentially high quality and lucrative visitors.
10. Which is the only social advertising platform which lets you target by company and title?  LinkedIn Ads aren’t cheap, but LI is a quality over quantity platform that is appropriate for targeting decision makers for your B2B or expensive B2C product.

As you can see, there are a variety of ways in which LinkedIn can be used to help your company or yourself from a sales and marketing perspective.  I hope you enjoyed the above tips and I further hope that this new book helps revolutionize the way that businesses look at LI similarly to how my 1st has helped thousands of professionals to gain insight on how to navigate and benefit from a robust and social presence on the professional networking platform.

Members of the Windmill Networking mailing list will have a chance to receive a sneak preview version of Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing free-of-charge in the near future.  If you’re still not convinced you need this book, sign up here to ensure you receive notification when this happens!

With the growing use of social media by both businesses and professionals, there was another influx of excellent books regarding its various uses that were published in 2010.  The interesting trend about social media book publication in 2010, though, was that 5 of the 15 books that made my list last year were republished as revised or 2nd editions this year:

• Me 2.0 [2nd edition] by Dan Schawbel
• The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success [2nd edition] by Lon Safko
• Socialnomics by Erik Qualman
• Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time [2nd edition] by Joel Comm
• Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

As a rule, any book that was included in my list last year will not be put on this year; however, the above books are all classics and still highly recommended, even if you might have already purchased an earlier version.  The fact that some of these books are in 2nd edition proves that they truly are “classics.”

My only other rule for placement on the list is that the book had to have been published in 2010.  There were many great books that did not make the list, so this is by no means an exhaustive list of everything that is out there.  But if you haven’t read any or only 1 or 2 of these 15 books, you might want to consider starting to invest in creating your own social media bookshelf for future reference.

The below list is in no particular order, but I have done my best to classify which books are good depending on your specific interests.

Social Marketing

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

The classic book that was originally published back in 2008 (where were you in social media in 2008?!?!?) reappeared in its 2nd edition this year.  Along with some of the other books that were republished this year, this book deserves to be on every social media bookshelf.  A book that covers both marketing and public relations and emphasizes the directness of marketing to your customers over the social web, it includes a plethora of case studies and is all encompassing in scope.  Indeed, social media marketing is about the “new rules,” and one of the established thought leaders in social media reminds us of his relevance with this work.  Informative, conversational, and entertaining, The New Rules of Marketing and PR is a pleasant and satisfying read for all.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue by Shama Kabani

This book has a title that raises expectations to a level that it makes it hard to deliver on.  But then again, if anybody could deliver on this promise, it is Shama, and if you have seen any of her Shama.TV videos, you know that she is all about no-nonsense and practical advice.  This book repeats her successful formula of dishing out advice that is easy to understand and immediately actionable.  The bulk of this book covers the essential platforms of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, while video is introduced as the “next frontier.”  Despite the book being only 200 pages, Shama manages to devote time to important topics such as creating a social media policy, tools, case studies, and a Q&A section.  An especially great introductory book for small business owners and social marketing newbies.

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web by Brian Solis

Brian Solis continues to be on the cutting-edge of social media thought leadership with his latest book Engage!  I have always enjoyed the academic approach he takes in presenting his understanding of social, complete with detailed metrics and images, to us who have been fortunate enough to see him speak.  Seeing that Brian has a PR background, his writing revolves around brands, campaigns, and the psychology of the consumer, and some might say this book is more appropriate for larger organizations than smaller ones.  I argue that the takeaways here are good for any size and type of company.  Not as easy to digest as some of the other books on this list, but all the more deeper and insightful for it.

Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment by Jim Sterne

“What is the ROI of social media?” is the question that I get asked most often.  Nobody asks about the ROI of traditional types of marketing that are a lot less trackable, but social is often put under a microscope like no other.  I always argue that, from an Income Statement perspective, the ROI of social is in the metrics.  Metrics, thus, provide the “proof” that social media is worth investing in, and now a definitive book on the subject has appeared.  This book is not simply about social media metrics, either, because Jim explains the metrics as he points out all of the various marketing activities that companies should be utilizing social for.  Highly recommended for any businessperson looking to establish, or prove, the ROI of social media.

