The Social Media Business Equation 1st Edition

Many businesses and their managers are wondering if they should use social media for the marketing efforts and if they decide to, how do they go about it? Well, Eve Mayer Orsburn has an easy and effective roadmap to use for businesses to turn interaction into tangible business. Don't just talk at your audience and expect that they will want to do business with you. Ms. Orsburn tells us to listen first, makes sense. Then 80% of the time, we inform, interact and entertain our client base. Once we engage them, then we can ask for their business. Ms. Orsburn also provides examples in the form of case studies. Every business should not only use social media in their marketing efforts but should also utilize Ms. Orsburn's book as a guide on how to do it.

This was required book for my media class but it teaches everything about how we can use most of social media in daily lives or for business application.

Well, all I gained from this book is the formula Eve suggested for posts on social media:20% inform20% entertain40% interact20% convert to business.nothing more!!

Great book to read with excellent examples from real companies.

a waste of money-The author wasnt helpful at all when it came to giving ideas it basic just shared others stories but no real tools.

First of all, this book gave me a bad impression when in the very beginning it used Wikipedia to help define social media. Throughout, it tends to struggle to describe the actual benefits of social media, relying instead on several case studies. The case studies are what saved this book from a lower rating for me, because I felt as if any organization could identify with one of the businesses listed, or at least use them as ideas on how social media can work for you.The book does attempt to define ROI, which also helped boost its rating with me. Defining ROI when it comes to social media is very hard to do, and a problem many businesses struggle with.The thing that really got me was that the last 50 or so pages are devoted entirely to Twitter "acknowledgements." 50 pages worth? Seriously? I think this could have been accomplished much better by actually using Twitter, or putting them on a website. They have no place in a book like this, especially when you think that those fifty pages could have been devoted to something like actual information.If your business is on the beginning end of social media, you may get a few tips here that you can use.

This book has something to offer the person who hasn't read about using online communities for business use, but not much. The book did not start off impressing me due to the author's repeated statements about how great she is. Perhaps she thinks that if she says it often enough, people will believe it. As for me, it had the opposite effect. The very first sentence tells us that many people have praised the author for her foresight and brilliance. She doesn't tell us who or why. Hmmm.The book has little depth or breadth. Each chapter starts with a very short piece of information. Some chapters end there. Other chapters move on to long lists of short "case studies". The bulk of each case study consists of a "what actually happened" section, which does say what happened, but seldom gives much insight into why it happened, or how it would apply to other businesses, such as yours. This makes up much of the book. Then there are pages 143 to 188, which simply list the author's 35,000 followers on Twitter.I found very little useful information in this book at all, and I found the "information" it does contain to be questionable. For example, chapter 5 focuses on telling us that when we use social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) we should inform 20% of the time, entertain 20% of the time, interact 40% of the time, and convert to business 20% of the time. No need to tailor this to your business, and, indeed, no information on how to do so. Osburn tells us that this works because it applies to nearly all businesses, and leaves it at that, with no explaination. Or, it works because is works. Not exactly an in-depth analysis, and I found that to be typical for this book.I was hoping to learn a lot, but I was disappointed. Now I'm off to search Amazon for a different book on this topic.

A very easy read. It's a helicopter view for anyone who doesn't yet get it...the business case for online interaction with your customers, prospects and constituents.Chapter 5 begins: "If this book were a hamburger, this chapter would be the beef." Much of the book is written in this simple, direct style.The "beef chapter" explains the book title's "equation": Your electronic interaction should be about 20% Informing; 20% Entertaining; 40% Interaction, and 20% Selling. Not actually an equation at all, but good advice, at least.The "bun" chapters include a good introduction, 18 Case Studies and...I kid you not...49 pages of acknowledgments!The book does not get into the nuts and bolts of Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, YouTube, or email list management, and it's not for the seasoned social media practitioner.But if you need an overview, a vision, and inspiration to get your business engaged, this book will do it.