Guest Post by Angus Parker: Review and Book Giveaway - The New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg

Note from Beth:   I got a review copy.  I read the book.  It rocked.  I was going to write a review and do a book giveaway, but I stumbled upon Wiser Earth blogger Angus Parker's excellent review.   If you'd like to be eligible to win a free copy of Tamar's book, leave a comment explaining why your nonprofit's community rules and your secrets to success in marketing on the social web.   And, if you want to participate in the Nonprofit Social Media community, WeAreMedia, there's a Webinar next week - more here.

We have read a lot of books over the last year that aimed to be the "go to" source for understanding Social Media. Finally, one stands out. Here we review, 'The New Community Rules' by Tamar Weinberg - probably the single most important book to read this year if you are involved in marketing your organization or cause on the web.

Practical, readable and accessible to those just getting starting out in this area, 'The New Community Rules' is sure to become the social media "bible". It starts off with a brief introduction to what social media is, follows with how to set goals, gets into the specifics of what to do, and finishes off with how to measure your results.

Tools touched on include: blogs, microblogging, social networks, social bookmarking, social news, Q&A websites, photography, video, and podcasting. At the end, there is a nice 'Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook' that spells out the dos and dont's of using some of the more popular social media sites. Some points specifically stood out for me. First, Tamar makes it clear that you need to pick and choose which tools to focus on based on your goals and target community - something strangely absent from many other social media books. Then she goes further by spotlighting niche sites that cater to specific audiences, making the point that you can get a lot more exposure with a lot less effort if you use them.

WiserEarth, for example, would fit into that category. Second, she goes into a lot of details on what she calls 'Informational Social Networks' like Wikipedia, Mahalo Answers, and Yahoo Answers which get a lot of traffic and can generate significant ongoing referrals. Finally, since I've never really been able to understand StumbleUpon, a social bookmarking service that we use to great effect at WiserEarth, it was a revelation to read the description in the book. If you have any feedback for Tamar about the book, she is collecting it on her blog: http://www.techipedia.com/contact. Also, you could just drop her a line to let her know how useful you found it. Besides this book, we recommend a number of other social media "must reads":

• We Are Media - a community effort lead by Beth and NTEN to put together an online curriculum for nonprofits using social media. Since its a wiki and frequently updated it won't be obsolete like a book!
• Mobilizing Generation 2.0 by Ben Rigby - a nice summary of social media tools with specifically tailored strategies for the activist / nonprofit community.
• Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky - an oldy (in social media terms) but a goodie, this book is filled with great stories that illustrate the power of social media. It's a helpful frame for starting you web 2.0 exploration.

For More Information on 'The New Community Rules' see: Publisher's website 

Angus is the Program Director of WiserEarth. He blogs at http://blog.wiserearth.org on successful community building. WiserEarth serves the people who are transforming the world. It is a community directory and networking forum that maps and connects non-governmental organizations and individuals addressing the central issues of our day: climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights and more.

Comments

[twitter.com/DawnACrawford]

Wow - what a valuable tool. I hope I win a copy!!!!

My secret for rocking the social webs for the nonprofit I work for - Colorado Children's Immunization Coalition @ImmunizeCOKids - is real relationships. I cultivate real relationships with the people that follow/fan/subscribe us by interacting with them, asking them to post on behalf of our cause and keeping them informed on the latest news. It can seem overwhelming but it's critical for NGOs to build real connections. Our only commodity is people so we have to foster those people on the other end of the social media ID.

Keep on rockin' Beth and crew!

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635132432]

I also hope I win a copy.

I'm a graphic designer, mostly for nonprofit clients, So I've gained a fair amount marketing and design experience within that audience. I just read DK Holland's "Branding for Nonprofits" and it was a revelation at least in terms of imagery and framing the brand story. And how that plays out.

But I know that once you have that framework done (and she talks about how to go about it), you then need as the above comment says to build relationships with your audience, and social media is there to empower and talk with your citizen activist audience. Giving them the tools and the pieces of your brand story to distribute in their networks. While adding their pieces of the narrative. (It's like cooking with food you didn't grow yourself, the meal tells a story not just about the cook, but about all the pieces of the food chain along the way.)

[Adrian Chan]

Beth,

book giveaway -- great idea! And to think a comment is worth a book, well that's showing respect for the reader!

I helped do greatnonprofits.org. We're looking for ways to get around the "five star rating" problem. I've pitched ideas but on limited resources the key will have to be in forms, rather than using social constraints, community norms, etc.

Problem is volunteers are disinclined to post less than a "fab" review and rating of nonprofits they have volunteered for. But of course NPs want constructive feedback, not just outreach by means of social.

We've considered allowing users to send direct feedback through form fields to the non profit, so that any constructive criticism/advice is separated from the NP's public review.

But the rating thing is trickier. For that we have the idea of 3-5 separate ratings (staff, service, effectiveness, etc)... Downside = more to rate. Upside = users less likely to give perfect ratings on all, so perhaps more honest reviews.

Thoughts anyone?

thanks!
adrian

[Jenn Sutherland]

I would love a copy of this book. I just ordered a copy for my Kindle, but of course I can't loan that one out to my boss, who is the one who really could use a primer on social media to help the NPO we work for. Thanks for offering a giveaway!

[twitter.com/musingvirtual]

I work with quite a few nonprofits but the main one that uses a lot of social media is GimpGirl http://www.gimpgirl.com. Our community rules because we are a crowd of women with disabilities who use social media in unique ways to personify our unique spirits, and we get together and meet once a week to do co-counseling and support, and keep connected throughout the week using social media.

Our secret to success in marketing on the social web is really actively participating in the Twitter community: it's been great for us in terms of outreach to people outside the women with disabilities community and in terms of getting new members.

[دست دوم]

I would love a copy of this book.
thanks