Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Recommend This!

So, by now fellow readers know that I've co-authored a legit business book with Jason Thibeault called, Recommend This!

Personally, I think you'll enjoy reading it, and you'll find it valuable. I hope so.  It was a lot of work to write it, and we have no motivation other than to help you.

JT and I won't see a dime from the project, but that was never the point.  We wrote it because we had to, we had something to say, which we thought was valuable.  Its like an itch in the middle of your back that you can't quite reach. It drives you crazy until you find a tree to rub up against.  Well, for us, the book was our tree.

Now that the book is done, that itch is better, but another one has crept up between our shoulder blades - this one is a little harder to reach, and only you can scratch it.  We want people to read the damn thing - argue about it - curse us out, or shout our praises. Doesn't matter. The only way to scratch this is not be ignored.


This is our art.  We toiled over it, fought about it, sweated deadlines, chased after permissions, the list is endless. All simply to help people, to teach, to inspire, to challenge. What a damn shame if no one discovers it.

The theme and teachings of the book are both simple and deep.  We explore the facets of human interaction that form relationships in the real world, and translate them into strategies businesses can implement in the digital world to build raving fans who love them and recommend them to others. Simple.

We also delve deep into the value of the vast networks of digital relationships that businesses can and must develop using digital technology.  Do you know what your network is worth?  Of course not, no one does. But we have created a method to measure it, and a metric we call the Relawatt.  (ok, kitschy but it works).

Using our model, you can measure and manage the value of your network of relationships - not just one, but all of them. You know who is most valuable, who to focus on, who to ignore - and you can feed this info into your marketing automation, personalization, and other engagement management systems. It's cool, and very valuable stuff.

We've also given you nine specific relationship elements that you must optimize to effectively build online relationships. The way we devised this is pretty simple - we observed organizations that had built great face to face relationships and figured out what makes them tick. Then we translated those core relationship tenets into specific actionable steps you must take to build loyal, loving, devoted, caring fans online.  On one hand, these are obvious, on the other they are ground-breaking (and for the most part, you will find you are not doing them today.)

Look - I could blather on for 50,000 words about this...in fact, I already did.  In the book.  So I will cut and run here - please read it.  I don't care whether you buy it, get it at the library, or borrow it. I just want you to experience what we experienced in the discovery process.  I want to help you build better online relationships, build your networks, build your business, or church, or political party, or even your stupid government healthcare takeover.  For me, its all about sharing what we learned, so you too can learn.

Of course, I hope you like it, and benefit. If you don't that's ok, too.  Either way, tell us why so we can do better on the next book, and the next after that.

Recommend This! is available for pre-ordering now on Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/dp/1118836693



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