Have you had a chance to pick up your copy of Facebook Marketing yet?  If you’re still deciding whether or not it is worth your $20-ish, you might wander over to a few of the reviews so far of Facebook Marketing to see if that helps to convince you.

First up is a video review by Chris Brogan:

Next, here are a few other reviews that you may find interesting:

• Tim Peter – Facebook Marketing by Justin R. Levy (Book Review of the Week-ish)
• Valley PR Blog – Book Review: Facebook Marketing
• Deidre Breakenridge – Book Review: Facebook Marketing
• iMedia Connection – 6 Beach Books for Marketers
• Get Social PR – Facebook Marketing 9-Part Series

If you’ve written up a review of Facebook Marketing, please let me know in the comments.  I will keep this post updated with more reviews as I find them.

If you have already read Facebook Marketing, would you mind leaving a rating and review over on Amazon?

Most importantly, thank YOU for all of your support since the book launch!

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Imagine if you had been a fly on the wall during the inception of Google straight through to today when they’re one of the most powerful brands in the world.  That is exactly what Inside Larry & Sergey’s Brain (affiliate link) by Richard L. Brandt does.  From the back cover:

Based on interviews with their current and former employees, competitors, professors, and friends, Brandt details their early lives, the origins of their idealism, and the strategies underlying Google’s relentless expansion.  He explores misconceptions about the company’s culture, especially its motto, ‘Don’t be evil,’ and rule number one, ‘Focus on the user and everything else will follow.’

I really enjoyed how Brandt structured the book and I learned a lot about Larry, Sergey and Google that I didn’t previously know.  This book is definitely worth picking up if you’re fascinated with Google, their culture, their growth and the way in which they view the world.

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Over the past year or so there have been several books written about President Obama, his historic presidential race and exploring how his presidency.  As someone who is extremely interested in government and politics, I have read several of them.  None of them have gotten as close as Jonathan Alter has with his book The Promise: President Obama, Year One (affiliate link).

Jonathan Alter received access to senior level officials within the Administration.  That access helps this book to give you the feeling that you were sitting in the Oval Office while major discussions and decisions were being made from the once Obama won the election and was the President-Elect through his first days in office and onto everything from health care legislation, the auto industry bailout, the recession, the two wars and everything else that President Obama has juggled over the past year.

I really enjoyed the book especially because I had previously read David Plouffe’s book about the campaign so it was nice to tie both together.  Here are some more thoughts that I had on the book.

If you can’t view this video, head over to my YouTube channel to grab it.

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Most of the business books that are published focus on teaching you what you can do to improve your sales, marketing, customer retention, productivity or a number of other business-related goals.  The case studies in these books typically highlight role models of the concepts being described and then have actionable tips that you can follow to achieve similar results.

Well, Derailed (affiliate link) by Tim Irwin takes the exact opposite perspective but that’s what makes the book so great.  Derailed reviews the decisions, personalities and eventual derailments of six high-profile leaders.  Irwin finds that:

deficits in authenticity, humility, self-management, and courage become more dangerous as we take on more leadership, and can cause us to ignore glaring signals that might otherwise save us from catastrophic demise

It is from these derailments that Irwin puts together a list of five lessons can we can all implement into our lives to avoid current or future failures in leadership if we’re currently in an executive position or seek to obtain a position in the future.

Catch more of my review in this quick video review.  If you can’t see the video, you can grab it over on YouTube.

Note: Apparently there was some background noise from my washing machine, or who knows what.  Sorry for the little annoying hum.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DodZDAx8sEI[/youtube]

Have you read the book?  What were your thoughts on it?

Disclosure: This book was provided as a review copy.

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Were you as amazed as most of the rest of the country when Barack Obama seemingly came out nowhere to take the 2008 Presidential election by storm?  Have you sat back and scratched your head wondering how the Obama campaign did it?  Are you amongst the group that wants to understand how they built such a strong community, both online and offline?  Need a break from the regular onslaught of business, marketing, and self-help books?  If you’re whipping your head up and down, first, stop.  We wouldn’t want you to get whip-lash.  Now, don’t even bother watching the video below and go buy 5 copies of The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory (Amazon affiliate link) by David Plouffe.  Enough said.

