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Lon Safko Bright Blue Bkgnd Thumb

Lon Safko, Co-author

Lon has founded 14 companies in his career with his most recent “ExtremeDigitalMarketing.com”. Lon created “The First Computer To Save A Human Life”, has 18 inventions & more than 30,000 personal papers in the Smithsonian Institution. Lon is the inventor of Tool-Tips, is the author of seven best selling books, including The Best Selling “Social Media Bible”. Lon holds 3 patents for three-dimensional Internet advertising and has been awarded The Westinghouse’s Entrepreneur of the Year, The Ernst & Young / Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, & The Public Relations Society of America’s Mark of Excellence, and has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Popular Science and The New York Times.

Lon Safko Bio (PDF)

Contributors

Gary Thuerk, Father of Email Marketing
In this interview I speak with Gary Thuerk.  Don’t know who Gary is?  He’s he guy that send the very first “Spam” email message.  An “unsolicited Commercial Email Message”, back in 1978!  Gary while working with DEC Computer sent the very first Spam to 400 of the government contractors then associated with APRANet, the very beginning of the Internet and eMail.  Listen to Gary talk about how the Cold War drove the Internet,  how sending out his one email shut down the servers at the University of Utah, and how to this day, Gary gets “hate mail” for creating Spam.

Email

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01amandavega101amandavega2Amanda Vega, CEO, Amanda Vega Consulting
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Amanda Vega, CEO of Amanda Vega Consulting about Comment Marketing.  Amanda is an original.  She’s original in the way she looks at social media and is one of the very first bloggers ever.  Amanda has been blogging for more than 17 years, as her first job was a Chat Moderator for AOL as their 22nd employee.In this 35 minute interview Amanda talks about the global perspective of using social media.  Amanda shares some valuable insights on how social media is creating a “business shift” and requires the commitment by companies to be truly successful.

Strategy

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02benjarriola102benjarriola2Benj Arriola 2007 SEO World Champion – Benj Arriola – SEO/SEM Expert
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Benj Arriola, SEO Engineer for BusinessOnLine, who won the 2007 SEO World Champion award organized by the Swedish SEO corporation GetUpdated.In this 34 minute interview Benj talks about the secrets of Search Engine Optimization, what to do and what not to do, and he emphasizes that above all, “Content still is king!”

SEO/SEM

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03blogtalkradio103blogtalkradio2Alan Levy, CEO of Blog TalkRadio
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Alan Levy, founder and CEO of BlogTalkRadio.  Alan discusses how he saw a need for web based radio and how he created BlogTalkRadio.This is a 14 minute interview where Alan discusses many of his insights about creating your own radio show and how large corporations and even the Pentagon is using BlogTalkRadio as a communication tool for their customers, employees, and in the case of the Pentagon, our troops.

Lifecasting

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04broadbandmechanics104broadbandmechanics2Marc Canter, CEO of Broadband Mechanics
In this podcast Lon Safko interviews Marc Cantor, founder and CEO of Broadband Mechanics and The People Aggregator and previous founder of MacroMind / Macromedia developers of FLASH and other web enhancing products.This is a 21 minute interview where Marc shares many of his insights on how the future of social media and balance of power between the Fortune 500’s such as Google, Yahoo!, FaceBook, MySpace and us, the individual.  Listen to Marc’s fascinating vision of how the Internet and social media will evolve.  Learn how this will affect each of us.

Strategy

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05chrispirillo105chrispirillo2Chris Pirillo, Geek & Technology Enthusiast – Chris Pirillo
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Chris Pirillo, Geek & Technology Enthusiast and Building Community.  Chris shares his ideas on how to best relate to your community using sincerity, passion, and a knowledge of your subject.  Be a “SMB”, Subject Matter Expert!  And oh yeah, make it entertaining! Chris also shares his thoughts on successful strategic advertising partnering.In this 37 minute interview Chris tells us about his new gig as the tech expert on CNN.com and how he became the number one user on uStream, recorded more than 1,000 videos this year alone, generated more than a 1/2 million page views in the fist seven days of launching his web community, and became the #1 search engine result on Google for “chris”.
Lifecasting
Video
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06contentnation108contentnation2John Blossom, Founder and Author of Content Nation
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with John Blossom, Founder of Content Nation and author of his book by the same name published by John Wiley & Sons. In this interview John explains why he web site and book are called “Content Nation”.  John explains that with 50,000,000 people blogging on a specific subject all in a trusted network with similar interests, that one blog population exceed the total population of many countries in the world.In this 38 minute interview John shares his enthusiasm for social media and the “democratizing of publishing”, where every person on the planet can communicate his or her thoughts for everyone else to see and comment on.

Publishing

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07contstantcontact106constantcontact2Eric Groves, Senior VP, Worldwide Strategy & Market Development for Constant Contact
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Senior Vice President, Eric Groves about how successful email marketing can keep you in touch with your customers.  Eric shares his experiences with email marketing and how it should be done… with integrity.In this 32 minute interview Eric discusses the CAN SPAM ACT, how to get through the SPAM Filters, how to get your email read, and even a few success stories from several of their more than 200,000 clients.  Eric shares his thoughts on best practices in email marketing.  So, take a listen to hear some incredible insights from Eric.
Email
Marketing
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08crayon107crayon2Adam Broitman, Director of Strategy and Ringleader for Crayon Marketing
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Adam Broitman, Director Of Strategy and Ringleader for Crayon Marketing where Adam discusses the importance of open source hardware, software, and platforms.  Adam also explains how mobile marketing is becoming more than just a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) page, and how the mobile telephone has become our “Remote Control For Life”.In this 39 minute interview Adam speaks about the power of mobile technology and about the new Google Android Cellphone.  Adam also shares his views on what Verizon is calling their “4G’ or “4th Generation” of cell phone technology and the prevalence and success of the “Freemium” business model and how cell phones are creating a personal “Presence” in social media.

