If you’re reading a book about online marketing, you have to read it the day it comes out. Because the longer you wait, the more out-of- date it is. Well, I’ve got a good one for all of you to read. And it is one of the most sensible online marketing books I’ve ever read. That means it will continue to have value long after many of the books coming out right now. David Meerman Scott wrote “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” in a manner that tells you about all the newest tools and practices. But he keeps from going in the direction of “the Black Box.” That’s the expression that Rich Burns of the GNU Group uses to describe aspects of Online Marketing that seem to be kept a secret by the practitioners. You know, people who use terms like “conversion,” “CPC,” “CTR,” “SERP,” and– my new favorite– a “bulk whois tool!”
What Scott does in his book is keep online communication strategy in the real world. It is understandable, and you can begin using it for real purposes within a few pages. He talks about blogs and keywords and podcasting. But he constantly asks you to understand first what you want to accomplish. Then he gives you clear ways of using these various tools. The other nice thing is that instead of telling you the one time one of these tools worked, he discusses a number of experiences, and, more importantly, he tells what is accomplished for your goals by using the tools.
An example is the press release. Almost everybody in communications is familiar with them. You’ve either had to write them (if you’re on the PR side) or help develop them (if you’re in the marketing side) or you’ve had them sent to you (if you are a journalist). For the past 100 years, press releases did one thing: they talked to the journalist, if the journalist felt like reading it. As Scott shows in this book, now a press release can talk directly to your customers. All you have to do is start by posting it to your own web site. If you want to take it up a notch, you can use one of the online PR distributors to get it out there. He even changes the name to “news release” to make sure we know it has a new use. And then–thanks to search engines–when people search for the keywords that most interest them, and if your news release talks about that subject, well then, your news release is sitting there ready to be read by your potential customers. It’s important to think in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make sure the right keywords are in there. So now you are talking directly to the people that matter the most…the very people you are trying to influence.
Hey Dennis. Many thanks for doing this review of my book and also for posting a review on Amazon. I appreciate you taking the time. I’m glad that you enjoyed the book and hope that it helps you in your business.
Best, David Meerman Scott