NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom--and almost got away with it

In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything--drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons--free of the government's watchful eye.

It wasn't long before the media got wind of the new Web site where anyone--not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers--could buy and sell contraband detection-free. Spurred by a public outcry, the federal government launched an epic two-year manhunt for the site's elusive proprietor, with no leads, no witnesses, and no clear jurisdiction. All the investigators knew was that whoever was running the site called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.

The Silk Road quickly ballooned into $1.2 billion enterprise, and Ross embraced his new role as kingpin. He enlisted a loyal crew of allies in high and low places, all as addicted to the danger and thrill of running an illegal marketplace as their customers were to the heroin they sold. Through his network he got wind of the target on his back and took drastic steps to protect himself--including ordering a hit on a former employee. As Ross made plans to disappear forever, the Feds raced against the clock to catch a man they weren't sure even existed, searching for a needle in the haystack of the global Internet.

Drawing on exclusive access to key players and two billion digital words and images Ross left behind, Vanity Fair correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Nick Bilton offers a tale filled with twists and turns, lucky breaks and unbelievable close calls. It's a story of the boy next door's ambition gone criminal, spurred on by the clash between the new world of libertarian-leaning, anonymous, decentralized Web advocates and the old world of government control, order, and the rule of law. Filled with unforgettable characters and capped by an astonishing climax, American Kingpin might be dismissed as too outrageous for fiction. But it's all too real.

A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing and Advertising
A new generation of megabrands like Facebook, Dropbox, AirBnb, and Twitter haven't spent a dime on traditional marketing. No press releases, no TV commercials, no billboards. Instead they rely on a new strategy--growth hacking--to reach many more people despite modest marketing budgets.
According to bestselling author Ryan Holiday, growth hackers have thrown out the old playbook and replaced it with tools that are testable, trackable, and scalable. They believe that products and businesses should be modified repeatedly until they're primed to generate explosive reactions. Holiday offers rules and examples for aspiring growth hackers, whether they work for tiny startups or Fortune 500 giants.

Grounded in solid research, " Social Media in the Public Sector" explores the myriad uses of social media in the public sector and combines existing practices with theories of public administration, networked governance, and information management. Comprehensive in scope, the book includes best practices, the strategic, managerial, administrative, and procedural aspects of using social media, and explains the theoretical dimensions of how social behavior affects the adoption of social media technologies.

Praise for "Social Media in the Public Sector"

"Mergel has produced a foundational work that combines the best kind of scholarship with shoe-leather reporting and anthropology that highlights the debates that government agencies are struggling to resolve and the fruits of their efforts as they embrace the social media revolution. "Social Media in the Public Sector" is a first and sets a high standard against which subsequent analysis will be measured."

--Lee Rainie, director, Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

"Mergel is an award-winning author who again wields her story skills in this book. She excels in explaining in concrete, practical terms how government managers can use social media to serve the public. Her book puts years of research into one handy guide. It's practical. It's readable. And it's an essential read."

--John M. Kamensky, senior fellow, IBM Center for The Business of Government

"Mergel moves beyond the hype with detailed, comprehensive research on social media technologies, use, management, and policies in government. This book should be required reading for researchers and public managers alike."

--Jane Fountain, professor and director, National Center for Digital Government, University of Massachusetts Amherst

"Comprehensive and compelling, "Social Media in the Public Sector" makes the case that to achieve Government 2.0, agencies must first adopt Web 2.0 social technologies. Mergel explains both how and why in this contemporary study of traditional institutions adopting and adapting to new technologies."

--Beth Simone Noveck, United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer (2009-2011)

Combine social media with traditional marketing techniques for breakthrough results!

While social media is doing much to change the marketing landscape, it doesn't mean you have to take an either/or approach between it and more traditional methods. "And the Clients Went Wild!" gives you the tools to take an eclectic approach and pick the best, most wildly successful marketing methods--traditional, online, or both--to win at a given marketing goal. And, whether by means of Facebook, Twitter, streaming video, or by old-fashioned word of mouth, public relations, or personal sales skill, the goal is to win, right?Find real-life examples of success from some of today's best businessesShows how to integrate and benefit from both traditional and new marketing methodsUses the proven business growth strategy Red Zone Marketing(R) as a central conceptAuthor has proven the concepts successful in her work for numerous major clients

Don't throw out tried and true marketing techniques just for the sake of the new. Do what works! Perfect your marketing mix and win with "And the Clients Went Wild!"

