It’s officially released today and is a MUST READ.

While you’re waiting for the book to arrive, you should also check out the free e-book that vividly details David’s scoop on how Fortune 100 companies respond to news queries, how real-time marketing and PR should work and what you can do to capitalize in this 24/7 environment.

To quote David, “In my research, I contacted the communications departments of the Fortune 100 companies and found that only 28 percent engaged with me in real-time. Many of those 28 companies have comprehensive real-time communications programs in place, which I describe in the ebook.”

Check out David’s post announcing the book here.

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Today I flew out from San Francisco after speaking to the Northern California Book Publicity and Marketing Association luncheon yesterday on ”Online PR and Social Media,” and spent the flight listening to the Dead on my iPhone.

This was shortly after having coffee in Sausilito this morning with my friend Ann Matranga at The Depot. We sat outside and watched the kids play in Lytton Square which Bill Graham helped create and we talked about the Dead.

So it seems synchronistic, speaking of the Dead that David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan today announced, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from The Most Iconic Band in History (Wiley, 2010).

There are so many reasons why this book is cool, but I have to be honest and say I love Chapter 8: Encourage Eccentricity and the whole focus on the fans and marketing.

I love it because it reveals how a company or band or individual can tap into the power of differentiation and eccentricity to make their way in the world.  Not only can this bring you success, but it’s the right thing to do!

To quote from that chapter, “The Grateful Dead teaches us that we are all eccentric in some ways. Smart companies understand eccentricities and create a market from them.”

I also like this from the book,  ”Deadheads are your neighbors, coworkers and friends.” As a dancing bear tattooed Deadhead I’ll have to confess, I know the deadheads, the deadheads are friends of mine, and I am proud to still be one!

As Bill Walton says in the foreword of the book, “Like other daring visionaries The Grateful Dead rejected conventional wisdom.”

That’s why we are still dancing – and that’s really how you can build a fan base that even after all these years is still trading Dead stories, tapes, t-shirts and mementos of their time drifting with the Dead.

So any marketing lesson that Scott and Halligan share in this book you definitely should tune into.

Go see David’s post all about the book tour at his site.

And check out his new tie-dye pic on the site too. Wonderful.

Meanwhile, me and my dancing bear will be digging the marketing nuggets of this extraordinary and timely book on marketing!

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So grateful to be included in the “Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time To Get Busy” book.

This book is an incredible tome of leading marketers, writers, PR folks and others on the Web. Hope you’ll take time to check it out. And below are all the fantastic folks who contributed to the book itself.

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2. Social media happens overnight and you just need a couple clever tweets to get the masses.

3. There are gurus (like Social Media Santa) that really exist and we need to be like lemmings and just do everything they say.

4. If I only post on my blog at least once a month, I know that my Google page rank will get to #10 effortlessly.

5. There is only one way to Oprah and it is only through a PR or marketing guru who wants me to listen to a ton of webinars and give them money to do so.

6. Social media can make me a celebrity – because it’s all about being a celebrity. (Hint: It’s not.)

7. I don’t have to generate useful content for my community. I only need to generate bait and switch content to get them in the door and make them buy something.

8. Social media is easy. (Hint: it’s not.)

9. Social media can cure every possible marketing pain I have.

10. Just using social media is enough, I don’t have to do any offline marketing or any other outreach.

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I very rarely do not approve a comment to my blog because it’s very important to keep the communication gates open both ways and we’re all here to learn together. With that in mind, please take this lesson to heart. It is not good marketing to post a short blurb about your book in someone’s comment section of their blog. I know there are some book “marketers” and book “social media experts” who for years have touted this as a good idea. Heck, they’ve even published this suggestion in some of their own books!

However, this is never a good idea. Ever, ever, ever.

Think of it like this. What if you decided, in an effort to get more buzz out about your book, that the best possible thing you could do is spray paint the front of someone’s home with your book title and short description?

This would actually make the homeowner feel great rancor toward you and the neighborhood (her community) wouldn’t much cotten to seeing this either. They trust the homeowner to keep her home spiffy, smart and valuable!

A blog is someone’s home. People come to it and the blog author opens his/her doors to a knowledge base that will hopefully be very educational and actionable. And FREE of marketing blather including in the comment section.

With that in mind, here is the aforementioned comment I received (I’ve edited it a bit so not to expose the commenter, so anywhere you see BOLD I’ve changed it from what it actually was.)

“Shoved to the curb and left to fend on her own at the age of 14; AUTHOR NAME eventually went on to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work.

