The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web

I first learned about Tamar Weinberg’s (@tamar) book, The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web, from Chris Brogan’s blog Community and Social Media (@chrisbrogan).  I’m very happy that Chris introduced me to this book and he was right when he said that this is a really well done book and Tamar “knocked it out of the park.” So far, I’ve never been disappointed with Chris’ recommendations!  I’ve read many books on social media from Now Is Gone and The New Influencers to The New Rules of Marketing and PR and Marketing to the Social Web (all really good books by the way).  But for me, Tamar’s book stands out as a very thorough step by step easy guide to the thinking and planning that goes behind social media marketing all the way through to the best practices of implementation (and, of course, where it make sense for you to engage in communities and how to do it the right way).

What I also appreciated about this book is that I felt like Tamar was speaking directly to me, as if she knew my challenges.  The tone and the style of the book gave me an instant connection to her.  When you read a good book, even though you may not know the author, their voice and personality shine through.  After you read this book, you will want to reach out to Tamar to thank her for an excellent contribution to social media marketing and for pouring her heart and passion into every chapter

The book is broken down into sections that are really easy to follow from an Introduction to Social Media all the way to Sealing the Deal: Putting it all Together.  And, she gives you all of the details in between!  Throughout every chapter there are great visuals, helpful case study examples and the material is presented is in short concise snippets of information that is never overwhelming.  This book gives you the right information to get started, and what you need to know as you go along.  You never feel lost in this book (and, I mean the kind of lost where you don’t understand the content or the flow of the information is confusing).

As a matter of fact, a friend of mine on Facebook reached out to me in a message that said “Confusing.”  He had already read a couple of other social media marketing books and felt completely lost.  In his email has said, “It can’t be this hard.”  And, he’s right, it’s not that hard, you just need the right book and author that makes you feel at ease and comfortable with social media marketing.  When I introduced him to The New Community Rules the first thing he said was, “This is exactly what I was looking for!”

I highly recommend Tamar Weinberg’s book.  For me, it joins the ranks of the best social media marketing books available.  I hope that you will pick up your copy and let me (and Tamar) know what you think!