Did you know that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world after China and India?  Facebook’s global growth is explosive and for many professionals, it’s difficult to find a book that captures the intricacies of Facebook without being overwhelming, offers the opportunity to learn how to create community through best practices and guides a reader through unfamiliar territory.  I found that book.  It’s Facebook Marketing: Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign by Justin Levy.

I guess I have a disclosure to make:  I was the “connector” between Justin and his acquisitions editor at Pearson. Justin was actually on his honeymoon when I reached out to him and asked him if he was interested in writing a book.  The rest is history….

I also want to note that Pearson sent me a review copy so that I could review the book and share my thoughts.

Facebook Marketing is a very helpful book.  Here’s what I liked the most: although Facebook can be intimidating, Justin walks you through easy steps from how to get started with your profile and setting up privacy settings to how you can effectively use Facebook advertising and Facebook Connect to enhance a consumer’s experience with a brand.

I also really appreciate a book that makes a point of reminding the reader that Facebook is just a tool and it’s what you do with it.  It’s up to us to discover functionality by experimenting and to commit ourselves to practicing the best techniques to build community.  These are the underlying principles for success and a very strong message threaded throughout the manuscript.

One of the most helpful parts was the privacy area.  I learned a few things myself about how you have different options for privacy and can control who can see your profile, post to your wall and who can interact with you on Facebook.  Justin also gave a very good explanation of the differences between the personal vs. professional profile and when to blend the two.  I’m finding many professionals are struggling with this question.

Overall, Facebook Marketing had excellent examples, however, if I were to offer helpful criticism with respect to this book (and this is really more so for Pearson and the production team), it would be to enlarge the graphics to support the great examples.  It was difficult for me to see the visuals, which were a bit too small to decipher.

I’m giving Facebook Marketing two thumbs up and calling it a “must read” for people who are new to Facebook or who have jumped into Facebook campaigns but haven’t taken the time to really explored all of Facebook’s unique possibilities.  This book will show you a better way!

Happy New Year to all of my friends! And thank you for all of the insight you’ve shared on my PR 2.0 Strategies Blog.

On the first day of the year, I wanted to provide a preview my 2010 book-reading list.  I read some excellent books in 2009 that I’ve shared in earlier reviews, from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s Trust Agents to Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It (both must read books).  As mentioned in my post, “PR New Year’s Resolutions,” one of my resolutions is to read and review more books on my blog.

Here’s my hit list for the first six months of 2010 (in no particular order):

• Twitterville by Shel Israel
• Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
• World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
• Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
• The Truth About Trust in Business by Vanessa Hall
• Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging and Maximizing LinkedIn by Neal Schaffer
• 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade by Richard Laermer
• Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman
• Facebook Marketing:  Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign (2^nd edition) by Justin Levy (to be published in May 2010)
• Engage:  The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web by Brian Solis (to be published in March 2010)

If you’ve read any of these books, I’m hoping you will share your thoughts (but don’t give away the endings!)  And, feel free to make book-reading suggestions to me for the last six months of the year.  What books will you be reading this year?