Mobile

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09doodle109doodle2Michael Naef Founder & CEO Of Doodle.com
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Myke Naef the Founder & CEO of Doodle.com a social media scheduling web site live from Zurich, Switzerland.  Myke explained how he came up with the idea out of a need he had for a good, clean, easy to use scheduling web site so he and his colleagues could schedule a meeting or conference call.
In this 17 minute interview Myke describes the international appeal of Doodle.com and how users and programmers from around the world have translated this web site into dozens of languages and how he has built this site to more than 2,000,000 users world wide.

Tools/Apps

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10evoterra110evoterra2Evo Terra, CoAuthor “Podcasting For Dummies”
Listen to the podcast interview with Lon Safko and Evo Terra, coauthor of “Podcasting For Dummies”, published by John Wiley & Sons.This is a 20 minute interview where Evo shares many of his tactics, tools, and strategies on how to create award winning podcasts that can add to your bottom line.

Podcasting

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11fastpitch111fastpitch2Bill Jula, Founder & CEO Of Fast Pitch – Business Networking
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Bill Jula the Founder & CEO of Fast Pitch a social networking site for your company.  Bill explained how although this is a social network site, it actually compliments other networking sites because it focuses on the business more than the individual.In this 30 minute interview Bill describes the value of Fast Pitch because of its members and its incredibly robust features such as; blog and press release syndication, classifieds, events, and two way streaming video virtual trade shows.

Social Networking

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12flickr112flickr2Kakul Srivastava, General Manager of Yahoo!’s Flickr
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Kakul Srivastava, General Manager of Yahoo!’s Flickr.  Kakul shares her excitement for the 30 million Flickr users sharing their live’s most precious moments with friends, family, coworkers, and community.In this 22 minute interview Kakul describes how 3 million photographs are uploaded to Flickr every day and are shared through more than 3 billion page views per month.  Among the many insights that Kakul shared in this interview, we talked about Building Community such as “Squared Circle”, and Getty Images Licensing Project, which is a collection of Flickr photos that will launch on gettyimages.com in the near future.  Kakul discusses how the Smithsonian Institution as well as other cultural organizations are archiving many of thier public photography collections for The Commons.  Kakul also explains how companies are using Flickr to “Humanize” their businesses.  We also speak about the new wave of photography due to the camera-phone and how there is currently 3 camera-phones for every single person on the planet.

Digital Media

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13googleadwords113googleadwords2Gretchen Howard, Director, Online Sales & Operations for Google AdWords
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Gretchen Howard, Director, Of Online Sales & Operations For Google AdWords and she describe how easy and cost effective it is for the small, medium, and large companies to advertise side-by-side.  No longer do you have to have huge budgets to compete with the Fortune 500’s; all you need is Google AdWords.  Gretchen explained how you can set up an account and start your extremely targeted campaign with no effort and a limited budget.In this 17 minute interview Gretchen describes how Google works to protect their advertisers from click fraud and makes the entire experience a safe and profitable one.  There are many insights that Gretchen shares in this interview about the flexibility of AdWords and how one advertiser changes their vacation rental ads by the hour to promote rentals that are available while removing ones that have rented.

SEO/SEM

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14googleenterprise114googleenterprise2Rishi Chandra, Product Manager For Google Enterprise – Google Apps
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Rishi Chandra the Product Manager for Google Enterprise.  Rishi discusses how the power of “Cloud” computing allows anyone, from an entrepreneur to a Fortune 500 Company, access to all of the Google Applications and data in real time, password protected, anywhere in the world 24/7, and for free!In this 27 minute interview Rishi describes how Google has created a suite of products that are continuously updated by Google and no longer need to reside in your desktop and laptop computers. Everything from word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and email can be combined in Google Sites and collaborated on just by having access to a browser and the Internet.  Rishi explains how Taylor Woodrow, a UK based construction company with global operations will realize a £1,000,000 savings over the next 3 years by using

Tools/Apps

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15jodygnant115jodygnant2Jody Gnant, Singer, Songwriter, Social Media Mavin – jodygnant.com
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Jody Gnant about what it was like to participate in her 9 month long continuous livecast, her participation in the One Red Paper Clip, and about her extraordinary music.
In this 42 minute interview Jody explains that in spite of the difficulty of broadcasting her life 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 3/4 of a year, how her livecast touched and change people’s lives, and how it change hers forever.  Jody also explains how she was part of an incredible journey of cyber-trading from one single red paper clip up to house.  Jody also shares her passion for her music.
Lifecasting
Social Networking
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16johnarnold116johnarnold2John Arnold, Author of Email Marketing For Dummies – johnarnold.com
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with John Arnold, the author of Email Marketing For Dummies, published by John Wiley & Sons, about social media and the power of Email Marketing.  John explained how good content and customer trust is what makes for an effective email campaign.  John also shares some tips and techniques on how to get your email delivered to your customers and how to get them to convert once you do.
In this 17 minute interview John describes how one email marketer, who started with only an idea about building a business around meals for working families too busy to cook, and in her own kitchen,  has grown her business to 30 Chicago locations.  The key to her success?  Email marketing and two way communication with her customers.
Email
Marketing
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17jott117jott2John Pollard, Founder & CEO of Jott
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with John Pollard, Founder & CEO of Jott.  John shares his insights on how through the convergence of digital technology between the Internet, email, and cell phones, Jott provides an incredibly cost affective solution to having a digital assistant.  John further explains who easy Jott is to set up and use and how this technology is helping people everyday.In this 28 minute interview John describes how his company has grown to nearly 1/2 million Jott users and how they have processes more than 5 million Jott messages.  John explains how professors are using Jott to communicate with their students with homework and classwork assignments, and one woman who is using Jott to communicate with health care providers who are caring for her ailing father, from work.

