Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Required reading for anyone who wants to succeed in the ever-changing world of e-commerce and online media...
Comment: After being wowed by David Meerman Scott at the 2007 Book Expo, we at Blog On Books naturally felt compelled to check out his book, "The New Rules of Marketing and PR." After all, we are a blog, and his book specifically addresses how to put together a successful blog, among other things.
While writing his book, Scott first posted each chapter on his blog, www.webinknow.com, in order to get feedback from his readers. The result of this process is that the finished book is arranged like a blog, with each chapter containing a set of "postings" about a particular subject. These subjects range from the process of releasing an effective press release in an online world to the process of creating a "viral" marketing campaign. The reader can pick and choose whichever subjects are most relevant and then skip straight to those parts of the book.
Since our interest is in maintaining this blog, we reaped the most benefit from Chapter 4, "Blogs: Tapping Millions of Evangelists to Tell Your Story." However, we also found many relevant facts scattered throughout the rest of the book. For example, although we thought we were well versed in search engine optimization before reading the book, this book showed us that some of our perceptions were incorrect.
In conclusion, we highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to succeed in the ever-changing world of e-commerce and online media. We ourselves will be implementing Scott's tips as we continue to build Blog on Books. - David Jonelis @ BlogOnBooks
Customer Rating:
Summary: An excellent "must read" for all corporate communications staff...
Comment: Perfect timing and a perfect book... The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott. I'm due to give a presentation on "social media" to an influential group in the company where I work. This book is going to be the "you really need to read this" recommendation I'll end up giving.
Contents:
Part 1 - How the Web Has Changed the Rules of Marketing and PR: The Old Rules of Marketing and PR Are Ineffective in an Online World; The New Rules of Marketing and PR; Reaching Your Buyers Directly
Part 2 - Web-Based Communications to Reach Buyers Directly: Blogs - Tapping Millions of Evangelists to Tell Your Story; The New Rules of News Releases; Audio Content Delivery through Podcasting; Forums, Wikis, and Your Targeted Audience; Going Viral - The Web Helps Audiences Catch the Fever; The Content-Rich Web Site
Part 3 - Action Plan for Harnessing the Power of the New Rules: You Are What You Publish - Building Your Marketing and PR Plan; Online Thought Leadership to Brand Your Organization as a Trusted Resource; How to Write for Your Buyers; How Web Content Influences the Buying Process; How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly; The Online Media Room - Your Front Door for Much More Than the Media; The New Rules for Reaching the Media; Blogging to Reach Your Buyers; Podcasting and Video Made, Well, as Easy as Possible; Social Networking Sites and Marketing; Search Engine Marketing; Make It Happen
Acknowledgments; Index; About the Author
When you're a blogger of many years, tuned into the whole "Web 2.0" thing, it's easy to forget that the vast majority of people aren't living in that same world. Even worse, you may work at a company that just doesn't "get it". Scott does an excellent job in bringing both the casual reader and the business person up to speed on the whole social media phenomenon. Of even more value to the business person, he shows how the old rules just don't cut it any more. Following the traditional PR rules of the last 20 years will waste your money and cause you to be ignored on a major scale. But tapping into blogs, podcasting, vcasting, and other avenues can put you in direct contact with the buyers of your product, as well as the people who will talk about you and influence opinions. And best of all, you can do it yourself for virtually no cost!
I found myself reading this book with my upcoming presentation in mind, and the book ended up splitting into two divisions. The first, and most pertinent to me, is all the great information about blogs, forums, wikis, etc. Both the whys and the hows are covered in enough detail to get even the most cynical person interested. The second division seemed to be more along the lines of how to write for the web audience. While I might not be covering that as much in my session, it's critical that communication and PR people understand that the web is not just an extension of print, and that it takes a different mindset to be successful with your online presence. Couple both of these divisions with a large number of reference web sites to back up the points, and you have just about everything you need to shift your view of how the world of communication now works.
I have no doubt that this will end up on the reading list of a few fellow employees by the time I'm done...
Customer Rating:
Summary: The New Competitive Landscape
Comment: David Meerman Scott's book is not just an essential read for anyone involved in marketing or public relations; it is all business leaders and managers. Why? Business success is less and less about products, product marketing and advertising. It is increasingly about engaging customers in a dialog that is important to them. This dialog has two key goals: (1) enable customers make informed decisions by helping them understand how to extract a more meaningful customer experience from your offering; and, (2) build a credible, trusting relationship with customers so they see your company for its future potential--the potential to simplify things in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.
Scott not only explains why marketing and PR MUST change dramatically, he explains how to accomplish it. This new perspective is increasingly important to competing in today's business climate. The bonus, he illustrated how to use the Internet as the vehicle to accomplish the task.
John I. Todor, Ph.D. is the author of Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company Addicted Customers
Customer Rating:
Summary: This book could change your approach to the web
Comment: After devouring this book it has a record number of post it notes attached to pages. The "new style " of writing books first in a blog and then into print is starting to generate more books like this one, chock full of very useful information and methods, vs academic tomes with thoughtful but less tested ideas. So many great ideas in this book, but one that comes up early is that Press Releases are read as much by buyers than any other group out there, due to search engine retrieval long after the release date. So you need to write your releases as much for your buyers as to media, and make sure they are always posted on your site media centre. This reinforces the need for all your web content to talk to buyers in their words about their issues, not how great your company or product is. One more reinforcement of the core research findings behind our Precision Sales and Marketing approach. A library keeper, but a working book, not just a reference.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Web media explained
Comment: The Web media world can be a confusing and misunderstood platform, but Scott really gets it. He gives clear, thought-provoking examples about the new technologies and tools that consumers use to find information. It's a sea change from the pre-Web media world, and companies, PR firms, and news outlets really need to understand this new environment. I mildly disagreed with the chapter on podcasting, but the rest of the book is excellent, particularly his observations about blogs, the decline of the "interrupting eyeballs" advertising model, and the importance of browsing in website UI design.
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