Customer Reviews

Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs

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I was more than a little shocked when I opened my copy of Now Is Gone and saw that Geoff used my Seven Categories of Social Media post as one of the forward chapters.

Before receiving the book, I had planned on doing a book review, but given that Geoff incorporated much of my thinking in parts of the book, I thought it would be better to tell you what I learned from the book instead.

Begin with Strategy

I appreciate Geoff's strategic way of thinking. The most important thing that I took away from the book is that before engaging in social media a company must make a series of decisions about resources, culture and transparency, rather than a rush to tactical concerns. He even suggests that some companies may not be social media ready.

Build Value to Become Relevant

The enduring principle of Now is Gone is to build value for your community. Chapter three, Building a New Media Effort, might as well have been called Building Value, because he outlines how to affect the online community by adding value. Geoff also suggests having an editorial mission and creating outstanding content, an idea first forwarded in the excellent book, The New Rules of PR and Marketing by David Meerman Scott.

Chapter four was my favorite because it puts the community front-and-center. Part of the reason PR manages to screw up so royally is because we fail to put the interests of the people who buy our products or services before our own need to get some press clippings or online impressions. Rare is the effort that seeks to build something (usually content) of value for our customers that are looking to interact online. As the contributing author to the book, Brian Solis adds his thesis that Participation is Marketing.

The later chapters in the book add an excellent section on technology and its impact on marketing, advertising and public relations. Sprinkled throughout the book are a series of case studies that run the gamut from small to Fortune 500 companies. Geoff caps off the book with his Seven Principles of Social Media.

The book also contains interviews with well-known marketing and PR bloggers Shel Holtz, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Defren, Laura Ries and Scott Baradell.

A Few Gems from Now Is Gone

* "Where social media shines is creating relationships, which is the first step to customer acquisition and the reinforcement of customer retention," an interview with Toby Bloomberg of the Diva Marketing Blog
* Companies must use new and traditional media to become part of their [online] communities...in an honest, relationship-driven way
* The single notion that one message inspires everyone is absolutely ludicrous
* Companies have to be honest, communicate, give as well as take, and be ready for feedback
* [Social Media] forces high-ranking officials to jump back into customer relations

A Few Caveats

Now is Gone was written and rushed to market in much less than a year. As such, it is highly relevant but suffers from the lack of a good editor. The nature of social media has made it much harder (and infinitely more stressful) for authors to get a timely book out that is also a masterpiece.

Additionally, I am not a big fan of the term "PR 2.0." I believe that the technology has enabled the communication process but shouldn't supplant it and terms that conjure up releases of software don't belong in most business environments. Of course, I generally don't practice in tech, so that might be my hang-up.

If you love perfect syntax and grammar, then Now is Gone, or for that matter this and most blogs, may not be for you. If that last sentence bothered you than this recommendation is for you. I wouldn't let a few typos stand between you and Geoff's excellent book on how businesses should strategically engage in social media.

Unfortunately Now is gone is not worth buying. It's a book that should have been a pamphlet. The essence of the book is barely a chapter's worth of meaningful material. The book belabors the same point over and over and yet provides little insight into the greater media landscape. I found the book to be a painful read and yet I slogged my way through more out of my own dedication to the topic than the hopes of finding something meaningful. The most interesting part of the book is the last chapter which is a series of interviews with other people. Again, it is from these interview that the author draws much of the material for the book.

If you are truly interested in the topic of social network's impact on media and society check out "Groundswell" published by Harvard Business Press.

Geoff Livingston's Now Is Gone is a must read for those business people who want to stay out in front in marketing and communications with their customers. This is a primer that explains the importance and the value of social media. As a business person whose use of social media is responsible for 40% of my business growth in the past year, I urge you to read this book and to begin to imagine how Social Media can be part of your strategic plan.

The world is changing fast.

The marketing principles are the same, but the implementation has got to be different.

For a period of time during the last century, big budgets and mass media gave us the illusion of control, we knew that we couldn't force people to talk about us but hoped they would talk about what we planted in the conversation.

Today, that illusion is gone. Customers have more ways than ever to bury you if you don't treat them right.

The good news is, if you treat them right, join the conversation that they WANT to have with you, you can leverage this free power to more profits.

Read "Now is Gone" and stop hanging on to those illusion.

I met Geoff Livingston, author of the new-ish book Now is Gone, at BlogOrlando back in September. He was a great guy, very passionate about his work, so I was excited to read his new book.

The key word here is "quick". This book is a fast, easy read; something most business books don't tend to be. I'm generally a slower reader than most, so the idea of reading a business book cover to cover typically makes my brain hurt. When I started reading this book, however, I was surprised how fast I was making it through. For a book meant to help people understand the basics, this is an admirable trait.

Each chapter in the book is broken up into nice chunks, each with it's own header. This really helps quicker reading, as well as "in and out access" (being able to pick it up, read a few pages between meeting, and put it down again... rinse, repeat). The last 50 pages or so is a collection of interviews with industry interviews that Geoff recycled from his blog. These interviews add a huge amount of credibility and reality to the content you've just read in the rest of the book.