Tools/Apps

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19linkedin119linkedin2Krista Canfield, P.R. Manager of LinkedIn
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Krista Canfield, Public Relations Manager for LinkedIn.  Kristin discusses the many ways people are connecting with other professionals using LinkedIn.In this 27 minute interview Krista talks about the not so obvious applications of Linkedin, how one company was acquired by the Weather Channel, and the importance of “trusted networks.”  Krista shares some valuable insight and some very helpful tips on how to get the most out of LinkedIn.

Social Networking

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20markkingdon120markkingdon2Mark Kingdon, CEO Of Linden Labs of Second Life
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Labs the creator of the virtual world, Second Life.  ACTUALLY, Lon Sands speaks with M. Linden, the CEO of Linden Labs, creator of Second Life, Live from The Social Media Garden in Second Life!Mark discusses how Second Life is used by individuals for socializing and meeting new people and how small and large businesses are using Second Life for meetings, educating their customers, and even prototyping products.In this 20 minute interview Mark shares his ideas about social media and how Second Life creates the ultimate “trusted network” with more than 1.2 million log-ins every 30 days, and “user generated content” with more than 2 billion user created items stored on the Linden Labs servers.  Mark and Lon even talked about the Paper Models, Inc., three-dimensional advertising crossover from Second Life to First Life and how Linden Labs is trying to promote SL/FL FL/SL crossover.

Virtual Worlds

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21mashable121petecashmorePete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Pete Cashmore, live from Scotland about Mashable. Pete tells up how he has built this social media news site from himself to ten writers with more nearly 20,000 articles on every subject within social media in under 36 months.  Pete discusses how Mashable covers everything from news, to jobs, to events, to Beta Invite-To-Sites, to to even Mashable’s own social networking site; MyMashable with more than 250,000 members.In this 16 minute interview Pete shares his insights on social media, their business model, their extraordinary content, and explains why 2.5 million unique visitors come to the Mashable web site, which include developers, executives, investors, employers, bloggers, journalists, and just social media enthusiasts.
Publishing
Tools/Apps
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MediaSauce Logo22mediasauce2David Cain, President & James Burnes, V.P. of MediaSauce
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with two thought leaders in social media enhanced web site design.  David and James explain why they see social media as a “Transformation Force” that will happen whether a corporation is willingly participating or not.In this 46 minute interview they share their insights about “trust & transparency” in corporate communication and how important it really is to first develop a “blueprint” that outlines your corporate strategy before you start building your on line social media presence with the wrong tools.  James tells us about MediaSauce’s insightful client development process that they call the “Vision Gap”.  We also discuss the importance of transparency, passion, and trust in building your on line corporate community.

Strategy

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23michaelgerber124michaelgerber2Michael Gerber, Author of “The E-Myth” And Entrepreneur Advocate, & In the Dreaming Room
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Michael Gerber the author of “The E-Myth”, The E-Myth revisited”, “Awakening The Entrepreneur Within” and “E-Myth Enterprise.  Michael shares with me his passion and inspiration about his lifelong quest to understand and help the entrepreneur.In this 34 minute interview Michael Explains that 67% of all businesses in America are sole proprietor, how more than 1/2 million new businesses are started every month, and why 9 out of 10 of them fail.  Michael shares his perspective of how the tools available to the entrepreneur has changed but what’s in their hearts hasn’t.  Hear about Michaels’ Club “E”, his new radio show, his Entrepreneur’s Capital Investment company and all of the support he is providing to the entrepreneur.

Strategy

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24myspace125myspace2Angela Courtin, SVP Marketing Entertainment & Content for MySpace
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Angela Courtin, SVP Marketing Entertainment & Content for MySpace.  Angela discusses MySpace is different things to different people, over 70 million people in the U.S. and 120 million people worldwide.In this 16 minute interview Angela clarifies the misconception about MySpace being just for teenagers.  Angela tell us that 85% of MySpace Users are over the age of 18 and that 40% of all moms on-line, are on MySpace.  Angela talks about how MySpace and Disney teeamed up to Launch High School Musical 3 and enganged more than 4,000 schools and had an opening day box office of over $40million.  She also shares how small businesses are benefiting from MySpace MyAds and where one small business increased their revenues by 200%!

