
FIR Reviews
Reviews of books dealing with PR and online communications
Thursday, February 02, 2012
FIR Book Club #1: “Social Media Strategist” Author Christopher Barger
Christopher Barger was the guest author for the inaugural installment of the FIR Book Club, hosted by FIR Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew.
Christopher is senior vice president, Global Programs for Voce Communications, a Porter Novelli company. Before arriving at Voce, Christopher was director of global social media at General Motors, building the company’s social media program and leading its presence across multiple social networks. His work to repair GM’s reputation in the social web earned him PR News’ “Social Media Leader of the Year” award in 2010. Christopher also previously managed social media initiatives and corporate communications for IBM, where he was designated “Blogger-in-Chief.”
Christopher’s book, “The Social Media Strategist,” was reviewed on FIR.
This podcast was recorded live on BlogTalk Radio.
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This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
FIR Book Review: Intern Nation by Ross Perlin
Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, by Ross Perlin, is reviewed by guest reviewer Kris Gallagher. From the book description:
“Every year, between one and two million Americans work as interns. They famously shuttle coffee in a thousand newsrooms, congressional offices, and Hollywood studios, but they also deliver aid in Afghanistan, build the human genome, and pick up garbage. They are increasingly of all ages, and their numbers are growing fast—from 17 percent of college graduates in 1992 to 50 percent in 2008. A huge and increasing number of internships are illegal under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and this mass exploitation saves firms more than $600 million each year. Interns enjoy no workplace protections and no standing in courts of law—let alone benefits like health care. Ross Perlin has written the first exposé of this world of drudgery and aspiration. In this witty, astonishing, and serious investigative work, Perlin takes the reader inside both boutique nonprofits and megacorporations such as Disney (which employs 8,000 interns at Disney World alone). He profiles fellow interns, talks to academics and professionals about what unleashed this phenomenon, and explains why the intern boom is perverting workplace practices in locations all around the world. “
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Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy by Ross Perlin
Publisher: Verso
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published May 2011
ISBN-10: 1844676862
ISBN-13: 978-1844676866
(No Kindle version)
Purchase at Amazon US, Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
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This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Friday, January 20, 2012
FIR Book Review: YouTube for Business, by Michael Miller
YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business, by Michael Miller, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Review editor Bob LeDrew. From the book description:
“YouTube’s 120 million viewers are a tempting target for any business, large or small. How can you tap into the potential of YouTube to promote your business and sell your products or services? YouTube marketing is easy enough that any business can do it. All you need is some low-cost video equipment—and a winning strategy. After you figure out the right type of videos to produce, you can use YouTube to attract new customers and better service existing ones. That’s where this book comes in. The valuable information and advice in YouTube for Business help you make YouTube part of your online marketing plan, improve brand awareness, and drive traffic to your company’s website—without breaking your marketing budget.”
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YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business by Michael Miller
Publisher: Que
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published January 2012 (2nd edition)
ISBN-10: 078974726X
ISBN-13: 978-0789747266
Purchase at Amazon US (Kindle edition), Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK (Kindle edition).
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
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This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Monday, January 16, 2012
FIR Book Review: The Social Media Strategist, by Christopher Barger
The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out, by Christopher Barger, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Review editor Bob LeDrew. From the book description:
“In today’s fast-paced professional climate, large companies are learning that launching a website and taking a wait-and-see approach to engaging customers is not enough. Competition is fierce, and those who master the social media space are the ones who come out on top. There is greater urgency than ever before to establish a vibrant social media program—and it all starts with a key strategist who can best organize and leverage all of the organization’s resources to cut through the bureaucracy and get real-time results. This is where The Social Media Strategist comes in. Before tackling specific social media programs, you first have to get your own organization—and everyone in it—on board with making social media a business strategy priority. Christopher Barger, the award-winning former social media director at General Motors and IBM’s former “blogger-in-chief,” describes all the challenges particular to getting a comprehensive social media program off the ground in a large firm.”
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The Social media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out by Christopher Barger
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published January 2012
ISBN-10: 0071768254
ISBN-13: 978-0071768252
Purchase at Amazon US (Kindle edition), Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK (Kindle edition).
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
FIR Book Review: The Like Economy, by Brian Carter
The Like Economy: How Businesses Make Money with Facebook, by Brian Carter, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Review editor Bob LeDrew. From the book description:
“Your customers aren’t just ‘on’ Facebook: Nowadays, that’s where they’re most engaged. That’s where you need to reach them. Marketing on Facebook is no longer optional—but the field is cluttered with hype, foolishness, and ‘fake’ solutions that don’t deliver results. This book gives you what you really need: a complete, proven, step-by-step plan for maximizing your ROI on Facebook.”
Get this podcast:
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The Like Economy: How Businesses Make Money With Facebook by Brian Carter
Publisher: Que
Hardcover, 300 pages
Published December 2011
ISBN-10: 0789749068
ISBN-13: 978-0789749062
Purchase at Amazon US (Kindle edition), Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK (Kindle edition).
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Friday, December 30, 2011
FIR Book Review: ROI of Social Media, by Guy R. Powell, Steven W. Groves and Jerry Dimos
The ROI of Social Media: How to Improve the Return on Your Social Marketing Investment, by Guy R. Powell, Steven W. Groves and Jerry Dimos, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Reviews editor Bob LeDrew. From the Altimeter Group Partner Jeremiah Owyang:
"We know that for 2011 and the foreseeable future, ROI is one of the top priorities for the social media strategist at many companies, ROI of Social Media is the right book at the right time as social media strategist are needing to work the various department within the enterprise and show that the investments in social tactics and tools are a good investment. The 15 case studies contained in this book will help the social media strategist understand how global brands are successfully using social marketing to connect to their audience."
Get this podcast:
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The ROI of Social Media: How to Improve the Return on Your Social Marketing Investment by Guy R. Powell, Steven W. Groves and Jerry Dimos
Publisher: Wiley
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published March 2011
ISBN-10: 0470827416
ISBN-13: 978-0470827413
Purchase at Amazon US (Kindle edition), Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK (Kindle edition).
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
FIR Book Review: Humanize, by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant
Humanize, by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Reviews editor Bob LeDrew. From the Amazon.com description:
"Knowing the tools of social media is a must for successful marketing these days, but the real promise of social media is the way it can teach us a whole new way of doing business. Humanize takes the principles underlying social media’s growth and applies them to the way we lead and manage our organizations. Leading organizational consultants Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant help you change your organization, from the culture down to individual behavior, in ways that make it more human—and more effective. Drawing on their extensive experience, Notter and Grant help you make management innovation real and doable."
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Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant
Publisher: Que
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published September 2011
ISBN-10: 10789741121
ISBN-13: 978-0789741127
Purchase at Amazon US (Kindle edition), Amazon Canada, or Amazon UK (Kindle edition).
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future reviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Book Review is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.











