It took me longer than expected to read John Jackson’s excellent book Socially Close. I’m not a particularly fast reader, but that wasn’t the reason it took so long. Nor was it because the book was boring — it definitely isn’t. And it didn’t take me so long because Jackson’s writing is obtuse or difficult to understand. On the contrary, he writes in a clear and very accessible way that is easy to understand despite the complexity of his topic.
No, the reason it took me so long was none of the above. Instead, it was because what Jackson has to share is so compelling that I found myself immediately going to my website, blog, and social media accounts to see what needed to be changed to take advantage of what was being shared.
If, as a business leader, you were wondering what all the fuss over social media is about, and why it is important to your business, the answer is between the covers of Jackson’s book. Socially Close is written in short chapters that allow you to do what I wound up doing — putting it down for your own research and then picking it back up again without skipping a beat. Each chapter has an action step and a pithy quotation to help you stay focused.
Personally, I have not questioned the power of social media and have made use of many of the tools and sites to which Jackson refers. However, I had not stopped to organize the landscape and try to build a cohesive picture for myself. Socially Close has done that for me in many ways. In addition, it has given me a foundation for discussing the use of social media with the many small businesses in my professional network. This very useful book will not only remain in my hands for action and on my shelf as a reference, but it will be on my list of recommended reading for others I advise.
Click on the book image or this link to see it on Amazon.