5 Things I learned from Reading "The Art of Social Media"

This week concludes the reading of "The Art of Social Media" by Guy Kawasaki, so I figured I'd give an overall impression/review of the book. The book was on the better side of the spectrum in terms of self-help books. The chapters were short and sweet, they got to the point and the reader stayed engaged. Often with textbooks, or even books that have longer chapters in general, people tend to get bored and stop reading and start skimming. With this book that didn't happen for me because of the short chapters. Despite the chapters being short, I found they were packed full of helpful information. While much of the content in the book is geared towards those with their own brand/company, I think many of the tips given can be applied individually. For example, the very first chapter of the book is great for those who are using social media for personal reasons or for professional reasons. It really helps people to set up their social media and get off on the right foot.

With helpful information also comes information that is a given. Some of the points in the book, such as "turn on your notifications on twitter, so you know when people interact with your account" are very much tips that make you go "well duh!" In every self-help book this happens, but there's got to be one person who goes "oh, well I didn't know that" right? I also feel like this book is very dated. Mainly because of the inclusion of Google+ in almost every chapter. I don't think Google+ was ever that large of a social media platform, or at least it didn't take off like other platforms such as Instagram or Twitter. Maybe Google+ could have been left out of the book or they could release an updated version. I would love if they do ever release an updated version if they included Snapchat within the chapters. Snapchat is relatively new, and brands/companies have taken to it to promote their products. It would be great to get some tips on how to use it properly because some companies need help.

Here are five takeaways that I got from the book:

1. Be organized and schedule, schedule, schedule!! Using apps or sites like buffer and hootsuite that allow you to schedule your posts makes it so much easier. It not only helps you to organize what you're posting and where you're posting it, but it also means you spend less time stressing over it.

2. Engage your followers! Encourage people to interact with your posts, whether it's by commenting, sharing or simply reading an article.

3. Be visual. This is one of the big ones that is mentioned repeatedly in this book. Make sure you're including visuals with your posts. Especially if it's Twitter.

4. Be bold but know how to handle the heat. You can make posts that will piss people off and go for it, but if someone is posting rude comments, know when to stop. Rule of thumb is reply once and that's it, otherwise it becomes an argument, and no one wants that.

5. Hashtags are your bestie. Tag keywords in your posts to help get your content seen. Just know your limit. If it's a blog post, you can do as many as you want, but for a tweet stick to two or three.