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CMI MANAGEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD Netflix, Spotify, and Salesforce are just the tip of the iceberg for the subscription model. The real transformation--and the real opportunity--is just beginning --- Today's consumers prefer the advantages of access over the hassles of ownership. It's not just internet services like Netflix and Spotify; even industrial firms like GE and Caterpillar are reinventing themselves as solutions providers. Whether you sell software, clothes, insurance, or industrial machines, you need to master the transition to the subscription model. Adapting to the subscription economy takes more than just deciding to sell subscriptions instead of products. You'll have to reinvent your company from the inside out -- from your accounting to your entire IT architecture. No matter how large or small your company, Subscribed gives you a practical, step-by-step framework to rebuild your business around a customer-centric, recurring revenue model.In ten years, we'll be subscribing to everything: information technology, transportation, retail, healthcare, even housing. Informed by insights straight from the servers of Zuora, the world's largest subscription finance platform, Subscribed is the book that explains how this shift really works -- and how business leaders can prepare and prosper.

Following the implementation of the new General Data Protect Regulation on 25 May 2018, organizations should now be fully compliant with their national interpretation of this far-reaching data protection standard. The reality is that most are not; whether through their inappropriate use of online cookies or ineffective physical data security, businesses continue to struggle with the increasing pressure from regulators to apply the Regulation. Non-compliance is widely due to misinterpretation, lack of real-world thinking, and challenges in balancing costs against business practicalities. This book provides insight into how to achieve effective compliance in a realistic, no-nonsense and efficient way. The authors have over 100 years' collective international experience in security, compliance and business disciplines and know what it takes to keep companies secure and in-line with regulators' demands. Whether your organization needs to swiftly adopt GDPR standards or apply them in "Business as Usual" this book provides a wide range of recommendations and explicit examples. With the likelihood of high-profile penalties causing major reputational damage, this book explains how to reduce risk, run a remedial project, and take immediate steps towards mitigating gaps. Written in plain English, it provides an invaluable international reference for effective GDPR adoption.

Originally published by Stevenson, Inc., this practical resource provides strategies for nonprofit organizations to connect with more volunteers through their websites. It includes proven techniques for tailoring a website to meet volunteers' needs and provides examples of effective website features from a variety of organizations. Important topics covered include: * Essential elements of a volunteer website * How to target baby boomer volunteers * How an online conferencing system helps bridge the gap * Boost online contact through social media * Ways to offer virtual volunteering opportunities * Launching a Facebook page * How online training can streamline orientation * How volunteer blogs promotes communication * Online publications * How to increase website usage * Virtual volunteer projects * Useful online tools * Recruiting virtual volunteers * Migrating existing volunteer programs online Please note that some content featured in the original version of this title has been removed in this published version due to permissions issues.

Operational Policy Making for Professional Security: Practical Policy Skills for the Public and Private Sector is a clear, concise, and practical resource for drafting effective, legally defensible security policies. Presented in a clear, step-by-step style that can be tailored to fit the smallest organization to the largest, the book offers the strategies needed for reducing risk through solid policy construction. It is the first book available that provides a step-by-step guide to basic security policy construction, along with helpful hints on how to draft a document that conveys exactly what is intended. The book explores common policy creation pitfalls and how to avoid them, outlining proven methods for implementing and disseminating effective policies throughout any organization. Discussing the core security and safety policies that no organization should operate without, the book covers common types of policies, along with the pros and cons of different policy-making methodologies. It is a one-stop reference on functional security policy-making for organizational leaders.

