The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, Second Edition

Chapter 1. What Is Social Media?

Social media is the media we use to be social. That's it.

That really is the short answer. The story is in the tactics of each of the hundreds of technologies, all of the tools that are available for you to connect with your customers and prospects, and the strategies necessary to use these tactics and tools effectively.

Ask Your Audience

When I began writing this book I wanted to hear what my audience wanted in a book. I have written six previous books and I knew there was a standard formula for writing a typical business book: 250 pages, 23 chapters, 3,000 words per chapter. But I wasn't sure if this book should follow that formula. Did the audience for a bible on social media want a typical business book? So, I asked them.

I knew that if I asked my audience and delivered what they wanted, it would be a success. Go figure, ask your customers what they want in a product. Then, you told me some interesting facts. First, you didn't want another typical business book on social media. You asked for three books in one: Tactics, in which everything is explained; Tools, with which they can find a comprehensive list of all the companies providing social media services; and Strategy, with which you can apply all that you have learned from Part I and Part II.

This approach of listening to my customers obviously worked. The Social Media Bible, First Edition, sold out in the first four days across the country, has been among the top 20 best-selling books in America, ...