2 stars for effort. This appears to be a self-published book that at first looks like a good thing. It has a pretty front cover, but that’s where the professionalism ends. It quickly became clear to me when I turned it over that someone did the layout who didn’t know what they were doing. There’s no header on the back, and in the place where it normally would say “about the author” it says “How to Use Social Media for Business” instead, which is weird, and then gives an author bio but nothing about how to use the book – which it shouldn’t have on the back cover anyway, but since it had a header that indicated this information should be there….confusing.
There is no front matter; specifically, no Table of Contents. This is a big MINUS to the book. There is a title page, then an Introduction, but when you read the Introduction it really reads as more of a copyright disclaimer/introduction/how to use the book section all mashed up into one.
Incidentally, it does have some useful information in it, but an editor really would have been able to help with how to lay it out properly. One would think that someone who claims to be an expert on marketing would understand how to...ahem…market, such as putting information about bonus material that a person gets when purchasing this book on the back cover as a selling point, and placing it in such a way as to be more eye catching than where it is placed. But maybe that’s just me. So I looked the book up on Amazon. There are TONS of reviews. I guess the author knows what he is doing when it comes to marketing, because he has managed to garner the coveted reviews that authors seem to have a hard time getting.
Overall, this is not user friendly. Without a Table of Contents, a reader cannot find a section quickly and go to it. The book gives the impression of a random stream of consciousness and looks more like it was printed from someone’s blog posts or internet searches that they pasted together into a document. I’m not saying that the information presented isn’t helpful information, but the way it is presented could’ve been thought out a little better. Perhaps the little hidden gem of the online registration that one gets when purchasing the print version is more user friendly and will be more helpful. There is no doubt that people need guidance in how to best utilize the available social media outlets when marketing their small businesses or products, and anyone willing to share their knowledge on these subjects gets cool points from me, because I know how difficult it is to learn them all, and how time consuming it is to manage them!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. I was not required to post a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
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