Social Networking

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25ning126ning2Kyle Ford, Director, Product Marketing, for Ning
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Kyle Ford the Director, Product Marketing for Ning. Kyle describes how easy and cost effective to set up your own MySpace / FaceBook social network.  Kyle shares some insights into how Ning works to allow a drag and drop interface so anyone can create their own site, even his grandmother.  Kyle explains the “Freemium” business model and how inexpensive it is to brand your own social network site and how Google Open Social is implemented in NingIn this 29 minute interview Kyle tells us about how individuals are using Ning and even Fortune 500 Companies are having incredible success with their own network.  Kyle tells us how Saturn Car Company, Fuji Film, WD 40 are just a few of the nearly ½ million Ning social networks.

Social Networking

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26opensocial127opensocial2Kevin Marks, Technology Advocate, Google for OpenSocial
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Kevin Marks, Technology Advocate for Google who is working on the international multi-corporation project, OpenSocial.  Kevin discusses the purpose of OpenSocial and how it is going to change the way “trusted networks”, work.In this 41 minute interview, Kevin talks about how competing companies from around the world came together to cooperate in creating a standard on how personal profiles, data bases, and trusted networks will begin sharing information while protecting the 350 million users from repetition and password fraud.”  This interview is longer than most, but it is filled with incredible insights on how the Open Social Project is going to change the world and how we interact with it on-line.

Tools/Apps

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27pownce128pownce2Leah Culver,Co-Founder, Pownce
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Leah Culver, Co-Founder of Pownce about what Pownce is and how people from around the world are using Pownce from everything from marriage proposals to how to make bacon. Leah shares her thoughts on how Pownce can be used to send real time messages, links, music, photos, events, and even file up to 100mb.In this 20 minute interview Leah describes how there is no character limit to the amount of text you can send in a message with Pownce and how companies are using Pownce to communicate internally and are sending files between members of their design, marketing, P.R., and sales teams.  Leah also tells us that as a programmer for Pownce, she uses Pownce internally herself.  Leah describes how Pownce will import your photos and other information from your other social media web sites such as MySpace and FaceBook and Pownce is ready to announce how when you take a picture with your iPhone and send it to a friend, the exact location of that picture is automatically sent as well.  This way your friends know where you are at all times.December 1, 2008: We are sad to announce that Pownce is shutting down on December 15, 2008. As of today, Pownce will no longer be accepting new users or new pro accounts.

Micro-Blogging

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28robertscoble129robertscoble2Robert Scoble, Famous Blogger, Scobleizer, & Author – Fast Company, Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Robert Scoble the Famous Microsoft Blogger, The Scobleizer, and the author of “Naked Conversations” published by John Wiley & Sons in the airport on his way to Berlin, Germany.  Robert discusses the importance of “content”, sincerity, and the different ways to communicate with your target audience.In this 16 minute interview Robert emphasizes the importance of “listening” to your customers, prospects, and other potential readers of your blog, audio podcast, and video blogs.  Robert shares some amazing insights and some personal stories of a few of the incredible people he has interviewed over the past several years, including presidential candidates, congressmen, and even Bill Gates.  (Oh yeah, Robert even Scobilized me!)
Blogging
Micro-Blogging
Video
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30scottclough229scottclough1Scott Clough, Avid On-Line Gamer, Scott Clough
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Scott Clough about on-line gaming and community building.  Scott shares his insights about how on-line gaming or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) has grew from the simple board game to the P.C. to on-line with more than 10 million players in one game alone.In this 32 minute interview Scott explains how role play, collaboration, teamwork, strategy, and ultimate success of a quest can be exciting and habit forming.  Scott explains “cheats”, “hacks”, exploits” “griefers” and how they affect the game and the community.  Scott further tell us about “farming” or “harvesting” gold and swords, the “casual” versus the “hard-core” player, why on-line gaming builds such a huge faithful following of gamer community and why businesses should watch the $1 billion+ multi-million player industry.

Gaming

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30stealthmode131stealthmode2Francine Hardaway, Founder Of Stealthmode Partners
In this podcast, Lon Safko speaks with Francine Hardaway, Founder Of Stealthmode Partners, the Phoenix Social Media Club & The AZ Entrepreneurship Conferences discusses microblogging and its varied uses today.  Francine shares her insights on how microblogging has developed and how Twitter’s 3,022,000 (today) users are taking advantage of nearly real time micro-community communication.In this 34 minute interview Francine describes how Twitter, Pownce, Plurk and Google’s Jaiku are being used by individual, groups, Fortune 500 companies, and even police departments for first-responders.  She also shares how companies like Southwest Airlines and Dell Computer communicate with their customers on a regular basis using Twitter.

Micro-Blogging

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31stephaniebryant132stephaniebryant2Stephanie Bryant, “Videoblogging For Dummies”
Listen to this podcast interview with Lon Safko and Stephanie Cottrell Bryant the author of “Videoblogging For Dummies,” published by John Wiley & Sons.Stephanie shares her insights into the world of videoblogging and her passion for getting it right in this 24 minute interview.

Vlogging

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32twitter133twitter2Biz Stone, Co-founder of Twitter
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Biz Stone the Cofounder of Twitter where Biz describes Twitter as more than just a microblogging tool, but as a general communication utility.  Biz tells us how people are using Twitter for everything from “What are you doing?” to immediate disaster reports, from “Where is there gas in Atlanta” to a TV producer’s immediate feedback on a new television pilot.In this 31 minute interview Biz describes how Dell has made $500,000 using Twitter last year and how other companies such as Comcast, Whole Foods, and even NASA is using Twitter to make science more accessible.  Biz talks about how in an emergency when all of the cell providers go down, Twitter’s SMS technology allows your “tweets” to still go through.  Biz explains the immediacy of Twitter in that during the recent earthquake in L.A., more than 3,600 tweets went out within the first minute, while it took A.P. more than 9 minutes to send out their wire.  Biz also explains how Twitter is being used in the presidential candidate debates, and that reliability is their 100% focus.

