Top Shelf Reading Picks:

I’ve been focused on social media for a while, so I’m always surprised at people who are holdouts. Yet they’re out there.  If you happen to be one of those people who still need convincing, read this article about the coming Age-Wave.  Really, it’s not just us fanatics anymore; the demographics are singing the same tune.

The nice thing about social media and online marketing is that they are something everyone can learn.  So what’s a marketer to do to get up to speed?  I found that Scott Fox’s e-Riches 2.0: Next Generation Marketing Strategies for Making Millions Online was a very thorough overview.  Don’t let the name scare you into thinking it’s one of those internet scams.  I found it was useful for performing a complete marketing audit.  I was able to evaluate inefficiencies and plan for the next six months.

Some items of interest:

His Nine Commandments for E-Riches Marketing Success include:

1. Don’t worry about technology–focus on your marketing goals instead.
2. Heed the interactive imperative.
3. Build customer relationships. Don’t just chase sales.
4. Listen Up. The “participation nation” requires it.
5. Your profit potential depends on being more personal.
6. Grow beyond your website to a multi-channel online “product presence.”
7. Graduate from destination marketing to distributed engagement.
8. Nurture your brand’s reputation cloud.
9. Publish or perish.

Now if you didn’t understand all of those, or don’t have them incorporated into your 2009/2010 marketing plan, you might want to pick this book up.

Even if you do have a social media component to your marketing plan, I found that Fox had me reconsidering whether some of the services and tools I was using were the most efficient/cost-effective.

And my favorite line in the book is found under Fox’s “Magic Blog Formula.”

If you have something to say that will grow your business, then start a blog.  Otherwise shut up.

Top Shelf Bottom Line: e-Riches covers: e-mail, social marketing, blogs, online PR and promotion tools, podcasting and PPC advertising.  If you don’t have most of these incorporated into your plan, it’s worth picking up.

Word of caution, it may be a bit overwhelming for the non-techie newbie but still helpful to learn the terminology and to earmark the stuff you need to learn more about.

Another good book, which might be easier for total newbies, is: eBoot Camp by Corey Perlman.  Click here for my review.

Last month the Downtown Women’s Club hosted Michelle Goodman, author of My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire, on a DWC+ Teleclass, and I’m making it this month’s “quick pick.”

Right off the bat I asked Goodman what’s different about freelancing in this economy?  Her answer: The basics are pretty much the same, you just need to ramp up and fine-tune your efforts.  In other words,  anyone who has all her “ducks in a row”–meaning contracts ready to go, marketing plan in place, health care and a business plan–is in a better position to do well.

Why? Because she won’t waste time with that while haphazardly chasing clients and potentially taking on business that’s outside her business plan. In desperate times, we tend to act out of desperation; therefore, business plans are necessary to keep ourselves on track.

In addition, if an opportunity comes up in this market, you need to jump on it ASAP.  Paying clients are not going to sit around waiting for you to get a proposal to them.  Have it ready to go.

So if you’re one of these freelancing folks who has been flying by the seat of your pants or dependant upon a single client, you should definitely pick up Goodman’s book.  It’s a great overview of how to get your freelancing work operating like a business quickly, so that you can focus on getting new business. Goodman covers everything you need to know, and it’s a fun and easy read.

In the meantime, for the rest of you, here are a few tidbits we learned in the teleclass about freelancing in a down economy:

1. Make yourself more marketable.

• Be diverse (skills, subcontracting, fields of expertise, different technologies)
• Be flexible
• Be timely (jump on opportunities/trends, etc.)

2. Projects to avoid:

• Those that are below your minimum price
• Those that pay in promotion
• Clients whose companies are shaky
• Clients whom you can’t pin down to parameters

3. Counterintuitive networking

• Learn from other freelancers.
• Find them in person or on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Top Shelf Quick Pick. How’d You Score that Gig: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs and How to Get Them. As summer is almost upon us (and the piles of books being sent continues to multiply), I’m going to start a “quick pick” feature where I will be posting shorter reviews of books that cross my desk. First up is this nice little career guide by Alexandra Levit.

HYSTG is a career guide in the vein of Career Bliss: Secrets from 100 Women Who Love Their Work by Joanne Gordon and other books that help you match your personality and/or passions to the right type of job for you.

In the book, Levit divides people into seven categories:

1. Adventurer
2. Creator
3. Data Head
4. Entrepreneur
5. Investigator
6. Networker
7. Nurturer

Which one are you? Take her quiz to find out. I admit, I took the quiz and wasn’t sure the questions were on point. However, when I got my results, they indicated that I was mostly an entrepreneur with data head and networker tendencies. Considering I’m a marketing data wonk who has her own business promoting networking, I’d say the test was downright accurate.

The rest of the book has a separate section for each category. Within each section it outlines eight “potential” careers that are suited to your passions/interests and what each job entails. While I already have/had a few of the jobs under entrepreneur (blogger/internet-based business owner) Some of the more interesting ones under my three top categories (entrepreneur, data head and networker) included meteorologist, talent agent and lobbyist. I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I want to change careers.

Worth picking up for anyone who feels like her career isn’t matching up with her current personality/interests or wants to see if she’s cut out to be an entrepreneur. For more from Alexandra Levit, click here to listen to her recent guest spot on my internet radio show, Smash the Ladder with Anita & Diane.