Marketing Books that Go Hand-in-Hand with Social

UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. by Scott Stratten

I had the pleasure of seeing Scott speak, and chatting with Scott, at BlogWorld Expo recently in Las Vegas.  He is extremely down-to-earth, and he takes this same approach to have us unlearn everything that we already know about marketing in UnMarketing.  Although the book is a general marketing one in nature, any social media marketer will gain a lot by reading this book, although the shock value will be greater for traditional marketers.  Simple yet inspiring in its insight, UnMarketing takes you on a journey of 50+ topics and case studies that will certainly change the way you look at marketing – and better understand how to leverage social as a result of it.

The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch

From the creator of Duct Tape Marketing comes a book that is as down-to-earth, practical, and immediately actionable as the preceding book of his brand name was.  John is my hero, and he should be the hero of any small business owner, Marketing executive, or entrepreneur looking to utilize marketing the right way.  The Referral Engine is an extension of that, in that by simply through understanding the science of the referral and transforming your organization to embellish it, marketers can put word-of-mouth advertising to work for them for free by their best customers.  Social media can obviously play a great role in this, and John dedicates a chapter to this.  But it doesn’t take a lot of imagination for a social marketer to see how John’s practical advice can help you better leverage the potential for social to help you do more with less.

Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones by Joseph Jaffe

Similar to John Jantsch, Joseph Jaffe (nickname: @JaffeJuice) teaches us to forget about what we learned about Marketing and instead completely flip “the funnel” on all that we have been taught as to how marketing should be conducted.  Rather than spending budget on marketing awareness to reach mass potential at the top part of the funnel, look at your present customers as being the ones that will generate more sales from you through word-of-mouth referrals.  Joseph then goes above and beyond referral marketing by delving into improving customer service and the customer experience, and throughout the book practical social media case studies help to illustrate his points.  In order to understand referral marketing for 2011 and the role that social plays, you owe it to yourself to buy this book and The Referral Engine.

Social Media in the Organization

Social Nation: How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Attract Customers, Motivate Employees, and Grow Your Business by Barry Libert

Social Nation takes on the challenge of implementing social media throughout the organization and creating a new social entity where company and customer is completely aligned.  Social media requires organizations to radically change their traditional ways if they wish to fully leverage it, and this book creates the blueprint to allow leaders and managers throughout the company to implement social in their company or department.  Barry doesn’t try to hide the facts of the issues facing many companies, and he is also liberal in displaying the various benefits that can be obtained by truly embracing social media throughout the organization.  I remember when Reengineering the Corporation was required reading at my company, and it was a true call to revolutionize the way we do business with our customers as well as internal processes.  Social Nation is the social version of that classic book.  Will it become required reading at your company?

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li

The co-author of the classic Groundswell and founder of the leading social media advisory firm Altimeter Group is back with a new book.  Open Leadership, as the name entails, is geared towards corporate leaders who need to understand how social media and new technologies have changed the business landscape and how it is necessary for both leaders, and their organizations, to become more open.  Instead of being in control, it is about “inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals.”  It is clear that companies that are not committed to social media from the top will ultimately be forced to change as social media continues to slowly penetrate every department in an organization.  Therefore, if you are a leader or need to convince others on the need to change to adapt to social media and what it requires internally to do so, this is the book you want to read or have them read.

Social Media for Good

The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine

Beth Kanter, the co-author of this book, is a known as a thought leader in how nonprofits can utilize social media as an invaluable tool, and she lives up to her reputation in this book.  Just as Social Nation and Open Leadership deal with organizational change, this book also challenges Executive Directors of nonprofits to embrace social media but only after first understanding the challenges and trends of nonprofits, the social web, and an internal social culture that will be required to become a truly networked nonprofit.   This is followed by enough tips and resources solely for nonprofits to leverage social that it should be required reading by all nonprofit organizations.

The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith

Jennifer Aaker teaches a class on “The Power of Social Technology” at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a class that is meant to show aspiring entrepreneurs that there is a lot of good that can be cultivated from social media.  Taking scholarly analysis from human psychology and mixing it with marketing provides a look behind what The Dragonfly Effect is about, a framework that can be utilized not only for social good on a global scale, but also within a company for both inward-facing (corporate culture) and outward-facing (customer service) tasks.  What makes this book extra special is the choice of case studies as  well as leaders from some of the biggest social media websites who offer their insight on the subject as well.

