Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

This excellent book is aimed at the 99% of the business world who are faintly befuddled by the strange world of youtube and delicious that they find themselves living in. It's aimed at plumbers, hairdressers, lawyers and oil company executives; at people in large corporations and small businesses alike who are dimly aware that their working lives are about to change - indeed, have already started to change in disconcerting ways - and who don't know what to do.

The premise of the book is that the old marketing is dead or dying. Gone are the days where simply throwing money at print or radio advertising guaranteed succees. Instead, you need to engage your customers. Give them reasons to come to visit your web site, and once they are there give them reasons to come back again and again. Turn your web site into a hub, stuffed with remarkable blog posts, videos and interviews. As the authors put it (they have a pleasing way with words) "ten years ago, your marketing effectiveness was a function of the width of your wallet. Today, your marketing effectiveness is a function of the width of your brain."

"Inbound marketing" is clearly - and explicitly - inspired by authors such as Seth Godin and David Meerman Scott. But where this book differs is in its emphasis on hands-on advice. Not only is it inspirational, but it's also brimming with practical wisdom. Sure, it talks about the power of Twitter. But then it gives you advice on how to choose a twitter handle. Sure, it talks about the rise of the superstar blogger and the death of the press release. But then it talks about how to decide whether you need a PR agency and, if you do, then how you should hire one. Sure, it stresses that your employees will need to learn new skills if they are to survive in this new world. But then it talks about what those skills are, what steps your employees need to take to get them and how you can track how they're doing. Each chapter contains a checklist of things you should do, right now, to start improving your inbound marketing.

This is no dry textbook. It's full of anecdotes, some from the usual suspects (Whole Foods, Zappos and Barack Obama) but from others too: accounting software, a shutter manufacturer and a PR firm among others. It's well written, and there are cartoons too.

Inbound marketing - get found using Google, social media and blogs is an excellent, mainstream introduction to new marketing. If you want to dip your toes into the cold water of social media then buy a copy. If you know all about social media then you almost certainly know people who need this book. Buy them a copy from Amazon. They'll love you for it.

Inbound marketing argues that the way to get attention is to produce great content and it certainly practises what it preaches. It is not a book about theories by some acadamics trying to push a new theory - its actually a candidly honest guide to the new marketing rules created by the internet from two guys with a great deal of experience who share their knowledge in a very honest book. I particularly liked their honesty about the pros and cons of various social media tools - you could almost sense their exasperation at trying to get content onto the front page of digg only to see it fail. And I laughed at the brutal honesty at times - don't worry about what you put in your tweets at the a start because nobody is going to be reading them at this point....

If you are looking for a book that will allow you to turn your business or idea into the next Internet sensation in 7 days you are not going to find it. But if you accept that it will require sustained effort, and want a book which explains how to market better on the internet (and the examples quoted range from Amex to one-person shops), is full of good advice and gives you a clear path to develop your marketing using the new rules of marketing, this is the book to read.

If you've heard about Facebook, youtube and all the other forms of social networking, but didn't think they were much use for business, then this is the book to change your mind. Written with bitesize chapters and a very readable style, this book gives you a how to do it approach. Was given the book as part of a business course and have been recommending it such much to friends, family and anyone who'll listen - I wish I was on some commission!

A geek free guide to using the internet to drive more customers to your business - and if you haven't got a customer then you haven't got a business