Power Friending - 9781591843283

"With few equals, Amber has and continues to demonstrate a keen insight toward the continually evolving fabric of the social web."-Steve Chen, cofounder of YouTube

"Amber is one of those rare people who actually live this social movement, and I don't know about you, but I like listening to people who live it more than people who read about it."-Gary Vaynerchuk, WineLibrary. TV and author of Crush It!

"Social media is here to stay, and Amber Mac's Power Friending is the ultimate guide for all those looking to understand (and profit) from our highly connected future."-Jeremy Gutsche, chief trend hunter at Trendhunter.com and author of Exploiting Chaos

"It pays to have friends in high places, and Amber is in a very high place in social media. She might not be your friend, but her book is as good as it gets."-Guy Kawasaki, cofounder of Alltop

"Amber took the time to deconstruct Digg and give me valuable web usability advice when we were a tiny three-person company. I always enjoy chatting with Amber as she understands social media and where things are going."-Kevin Rose, founder of Digg and Revision 3

"Social media is becoming the operating system for society, and Amber understands exactly how to thrive in this new environment."-Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital

She may be a tech-savvy webpreneur, the popular host of TV shows and video podcasts, and an in-demand consultant and speaker, but if you ask Amber Mac about her strategy for success, she'll tell you she's just trying to be a good friend.

When it comes to social mediaùwhether it's Facebook or Twitter or the latest video blogùthe tools evolve quickly, the rules change rapidly, and the technology feels more and more complex. But making social media work for your company doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. In this compact yet thorough guide, Amber shows you how to effectively harness the online world to grow your business.

The secret: think of your audience as your friends and then treat them that way. The Power Friending approach is all about developing real relationships based on mutual respect and support. While you may never meet some of your online friends face-to-face, they still expect you to follow the established norms of friendship: be authentic, reach out, listen. And don't lie to your friends. These same rules apply when building a strong brand online.

Whether you're a blogger, a small company, a well-known global enterprise, or an aspiring queen of the Internet, Amber shows how to make the most of social networking tools.

This isn't a book of abstract theories or collocated strategies. Amber writes from personal experience: she built a huge fan base through social networking. She also draws on real-life and up-to-date examples to give you the information you really need in order to establish and maintain credibility and meaningful relationships online.