If You Want to Be a Social Media Rockstar, You Have to Read this New Book

*I was given a free copy of this book to review, but all opinions are my own; I would never recommend a book to you that I didn't love!* 

This week marks the launch of Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick's new book, The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users. I can't wait to gush to you about how much I love it! 

In a world where your business can't succeed without a good online presence, I was afraid I was entering the game a bit late. 

I knew that my photography and my writing business possibilities would benefit from the amazing networking possibilities of this social-media world. Problem was, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. (You're talking to the girl who seriously resisted a personal facebook page just got a twitter account like 2 months ago!)

If you're anything like me, then you are too busy (or intimidated or confused) to sift through the Internet on all the do's and dont's of social media. But if you own a business, you NEED to understand how to use this (mostly) free form of marketing!

That's where The Art of Social Media sweeps in to save the day.

Guy and Peg have helped demystify Twitter for me, and they've given me practical tips to make me feel more confident as I balance the spinning plates of Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram to help grow my site traffic and get my voice heard.

I understand better the power of effective hashtags.

I have a list of lame rookie mistakes to avoid.

I know the most effective times to post.

I feel empowered and organized when I approach my social media platforms.

I am "meeting" new people and making important social media connections that have already benefited my business.

All these things are because of this book, and I just know that they will snowball into huge results for my business ventures.

I haven't quite taken the jump, yet, but I have been challenged to be bold and fearlessly active on social media thanks to Guy and Peg's stats on visibility. So if you follow me on Twitter, you might get annoyed by the frequency of repeated posting, but hey chill, I'm trying to reach the world here! 

(Seriously though, I have regular readers in 5 different time zones!)

I love the edgy no-nonsense way that Guy talks to his audience. For example, when discussing the huge body of "research" on SEO (search engine optimization) he says, "There are three thousand computer science PhDs at Google trying to make each search relevant, and then there's you trying to fool them. Who's going to win?" Fair point, Guy, fair point.

This book is also funny! There were times I was laughing so hard I'm like "this is awesome - a book for 'work' that's also relieving stress by being an enjoyable read!"

So besides the goldmine of invaluable information, it's pee-your-pants hilarious at times. I call that a win!

Guy and Peg have given me the tools I need to make social media work for me, rather than me feeling like I'm drowning in tweets and hashtags and pins and getting nowhere. I am confident that their book will continue to be a helpful reference as I work to master the ways I can make Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest help me grow my business. I've got my eye on Flickr next, but I'm trying not to be too greedy ;-)

If you use social media to promote your business, service, product, or events, then this book is for you. Buy it today!

It was just released on Amazon {my affiliate link here} so at least make sure Santa slips it under your tree this year!

Twenty Days of Blogging, Ten More to Go: You've GOT to Check Out This Challenge

You may or may not have noticed that I'm on a bit of a blogging binge lately.

Today marks day 20 of the FREE 30 Day Blogging Challenge that I've joined!  

Sarah Arrow of Sark e-Media is an amazing UK blogger who loves blogging enough to have a passion to share her wealth of knowledge with others... for free! 

All you do is sign up here, and you will get 30 daily emails from Sarah about blogging. Sometimes the emails have post links with even more info. And you can either take her thoughts to launch your own post for the day, or you can post about whatever you want and file her ideas for later (I have a blogging Pinterest board that's exploded in the past 20 days!) 

Then you throw your post up in the group on facebook to get credit and feedback. 

It's been really cool to find new bloggers whose work I really love. And to hear their kind words about my own posts has been so great!

And Sarah is like the blogging "mother hen" who's always at the ready to answer any and every question.

I'll admit, there were a few down days where I didn't want to blog or didn't know what to blog about or didn't have time... you get the point. Lily and I have been sick this past week and even so, I've pushed through. Not every post has been a gem, but I'm still proud that I haven't missed a day!

The challenge has broken me out of my comfort zone about blogging regularly... it's actually not as difficult as I thought to blog daily. And although I don't plan to keep up the daily word-vomit, I have learned a ton just by having that pressure to blog every day!

So if you have a blog or even the slightest inkling that you want to blog, I can't recommend this challenge enough! 

It's been a fabulous tool to get me jump-starting a more serious plan to provide YOU, my dear sweet readers, with great content.  

I realize the importance of a great content-plan and I have started a "diary" of posts so that I can map my content out weeks in advance. I understand better how to network with social media, provide better calls to action, promote my blog post over the course of the day, and utilize time-blocking to be more effective when I work on the computer. 

All this thinking about blogging has got me coming up with more and more and MORE blog ideas! 

Sarah's emails, posts, prompts, and the Facebook group have been a huge inspiration! I'm totally on a roll and I can't wait to see how these many lessons and ideas will help me grow my blog even more!

I'm literally exploding with ideas, here! 

So fellow bloggers, I challenge you to Sarah's challenge!!! 

Especially if you use your blogging (or want to use it) to grow your business presence in an online world, you’ve got to check it out! 

And are you on the fence about blogging? 

Have a blog that you've neglected as of late? Then consider this: the world can benefit from hearing your unique voice! 

In the book Blogging for Creatives, Robin quotes the CEO of BlogHer, Inc... when asked if there are just too many blogs? Lisa Stone replied, 

"It's a bit like asking are there too many movies. No, I don't think there are too many blogs - I'm not sure there are enough good ones!"

So that's my gushing review of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge. Make sure to check it out! It's definitely a challenge, but one well worth the effort!

Sign up today! Or share with a budding blogger you love! 


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Here are the links to Blogging for Creatives, Crush It, and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook These are books I've read recently about blogging and social media which I highly recommend. If you follow these affiliate links, I will be compensated for your purchase at to cost to you. Thanks!