Micro-Blogging

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34vintcerf233vintcerf1Vint Cerf , “Father Of The Internet” & Futurist – WIRED interview with Vint Cerf
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with “The Father Of The Internet” or as Vint corrected me, one of many developers who created the Internet.  In this podcast Vint discusses many of his insights on how the internet was created, his views on the affect of social media on the Internet, and where he thinks the Internet will be in the future.In this 29 minute interview Vint shares his enthusiasm for how far the Internet has come from their original governmental project, his support of “standardization”,  and he cautions us about Internet misuses. Take a few moments to hear about how Vint is currently working on taking “The World Web Web” and making it “Interplanetary” through a collaboration with NASA.  Hear how it all started from an original American Pioneer in his own words. After hearing this exciting interview, you will have a whole new perspective on “Cerfing” The Web.

Strategy

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34wikihow135jackherrickJack Herrick, Founder of WikiHow
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Jack Herrick, Founder of WikiHow.  Jack discusses his passion for creating the world’s largest on-line how-to manual.  This consummate entrepreneur shares his moment of inspiration which lead to WikiHowIn this 26 minute interview Jack talks about how his Wiki was created, how it is edited, and how it is maintained by passionate volunteers, viewers, and contributors.  Jack shares some awesome insights on how he built WikiHow to more than 40,000 “How-To” articles and how he plans to grow WikiHow from there.

Wiki

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35wiley136wiley2Peter Booth Wiley, Chairman of The Board of John Wiley & Sons Publishing – Wiley – Knowledge for Generations
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Peter Booth Wiley, Chairman of The Board of John Wiley & Sons where Peter describes how Wiley, a 201-year old company, has been in the forefront the technological revolution in publishing.  That’s right, John Wiley & Sons celebrated their 200th anniversary in 2007.   John Wiley was publishing books when Thomas Jefferson was president.  Peter explains how Wiley began experimenting with computers in the 1950s while thinking about how they would impact their authors, their customers and the way they published. He describes how Wiley took this experimentation to the next level in the 1980s with the creation of a sales training program on an interactive videodisk with assessment capabilities.In this 39 minute interview Peter explains how the secret to Wiley’s success is two fold; they create an internal culture that encourages creativity and they listen to their authors.  Among those they have listened to were J.D.R. Licklider and Robert Sproull, both of whom played important roles in the development of the DarpaNet, the mother of all internets. When a subject matter expert comes to them with a new concept, Wiley is willing to take a carefully calculated risk and publish their work.  And more…

Strategy

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36windowsliveim137windowsliveim2Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Product Management for Windows Live Messenger
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Dharmesh Mehta about Windows Live Messenger.  Dharmesh explains how Windows Live Messenger is designed for IM, Photo, and video sharing and you can go from your desktop to your laptop then your mobile phone all seamlessly.In this 23 minute interview Dharmesh shares his insights about why 325 million people are currently using WLM and how 85% of its users are outside of the United States using 55 languages.  He further explains how WLM works on three levels, SMS, WAP, and Client Apps and offers features applicable to the entrepreneur and the Fortune 500 enterprise alike.  Dharmesh discusses how all these service and 25 gigabytes of virtual hard drive space is yours free.  He also speaks about the 10 billion messages sent each day using WLM and how more than 10 million messages were sent using WLM just in the time it took to do this interview.

Micro-Blogging

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37windowsliveplatform138windowsliveplatform2David Treadwell, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Live Platform – Azure
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with David Treadwell, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Live Platform.  David discusses Microsoft is all about building connections with people, devices, and data, and how Live can help businesses and individuals “sync to the cloud” (you have to listen to hear what this means), get access to 5gb of on-line virtual storage, and 25gb of photo storage for free.In this 23 minute interview David explains how more than 460 million (nearly a half billion) are currently using Microsoft’s Live Platform and how Microsoft is strive for an open architecture to allow developers access to all of the Microsoft Live tools.  David also speaks about the value of Microsoft’s new program called “BizSpark”!

Social Networking

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38winelibrary139winelibrary2Gary Vaynerchuk, Host & Founder of Wine Library TV
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Gary Vaynerchuk about his success with building community and Wine Library.  Gary tells us how he built his brick and mortar liquor business to more than $50m by building his on-line community.In this 23 minute interview Gary talks about how he built his following using video to more than 80,000 video views everyday of his now 600 videos.  We also discuss his “How Do You Monetize A Blog” video, book & TV offers, how to “Network Virtually”, Word Of Mouth On Steroids, and his simple formula to success; PHCC, Patience, Hustle, Content, and Community.

Video

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39wordpress140wordpress2Matt Mullenweg, Co-Founder of WordPress
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Matt Mullenweg, Co-Founder  of WordPress and president of Automatic.  Matt discusses how and why he created WordPress just to fulfill a need for an easy to use blogging platform and how he had no idea how popular WordPress would become.In this 23 minute interview Matt shares his ideas about how social media and blogs are being used and about his hope this “open source” software platform is improved and maintained.  Matt discusses how people are using WordPress within the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, and Ford Motor Company.

