Review of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself

Book: Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself

Authors: Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy

The key word in Deckers's and Lacy's title is "Reinvent" -- the book, as a whole, is geared toward those who have found themselves in a situation where they must hunker down and give into this "Internet" craze that all the kids are talking about.  For those familiar with Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself might seem a bit redundant, but for those who are clueless of how to promote their businesses (and self) in cyberspace, Deckers and Lacy are a goldmine. The book is written clearly, consisely, and uses terms easily understood by any reader.  There are no extensive personal theories, just guidelines on how to approach different mediums (primarily Facebook and Twitter) and what to illicit from customers.

As the authors of Twitter Marketing For Dummies, the writer duo uses a simple step-by-step format in explaining how to create an "authentic" online presence, whether you're trying to draw customers to a business, an author, or just yourself.  Throughout the book, Deckers and Lacy use humour and Twitter lingo to "@" one another, throwing some knock-knock jokes about new media into the mix to keep the tone lively and casual.  By incorporating screen shots and plenty of real-world examples, any grandparent could have a clear idea of the functions of Twitter, the social rules of networking, the many kinds of blog posts, and really, anything they might want to accomplish in regards to marketing a business through social media.

As a young reader who frequents the internet, I didn't find Branding Yourself to be all that personally helpful. However, if I hadn't already known the social implications and technological functions of the most popular online social hubs, this would be my go-to book.  There are daily Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogging activity sheets, outlining one's weekly online tasks in order to effectively establish his or her (or a business's) online identity.  I plan on passing Deckers's and Lacy's book along to my somewhat social media-clueless mom, who is renovating and reopening a theater, to see if my assumptions are correct -- that Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself is the perfect way for a business to get its footing in an otherwise unknown world of social media. 

Jen L.