But God was not welcome nor allowed to be spoken on the job… Not able to do so, AUTHOR NAME went on to work for the Archdiocese of St. Paul/ Minneapolis for 8 years.

NAME OF BOOK is a true story of AUTHOR NAME strength & perseverance. That, combined with her strong faith is what makes this story unique and a must read!

This is AUTHOR NAME first book and is currently working on her sequel… NAME OF NEW SEQUEL.”

So here’s the thing, this comment not only violates the good mojo in terms of respecting one’s home blog turf, but also it shows these three things:

1. The author has not ever read the blog she just posted a comment to.

2. The author did not actually read the blog post she posted the comment to.

3. The author is unaware of how one should post comments to a blog.

Lessons Learned:

1. Read the blog you’re going to post a comment to.

2. If you want your book reviewed or want to drive traffic to your book site – research the sites that talk about books, book reviewing and reach out to those blog editors in person through an email pitch, not through an email pitch.

Here are some good ones to check out -

a. BergersBookReviews.com – Alice Berger’s fantastic site.

b. Bookpleasures.com - Norm Goldman’s superb site. Note, on Norm’s link that he has a quick review service, but also offers a free review service.

*I posted the two examples above without the direct contact information (emails etc.)  because I’m mean and I don’t want to share. Ok…that’s not really true. I posted them like that so you could learn how easy it is to use this little free tool called the Internet, hit those sites and get the contact information on how to pitch them books very easily from their site!

To sum up: Be your own best advocate, keep pitching and swerving and building strong lists for your book, and don’t listen to everything social media book gurus advise you to do.

And in the words of one of my favorite Monty Python songs, “Always look on the bright side of life, always look on the bright side of life.” How does that apply to marketing your book? There are thousands of blogs you can find to feature your book if you’ll just stay positive, focused and in it for the long haul.

Now go and get your book out there!

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It’s astounding to me how long the “long tail” has really grown on the Web and what a short amount of time it’s taken to get to where it is now. I was lucky enough as an online journalist to have worked prior to the dotcom burst and after it, and I’ve witnessed astounding changes in that time.

I’m also spending more time thinking about how social media has impacted the Web and what it can and cannot do for you. My focus is how it can help individual platforms. I do think that if you’re not participating on some level using Web 2.0 tools you are missing a conduit for real engagement and outreach.

I also think we should be wise and wary and careful about drinking all the Web 2.0 kool-aid and going full force without really understanding which tools will work best for us.

I came across this recent Business Week article titled, “Beware of Social Media Snake Oil” and I think it makes some very good points. If you read through the whole article, you’ll find a reference to “The Cluetrain Manifesto” which has influenced many Web marketing consultants and is still an extremely valuable book.

With that in mind, I thought I would post this interview I did with David Weinberger, one of the authors of the book. This is the first of a series of interviews I will post occasionally under the Classic Interview headline and most of them were conducted from 2000 to 2002.

The timeframe was one of the most interesting in Web history and marked both the best and the worst of the dotcom frenzy.

2001 – Classic Interview: David Weinberger

by Nettie Hartsock, February 2001 (Ibiz)

Part 1: “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and conversations

Nettie: Do you still play “Quake”?

David: Yes. And as continued practicing improves my skills, the continued aging process removes them.

Nettie: Do you think the presidential websites had an impact on this year’s election and, if so, how?

David: The Republicans were apparently quite successful in raising money on their site. But, at least as important, political websites – like commercial ones – train people to expect to get complete and full information that just a few years ago would have required much more effort. Now, does having more information at your fingertips make you a more informed voter? Judging from the outcome, apparently not.

 Nettie: Tell us how you came to write “The Cluetrain Manifesto” with your other well-known co-authors?

David: The four authors had been talking via email and phone calls about why the media were, in our opinion, so wrong about the Web. We discovered that we agreed with one another in interesting ways, each approaching the issue from a different point of view. So we put up ClueTrain.com hoping to express some of what a lot of people on the Web were feeling.

Nettie: What does it mean that “markets are conversations” and “businesses are conversations”?

David: The old business model says a market is the demographic slices you can reach by broadcasting to it. A market in this view is the lowest common denominator of statistical information. But markets used to be much more than this. They used to be places people went to shop, to talk, to exchange news. And now, thanks to the Web, markets are once again becoming real groups of people with real names and real voices.

We find one another on the Web and talk about the products that matter to us. Likewise, all of the real work of business is accomplished through conversations at meetings, in the hallways, over intranets. Constant talk.

Nettie: Why doesn’t it work on the Web for a business to talk in jingles?