Blogging

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40yahoo141yahoo2Patrizio Spagnoletto, Senior Director of Marketing Yahoo! Search Marketing – Advertising Your Business with Yahoo! – SEM
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Patrizio Spagnoletto, Senior Director of Marketing Yahoo! Search Marketing where he discusses how easy Yahoo! makes it to create multiple keyword advertising campaigns.  He explains how they provide a step-by-step on-line process and even have customer support that will help you over the telephone.  Patrizio explained how by choosing more specific two & three word keyword phrases that you can actually target a much more specific customer and at a lower cost.In this 17 minute interview Patrizio describes how many of their 100’s of thousands of customers such as Lending Tree & Amazon manage 100’s of keyword campaigns and how 20% of your keywords can generated 80% of your revenues.

SEO/SEM

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41yelp142yelp2Stephanie Ichinose, Director Of Communications for Yelp
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Stephanie Ichinose, Yelp’s Director of Communications about how Yelp helps!  Stephanie explains how “Yelpers” are rating restaurants, auto mechanics, dentists or any company right in your home town.In this 34 minute interview Stephanie describes how Yelp has received more than 3.5 million reviews of services all over the United states, and how Yelp.com has more than 14 million unique visitors every 30 days.  Stephanie further describes how the mobile phone has changed the way people access Yelp information.  Imagine you’re out to dinner, wanting a good pasta restaurant; turn on your mobile phone, type in pasta, and Yelp returns all of the rated pasta restaurants that’s closest your GPS cell phone and shows their five star ratings!
Social Networking
Tools/Apps
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42youtube123youtube2George Strompolos, Content Partnerships Manager for YouTube
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with George Strompolos, Content Partnerships Manager For Google’s YouTube about companies from around the world who are using YouTube to market their company’s products.  George tells us that “YouTube isn’t just about teenagers watching videos of dogs on skateboards”.  It’s about Fortune 500 marketing and companies like Blendtech and their “Will It Blend”, which caused a 300% increase in sales due to these YouTube videos.In this 25 minute interview George describes how YouTube’s members are uploading 13 hours of video per minute and more than 1 billion video downloads per day!  George tells us that YouTube has the same number of users under 18 that they have over the age of 55.  He also shares how some of their video content providers are actually making a living from their contextual advertising associated with their videos.  One such rising star is “Fred”, a 15 year old pretending to be 6 with anger management issues.  You just have to see Fred to believe Fred.

Video

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43zimbio143zimbio2Tony Mamone, Founder & CEO of Zimbio
In this podcast Lon Safko speaks with Tony Mamone, the Founder & CEO of Zimbio, the interactive on-line magazine.  Tony tells us how his magazine caters to four basic pop-culture categories of news; Style, Entertainment, Current Events, and Sports. Zimbio covers more than just stories, it highlights the people making the stories.In this 30 minute interview Tony shares his ideas about social media, user generated content, and on-line publishing.  Tony explains how Zimbio is “self policed and added to” and about “the democratization  of publishing”.  Tony also tells us how his small 15 person company built Zimbio to more than 13 million readers every 30 days, with the help of 35,000 volunteer contributors, offering a combination of “citizen journalism & paid traditional media”.  Zimbio publishes more than 10,000 articles and 5,000 photographs every day!
Content
Publishing
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44Ratepoint45PatePointNeil Creighton, CEO of RatePoint
In this podcast Lon speaks with Neil Creighton, the CEO of RatePoint email marketing, how he founded GeoTrust which was later acquired by VeriSign.  Neal talks about how he combined e-mail marketing with a complete review survey platform so businesses can get reviews from their customers and republish those out in different places, and a lot of that is social.  Neal tells us that e-mail marketing is the base part of their service and a lot of businesses use email marketing.  He says the ROI on it is very, very high and that for every dollar you spend you get $43 back.  Email Marketing is a very effective way to reach your customers.Neal says “A lot of it has to do with social media but the number-one thing people look out for before they transact with a business, whether it’s  calling a landscaper or plumber is, I buy from businesses reviews.  And they generally start at Google and they generally look up the business name and reviews pop up.  70 percent of people believe reviews or they trust reviews from people they don’t know.

Email Marketing

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Technical Editors

A variety of social media professionals contributed to The Social Media Bible. The technical editors of the book include:

First Edition:

TSMB1_Flat_CoverJames Archer, managing director, The Forty Agency, www.fortyagency.com

John Arnold, E-Mail Marketing For Dummies, www.JohnArnold.com

Glenn Batuyong, Social Media Marketing Strategist, www.47ronin.com

Adam Broitman, director of strategy and ringleader, Crayon Marketing, www.amediacirc.us