The only real issue I have with this book is that it feels a bit rough in its writing (style and editing). Not so much that it's hard to read, but enough that it might be a hit to credibility to some readers. It's not surprising that this issue exists, considering that the time-to-market of this book was tiny...which means that the content is also extremely fresh and relevant. All in all, I'd far rather see a fresh book than a perfect book.

If you're looking to put a book in front of a client/colleague/executive that helps them understand what this social media space is all about and why they need to pay attention to it, this is a fantastic place to start. Great work, Geoff!

Many senior executives feel out of the loop with social marketing - they don't understand its application, have privacy concerns and think that it's addressing a younger demographic. What they aren't listening to is the conversation that their customers are trying to have.

I've been giving copies of Geoff Livingston's "Now Is Gone" away to both clients and my senior management - it educates the reader in a straightforward, non-patronizing way, while giving great insight and direction on navigating this new marketing reality.

As someone who is also creating/executing social media strategies for clients, it has tremendous value to me. I find myself rereading certain sections to help me refocus on the basic principles of community building when I'm caught up in a new project.

Both Geoff Livingston's and Brian Solis's (who wrote Now Is Gone's killer introduction - "Engage of Die" indeed!) blogs are on my daily must-read lists (as well as the other media they both produce) and the value that they offer through their various channels is focused in the writing of this book.

By page 2 of the introduction by Brian Solis, I knew I was in for a great read. Geoff Livingston's engaging, authoritative new book provides a comprehensive overview of social media's impact on the marketing landscape, particularly with regard to public relations and advertising.

Drawing upon a mix of expert interviews, well researched posts from the blogosphere and case studies, Geoff traces the evolution of marketing from a top-down, message-controlled medium to one in which participation is marketing. He predicts the rise of a new type of CMO - the Community Management Officer, who will have responsibility for "fostering online communities and conversations with them."

Not long ago I came across some research that claimed most marketers don't read marketing blogs. If that's the case, they're ignoring them at their own professional peril. Read this book and you'll understand why.

Organizations have lost control of the conversation. People increasingly turn to peers for opinions, news and even entertainment. Empowered by powerful new tools and social networks that are not bound by geography, the people formerly known as "the audience" are now in control. Instead of businesses trying to find customers, this time businesses are trying to play catch-up with their customers and that fundamentally changes the Public Relations game. The problem is most organizations don't know how to market through social media. Recognizing that opportunity, Geoff Livingston, a well respected blogger whose PR firm has real world experience applying social media principles to businesses, has taken the time to distill that experience into a set of ideas others can use.

In his new book, now is gone, Livingston discusses the general strategic principles and major aspects of social network marketing, providing executives with a primer to begin their effort.

The introduction (written by Brian Solis) does a great job of educating the reader about the new realities of marketing in the age of the hyper-connected, empowered consumer. Over the following chapters, Livingston discusses the increasing role of new media in consumers' lives and helps the reader understand the basic principles of marketing effectively using social media. What makes this book so useful is that Livingston uses his background in traditional PR to explain these principles using terminology and strategies familiar to traditional marketers. Throughout the book, Livingston uses real world examples to illustrate successes and failures.

now is gone is a great tool for organizations who are ready to start participating in their communities. Are you ready? Chances are your competitors are. What are you waiting for? After all, now really is gone!

With the Internet continuing to evolve at a dizzying pace, where six months can feel like six years, most printed books about new media are outdated by the time they hit bookstore shelves. One published back in 2007 should, by all rights, be completely worthless at this point.

That Geoff Livingston's now is gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs still holds up is a testament to his wisely focusing on "social media principles rather than tactics" and offering a practical take on the opportunities and challenges new media technologies have introduced to the marketing mix.

While there is nothing particularly revelatory here that any savvy marketing professional shouldn't already be familiar with, most will appreciate its recognition of social media as a fundamental piece of the marketing mix, part of a long-term strategy tied to a company's core values, and not a short-term tactic tied to the latest new shiny du jour.

now is gone fulfills its stated mission of being a primer on new media for key decision-makers, making it a perfect resource to pass along to executives who simply don't "get" it when it comes to marketing, traditional or social. Livingston never talks down to the reader -- something many new media evangelists are guilty of -- and he keeps things relatively high-level and practical with case studies spotlighting specific initiatives, covering the most important fundamentals in the second and third chapters, "New Media Ready?" and "Building a New Media Effort."

Any executive should appreciate the mix of personal insights complemented by commentary and experiences from the variety of industry professionals quoted and interviewed; that he consistently ties everything back to fundamental strategic planning and return on investment is the real clincher.

A great addition to any business or marketing bookshelf.

For many business and PR people, the new Web is seen as a new medium for the same old message. What Livingston is trying to do is to say "Not so fast." The book introduces the new Web world for marketing and PR people, explaining how the new Web 2.0 users are not looking to be widely marketed TO but rather marketed WITH, as active participants. The author makes the case that the old way of publicity is fading fast, and the new marketing venues break the rules learned in business school. The message is now interactive with the consumer a vital part of the process, not just as the end recipient. Because change is scary, the book tries to explain not only what is to be done in new ways today, but why. The target is the business person currently working with PR and marketing giving basic directions for success so that the PR person and business executives can work together to succeed in the new Web 2.0 world. The book is not exhaustive, but it does cover a good introductory ground for the marketing field, and serves as a launching point for further exploration of new PR.