 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | “People in all demographics and regions of the world are more connected than ever before to the products, issues, places, and individuals in their lives. This book recognizes that we’ve come to a place where people can represent their real identity--both personal and professional--and use the social filters on the Web to connect with the world around them.” --Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook “...A must-read for CEOs and other executives who want to understand Facebook and more importantly take the right actions to stay relevant and stay competitive.” --David Mather, President, Hoovers, Inc. The ‘90s were about the World Wide Web of information and the power of linking web pages. Today it’s about the World Wide Web of people and the power of the social graph. Online social networks are fundamentally changing the way we live, work, and interact. They offer businesses immense opportunities to transform customer relationships for profit: opportunities that touch virtually every business function, from sales and marketing to recruiting, collaboration to executive decision-making, product development to innovation. In The Facebook Era, Clara Shih systematically outlines the business promise of social networking and shows how to transform that promise into reality. Shih is singularly qualified to write this book: One of the world’s top business social networking thought leaders and practitioners, she created the first business application on Facebook and leads salesforce.com’s partnership with Facebook. Through case studies, examples, and a practical how-to guide, Shih helps individuals, companies, and organizations understand and take advantage of social networks to transform customer relationships for sales and marketing. Shih systematically identifies your best opportunities to use social networks to source new business opportunities, target marketing messages, find the best employees, and engage customers as true partners throughout the innovation cycle. Finally, she presents a detailed action plan for positioning your company to win in today’s radically new era: The Facebook Era. Join the conversation--www.thefacebookera.com. Fan the book--www.facebook.com/thefacebookera. Right this minute, more than 1.5 million people are on Facebook. They’re interacting with friends--and talking about your brands. They’re learning about your business--and providing valuable information you can use to market and sell. In the Facebook Era, you’re closer to your customers than ever before. Read this book, and then go get them! Clara Shih offers best practices for overcoming obstacles to success, ranging from privacy and security issues to brand misrepresentation, and previews social networking trends that are just beginning to emerge--helping you get ahead of the curve and ahead of the competition, too. -
Includes a practical 60-day action plan for positioning your company to win in the Facebook Era -
For companies of all sizes, in all industries--and business functions ranging from marketing to operations -
By Clara Shih, creator of Faceconnector, the first business application on Facebook Learn how to… -
Understand how social networking transforms our personal and professional relationships
Why social networking will have business impact comparable to the Internet -
Use online social networks to hypertarget your customers
Hone in on precise audience segments and then tailor custom campaigns with powerful personal and social relevance -
Define and implement your optimal social networking brand strategy
Ask the right questions, set the right goals and priorities, and execute on it -
Implement effective governance and compliance
Understand and mitigate the risks of social networking/Web 2.0 initiatives
|
Average Customer Rating:  really impressed Clara Shih impresses me so much with her background and clear, comprehensive writing. She doesn't waste time with a lot of fluff. Her book is very engaging, and I'm learning so much from it. I was no luddite before, but it has made me realize how much I was shrugging off networking sites as outlets for bored people to spend time and "feel" connected. I didn't understand them and had no idea how deeply businesses were getting involved. I feel much more knowledgeable and curious, ready to discuss these tools with clients as some of the most important ways of developing a loyal base. Much More Than Just Facebook If you want to use Facebook for marketing purposes this is a superb guide for learning the ins and outs of how to successfully engage in this platform's environment. Still, the book's title tells part of the tale: author Clara Shih delves into other social networks as well as associated tools and applications. In fact, it's a real eye-opener in this regard.
While anyone with an interest in social networks may learn from and enjoy The Facebook Era, it's aimed at folks looking to leverage social networks for business purposes. In particular, it's a got a wealth of information pertinent to the corporate enterprise.
Beginning with an incredibly insightful explanation of how and why social networks operate the way they do, Shih covers a tremendous amount of ground detailing how to gear-up your business' social media presence with a clear plan of action.
Great Primer I agree with other more detailed reviews. This is a great book for marketers of all shapes and sizes, but with a lean toward enterprise. The One Book You Need on Facebook for Business There are very few good books focused on using Facebook for business purposes (and I've been searching for a while now), and this book is absolutely the best I have found so far. Given her unique background and expertise, author Clara Shih is clearly the most well versed in the topic, and provides an excellent and complete account of where social media came from, how its transforming the way we do business, and, most importantly, how to leverage it for sales, marketing and general business purposes.
In short, this book is the best "on point" book I have read on the topic: first, because it explains in practical detail, how to develop a strategy and implement tactics to utilize and leverage the power of social media in general, and Facebook in particular; and second, because it goes into detail on the reasons why it will be vital for business to latch on to this power in the future.
As Shih states:
"What is critical isn't the specific technologies of today but rather the general shift in mind-set toward an increasingly socially networked world. To adequately prepare, we must completely rethink our relationships, interactions, and business strategies."
Being in the automotive industry, and seeing firsthand the impact of the never before implemented use of social media for the pre-launch introduction of the new 2010 Ford Fiesta with the "Fiesta Movement" initiative, I've seen firsthand the impact of harnessing the "social graph" for business - 7 months before launch the vehicle has more visibility and recognition than vehicles 2 or 3 years on the market...all this without a penny of conventional advertising. The Facebook Era is a must read for anyone who wants to understand and leverage this new irrefutably monumental wave in how business is conducted in the future, and in my opinion no one in business can afford to be without this understanding.
5 Stars for The Facebook Era Clara Shih does an excellent job of introducing Facebook and touches on topics ranging from the history of social media, to how it affects business, to a guide on how to use Facebook. From the start, she lays out the purpose of the book (pg. 2):
-You know online social networking is a big deal but don't know what to do about it
-You use Facebook in your personal life but aren't quite sure how it fits with your professional life.
-Your boss has asked you to create a Facebook presence for your company ASAP , but you don't know how or what to do.
-You are the boss and want to understand the social networking phenomenon and what it means for your bottom line.
-You want to hear how real companies are succeeding at sourcing leads, engaging new audiences, and transforming customers into a sales force on social networking sites.
Clara excelled in articulating these points. Additionally, she touches on both the psychological and sociological reasons why Facebook is historically significant part of the internet and our lives. She's dubbed this phenomenon the Fourth Revolution. Social filtering is very much at the heart of this revolution which is epitomized by the Facebook user experience. Since the launch of her book, Facebook has become even a more powerful viral marketing tool with its new stream which is indicative of the fast-paced evolution of this space.
If you want a comprehensive and insightful look at Facebook, this is the book you want to read! |  |
Select button not working? 
