 "Groundswell: Excellent book on Social Media" | 2009-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2222HXKWZ2Q5E |
Groundswell is by far the best book I have read on social media.
The authors have researched this area in detail and combine both quantitative and qualitative research.
They present a concept called the social technographic ladder which is a massive help to anyone wondering how to decide what social media strategies might work for their customers or target market. (see [...]) for an intro to the social technographic ladder)
There are also some great case studies from a range of industries |
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| "A Great Book to Learn About and Understand Social Media" | 2009-10-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1CBY0K47T81RG |
Groundswell is a great book to help people understand the revolutionary social technology changes that are occurring, why they are happening, and how to tap into it and transform your business. It's a very interesting read with good information, much of it familiar though, particularly for those already actively involved in social media.
The authors explain that people utilize social media to connect, collaborate, react, organize, and accelerate consumption. They give numerous examples of tools for each of these categories, and explain which of the five primary objectives these tools help companies meet. For example, blogs are effective tools for talking and getting feedback, while ratings, reviews, and online communities help energize the groundswell. In addition, people engage more or less with social media, and their involvement will range from completely inactive to active creators, with several levels of involvement in between.
Thus, planning is a large part of success. The idea is to look at the objectives first, especially since technology constantly evolves, and select appropriate tools that will develop the relationships to get there. The authors introduce a four part planning process that consists of people, objectives, strategy and technology.
Concrete examples and case studies provide additional substance and make the information easily digestible, enabling you to create actionable steps to move your company into the groundswell. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about social media and the steps to take to get involved. |
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 "Great Social Networking Marketing Introductory Book" | 2009-10-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1U9ITC7K34TRO |
The Groundswell is a great introductory book for the topic of online social relationships. If you don't have much experience in the world of social networking is the right book to understand the basic concepts, start learning the jargon and get introduced to some of the most common technologies.
If you are an experienced user of social networking, it will show you look a different angle of the applications you already use. You will see it from the marketer and social researcher point view; this book will show you the most appropriate ways to get your business involved in the groundswell, and it will deepen your knowledge about the type of consumers you can reach with the different technologies.
The most prominent aspect of this book is the social technographics profile. This profile is a proprietary consumer research method of Forrester Research, which focuses on how people use social networks to share their knowledge with others. As a plus the publishers share their blog site where you can get access to general profiles, which might be useful for individuals and companies who can't pay Forrester fees, but want to use the profiles to make decisions.
In addition, the authors use their experiences as consultants to illustrate with cases the scenarios where companies had successfully tapped into the groundswell, as well as unsuccessful attempts. The case studies are short, concise, and easy to read and flow very well in the context of the chapters. It definitely helps put the theory in perspective.
The book has three structural units, the first one is "Understanding the Groundswell" which is the introduction to the topics and research. In the second unit, "Tapping the Groundswell" the authors explain the different techniques available to dip into the groundswell. Finally the third unit "The Groundswell Transforms" explains how the right approach towards internal and external groundswell can transform companies and gives future perspectives for the groundswell.
The only shortcoming I see is that they dedicated only one chapter to the future of the groundswell, I think they should have given it more importance.
All in all, this a great book, loaded with information, nonetheless fun, entertaining and engaging; I recommend it for anyone interested in the "groundswell". |
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| "Groundswell, well worth your time" | 2009-10-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2YXCKKFFCD0JW |
They say you can't judge a book by its cover. But with "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies" I could tell from the start that it was going to be helpful and influential read. The book is as interesting as its title is catchy. When glimpsing over the cover of the book I became immediately intrigued, the title left plenty of room for curiosity, and the simple cover design was unique and eye pleasing. This book at a glance? Two thumbs up.
