Delays :(

Sorry guys today was a crazy day here at work. But keep your eyes open for a new post Monday.

Update: Man I hate to do this but with family in town and wedding to go to I'm not gonna have a lot of quality "computer time" for the next week. I hate to say it (again) but another week delay is in order. New post Monday 8/20/2012.

In Soviet Union Review Watches You!

This book review is going to be a little different than the other ones but here we go anyways.

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

About a year ago the seminary that I work for joined the world of twitter. Partly at my behest and, in a careful what you wish for situation, I was made curator of our Twitter feed. So now there was the small problem that I didn't really know what I was doing. That's when our director of electronic communications suggested the above book. Twitter Power was a very helpful book if a little outdated.

The Twittersphere was a very different place when Joel Comm wrote this book but his basic principles remain very relevant. Comm says that the number one thing to remember is that Twitter, like all social networking programs, is about community and relationships. This is a great reminder that networking is about people. Some of the practical advice Comm throws out is stuff like answering questions immediately, ask questions of your users, offer advice, and give out promotions. So as you build relationships you build your community. Finally, as you build community you advertise effectively. 

This is great advice in our day and age when everyone just uses Twitter as a glorified RSS feed. While it is hard to implement if you can build the community he talks about you really can dominate your market. 

My major criticism of this book is that the info in this book is a little outdated. For example, he mentions how to re-tweet but much of that information is irrelevant. Also, it is no longer considered proper etiquette to follow everyone who follows you. Unless, of course, you're really interested in following a bunch of bots that are spamming porn.

How does this help me be a man?

Well, I guess the stuff about maintaining relationships is good. But, for the most part, this a book is chock full of practical knowledge on a specific subject. Sorry guys, not a lot of applications here.

Recommendation

If you tweet on a regular basis for an organization or business this book is very valuable. Otherwise, its probably not worth the trouble. 


Update: As I was grabbing links for this blog I found out there's a Twitter Power 2.0! I'll have to check that out.