The influence of bloggers, podcasters, and users of other social media is profoundly disrupting the mainstream media and marketing industries. Paul Gillin s The New Influencers explores these forces, who these new influencers are, their goals and motivations, takes a look at the changes they have initiated, and offers strategies for marketing within this dynamic new macrocosm. The New Influencers explores: Why social media are now so influential in consumer decisions Interacting with those within the blogosphere How to take advantage of this new medium The need for complete transparency Strategies for both small and large businesses Whether your company or organization should start a blog

For those of us who are just getting into a website of our own, this is an exceptionaly helpful book. Paul Gillin is one of the eight or ten highly knowledgeable marketer's on the web, and focuses on how to communicate effectively with your constituents. With my lack of experience in the field, I spend time every day searching for ways to build traffic and market my company. Gillin is a godsend and he's created a model which he calls conversation marketing. I've found that it works. When a book achieves its goals, which Gillin's certainly does, that's the best possible recommendation.

Although it deals almost exclusively in detail with blogs and podcasts, and not too much with social networks and online communities, "The New Influencers" is a "must read" for anyone interested in next generation interactive online media. The author's analysis of the need for businesses, both large and small, to have an interactive "voice" online is right on the mark, as is his insight that its actually easier and immediate (and effective) for small businesses to begin to use blogs and podcasts than it is for larger more visible bureaucratic organizations. From his example of Thomas Mahon, the Saville Row tailor who revolutionized his business by using a blog to educate the world on quality tailoring, to Duane Keiser, who didn't make any money selling his art until he blogged, or the originations of the new media guerilla marketing firm NightAgency, Gillin does a good job of giving concrete, real world examples to back up statistics on interactive new media "influencers" influence. Right up there with "Groundswell," "We are smarter than Me," and "Smart Start-Ups," "The New Influencers" is one of a half a dozen or so books on the topic that deserve a permanent place in the library of any person or institution interested in or involved in the new world of social media.

Books about Web tools and strategies for marketers tend to be written hastily, for two reasons: primacy and recency. With respect to the former, the marketing consultants who write these books want to build visibility in the market quickly, and to be perceived as pioneers, because the competition is intense. With respect to the latter, the web environment evolves and shifts daily; so authors worry that taking time to cover these topics in depth, present meaningful case studies, verify factual accuracy, and polish prose might unduly delay publication beyond the point timeliness. Among the several books I've read about Web 2.0 marketing, Gillin's book is the most sophisticated, with ample real-world cases and examples -- and the least evangelistic. While many of the authors in this "space" come across as self-serving buzz-meisters, Gillin is enthusiastic but circumspect.

This book is a must-have if you want to know more about how to promote more effectively today. The Internet is not to be ignored!

Gillin not only goes into great detail about the power of The New Influencers but provides an exceptional collection of real-world examples that combine to create a veritable "How To" for anyone considering a conversation-based approach to marketing.