Adam Penenberg’s lively book opens a window to all of our futures…
–Ken Auletta, author of Googled: The End of the World as We Know It

If you want to understand all things viral, this is the place to start. Penenberg’s reporting gives us a ringside seat for some of the biggest viral success stories in history, from Tupperware to Ning.
–Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

One of the most astounding things about the Web age is how the best advertising is often no advertising at all. Penenberg masterfully explains how this works with case studies of products that were designed to spread. Every product can use a dose of this technique; this is the book to get to learn how.
–Chris Anderson, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price

In tight, engaging prose, Adam captures the essence of the ever-scaling power of the virus. It’s not just for geeks anymore.


–Seth Godin, author of Tribes

Penenberg discovers the perpetual motion machine for business and marketing… Buy this book. Catch a virus. Make a fortune.
–Jeff Jarvis

Penenberg has unlocked the secret to the most successful digital businesses. An indispensable read.
–Robert Safian, Editor-in-Chief, Fast Company

Instead of entrusting your business to a guru with an agenda and a ghostwriter, you should be turning to a pro journalist like Adam Penenberg, who understands the way media and money interact, has the critical faculty to engage with these phenomena in an unbiased fashion, and the technical facility to explain them to you in an entirely engaging, informative, and actionable way.
–Douglas Rushkoff, author of Media Virus and Life Inc: How the world became a corporation and how to take it back.

Here’s something you may not know about today’s Internet. Simply by designing your product the right way, you can build a flourishing business from scratch. No advertising or marketing budget, no need for a sales force, and venture capitalists will flock to throw money at you.

Many of the most successful Web 2.0 companies, including MySpace, YouTube, eBay, and rising stars like Twitter and Flickr, are prime examples of what journalist Adam L. Penenberg calls a viral loop–to use it, you have to spread it. After all, what’s the sense of being on Facebook if none of your friends are? The result: Never before has there been the potential to create wealth this fast, on this scale, and starting with so little.

In this game-changing must-read, Penenberg tells the fascinating story of the entrepreneurs who first harnessed the unprecedented potential of viral loops to create the successful online businesses–some worth billions of dollars–that we have all grown to rely on. The trick is that they created something people really want, so much so that their customers happily spread the word about their product for them.

All kinds of businesses–from the smallest start-ups to nonprofit organizations to the biggest multinational corporations–can use the paradigm-busting power of viral loops to enable their business through technology. Viral Loop is a must-read for any entrepreneur or business interested in uncorking viral loops to benefit their bottom line.

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Flip Twitter the bird.
Tell Facebook to f#@% off.
Lose it on LinkedIn.

Somewhere between the advent of Facebook and launching Twitter to the masses, the Internet betrayed us. It allowed pages to be viewed by job interviewers, newsfeeds to be flooded by Aunt Julie, and for constant tweets about what color socks that random girl from the study group is going to wear today.

This book is the hilarious reply all that says: enough is enough. We don’t want to see the pictures from your business trip to Omaha. We don’t want a page-by-page account of what’s going on in Twilight. We definitely don’t want a virtual drink!

When you can’t fix the problem, fix the blame. And since there’s no way in 2.0-hell that you can put an end to the bastardization of the Book, you may as well have a good laugh while pointing the finger at those who ruined their online experience. more info

“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

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Profit from Facebook!

High-Impact, Low-Cost Social Marketing That Works!

With more than 80,000,000 affluent, savvy members, Facebook is today’s fastest-growing marketing opportunity! But traditional marketing methods won’t work here. In Facebook Marketing, best-selling author Steven Holzner reveals new social marketing techniques that do work, and shows you exactly how to make the most of them. Using true case studies, Holzner introduces powerful new techniques from today’s smartest Facebook marketers…and helps you avoid pitfalls that can cost you money and credibility. No matter what business you’re in, you’ll learn how to create bottom-up, “viral” Facebook marketing programs that achieve maximum results at minimum cost!