Want some more explanation?  David Plouffe was the campaign manager and chief architect of the Obama presidential campaign.  Over the course of 2 years the campaign raised more than $750 million, had a staff of almost 6,000 people and an army of volunteers that totaled into the millions.  The Audacity to Win (Amazon affiliate link) takes you closer than any other account of the Obama campaign has.  There are many business, marketing, community development and time management takeaways in addition to the granular level detail of what it takes to run a presidential campaign.

As usual, I shot a quick video with my thoughts on the book.  If you can’t view the video, check it out over on my YouTube channel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EIu0yQBJ_Y[/youtube]

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Are you looking for a book that, according to Guy Kawasaki, will “kick your ass and push you out of your zone of mediocrity and stagnation”?  What about a book that is described by Pamela Slim as bringing “the topic of creativity out of the lofty halls of academia…into a place where the average person can apply it: to improve work and create a life that really matters”?  Well, if you’re shaking your head up and down and feel as if you’ve been searching for just that book, I have a little news for you: stop reading this blog post and overnight 5 copies (1 for you and 4 for holiday gifts) of Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity (Amazon link) by Hugh MacLeod (otherwise known as @gapingvoid).

As you’ll be able to tell from my video book review, I really enjoyed this book.  It’s easy to consume, fun to read and you can extract all sorts of tidbits of information as well as a ton of great quotes to help keep those creative juices flowing.  This will definitely be a book that I re-read on a regular schedule.  Oh, and if the text of the book wasn’t enough, Hugh fills the book with tons of business card-sized drawings to help illustrate his points.

I really hope that you enjoy this book as much as I did.  I’m already planning on sending a few copies around to some people I know in my life that could use this boost.

If you can’t view the video below, you can also find it over on my YouTube channel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqbfui4alPE[/youtube]

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Today I review Twitterville by Shel Israel.  I enjoyed reading Twitterville because Shel does a great job of telling the stories that have come to make Twitter what many of us love.  The book doesn’t provide you with a lot of tactical, go out and do it-type information.  But, what it does do is tell you stories about how Twitter has been used to form communities, trust and relationships.

I definitely think it’s worth picking up, especially if you’re new to Twitter or still don’t quite get what everyone gets so excited over it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YKaN1bez5g[/youtube]

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I recently finished reading The Think Big Manifesto by Michael Port.  You might already know Michael from his previous book, The Contrarian Effect.  Check out my review below.  If you can’t see the video, you can grab it over on YouTube too.

[blip.tv ?posts_id=2462883&dest=-1]

Note: Sorry for some of the lighting issues. It was my first time playing with iMovie since get my MacBook

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Thanks to my friend Jason Moore-Brown (@mobomedia) I got a chance to test out a few products from Incipio.  Incipio makes all kinds of awesome cases and other accessories for your favorite electronics such as laptops, BlackBerry, iPhone, Kindle, and many many more.  I really enjoyed the laptop and iPhone cases that I’ve been testing out.  If you’re looking for some new accessories for your tech gear, definitely make sure to check out Incipio.

If you can’t view the video in the browser, you can also find this video review on YouTube, Viddler or Blip.tv…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48FUJZXPhlE[/youtube]

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]]> http://justinrlevy.com/2009/07/11/incipio-laptop-blackberry-and-iphone-cases-video-review/feed/ 4 http://justinrlevy.com/2009/07/01/integration-marketing-and-rules-of-thumb-video-book-reviews/ http://justinrlevy.com/2009/07/01/integration-marketing-and-rules-of-thumb-video-book-reviews/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:30:22 +0000 Justin Levy http://justinrlevy.com/?p=1329

Today I review two books which I read while away on my honeymoon in St. Maarten.  First up, Integration Marketing by Mark Joyner discusses ways to market your product or service by integrating it into other streams.  Second up to bat is Alan Webber’s Rules of Thumb which, in my opinion, is one of the best books of 2009.  I took tons of notes all throughout it and have been carrying it around with me so that I make sure I incorporate a lot of the ideas.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did…

[viddler id=b38de5d6&w=437&h=370]

What is your favorite book so far this year?