Stephanie Bryant, author, Vlogging For Dummies, www.mortaine.blogspot.com

James Burnes, vice president, MediaSauce, www.MediaSauce.com

David Cain, president, MediaSauce, www.MediaSauce.com

Steven Groves, CEO, Executive Conversations, www.StevenGroves.com

Francine Hardaway, CEO of Stealthmode Partners, www.stealthmodepartners.com

Jack Herrick, cofounder, WikiHow, www.WikiHow.com

Justin Lacey, senior interactive developer, MediaSauce, www.MediaSauce.com

Don Schindler, digital strategist, MediaSauce, www.MediaSauce.com

Evo Terra, author, Podcasting For Dummies, www.podiobooks.com

Katie Terrell, strategic writer, MediaSauce, www.MediaSauce.com

Amanda Vega, CEO, Amanda Vega Consulting, www.amandavega.com

Joanne L. Zimakas, Expert Transcription, zimakas60@charter.net

Second Edition:TSMB2 Flat Cover 72

Lynne Johnson, www.lynnedjohnson.com

Rosalind Morville, www.ConstantContact.com

Aaron Baer, Twitter: AaronMBaer

Matt Mullenweg, www.WordPress.org

Nicole Wilson, www.WikiHow.com

Stephen Farrington, www.stephenfarrington.com

Lisa Von Bargen, www.beyondimplementation.com

George Strompolos, www.YouTube.com

Arnie Kuenn, www.VerticalMeasures.com

Walt Ribeiro, www.ForOrchestra.com

Jeanie Sing, Second Life, slurl.com/secondlife/Pinastri/115/171/29

Scott Clough, www.myspace.com/brandrath

Sandy Rowley, www.Megastarmedia.com

Sara Jew Lim, www.Google.com

Tilman Eberle

Lindsay Lipman

Additional Resources

The Research Project Hack College, which brings technology and students together.

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Book Accolades

"The social media phenomenon is still ramping up and this book provides useful and timely business advice."
Vint Cerf, Father Of The Internet

Vint Cerf

"Lon is a serial technologist who really understands social media and is also blessed with the gift of being a great communicator. His book deftly takes you from "Social Media 101" all the way to PhD status in a format that is easy to browse, informative and powerful."
Tom Asher
Director Consumer Relations North America
Levi Strauss & Co

“Lon Safko and The Social Media Bible address the key questions – Why should I take part in Social Media? How should I take part? How do I reap the greatest benefits? – while also providing the push to take the next step.”
Jeff Hagen
Director, Consumer Services
General MIlls

General Mills Logo

"Effectively harnessing the power of social media is a top priority in corporate America.  “The Social Media Bible” with its informative and tactical approach, provides an easy-to-follow roadmap for how to do social media right."
Todd Simon
Senior Vice President
Omaha Steaks

"Social Media and Customer Care are rapidly coming together. This Second Edition is a must read for any professional who wants to stay on top of this rapidly changing topic. From the basics to long term Social Media  strategy, this is the only resource book to have on your desk."
Scott Ross
Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing
NCO Group

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Amazonn Book Reviews

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Amazon 6 Stars
This book is an 800-pound guerilla when it comes to social media marketing. Four thumbs up!

By: Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA)

Great book! Loved it! It's huge and heavy and not particularly pricey. I found it to be well organized and well written. And it was certainly packed to the gills with content. There are 43 chapters split into three different sections: (1) Background basics & tactics, (2) Tools, & (3) Strategy. The chapters in the first part provide an introduction and framework regarding the book. The numerous chapters in the second part cover 100+ social media tools. And the last five or six chapters in the third part can help you do an audit of the social media marketing your company does (or doesn't do).

The book is comprehensive. I haven't seen a book that covers so much and in such depth on the topic of social media marketing (or Internet Marketing). There were a ton of "Expert Insights" sprinkled throughout the text that really made the book shine. And each chapter ended with three summaries: (1) Commandments, (2) Conclusion, & (3) Readings & Resources. Each were well done. In particular the Readings & Resources for each chapter were better than most books have at the end of an entire book. 6 stars!

PS. To see the chapter titles and how the book is specifically organized I encourage you to peek at the Search Inside feature Amazon offers for this book. With 43 chapters there are a lot of chapter titles to read.

Amazon 6 Stars
A Comprehensive Social Media Resource

By David J. Perdue "MINDSTORMS author" (St. Paul, MN)

Ask a hundred people what "social media" is, and you may get a hundred different definitions. Frankly, social media doesn't just connect people--it baffles them, too. The authors of "The Social Media Bible," however, have made a considerable attempt at creating a resource that helps readers gain an overall understanding of the social media "ecosystem" (to put it in the authors' terms) and how the social media phenomenon relates to business.

First, I think it's in order to discuss what this tome covers. Part I, Background Basics and Tactics, comprises the first 23 chapters. This section of the book defines social media, explains the different types of social media, and helps you understand why it's important. You get coverage here of everything from social networks to microblogging to virtual worlds. If you've read other books about social media, you may already be familiar with some of this content. If you're brand new to social media, you'll find it especially helpful.

Part II, Tools, comprises chapters 24-38 and revisits the different categories of social media, focusing on current popular tools. The authors discuss each tool, focusing on who should use them and why; you'll even find some more technical information in these chapters. Although I appreciated the broad look at all the different types of the social media, I felt that the sections could have gone into more detail. However, you could easily write an entire book on each type of social media presented, so the authors clearly had to limit coverage of each type of social media resource.

Part III, Strategy, includes the final chapters of 39-43 and offers some excellent advice on how to apply everything learned in the book. I appreciated the bits of advice spread throughout as well as the cohesive strategies presented. I especially found the chapter "The Four Pillars of Social Media Strategy" helpful, which discusses how a social media strategy should have goals of communication, collaboration, education, and entertainment.