David: Because we’re not sitting there passively, waiting for the next show to come on. We’re not captives.

Nettie: What is the most important issue to consider in marketing to your customers on the Web?

David: Ack. Just one? I’m having trouble deciding among “Tell the truth,” “Let people talk in their own voice,” “Drive out fear,” “You’re not the center of your customers’ universe,” and “Don’t be a jerk.”

Nettie: Why are customers desperate for stories?

David: Because we want to understand, and the richest understanding is through stories. Stories show how events unfold, how the end is contained in the beginning. And stories are always told by a real person in her or his own voice. They’re the opposite of the jingles you just mentioned.

Nettie: How should the conversations that occur between business and customers via e-mail or the customer feedback page be viewed by a company?

David: Customers and their conversations aren’t assets of the company. They’re not owned by the company. But they’re of tremendous value to the company. (These conversations don’t only occur via email or feedback pages.) Customer conversations tell the truth about the company. They’re passionate. And more and more, networked markets know more about the products than the company ever could. So, learning how to participate, as humans, in these conversations is of tremendous importance. The trick is that you have to really do it as a human, and not as a marketing ‘droid dressed up like a human, or like a Marketing Professional out to manipulate the conversation.

Part 2: Stop pretending and talk without fear…

Nettie: Tell us why it’s a good thing that the Web is always going to be “a little broken” as Berners-Lee has said?

David: Because every large structure is. And every human being is. We’re fallible, wee creatures and what we build is always at least a little bit broken. Recognizing and accepting that fallibility is liberating. Yet most companies insist on being “anal-perfective,” pretending that everything they do is perfect.

Nettie: Can “traditional” companies stop pretending and become fearless enough to have “real” conversations with their employees and their customers? Do you think the change will be embraced by the companies ultimately when the bottom line is at stake?

David: Yes and yes. The fact is that businesses are made of people, and people are much more complex than org charts. Without its “social networks,” a business literally can’t move, much less succeed. And you’re right to put this in terms of fear. So much of the structure of business is built around fear of employees and fear of customers.

Nettie: Will universal broadband contribute further to the demand for “real” conversation?

David: We already have “real” conversations every day on the Web, unless by “real” you mean “face-to-face.” I’ve made friends and kept in touch with old friends by email. Those conversations are real. Some people will prefer to use video or voice instead of email, but email will continue to be an important new way people talk with one another. Email is here to stay.

Nettie: What is the role of a CEO or CMO in a hyperlinked organization?

David: To help the company be smart. Companies are smart not because they have lots of data or lots of smart individuals but because they have smart conversations happening all over the place, crossing all the organizational boundaries, including with customers.

Nettie: In three years time, in your opinion,  are companies going to be if they continue to stay in a state of denial about the power of the Internet and the need for “conversations”.

David: If they continue to view the Web as a very slow broadcast medium, they will at best be ignored, and at worst treated with the contempt they’re showing to their customers.

Nettie: Does the book have a large following of established CEO’s who are embracing its ideas?

David: Lots of senior managers, including CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, have read the book, had one or more of the authors in to talk, given out copies of the book to their teams, and so forth. But the book very purposefully stays away from giving lists of things to do or programs that can be “embraced” and that will “work” for a company.

The book says: This is the most exciting and promising time any of us have lived through. Stop reading business books and go out and invent!

 Nettie: Thanks for the conversation, David!

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There’s been quite a bit back and forth about how FiledBy.com is just creating another place that authors have to update, yada, yada, yada and woe is we authors who shouldn’t have to help with our own marketing.  I have two words to say to that, “Boots on!” which in Texas stands for “Stop whining in the cactus, put your boots on, stop the woeing and start marching to your next big book rodeo!”

Even if you just are going to use the free offerings of FiledBy.com, who would not want to at least do that? Do you want to be on the lone prairie all by your lonesome book self? Or do you want to take advantage of the amazing opportunities in this new publishing rodeo and ride like the wind to your many cheering denizens?

I pick ride like the wind, and I hope that means you will to and at the very least fill out your free profile on FiledBy.com .

Here’s a great example of the homepage today to “spur” you on. It features Seth Godin, John Perkins and a few other authors you just might recognize! If you can’t see it because the image is too small – that’s on purpose – so you’ll have to go to FiledBy.com today and see it there.