Facebook

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World by David Kirpatrick

How Facebook came to be the amazing power that it is is not only a fascinating story, but it also gives us all a lot of hints about the future of social media’s impact on society through studying its past.  When I was in Japan recently, they were still perplexed on how any social networking platform can have a nearly 47% penetration rate here in the United States – and they still couldn’t believe that figure even after looking at the proof.  A fellow Amherst College Alumni and one of the top technology journalists, David Kirpatrick, has now come out with the definitive look at how it all came to being.  Not to give away the story of the book, but David commented on Amherst College’s website, “I wrote a book about Facebook because I think this company’s astonishing success over such a short time is among the most important developments of our age….Facebook is changing how people all over the world communicate.  It is a medium for the empowerment of ordinary people, which gives every one of its 500 million members a powerful broadcast platform.  It is having a big impact or “effect” on politics, government, business, marketing, media, and on our sense of identity and our notion of community. It was founded in a dorm room by a Harvard sophomore yet has grown to serve people in almost literally every community on the planet.  The story of how 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg created and nurtured it is a great entrepreneurial saga.”  The other thing that stands out about this book is that it was done with extensive cooperation from the CEO (whom David first met back in 2006) as well as its staff.  Enough said.  Forget about “that” movie: Buy this book instead!

Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day by Mari Smith and Chris Treadway

Co-author Mari Smith is an authority on the subject of Facebook, so that in itself is reason enough to buy this book if you have any doubts about how to use Facebook for marketing.  Part of the methodologically structured “XXX an Hour a Day” series, this book on Facebook provides enough background information on Facebook and social so that beginners can feel comfortable in getting started with Facebook while more advanced users can jump to the meaty sections on advanced tactics, campaign integration, Page optimization with applications and analytics.  Comprehensive in scope and easy-to-read, this is the book that should be on your desk if you’re trying to maximize your Facebook presence for your business or brand.

Blogging & Content Marketing

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

Darren and Chris released their 2nd version of the book has become the bible for bloggers this year.  Although the title suggests that the book is only for affiliate marketers, the advice on blog writing, blog promotion and marketing, social media and your blog, and secrets of successful blogs is relevant for any business that is looking to blog as part of their social marketing strategy.  ProBlogger continues to be the thought leader and definitive source for everything blogging, so regardless as to whether you want to start blogging or just reconfirm your knowledge of best practices using the blogging medium, this should be your primary resource.

Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley

Content marketing is one of the least-appreciated yet most important aspects of social media marketing.  If social media is, as I believe it is, 1% technology and 99% creativity, that 99% is spread between engagement and content alone.  Some say that companies lose control of their message in social media, but you are always in full control of your content, making it all the more valuable.  Now we finally have a definitive book on the subject written by two of its thought leaders, C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley.  Reading this book will help you create compelling content which is the basis for what you will be sharing in social media.  If you haven’t give much thought to the importance of your content before, you definitely need to be reading this book.

Although this blog post is about the top 15 books, I do want to add 2 more that you should be interested in:

The Big Book of Social Media: Case Studies, Stories, Perspectives by Robert Fine

First of all, a disclaimer: I am a contributor to one chapter of this book, which is a case study of one of my social strategy consulting clients and how they used LinkedIn to develop a community and, in the process of doing so, develop new business. In fact, every chapter in this book, all 42 of them, is written by a different author analyzing a different social media case study. From chapters on social business to case studies on how governments, non-profits, and even artists are using social, this book is unique in its content as well as the depth and variety of insight it provides to the reader. If you’re looking for fresh perspectives on the use of social media globally throughout a variety of organizations or industries, this is the book for you.

Finally, although I haven’t released a 2nd edition of my LinkedIn book yet, despite it being published in late September of last year, I have seen the best sales in the most recent months.  If you’re waiting out for a 2nd version of it, be forewarned that my Twitter book is next in line

So there you have it!  Would you agree with these choices and my reasoning?  Any of your favorites missing?  Do chime in and share your favorite social media reads of 2010 with us!

