The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue [Paperback]

Shama Kabani (Author), Chris Brogan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2010

Social media is a crucial tool for success in business today. People are already talking about your business using social media, whether you’re using it or not. By becoming part of the conversation, you can start connecting directly to your customers, as well as finding new ones, easily and inexpensively spreading the word about your products or services.

But social media marketing isn’t like traditional marketing-and treating it that way only leads to frustration. Let Shama Hyder Kabani, president of Web marketing firm Marketing Zen and social media expert, teach you the “zen” of social media marketing: how to access all the benefits of social media marketing without the stress!

With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan, The Zen of Social Media Marketing outlines the most popular social media tools, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, and teaches you how to use them, step by step. She provides proven strategies for success from the businesses she works with every day, along with shortcuts and tips to help you make the most of your time and energy.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing is also the last social media guide you’ll ever need: with the physical book you also get access to the exclusive online edition, which includes regular updates and video extras to make sure you’re always on top of the latest in social media.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Highly recommended for anybody with anything to market online including him- or herself." ---Library Journal Starred Review

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Shama Kabani (formerly Hyder) is the founder of The Marketing Zen Group, a full-service online marketing firm that serves clients around the world. Fast Company has dubbed her “an online marketing shaman and a millennial master of the universe.” She holds a Masters degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin. Her Web sites, marketingzen.com and Shama.tv have turned into high-traffic destinations for people looking for advice on how to successfully market their businesses online. Companies of all sizes and the media look to Shama to guide them when it comes to the vast world of social media marketing. She has been named one of the 10 Most Influential and Powerful Women in Social Media and, in 2009, Businessweek honored Shama as one of the Top 25 under 25 entrepreneurs in North America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: BenBella Books; First Edition edition (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935251732
• ISBN-13: 978-1935251736
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Public Relations

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, no-nonsense guide to social media March 22, 2010

By Deborah Mcalister Holland

Format:Kindle Edition

I've been reading social media marketing books for about a year, and most of them over-promise and under-deliver. This one is different. For the first time, I feel like I "get" it.

It's filled with no-nonsense, practical tips that actually work instead of pie-in-the-sky talk about what social media "can" do.

I started reading the ebook on an airplane, and wasn't quite done when the plane landed -- so I made my husband drive, so I could finish it. If you'd ever ridden with my husband, you'd know that meant I just didn't want to stop reading.

If you want a step-by-step guide to what to do -- and what to avoid -- this is the book for you. I've been a marketer for a long time, so I have some habits to unlearn according to this author. She explained why in a way I can understand, so I might actually follow her advice.

138 of 156 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Social Media At it's worst!!! May 20, 2010

By Robert C. Buckingham

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my tenth time reviewing this book! The author has an in with Amazon to take down her bad reviews. This book, in my opinion, has been review stuffed! I find it hard to believe that 44 people decided to write their first book review, and just by LUCK it's the same Book!!! and all 44 people gave it 5 stars!!! WOW! - Note to the author: If you write a good book, you don't have to write (or ask someone to write) unethical reviews!!! Grow up Kid!!!

The subtitle of the book is ...Build Credibility...LOL!

Many sections of the book were not even written by the author, and these so called experts give bad advise! limit the number of people that follow you on twitter, don't use Youtube, and don't worry about SEO! Yea, Great!!!!

I have read over 67 books on social media, and I have to tell you this book is at the bottom! and i've read some bad ones. When it comes to why i don't like it - there are too many things to list, way too many! In my past reviews i went into detail why, but they were just wiped away from amazon for no reason other than the authors influence!

If you want good books on the topic try these because, their written by people who know what their talking because they obtained the knowledge themselves. - help you take steps to reach your goals, - know the topic form a-z, - they don't try to solicit your email every other page, etc-etc

Social Media:

Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan & Dharmesh Shah

Social Media Metrics by Jim Sterne

The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

Twitter Power by Joel Comm

The Facebook Era by Clara Shih

Social Media Marketing an hour a day by Dave Evans

Twitter Marketing for dummies by Kyle Lacy

Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day by Hollis Thomases

SEO:

Search Engine Optimization by Stephen Woessner

Seo Made Simple by Michael H. Fleischner

Other:

KaChing by Joel Comm

Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz

Content Rich by Jon Wuebben

I Need A Killer Press Release: Now What? by Janet Meiners Thaeler

81 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Could Dethrone Claude Hopkins? March 27, 2010

By Stephen M. Wade

Format:Kindle Edition

When I sat down to enjoy Shama Kabani's new book, the Zen of Social Media Marketing, I was expecting to absorb a couple chapters a night during my quest to take my online marketing prowess to the next level.

I read the entire thing in one evening.

Not since Claude Hopkins' 1923 classic Scientific Advertising has a marketing book held my attention so intently. Shama, a lively and personable genius in her own right, didn't see any need to fluff her book up with generalities and useless anecdotes. Rather, every word, every case study, every personal story is crafted to bring the reader into a deeper understanding of how to lay an effective social media marketing foundation.

I like authors who respect my time and give me exactly what I need. Shama does both.

It's no surprise that digital marketing guru Chris Brogan chose to write the book's foreword. Brogan's philosophy of putting people over platforms aligns perfectly with Shama's style of nurturing very real, human relationships through online mediums. She sees the internet as an extension of (not a replacement for!) community and draws on common real world interactions like coffee houses and office-networking events to illustrate her point.

Chapter one is all about the philosophy of online marketing. "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time" is what my mother always says. Shama writes: "online marketing is the art and science of...leveraging the internet to get your message across so that you can move people to action." The message is clear: you don't do social media marketing because your competitors do; you do it because it has the ability to "convert strangers into consumers and consumers into customers."

"Strategy should always come before tactics."

Shama evidently prefers her readers to know where they are going and why they are on the journey before she expends any energy on telling them how to operate the car.

The rest of the book is packed with tactics on how to relate to your audience using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and web video. I pride myself on being a decent online marketer, and even I found myself taking notes on when to engage people through Facebook Groups and when to encourage the following of a Facebook Page. Should I care how many Twitter followers I have? Shama says I should, but not in the ego-stroking way I may be inclined to.

The only disappointment I faced was that my tech-savvy, Star Trek watching side wasn't fed. Not because the material wasn't solid, but because...

Shama speaks the language of small business.

You may not be a marketer; you may sew quilts or manufacture plantation shutters. Shama understands, and she writes with you in mind. Easy to remember acronyms and formulas, like Visability + Credibility = Success, and succinct, numbered checklists will help you implement her recommendations immediately.

I should quit talking before I begin to ramble. The bottom line is: social media marketing is something you, a small business owner, can participate in quite successfully. Shama Kabani's book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing, will show you how.