• Crafting your Facebook profile for maximum impact
• Getting into the Facebook community: crucial dos and don’ts
• Joining the right Facebook Groups—or starting your own
• Creating a Facebook blog that attracts paying customers
• Promoting products and services with free Facebook Marketplace classifieds
• Hosting your own Facebook events: from company picnics to concerts
• Successfully advertising on Facebook, without overspending
• Promoting your business within today’s most popular Facebook applications
• Tracking the results of your advertising
• Using brand-new viral video marketing techniques
• Driving even more Web traffic to your Facebook pages
• Building your own Facebook applications

Introduction 1

1 Targeting Your Profile 5

    Welcome to Facebook Marketing 5

    Welcome to Facebook 7

    Getting Started with Facebook 8

    The Profile Tab 12

        Across the Top 13

        The Search Bar 15

        Name, Photo, Networks, and Status 18

        The Mini-Feed Section 19

        The Friends and Friends in Other Networks Sections 19

        The Photos Section 21

        The Groups Section 23

        The Information Section 24

        The Education and Work Section 24

        The Gifts Section 25

        The Wall Section 25

        Editing Your Profile 25

        Setting Profile Privacy 27

    The Friends Tab 31

        Searching for Friends 31

        Managing Your Friends 33

        Creating Friend Lists 35

    The Inbox Tab 37

        Reading Messages 38

        Avoiding Spam 39

        Reading Notifications 39

        Composing Messages 40

    Getting Help 41

2 Facebook Groups 45

    Welcome to Facebook Groups 45

        Messaging Your Members 46

        A Word About Spam 46

    Joining Facebook Groups 47

        What Groups Are Available? 47

        Taking a Look at a Group 51

        How Do I Join a Group? 54

        Which Groups Can I Join? 54

    Creating Your Own Facebook Groups 55

        Creating Your Group 57

        Customizing Your Group 58

        Inviting Friends to Join Your Group 61

        Seeing Your New Group 65

    Managing Your New Group 67

        Deleting a Group 70

3 Creating Your Own Pages 71

    Welcome to Facebook Pages 71

    Pages from a Marketing Perspective 72

        Viral Marketing with Pages 73

        Page Authenticity 74

    Finding Pages 75

        Searching for Pages 76

        Browsing Pages by Type 78

        Browsing All Pages 79

    Becoming a Fan of a Page 80

    Examining a Page 83

    Sharing a Page 85

    Creating Your Own Page 88

    Examining Your New Page 92

    Editing Your Page 94

    Updating Your Fans 98

    Promoting Your Page 99

4 Hosting Your Own Facebook Events 101

    Welcome to Facebook Events 101

    All About Facebook Events 102

    Checking Out Your Friends’ Events 103

    Taking a Look at an Event 104

        The Information Section 106

        The Description Section 107

        The Other Information Section 109

        The Photos,Video, and Posted Items Section 109

        The Confirmed Guests Section 109

        The Other Invites Section 109

        The Wall 110

        The Event Type and Admins Section 110

    Adding an Event to Your Event List 110

    Browsing for Events 113

    Searching for Events 113

    Creating an Event 115

    Customizing an Event 117

        Uploading the Image for the Event 118

        Setting Event Options 118

        Setting Event Access 119

        Inviting People to Your Event 119

    Seeing Your Event 122

    Managing and Publicizing Your Event 124

        Message All Guests 1… more info

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Classifieds are OUT.
It’s time to LINK IN!

Finding the job of your dreams the old way just doesn’t happen anymore. If you want great pay, great benefits, and great satisfaction in your career, you must begin social networking.

How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks helps you take full advantage of the bounty of opportunities to be found on the most popular sites. Online job-search experts Brad and Debra Schepp take you step-by-step through the process of joining networks, creating effective online profiles, and successfully . . .

• Marketing yourself
• Building a network of business contacts
• Connecting with employers
• Getting recommendations
• Finding new leads

Mailing a résumé and hoping for the best simply puts your fate in the hands of others. To stay in the running, you have to take control by keeping your information fresh and current—in real time. Online social networking is the only way to go, and this forward-looking guide is the best way to get there.

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