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web Summary

This book begins with handholding the reader from an introduction to social media marketing to helping you formulate goals, strategize, and participate in the social web. From there the conversation turns to reviewing the standard blogging, Twitter, and social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. There is a chapter that provides some unique content on using Q&A sites and wikis that is thrown in before the book concludes with chapters on social bookmarking, social news (think Digg), and photo/video/podcasting before the final and concluding chapter of the book. The scope is what one would expect from a social media marketing book, and at 300+ pages there is a lot of content covered. The differentiator of this book is, as the titles suggests, the focus on “community.” Furthermore, while the mechanics of what you need to do to succeed in marketing on the social web are also covered, many different and insightful aspects of social media marketing are discussed throughout the book.

Tamar Weinberg Author Summary

Tamar is an Internet marketing consultant who clearly understands social media. She is an avid blogger herself, is very active on most of the social web platforms that she describes, and is experienced in social media consulting as displayed through case studies of her own experiences that she shares in the book. As someone who has hands-on experience with social media marketing functions such as blogger outreach and viral marketing, Tamar gives us a convincing read on the ins and outs of marketing on the social web. And the fact that she is the Community and Marketing Manager for Mashable is a reminder of her credentials to be a reliable and trusted source.

My Top Ten Takeaways from This Book

1) Setting Social Media Goals

I appreciate how Tamar goes through various goals of a social media campaign in the beginning of the book to give the reader some ideas of how social media marketing can be utilized in their company. These potential goals include increased traffic, increased brand awareness, improved search engine rankings, reputation management, increased sales, and established thought leadership. Furthermore, Tamar follows up these goals with example social media marketing scenarios to further help the reader paint a picture of how they could utilize social media. Any reader who wasn’t sure how they could use social media will have a great idea after reading these sections.

2) Participation is Marketing

I enjoyed this chapter, which begins with a look at “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and the theory of markets being conversations that was created well before the birth of the major social networking sites that we use today. Tamar includes a plethora of case studies from companies like Graco and Home Depot here to drive home her point. If you haven’t read The Cluetrain Manifesto, you will definitely want to buy a copy after reading this chapter!

3) The History of Blogs

We often talk about the power of blogs, but understanding the history of blogs as Tamar paints the picture gives the reader a more convincing understanding of the power of blogs as well as why they are influential.  Insightful read.

4) Content Strategies for Bloggers

As a blogger myself, I appreciated the advice that Tamar gave on how to find inspirational content from a variety of sources. Everything from Google Alerts, other blogs, blog searching, social bookmarking, new stories, and Google Trends and Insights is covered here. No more excuses for lack of content to blog about after reading this chapter!!!!

5) How Blogs are Discovered

Sure, Google will find your blog once you create and submit an XML sitemap, but how can your blog get more easily discovered by others? Tamar provides us with a good list of blog directories as well as some other ideas for us to consider including blog carnivals and memes. Basic content, but surprisingly these topics are not covered that often in the blogosphere.

6) Tools of the Twitter Trade

As you know from my recent blog post on “Stop Fondling the Hammer,” I try not to dwell too much on the huge variety of social media tools that exist out there. That being said, I was extremely impressed with the through listing and description of tens of Twitter tools that Tamar includes in her book. These tools include those to spot Twitter trends, personal statistics, finding new people to follow, follower management, and searching. I am certain that there are a few Twitter tools in here that you might have never heard of before!

7) The Ins & Outs of Social Bookmarking

Tamar has some great advice and tips for using both StumbleUpon as well as Delicious as part of your social media marketing strategy. The tag-centric approach that Tamar presents was insightful, and her description of how Delicious aids in understanding your brand was the best post on Delicious that I have ever read. Just as I wrote that StumbleUpon was not just for SEO, Tamar gives us some compelling arguments of the why and how we should be using Delicious.

Everything You Need to Know about Flickr

Photo sharing can be a powerful form of social media marketing that can help build awareness for your product. Tamar’s chapter dealing with the most popular photo sharing site, Flickr, is quite comprehensive, dealing with everything from tagging your photos, community forums, a good explanation of Creative Commons, and some advice on “marketing” your photos on Flickr.   Not only is the information comprehensive, Tamar writes in a way that handholds the reader beginning with the actual uploading of your first photo.