Although some of the principles in this book will endure, much of the descriptions for current social media tools will quickly go out of date (as some already have). However, the author clearly recognized this and intended it to be a timely book. If you're new to the concept of social media and seeking how to apply social media to your business, the "Social Media Bible" is a great resource. If you're already familiar with using social media, you may find yourself skipping some of the basic information in the book. Overall, I believe there is wisdom for everyone to find in this useful guide--the kind of wisdom that will help you to give new life to your company's online marketing efforts in the social media world.

Amazon 6 Stars
From A to Z- it's all here!

By Mark Amtower "Mark Amtower, consultant, autho... (Highland, MD)

Lon Safko's 2nd edition of The Social Media Bible literally covers everything from A (apps) to Z (Zooomr) and everything in between. This is the most comprehensive book on social media available! If you currently use or plan to use social media in ANY form, I suggest you add this to your library TODAY!

Amazon 6 Stars
Good resource for business leaders wanting a greater understanding of social media

By Chris Ray

Rapidly advancing technology has produced new ways for individuals, groups, and businesses to communicate, collaborate, and market their products to consumers. Social media is leading the way in improving how business is conducted but many businesses and individuals are nervous about when and how to enter this new wave. In The Social Media Bible the author indicates the book is a comprehensive guide on social media intended to help readers increase revenues, profits, and competiveness in the marketplace. The book is divided into three main sections; part one, the background and basics of social media; part two, the plethora of social media tools available; and part three, developing a social media strategy. Within each of these sections the author provides the reader with the overall footprint of social media: its uses, platforms, and strategies currently employed by various companies. The book is well organized with each chapter providing definitions, examples of successful strategies, and multiple references that afford the reader a helpful guide should they continue their own research on the specific topic.

Clearly the freshness of the content of any book on social media is limited given the rapid pace of technological innovation in the social media universe. However, for the reader who needs a starting point for discovering the basics of utilizing social media strategically, The Social Media Bible is an excellent resource from which to begin. Furthermore, the author effectively communicates the necessity for business leaders to get in the social media race or risk becoming extinct. This is true for both businesses and the individual business worker. Social media holds promise for improving both the internal and external communication strategies of companies. The book outlines both how social media can improve productivity as well as penetrate new and existing markets more effectively. The chapters on the various social media tools available provide the reader an extensive list of platforms to research, explore, and choose from when considering how one medium might be a more effective choice depending on the reader's particular business environment.

The author could have improved the book by shortening the history and background section that contained too much basic information. In addition, for readers already active in utilizing social media tools in business it is doubtful they will discover any earth shattering new information in The Social Media Bible. However, for those just beginning to consider social media as part of their business strategy, the author does provide sufficient information readers will find helpful. Certainly there are companies and organizations that have yet to utilize social media as part of their overall business strategy. Readers who find themselves working for those companies will find the book to be effective in giving them an adequate knowledge base in social media that could be useful in educating their organizational leaders on the potential benefits of including social media in their business model. The book may also inspire some readers to launch new initiatives at their workplace or even to become entrepreneurs themselves.

Amazon 6 Stars
Book & Purchase experience review

By R. Freeman (Sharon, MA United States)

Great book. Really covers Social Media and related online marketing concepts (like SEO). Worth the price. And, the buying process was efficient, easy and painless. I would buy this all over again in a minute.

Amazon 6 Stars
Highly recommended for any business collection

By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)

The second updated edition of The Social Media Bible has been revised and updated with user feedback and content, and offers the latest techniques, platforms and technologies for understanding and effectively using social media marketing. Interviews with 50 experts accompany keys to winning in social media efforts in this fine survey, highly recommended for any business collection.

Amazon 6 Stars
If you need to know about Social Media - OWN THIS BOOK TODAY - Six Stars !!!!

By Richard Stoyeck "StocksAtBottom.com" (Westport, CT)

The BOTTOM LINE If you must know about social media (SM), this is the only book to get on the market RIGHT NOW. First of all it was copyrighted in September 2010. This material changes quickly and new books are being printed all the time. At this time this is the most current and best book on the market. If it involves the Internet, you do not want to order anything that is more than one year old. So my first tip is always look at the copyright date. Older than a year, it's no thank you.

The second tip is that you want something that you do not need to read from cover to cover, so the table of contents and the index is very important. The author went to a 1000 people involved with the Internet and asked them what do you need from a social media book. More than 66% couldn't define social media, while 99% recognized that SM would have a direct impact on their firm's bottom line. Based on their input, the author selected and developed the chapters, and the content.

ORGANIZATION of the BOOK
The 723 page SM Bible is divided intelligently into 3 parts.

Part I TACTICS This runs from page 3 to page 447 and is contained in 15 chapters. This is where you will find out about podcasting, vlogs, blogs, followers, SEO, life casting, and flaming among others.

Part II TOOLS of the TRADE This section runs from page 447 to page 675. Here you will find the results of 100 companies that the author interviewed including marketing providers, game platforms, and the software you will need, plus the apps, websites, text messaging, mobile insights, and e-mail.

Part III STRATEGY Here we have the Five Steps to Social Media Success. Each step gets a chapter, they are:


* Analyze your existing media
* The Social Media Trinity
* Integrate Strategies
* Resources
* Implement and Measure

CONCLUSION:
If you need to learn more about social media, if you need to employ it for your business on whatever level, this is the book for you until the next new thing comes along. You have to be current, and stay current, and that means you do not want an old book. If you are a one person company or you have a thousand people in the company, at the moment there is no better source of information than this book. I heartily recommend it and thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck