Jeffrey Gitomer’s newest book, Social Boom: How to Master Business Social Media (Pearson Education as FT Press: 2011), comes at a time when the debate about the value and uses of social media for salespeople is reaching a crescendo. So far 2011 has been as much or more about debating the value of social media as it has been about using social media.
Gitomer refuses to participate in the debate—he flatly states that social media is a critical tool for all salespeople and that they must learn how to use it effectively. No debate; no argument; just fact as far as Gitomer is concerned.
Alright, so the premise of the book is that you must participate in social media. The question is then, what do you do and how do you do it?
As is typical with a Gitomer book which is short and has a great deal of white space making it quick and easy to read, he tells you what you need to do but doesn’t put a tremendous amount of flesh on the bones.
Social Boom covers most of the main social media platforms from LinkedIn to Facebook to Twitter to YouTube to what he considers the glue that holds the social media effort together—one’s blog.
Although the book is typically short and each subject is covered quickly and in brief, Social Boom is a really fine primer for anyone wondering about how to enter the social media world or how to finally make sense of what they’ve been trying to do with social media. Gitomer’s guidance is both solid and spot on.
As valuable as Gitomer’s insights and guidance on social media is, his letting us see how he conducts his own social media campaign.
No rational person who knows who Jeffrey Gitomer is will argue that he is an absolute master at promotion. He knows not only how to promote himself and his material, he knows where to promote it. If he, an absolute master of marketing and promotion, is taking social media seriously, doesn’t it make sense that you take a serious look at what social media might mean for you?
Throughout the book Gitomer relates how he uses social media and why he does what he does—and he wants you to follow his example in order for you to create and develop your reputation as an expert.
How does he do this? A couple of examples:
- Go to twitter and you’ll find thousands of men and women posting quotes. Almost all of these quotes are from well known figures such as Churchill, Ziglar, Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, etc. Gitomer’s quotes? You won’t find him quoting Joan of Arc or Dante. Gitomer quotes only Gitomer. Why? His object is to reinforce his position as the expert, not someone else’s. His advice is that you do the same.
- Gitomer discusses his Ace of Sales website several times in the book including a short chapter towards the end of the book. Blatant advertising? Yes. Just blatant advertising? Not at all—and it is another behavior of his to mimic.
Certainly the chapter on Ace of Sales is marketing, but he can do it because it fits and adds value to the discussion. He is taking sales (selling Ace of Sales), turning it into education (giving a platform that will help you learn the ropes and quickly establish a social media presence), and turning it back into selling (recommending you not only take a look at the site but that you subscribe).
The lesson to be learned? Just as it makes sense to pay attention and mimic what the top sellers do, it makes sense to mimic what one of the best promoters does. Establish yourself as an expert, turn your selling into education and then turn it back to selling. And there are certainly more lessons to be learned from the way Jeffrey works his own social media campaign as well.
If you’re thinking about whether to get involved with social media or if you’re just not sure how to use it, pick up a copy of Social Boom. Even if you think you’ve got it figured out, you’d be well served to pick it up to learn more about how Gitomer became and is Gitomer—then do the same for yourself.