9) YouTube Marketing and Beyond

In a similar vein to the information on Flickr, there is generous information included in the book on not just the mechanics of YouTube but also excellent advice on how to get the most out of YouTube, including vital information on promoting your YouTube videos. Tamar also doesn’t stop with just YouTube and gives suggestions for other video-sharing sites that the reader might be interested in.

10) Return on Social Media Investment

Tamar begins her book speaking to how the reader should start thinking about return on investment of social media activity. She cleverly returns to this topic at the end to finish her book, taking a closer look at metrics such as reach, frequency and traffic, influence, conversions and transactions, and sustainability. But she doesn’t stop there. Reminding the reader that social media requires a commitment, Tamar concludes the book with powerful reminders about community, face-to-face interactions, and fostering creativity.

Conclusion

The New Community Rules provides an excellent combination of hands-on instruction combined with putting social media marketing in the context of the community. The breadth and depth is what one would expect from a book on social media marketing, and the advice given by someone who is a veteran of the scene backed-up by many real-life examples makes this book both a powerful and convincing read. Whether you are just starting out in marketing on the social web or you’re looking to get to the next level, this book is a highly recommended read and filled with a plethora of helpful tips and advice.

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A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization Summary

Beginning with advice on creating a social media strategy, this book covers the whole spectrum of the technology you need to understand in order to implement your strategy.  Starting with blogs and RSS feeds, the book continues with separate how-to chapters covering building a WordPress website, podcasting, social networking (Facebook being the primary focus), social bookmarking, image and video sharing sites, widgets and badges, and social media newsrooms.  The book is technical in nature but extremely hands-on, with very guided instructions on both the why and how of utilizing all of these social media sites.  Furthermore, a resource CD is included with the book with handy worksheets that the author has created to make life easy for the reader.

Deltina Hay Author Summary

As I tell my customers choosing a social media consultant that they need to look at their background to get a feel for the value that they provide, the same is true of book authors.  Deltina is uniquely both a web developer as well as a small business owner in the publishing industry.  This explains the very hands-on feel that the book provides.  It also explains why Deltina cuts through theoretical talk and concentrates on the practical reason why you would read this book: to learn how to optimize your Internet presence for the Web 2.0 and to get results from it.

My Top Ten Takeaways from This Book

1) Introductory Terms Explanations

I like how Deltina began the book by assuming the reader is not yet technically familiar with many of the terms that are the jargon of many a social media marketer.  If you are unsure as to the exact meaning of terms like RSS feeds, widgets, badges, content management systems, metadata, and landing pages, the book begins with a primer just for you.

2) Sample Social Media Strategies to Consider

The first chapter of the book covers creating your own social media strategy.  Deltina has taken this one step further by providing actual examples of how a service business/consultant, author/media personality, entrepreneur/performer, publisher/product business, and public relations firm would use each of the various channels like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc. that exist.  One can learn a great deal just by studying these excellent examples.

3) Tags and Keywords

Anyone who has a website will tell you that tags and keywords are extremely important for social media optimization.  Deltina goes into the why they are important as well as gives specific guidance as to how to choose tags as well as how they will be utilized.  While many books might find this type of information too simplistic, I feel that this information is valuable for many that are just beginning their social media journey.

4) Comprehensive Look at Planning Your Blog

From planning the content, categories, tags, frequency and delegation of your blog to managing comments, optimizing and promoting your blog and RSS feed as well as recommending a blog post signature, Deltina truly has created a comprehensive chapter about blogging in a few pages.  Very efficient read!

5) RSS Submission Services and Software

While there are many sources of information about blogging, I had never found information regarding how to promote your RSS feed throughout the social web.  Deltina gives very specific suggestions on how to go about doing this in a variety of ways.

6) Initial Settings on a WordPress Blog

Deltina is so careful and yet comprehensive in her explanations that she points out things that others may skip over.  For instance, there are many resources about “must-have Word Press plug-ins” out there, but many of these skip basic plugins like the WP-Security Scan plug-in.  Deltina also covers other security settings as well as tasks to complete right after establishing your WordPress blog such as creating a static home page, adding a user to rid yourself of the “admin” username, and changing your permalinks for better search engine optimization.

