Book Review – ‘No Bullshit Social Media’ by Jason Falls & Erik Deckers

Everyone knows how valuable a marketing tool Social Media is right? Wrong! There are still hundreds of thousands of business owners out there using all sorts of excuses not to implement a Social Media strategy. Jason Falls and Erik Deckers believe reading their new book ‘No Bullshit Social Media’ will change the minds of these crazy people. Using an “All business, No-hype” approach, their secret ingredient is one which should appeal to all business people; they’re going to help you monetize your actions online!

No Bullshit Social Media

Written by Falls (Founder of the ‘Social Media Explorer’) and Deckers (Owner of ‘Professional Blog Services’), ‘No Bullshit Social Media’ is one of 2011’s most anticipated releases in Social Media circles. The authors’ knowledge and experience speaks for it-self and is reflected through the content, which offers fantastic advice, in a way which is easy to digest. Take their definition of Social Media Marketing for example; they manage to cut down a complicated process, into one, easy to understand sentence – “Exceeding customer expectations, often but not always, in the online world, through human connection and relationship building”.

Although the book is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in Social Media, it is undoubtedly targeted at professional people who question the practicality of ‘SocMed’ as a business tool. Falls and Deckers have therefore been very clever in the way the book is set out. Instead of just stating how productive the use of Social Media can be, they confront the excuses often used by businesses for an inactive approach. For example:

“Our customers don’t use social media.”
“People will say bad things about us.”
“It could damage the company’s reputation.”

Using well thought out case studies and stripped back advice, these three ‘excuses’, amongst others, are tackled head on, making it an invaluable read for any business owners with a sceptical view of social media.

Our Favourite Thing About The Book -

What we liked best about ‘No Bullshit Social Media’ is its ability to develop the readers’ understanding of why social media is such a useful tool, particularly in a professional context. Every business knows it exists, and most know that they should give it a go, but they don’t really understand why. Put simply, it’s like when you’re younger and you’re studying for your foreign language exam. We could all memorise what we were supposed to say in the ‘speaking’ part, but we never really understood the theory behind the translation. This book is like a really good French teacher!

Our Least Favourite Thing About The Book -

Not so much a least favourite aspect of the book, more like something we think could jeopardise its selling potential – surely the duo are taking a big chance by using a swear word in the title. I know what you’re thinking, I sound like my Gran! However the problem is that Jason and Erik are targeting professional people who don’t use/understand social media and a chunk of them will undoubtedly be more ‘conservative’ business owners, with a more ‘traditional’ professional outlook, which doesn’t involve the use of bad language at work. I think a lot of the target audience will therefore be reluctant to pick this book up off the shelf, purely because of the front cover.

Worth A Read?

Absolutely! As I say, don’t be put off by a teeny-weeny swear word. The content is fantastic and it really does tackle all of the common misconceptions people have about the dangers of using social media for business. We highly recommend ‘No Bullshit Social Media’ to our readers.

Review – 8 Penguins (out of a possible 10)

But a copy on Amazon here!

What do you think about the book’s title? Are you put off by the swearing, or do you think its eye-catching front cover will help separate the book from its competitors? Let us know your thoughts…

Euan
Follow @euanblack

http://socialmediaexplorer.com JasonFalls

Honored you’d consider reviewing it, Euan. And thank you, so much, for the compliments. French teacher? That’s a new one. But we’re humbled by the recommendation. And yeah, we understand the title will put some folks off. We’re fine with that. The ones that see past it and think it’s a good attention getter will benefit from the book. Those that don’t? Well, we guess it’s not for them. And we’re fine with that.

Thank you again! We’re tickled you’d read and review. Thank you, big time!

Anonymous

It was a great read Jason, I’ve taken a lot from the book.

I can’t foresee the title being too big an issue, but for people who do have reservations, our message is – the content is too good to miss out on for the sake of a little swear word!

As for the French teacher comparison, I think a lot of people still see social media as a foreign language, so if they need someone to translate it well, you and Erik are the guys to do it!

@euanblack

Anonymous

Good review, thanks! I was looking forward to this book after having read other books by these authors. I like the straight talk about using social media for business — I teach a course on communicating with social media and being able to share these solid techniques with my students helps invigorate the class for them. With the advice from this book and experience using social media during their college careers my students will be able to be that much more valuable to employers upon graduation. The book’s title doesn’t bother me at all; it’s forthright and honest. Having to write it as “B.S.” would just be… B.S.

Anonymous

Thanks for taking the time to comment, we’re glad you enjoyed the review.

With regards to the title of book, we completely agree with you. We just wanted to make the point that there are still a heck of a lot of business owners out there with a more ‘old fashioned’ professional approach, which doesn’t involve swearing at work. Hopefully, they will see past the title though, because the advice in this book will certainly improve their knowledge of social media, and ultimately help improve their business!

@euanblack

http://twitter.com/Dick_Foster Dick Foster

I don’t like the book title. I don’t think the swearing is necessary. The title is unprofessional and diminishes my perception of the seriousness of the content. I’m sure there are plenty of other “attention getting” words in the English language that would serve the same purpose.

I read Jason’s pre-launch marketing promotion and had a negative reaction before the book was available. There are plenty of good books out there with social media advice and case studies. I think I’ll pass on this one.

Dewey Chaffee

Words are merely offensive or negative if you, yourself, label them as such. You would certainly, then, label my entertainment company (entitled Screw You Entertainment) as unprofessional as well. But that doesn’t make sense. Professionalism is defined as competency and skill. Jason and Erik’s books demonstrate that they are both extremely competent and skillful at what they do. Using the word bullshit to sell a book (or the words Screw You to sell an entertainment company) doesn’t reflect on professionalism whatsoever. It does, however, illustrate a level of risk that some business people are willing to take that others would not dare.