Expert advice on growing your professional service firm or individual practice through social media

Showing professionals and their marketers how to accomplish familiar marketing tactics in newer, ways, "Social Media for Professionals and Their Firms" takes you step by step in putting social media to work for your professional practice. Whether you want to build your own on-line reputation, or are ready to explore new media for corporate marketing and communications, this book is the definitive guide for your strategic approach.Explores why the fastest and most leveragable way to expand relationships today is through the InternetProvides step-by-step approaches to successful professional bloggingDiscusses high-level strategies for effectively using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and bookmarking sitesIncludes pitfalls and success stories featuring notable social media trailblazers

Timely and practical, this book shows you why new media is rapidly becoming the core way for professionals to reach their audiences. Whether your firm provides legal, accounting, financial planning, architecture, consultancy, or other services, "Social Media Strategies for Professionals and Their Firms" will show you ways to better reach and communicate with your customers.

Optimize, optimize, optimize to get the most out of your company's social media presence As it turns out, social media is good for a lot more than funny cat videos, memes, and sharing what you're eating for lunch with the world. As the social media sphere continues to grow and be redefined, it's more important than ever to arm yourself with the latest information on how you can use it to drive traffic to your website, raise awareness of your brand, and promote your products or services. If you're a marketer who has asked yourself how you can possibly stay afloat in these newly chartered and oft overcrowded waters, Social Media Optimization For Dummies serves as your roadmap to smart marketing in the digital age. So, what is Social Media Optimization (SMO), exactly? Well, it's comprised of two closely related practices. First, SMO refers to a set of techniques in which social media is used to drive traffic to a website and create an interest in a product or service. Second, SMO concerns the optimization of the social media presence itself with the goal of building followers, increasing engagement, and, again, generating interest in a product or service. Each of these parts supports the other and, when the channels are managed efficiently, enhances the other's effectiveness. In this plain English, easy-to-follow guide, you'll quickly discover how to apply SMO practices to your marketing plan to accomplish those goals. * Integrate social media into your website * Drive traffic to your website * Build followers and generate a buzz * Increase engagement with customers From integrating social media into your website to building your social media presence to everything in between, Social Media Optimization For Dummies points your business toward success.

The complete guide to a winning pay-per-click marketing campaign

Pay-per-click advertising-the "sponsored results" on search engine results pages-is increasingly being used to drive traffic to websites. Marketing and advertising professionals looking for a hands-on, task-based guide to every stage of creating and managing a winning PPC campaign will get the step-by-step instruction they need in this detailed guide.

Using the popular "An Hour A Day" format, this book helps you avoid the pitfalls and plan, develop, implement, manage, and monitor a PPC campaign that gets results.Successful pay-per-click campaigns are a key component of online marketingThis guide breaks the project down into manageable tasks, valuable for the small-business owner as well as for marketing officers and consultantsExplains core PPC concepts, industry trends, and the mechanics that make a campaign workShows how to perform keyword research, structure campaigns, and understand campaign settings and various pricing modelsDiscusses how to write ads, develop and test landing pages, use ad groups, and leverage Google's content networkCovers launching a campaign, bidding for position, monitoring, gathering results, and interpreting and acting on the data collected

"Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing: An Hour a Day" provides the tools to make the most of this important marketing method.

Learn to take full advantage of search and social media for B2B marketing

Business-to-business marketers have been slow to enter the online marketing arena, but now that the impact of search and social media marketing in the consumer marketplace is clearly documented, B2B marketers are ready for a complete guide to making the most of the medium. Written by experts with first-hand knowledge of the field, this book clearly explains how to leverage today's search engine marketing and social media technologies to get, nurture, and convert leads. Topics include strategy, branding, monitoring, resource allocation, and much more.B2B marketers need detailed, practical guidelines and strategies for how best to gain, nurture, and convert leads using today's Internet technologies and strategiesThis ultimate how-to guide examines strategic and branding considerations, search engine optimization techniques, and how to maximize the impact of banner ads and landing pagesExplains how to use social media listening and monitoring tools, how to engage visitors, and how to allocate resources to ensure successCovers measuring results, improving web site usability, using metrics, and nurturing leads

Skilled B2B marketers who are ready to take advantage of all that online marketing has to offer will find this guide provides exactly the know-how they need.