7) Hands-On Podcasting Chapter

As someone who is considering starting a podcast in the future, I found everything that I wanted and need to know about how to go about doing this in the chapter devoted to podcasting, webcasting, and vidcasting.  This chapter alone may be worth the price of the book!

Facebook Page & MySpace Profile Applications

While the chapter on social networking sites was very basic, Deltina did do justice in pointing out some potential applications that can be used in Facebook Fan Pages as well as MySpace Profiles to help differentiate yourself or company as well as add more value for the user.  I appreciate that emphasis was placed on applications as that is where the value in these platforms will be going into the future.

9) Social Bookmarking Strategy

The chapter on social bookmarking was insightful because of this information.  Instead of a dry description of the functionalities of the different social media bookmarking sites, Deltina recommends an excellent strategy with her description of purpose-built Delicious pages.  Never heard the term before?  Buy the book!

10) Social Media Newsrooms

Perhaps this is a term that has gone out of fashion, but this was another gem of a chapter covering what social media newsrooms are and how they could be implemented.  I love the idea, and there is compelling reason why every company and/or person who has a website and/or a blog should be implementing this.  One more thing to put on my “to do” list!

Conclusion

As you can see, this is a very practical and hands-on book for both the techie as well as the not-so-techie.  If you are looking for a results-oriented read on what you need to be doing to your optimize your web presence for web 2.0, you have found your book.  Needless to say a highly recommended read!  A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization by Deltina Hay can be bought at Amazon by pressing this link.

Have you read this book?  What did you think of it?  Any books that you want me to review for you?  Please do tell!

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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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Brian Solis (r), Social Media author, together with Social Media Superstars Sarah Evans (l) and Jason Kintzler (c) of PitchEngine at the PRSA San Diego Tweetup

2009 was definitely the year in which we saw a great number of new book additions in the realm of social media.  While there have always been a classic book or two on social media (or pre-social media social networking books) published each year, 2009 was filled with several books that are destined to become classic reads for sometime to come.  These are the books that, despite the changes in specific functionality that we will see over time, provide us a framework for us to better understand and utilize social media.  And they not only deserve a place on my Top 15 list for 2009, they also deserve a place in your bookshelf!

My only rule for placement on the list is that the book had to have been published in 2009.  There were many great books that did not make the list, so this is by no means an exhaustive list of everything that is out there.  But if you haven’t read any of these 15 books, you may want to start hinting to your loved ones that these are what you want for the holidays!

Note that the list is in no particular order as they are all recommended social media books!  I have done my best to classify which books are good for which type of readers, but even books that I recommend for beginners still offer value to all users of social media.

File Under: Social Media & Personal Branding

1) Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success by Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel brands himself as a leading Gen Y personal branding expert, but his advice transcends generation for how we can control our online identity as well as how people will perceive of our “brand.”  A true thought leader who’s ideas shine in this must have book for any professional who wants to proactively manage their personal brand through social media.

File Under: Social Media Marketing

2) Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

While this book covers social media marketing as part of its discussion of Internet Marketing as a whole, seeing that the authors of this book are the founders of Hubspot is reason enough to recommend this book.  More importantly, the secret to social media marketing is less broadcasting your message and more indirectly bringing people to your website.  For this reason, “Inbound Marketing” is a book that will help beginners at social media marketing realize this.  As Guy Kawasaki said in his review of Inbound Marketing: “If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing by reading this book.”  Elegantly spoken!

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

I am always skeptical of books that use the term “Bible” in them: They are setting themselves up for failure unless they can really deliver.  This book, however, delivers 800+ pages of social media marketing information.  Definitely the most comprehensive book out there on social media marketing.  And you still want more?  Enough said.  This is your social media reference book.

4) The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg

An excellent methodological and tactical overview of the realm of social media marketing.  Compared to the other books here, I am tempted to say that The New Community Rules is geared more towards the beginner and offers a lot more hand-holding than other books in this genre, but what it lacks in depth compared to the Social Media Bible it makes up for in its comprehensive look at the Social Web.

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

While potentially not as famous as the other books on this list, I found this book to be extremely hands-on and cover all of the bases with regards to creating and implementing a social media marketing strategy.  Recommended, especially for those that are utilizing or interested in using WordPress as their blogging platform as there is much detailed and technical information on this included.

6) Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

The famous blogger Chris Brogan writes his first book, an enlightening story of how we can and should become “Trust Agents,” a new breed of influencers who can yield a great deal of influence in today’s Web 2.0 world.  If you’ve ever read any of Chris’s blog posts, you know that he delivers valuable and insightful content for businesses and professionals in an authentic and transparent way.  This book continues on his successful formula and provides a truly refreshing way of looking at how we can succeed in the Social Web by winning the trust of those around us.

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

If you don’t know @GaryVee you’d better buy this book. This guy has more spunk and exhibits more hustle than your most aggressive New York City taxi driver.  He is also one of the best known social media success stories, and he inspires all of us to “Crush It!” in this uplifting book which is also uniquely enlightening in a similar vein to Trust Agents.

File Under: Understanding Social Media

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

Wow…if you want to read one book that will give you a serious wake-up call on why social media is not a fad and how it significantly changes much about our society, this is your book.  A fascinating analytical and intellectual look into the realm of social media.

9) Six Pixels of Separation. Everyone is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone. by Mitch Joel

This is a great book for beginners of social media to realize how connected social networking sites have made us and the potential this fact has for businesses.  The book has loads of case studies that should be convincing enough to understand Mitch’s tactical advice on how businesses can cash in on this new era of connectivity.

File Under: Social Media & Public Relations

10) Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge

If there is one book you read out of any of these to enlighten you on the fundamental change that social media has brought upon any particular industry, this is the book you need to read.  While probably written for PR and Marketing folks, this book is enlightening for all to read to understand the fundamental changes that social media bring into the world of communications.   I had the fortunate chance to meet both of the authors at a recent PRSA Tweetup (picture above), and I learned the most amazing thing about this book: it was written by two people who didn’t meet each other until after the book was finished! (you tell me after reading this book if you could have figured that out!)

File Under: Facebook

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

The author, Clara Shih, wrote the first business application for Facebook called Faceconnector and in the past has also been in charge of social networking alliances and product strategy at Salesforce.com.  These credentials alone hint at the masterpiece of a book this is for businesses, especially those that are looking to create Facebook applications to generate revenues.  For the business user.

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

This book may not be as famous as “The Facebook Era,” but from an average user content perspective, this book is excellent for anyone to understand Facebook and most of its functionality in an easy-to-read format.  For the general user, although the advice can obviously be utilized by businesses as well.

File Under: Twitter

13) Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm

Joel Comm’s book on Twitter is arguably the best Twitter book of 2009 if you are looking for Twitter marketing strategies and ideas.  For this reason, compared to the below two books, this book is geared more towards the business user of Twitter.  However, regardless of the type of Twitter user you are, this book is highly recommended to give you many hints as to what is possible with Twitter.

14) Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods by Shel Israel

A unique and insightful look into the conversations that permeate Twitter in the form of stories of real people.  You will get introduced to some of the more famous Twitter users, but more importantly, how we can all benefit from listening to and joining Twitter conversations, as well as what we stand to lose if we don’t!

15) The Twitter Book by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein

Tim O’Reilly writes a book about Twitter.  This should be convincing enough.  It is an excellent book for beginners that will hopefully provide you with an “aha!” moment or two and get you started on Twitter.  Easy to read with lots of images.

Note that, while tempted, I did not include my own book, “Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn” to the above list, although I think it is a noteworthy addition to the growing library in social media and offers a detailed and comprehensive look at LinkedIn utilizing a unique and fresh concept of social networking which I call “Windmill Networking.”  OK…I’ll stop there!

So there you have it!  Would you agree with these choices and my reasoning?  Any of your favorites missing?  Do tell!

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Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging and Maximizing LinkedIn now available on Amazon!

Before I could issue my official press release, and much to my surprise, Amazon this week suddenly started shipping my book on utilizing LinkedIn, “Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging and Maximizing LinkedIn.” So without any fanfare, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

To help you gain further insight on the book and Windmill Networking, I wanted to give you some background as to why I decided to write a book about LinkedIn.  I am not an author by profession, and I began embracing LinkedIn back in February of 2008 as a job seeker.  I had unusual circumstances in that I had built up my network outside of my native United States and birthplace of Southern California.  You can imagine how difficult this made it for me when I was in transition for the first time ever in the US without a local network!  I utilized LinkedIn to help me build up a future network which would become my “Trusted Network of Advisors.”