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Excerpt from release - Nashville, Tenn., November 18th, 2009 – FiledBy (www.filedby.com), the leading online directory of authors, writers, illustrators, photographers and other book contributors, today announced the integration of the Scribd Reader technology into the online toolset provided to its fast growing community of authors and other creators. Scribd (www.scribd.com) the largest social publishing company in the world, facilitates the creation and distribution of web documents that allow anyone to share written materials easily over the Internet. As a result of the agreement, all authors and other book contributors who register and claim their FiledBy site can utilize Scribd’s document reader to publish documents on FiledBy and Scribd simultaneously.

“We integrated Scribd’s technology on FiledBy sites to provide a more powerful, extensible and integrated document viewing platform that can support many file types, improve discoverability and broaden exposure for authors and others on FiledBy,” said Peter Clifton, CEO and co-founder, FiledBy. “This integration also establishes a framework for our authors to engage in social publishing and empowers them with another state of the art way to promote themselves and their work. For authors looking to expand their reach and build their marketing platform online, document posting and sharing on FiledBy and Scribd is a very powerful connection.”

To upload documents, videos, podcasts or other media, authors must be registered and verified on FiledBy. One of the advantages to the new integrated model with Scribd is that only the author themselves or their publisher can publish documents through FiledBy. This provides a level of verification and authority that helps protect copyrighted material. Click here to view a sample document on FiledBy and Scribd.

*If you’ve not yet created an author profile at FiledBy – you absolutely should do it now!

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Always be aware that social media tools are ever-evolving. This is one of the reasons I don’t ever like being called a “social media expert.” No one can really be a social media expert, because even if you live this stuff 24/7 (which sometimes it feels like I do) you’ll still not be ahead of the developers of these tools and the new options or frameworks they are building with them.

While you don’t have to be an expert to benefit from social media, a key thing to remember is, “Your content is not a fad, however, the tool you use to deliver it might at some point be one.”

If you look at MySpace and how its usage has evolved and then significantly dropped – you will also find folks who put all their efforts only into MySpace and are now left holding the proverbial empty MySpace bag. They are trapped by MySpace because they put all of their efforts into that one “next greatest thing since sliced bread” tool.

As Dr. Seuss says, “Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.” (from – “Oh! The Places You’ll Go)

With social media, it’s doubly important to incorporate a good balancing act at this time when all the major players, Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com and Twitter.com are at their highest competitive market and hope to differentiate themselves. This will prevent you from getting trapped holding a less than useful social media basket.

Take things one step at a time. Don’t put all your social media eggs (efforts) into one tool. Don’t push all your fans, partners, customers to one platform and whatever you do, don’t throw out the traditional tools for communication that you use as well.

Don’t shut down your website, if you have a thriving e-newsletter keep it going. The greatest thing you can do for yourself long-term is to consistently produce good content and then use it to empower community both offline and online.

And remember, “Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.” (excerpt fromOh! The Places You’ll Go!)

Great thanks to Jennifer Robenalt too – as we talked about this today and she and I will be talking more about it next week at our panel for the Texas Governor’s Conference For Women. (Follow them on Twitter @TexasWomen) We are very humbled to be a part of such a stellar event.

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If you think of the Jerry Maguire scene and apply it to your signature line in your email, then make certain you will have them at “hello.”

Five Tips For Having them at Hello: (on your signature line in email)

1. Link to your TwitterID under your name – “Tweet with me TWITTERID”

2. Link to your blog – not just “See my blog here – LINK”, but rather, “See how contrarian I can be at LINK”

3. Link to your LinkedIn.com account- again, put a teensy tiny call to action – Come on you know you want to LINK up – LINKEDIN ID here

4. Change your signature line at least once a month if you can with new innovative short calls to action to your other online platforms.

5. Take your social media IDs on your sig line and make sure when you get a new batch of business cards printed they are also on there as well. It’s not just about having your website on your card anymore.

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Just grabbing a Twitter account, polishing up your Linkedin.com account and reading one or two other bloggers is not enough either.

In that same vein, your procession (postings) on the Web using all these tools, should never be a series of over-hyped marketing messaging with little or no real insight.

Instead of looking for the quickest way to have the biggest float in the parade, why not strive instead for slowly making your way – respectfully, truthfully, and creatively.

Don’t let people fool you into thinking that just because you’re here it means you don’t have to do anything else.

Don’t be beguiled by folks who tell you there’s a quicker way of using all these tools that don’t involve work on your part.

If you really want to reap the benefits of  Web 2.0, you have to be willing to march with the masses. Let them see who you really are and contribute what you can to benefit everyone.

Don’t view this work as drudgery – view it as a way to find your peeps. Find the tools that work best for you and join in!

And always remember to simply be yourself.

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