The world is changing, and so are our donors. In the future, it will become even more important for organizations to find leads, supporters and new donors online - because digitization is a bottleneck in fundraising.This book highlights universal fundraising opportunities. It explains the fundamentals of lead community fundraising and why, especially in digital times, it is important to start with the people - the community. The main topic of the book is the current state of digital fundraising, which is becoming more and more important. More than 45 examples from international fundraising practices provide a valuable foundation for all practitioners in this field.

This book presents a new methodology, known as Knowledge Driven Development, for managing project knowledge in an exhaustive and structured manner. The text highlights the importance of efficient project delivery methodology in the overall software development life cycle. Important topics such as requirement analysis, solution design, application design, and test design are discussed in depth. It establishes a connection between enterprise knowledge and project knowledge for continuous improvement and accelerated project delivery. Separate chapters on end-to-end project delivery, compliance and protocols and interface with existing methodologies makes it useful for the readers. Several case studies and examples are interspersed throughout the text for better understanding.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. The essential guide to marketing and building your business on Instagram - today's hottest social media platform While other social sites are declining in popularity, Instagram is hotter than ever-and shows no signs of cooling off any time soon. But it's not just users that are flocking to the site, marketers love it too. With more features and marketing capabilities than ever, Instagram is a channel that smart marketers can't afford to avoid. Filled with proven strategies from leading Instagram experts this updated edition of Instagram Power walks you through the steps of setting up your account, actionable monetization methods you can use, and how to integrate the social media platform into your complete marketing approach. With 15 new chapter subsections and revisions throughout, the book shows you how to leverage all the new features, including Insights, IGTV, Shop-able Posts, Stories, and Instagram Ads. You'll discover how to: *Leverage Instagram to build and strengthen your business or personal brand*Design an effective marketing plan for the platform*Sell directly on Instagram with Shop-able posts*Avoid common pitfalls, and much more If you're serious about marketing, you need to tap into the power of the world's most popular photo-sharing platform. This guide offers a road map to achieving Instagram marketing success.

The small business marketing experts at Demandforce help owners kick off their online strategy

Small business owners are exceptional at delivering on their product or service. Many, however, don't know where to start when it comes to online marketing. "The Small Business Online Marketing Handbook" will show you how to effectively leverage email, social, online, and network marketing to get new customers and keep existing customers coming back. Author Annie Tsai shows you how to refocus just a small percentage of an offline marketing budget and create exponential return for your business.Author Annie Tsai is a popular blogger and Chief Customer Officer for Demandforce, an automated Internet marketing and communication company specializing in small- to medium-sized businesses, recently acquired by IntuitFeatures spot interviews and "do this now" advice from resident experts at Demandforce, including the founders

With the proliferation of social media and the consumer voice on the web, small business owners need to take a deliberate approach to leveraging this new marketing channel to effectively convert online conversations into offline sales. "The Small Business Online Marketing Handbook" shows you how.

This best-selling guide provides all the advice artists and craftspeople need to sell their work in today's competitive market. This fantastic new edition has been updated with essential advice on how to make full use of digital opportunities for selling your work, such as social networking and e-marketing.

It contains information and suggestions about:

- Selecting and approaching galleries

- Pricing and payments

- Royalty rates and financial management

- Sample contracts and other legal considerations

- Creating a website and maximising hits

- Mastering social media to increase your visibility

- Managing sales via online stores such as Etsy, Folksy or ebay

- Printing your own reproductions and marketing them

With a foreword by Mary Ann Rogers, one of Britain's most acclaimed watercolour painters and awarded 'Best Selling Published Artist' by the Fine Art Trade Guild in 2009.