As I became a power LinkedIn user, combined with my “newbie” approach to social networking, I soon became the go-to person in my expanding network for questions about LinkedIn.  But I also became very interested in creating relationships not just online but offline as well.  I started my first LinkedIn Groups, So Cal Sushi (Southern California) and The Izakaya Club (Japan), to try to bring people that I had met on LinkedIn together in a physical networking environment.  After finding a new job I used LinkedIn as my professional yellow pages.  I found the platform invaluable in helping me develop business, find partners, secure appointments, and source vendors.  And I continued expanding my network online while reaching out to more people offline.

As my networking activities continued to ramp up, combined with the fact that I found myself again in transition with the onset of the recession, I began having many conversations with various people about how best to use LinkedIn.  I went out of my way to try to help people, realizing that this is something that I could now contribute to others that would help in developing relationships of value.  I coached not only job seekers in my network, but also CEOs, small business owners, and sales and marketing executives.

And I started blogging.  There were many restrictions and confusing things that I had found about networking on LinkedIn that I wanted to tell others about; thus, my original Windmill Networking blog (“LinkedIn Questions”) was born.  I also realized that many people found my understanding of LinkedIn and social networking insightful, and thus I ramped up my blogging shortly thereafter to cover topics above and beyond LinkedIn.

It was one day in February of this year that I decided to write a book on LinkedIn.  Why?

• Although other books about LinkedIn existed, I was confident that I could help bring our understanding of LinkedIn to a new level and provide my readers with unique value by viewing LinkedIn through the lens of Windmill Networking.  Without providing value there is obviously no reason in blogging or writing a book, so this was and continues to be my thought process on engaging with social media whether it be as an author, speaker, or consultant.
• As a LinkedIn Open Networker, or LION, I thought that writing a book would be an ideal vehicle in which to network with more people than I could possibly meet online or offline.  I have blogged about how to grow your LinkedIn network: wouldn’t a book be an ideal way to attract LinkedIn invitations from relevant professionals to whom we could add mutual value to our networks?
• As a Pay It Forward networker, I thought that a book was the ideal format in which to inform as many people as I could about my understanding of LinkedIn so that they could achieve more on the social networking site.  And the better my network networks, the more valuable all of our networks become!
• I also believed that writing a book, regardless of my future career, would be a positive addition to my personal brand.  In fact, regardless of what happens to the economy or future jobs, a book is now part of a brand that cannot be affected by external circumstances.

But the most important reason why I decided to write the book was really an exercise in Windmill Networking.  I provide a concise definition of this new social networking concept in the book and plan to write a blog post giving more background on it in the near future.  To put it simply, I thought that by writing the book, and in combination with the other reasons listed above, it would provide me with a lot of good karma, that by helping others the best that I could, I would be helping myself in the long run.  That is why I decided to write the most thorough and comprehensive book about LinkedIn in as much detail as I could without holding anything back.  It is also why I include the Windmill Networking concept as a centerpiece of the book, to teach others to see LinkedIn (and any other social media) through this lens, and to hopefully provide others with the right attitude to help YOU achieve whatever your LinkedIn Objective is.

Writing the book has definitely changed my life, as now, in essence, I have two brands: 1) my traditional high tech sales & business development executive who is fluent in Japanese and Chinese, and 2) a social media strategist, speaker, and author.  Obviously, my background in sales as well as doing business in Asia has had profound impact on my understanding of social media, so I continue to discover how my new brand owes a lot to my previous work experience.

I plan to do some fun social media promotions for the book going forward, so stay tuned on the usual channels for the details.  But, in the meantime, publishing my first book, as you can tell from how I began this blog post, really changes nothing about me nor about this blog.  Our social media journey continues, and I appreciate that you have decided to spend time with me for the ride.  Let me know how I can help you, and I look forward to everyone providing me feedback on my book as well as sharing their Windmill Networking success stories on this blog!  Thank you!

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