But more importantly now is what is the Groundswell? The authors, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, are top analysts of Forrester Research. And you can tell they used their expertise in every word written in the book. They described the groundswell in a completely understandable way. The Groundswell is: A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations." They want you to imagine I surge of people working together, like a large wave, to achieve what would traditionally be done in a different, more costly way. And over the span of the 12 chapters in the book they define and explain strategies of using the groundswell to your advantage. Each chapter was titled and placed in its appropriate spot in the book just right, so as you are reading you are basically moving through the steps of actually using the groundswell. The chapters read in this order:
Chapter One: why the groundswell, and why now
Chapter Two: Jujitsu and the Technologies of the Groundswell
Chapter Three: The Social Technographics Profile
Chapter Four: Strategies for Tapping the Groundswell
Chapter Five: Listening to the Groundswell
Chapter Six: Talking with the Groundswell
Chapter Seven: Energizing the Groundswell
Chapter Eight: Helping the Groundswell Support Itself
Chapter Nine: Embracing the Groundswell
Chapter Ten: How Connecting with the Groundswell Transforms Your Company
Chapter Eleven: The Groundswell Inside Your Company
Chapter Twelve: The Future of the Groundswell
Groundswell is almost a necessity for any business person, even outside of the business world it would be beneficial for anyone to flip through all the pages. As you read through the chapters in groundswell, you'll learn that this tide of new technologies that enable customers to have all the power is indeed a scary force. But it's not something that you should try to avoid or suppress. Mainly because attempting to would either make things worse for you or more accurately, be impossible. The point of the book is to get you to not only accept the groundswell, but to embrace it. Plenty of companies have given into the trend and attempted to play along with the groundswell, and many of these are now thriving in it.
Through cleverly written explanations, informative graphs and tables, and in-depth and interesting case studies you'll learn about the technologies that are at the head of the groundswell and how to utilize these to your benefit. The Social Technographics profile will become your new best friend as you realize that to be successful you need to learn who is using what new technology. Once you know where your customers are, Li and Bernoff will with delicacy walk you through the steps of how to actually use the groundswell. To reach your goal you need to first listen to the groundswell, which is essentially accessing social networking sites or blogs, and reading what people are saying about you. Then you can finally start talking to your customers, get on those websites and make a presence. Nothing ever gets done without a little work. And to get this work done faster you need to energize the most excited and positive people within your fanbase. As they gain more influence word of mouth will travel far and soon everyone will be talking about you.
In the end I had to stop and think to myself. The book wasn't anything like what I thought it was going to be, it was more. When I first read what the groundswell actually was and what the point of the book was, I was a little sketchy about how necessary a 250+ page book about it would be. But the authors go so in depth and bring completely new ideas and concepts to light that without reading the book you'd be blindly walking into the swell. They describe everything with expertise and divide the chapters up perfectly. If your are still a little confused about a topic don't fret, flip a couple pages ahead and there will most likely be an interesting case study that will erase any extra confusion. Possibly my favorite part of the book were these case studies. One of the studies discussed was of how CBS cancelled a show that had a huge fanbase. These energized people were so upset that they sent 50,000$ worth of peanuts (a reference to one of the characters of the show) just to keep it on the air. By giving the fans support and a forum for them to collaborate and plot their protest, CBS was able to hear exactly what its customers wanted. The show was rescheduled for further air time, with a 2nd season of 7 episodes airing.
Interesting facts like the Jericho example are what made this book a great read. It wasn't difficult to sit down for hours and continuously read through it. The writing was fun and easy to understand. But in depth enough that you were able to receive gripping information from the people who knew what they were talking about. There were some spots that were far too redundant though, and sometimes the book was tough to follow. But when those times came, you could just read one of the case studies to clear anything upSo my final decision on Groundswell will have to be a very positive one. Go read this book, it'll be the one thing that will help you and your company adapt and thrive in a new and thrilling world. 5 out of 5 stars
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| "Focus on the relationship first, then match the technology." | 2009-10-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: ANILI2GYFAF4X |
Groundswell is relevant in part, because it reminds readers to focus on the relationship first and then match the technology. It is a great place to start if you want to wrap your arms around social networking. The coolest part for me about this book is that it gave me an opportunity to use a bunch of the new media techniques I have recently adopted.
Instead of writing notes on paper or underlining in a hard copy book and then transferring to a computer, I read it on the Kindle and highlighted numerous passages with the highlight tool. The Kindle backs up your highlights to the Amazon cloud which is convenient for saving and cataloging ideas. Then, I used Evernote to save and catalog my highlights and notes from Amazon. At the same time, I wrote this review while reading the book which allowed me to more accurately reflect my feelings. Most importantly, I did all of this conveniently without the benefit of my own computer since my wireless card failed during my reading and I had to borrow another computer |
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| "Managing The Groundswell" | 2009-10-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1VG3AEWFBR23K |
| Groundswell characterizes the Internet and the behavior of crowds which make up the Web. This book provides an interesting discussion on mediums such as blogging and social networking and how they are changing the face of business, the economy, and the world. Although this is written from a corporate perspective I believe this is a worthwhile read for any business owner as the topics discussed are certainly relevant. Highly recommended for those interested in developing their business strategy around the Internet and social technologies. |
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