Dan McComb’s social media for entrepreneurs must-read list
I’ve been reading some incredible books over the past 9 months. I’ve made it my business to know EVERYTHING on the topic of community and crowdsourcing as it relates to business on the web, and specifically how it relates to small businesses. Along the way, I’ve discovered a few truly amazing books, which are helping shape the development of Biznik as a community. And I’d like to share them with you. Thanks to Matt Freedman for the encouragement. And no, I’m not getting any endorsements from any of these - in fact, I’m not even including our Amazon affiliate in the links below. My motive for sharing my list is simply this: I hope they inspire you as much as they have me:
- Tribes, by Seth Godin.
- The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki
- Now is Gone, by Jeff Livingston
- The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom.
- Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide, by Amy Shuen
- Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
- Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business, by Jeff Howe
- Subject to Change: Creating Great Products and Services for an Uncertain World, by Peter Merholz, Todd Wilkens, Brandon Schauer, and David Verba.
- Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, by Clay Shirky
- Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, by David Weinberger
- Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration, by Keith Sawyer
- Wikinomics: How Mass-Collaboration Changes Everything, by Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams
- We Are Smarter Than ME: How to Unleash The Power of Crowds in Your Business, by Barry Libert, Jon Spector, and Don Tapscott
- Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business, by Larry Weber
November 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
So, what books should I be reading next?
November 8th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Dan,
This is a great list and I only hope I can make it through half of these before winter’s end. I’d love to hear any short reviews of what special points you took away from your favorites. I’ve heard many a good thing about Godin’s new one, “Tribes,” and hope to get to that one soon as we all know pretty much anything by Godin is great stuff and extremely thought provoking.
Wanted to mention I’ve just started reading a great one that you might want to check out called “The New Influencers” by Paul Gillin.
Kimberly
@jkvirtualoffice
November 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Great idea, Kimberly - I’ll come back to this post and update each of the entries with a couple of sentences when I have a minute.
I’ll check out the New Influencers - thanks for sharing.
November 8th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Wow, that is an impressive list. I have read the “Tipping Point abd Groundswell” but for someone who is fairly new to this (1 year ) what are the first 3 or 5 would you recommend to start with?
November 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Hi Robert, looks like you’ve done a lot of thinking on this subject with regard to your massage business. I suspect a lot of massage therapists on Biznik would be very interested in your “hands off” business model.
I think Marketing to the Social Web would be a great read for you, given what you’re doing. It’s a great primer on how traditional businesses can get involved with social media to build their business and connect more deeply with customers (or, in many cases, help their customers connect more deeply with each other).
Crowdsourcing uses some fantastic examples that demonstrate how building customer communities can transform your business. Jeff Howe tells the story of how Threadless.com and iStockphoto.com went from zero to millions using techniques that are within the reach of all of us.
Finally, I’d suggest Tribes. It’s a fantastic reminder that no matter how much you crowdsource your business, people still need and appreciate great leadership.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Hey, Dan-
Thanks for posting this list! I look forward to checking these out…
November 11th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Dan -
Thanks so much for this list!
I’m going to pick up Marketing to the Social Web since I mostly work within a very traditional industry that needs to incorporate social media.
Professional service firms (architects, engineers, etc) in the design/construction industry already understand the relationship part of business, and embrace technology.
The adventure is discovering applications for social media to fit the industry now, and how it will change the way this group does business over time.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Hi, again-
Has Biznik ever considered having a separate page for book reviews? Or a book club? This list is exciting as have been many of the book review articles on Biznik. Would love an easier way to peruse them all in one place.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:52 am
My friend Ann is reading The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly-Improbable/dp/1400063515)
Sounds interesting.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The way I’ve seen this done on Biznik in the past is via events: if someone wants to read a book, for example and invite others to read it to and then have a discussion, it fits pretty well as an event. However, a much better solution will be Biznik’s new Groups feature, which is due out by the end of the month. In the mean time, if you’d like to create an event around one of these books I’d be likely to sign up.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Molly, there’s a great book review of Black Swan on Amazon written by Chris Anderson, author of the Long Tail, that makes me want to read it. Thanks for the tip.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I’d be game to coordinate a book club style event. I am particularly intrigued by Tribes and Group Genius. If you have strong feelings on picking one over the other, advice would be welcome…
November 12th, 2008 at 5:26 am
Dan, great sharing of resources! I am excited to get reading! I will be sharing this with our Biznik South Sound Mastermind Group on December 2nd - maybe we will will start discussions around your top three list you mentioned above.
Oh and love that the new Group’s feature is coming out at months end!
Thanks for your gift of sharing!
November 12th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Carrie, let’s read Tribes! It’s a quick read, and a great first for something like this. I’ll drop you a private message over on Biznik, and we can coordinate a venue, date, time. etc. Thanks for stepping up to make it happen.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Great! I look forward to coordinating this event!
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Here’s the direct link for anyone who wants to join us at the Tribes book club event. Two spots left! http://biznik.com/events/biznik-book-club-tribes-we-need-you-to-lead-us-by-seth-godin
December 6th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Hi Dan! I love that you did all the research for us. It’s important to know what it out there and what’s new. Keep up the great work and I’ll check back in to get more information from time to time.
Dawn