The inside information that marketers and social media practitioners have been dying to get their hands on... It seems like every day another self-appointed social media "guru" appears on the scene, offering to sell you his or her "surefire" cure for what ails you. Don't you think it's time you heard from the real experts--i.e., folks like you who are responsible for delivering their companies' social media strategies? Based on extensive interviews with marketing, media and networking professionals at many of today's most admired brands and companies, "The Social Media MBA in Practice" provides you with detailed examples of the social media strategies in place at ADP, Allianz, Barclaycard, Cisco, Confused.com, Dell, Electrolux, F5, Getty Images, giffgaff, Go-Ahead Group, HCL, Hobart, Honda, Israel Foreign Office, LivingSocial, Macmillan, Nationwide, NHL Minnesota Wild, Nokia, Play.com, PwC, Rentokil, Sony Mobile and Xerox.This book offers: The most comprehensive set of "blueprints" available in one book for delivering social media strategies more successfully.Includes in-depth case studies packed with hand-on-advice that you can put to work in your company immediately.Covers all-important strategic social media activities - from improving relationships with customers to generating more sales, product testing to team building.

Your ticket to generating better results through infographics Visual Content Marketing is a more than just a guide to infographics. Written for business people dealing with complex offerings, this is a hands-on, in-the-trenches guide to leveraging this emerging medium to reach bottomline business goals. Uniquely, this book addresses the full range of visual solutions, with an emphasis on using these products to create real business value. Inside, you'll learn the ins and outs of infographics, interactive pictograms, video, animations, data-driven visualizations, and other conversion-generating graphical content. Get inspired by the groundbreaking examples showcased here, and learn how to manage every aspect of visual content, from sourcing suppliers to leveraging content on the appropriate media platforms. Author Stephen Gamble is a leader in visual marketing solutions, with over twenty years of experience in the industry. Thousands look to his firm, Frame Concepts, for insider tips on generating revenue with the help of innovative graphics. This insider knowledge is at your fingertips in Visual Content Marketing. To meet your demanding business goals, you need new ideas. This book will show you how to infuse visual content where and when it counts. * Generate high-quality leads and revenue with infographics, video, data visualizations, and more * Identify the visual marketing and engagement strategies that will work for your business * Source and manage talented content suppliers who will deliver on your strategic vision * Integrate eye-popping visual solutions to update your brand and achieve your business goals Focusing on the visual is the secret to success in the effort to win customer engagement and attention. Visual Content Marketing is applicable to every business function and industry. With this book, you have the start-to-finish information you need to leverage visual solutions to great effect.

This book is for everyone who needs to write copy that sells - including copywriters, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. Writing copy that sells without seeming "salesy" can be tough, but is an essential skill. How To Write Copy That Sells supplies specific copywriting techniques for everything from email marketing, web sites, and social media, to traditional media ads and direct mail.

Today's digital economy is uniquely dependent on the Internet, yet few users or decision makers have more than a rudimentary understanding of the myriad of online risks that threaten us. Cyber crime is one of the main threats to the integrity and availability of data and systems. From insiders to complex external attacks and industrial worms, modern business faces unprecedented challenges; and while cyber security and digital intelligence are the necessary responses to this challenge, they are understood by only a tiny minority. In his second book on high-tech risks, Mark Johnson goes far beyond enumerating past cases and summarising legal or regulatory requirements. He describes in plain, non-technical language how cyber crime has evolved and the nature of the very latest threats. He confronts issues that are not addressed by codified rules and practice guidelines, supporting this with over 30 valuable illustrations and tables. Written for the non-technical layman and the high tech risk manager alike, the book also explores countermeasures, penetration testing, best practice principles, cyber conflict and future challenges. A discussion of Web 2.0 risks delves into the very real questions facing policy makers, along with the pros and cons of open source data. In a chapter on Digital Intelligence readers are provided with an exhaustive guide to practical, effective and ethical online investigations. Cyber Crime, Security and Digital Intelligence is an important work of great relevance in today's interconnected world and one that nobody with an interest in either risk or technology should be without.

An eye-opening look at the invisible workers who protect us from seeing humanity's worst on today's commercial internet Social media on the internet can be a nightmarish place. A primary shield against hateful language, violent videos, and online cruelty uploaded by users is not an algorithm. It is people. Mostly invisible by design, more than 100,000 commercial content moderators evaluate posts on mainstream social media platforms: enforcing internal policies, training artificial intelligence systems, and actively screening and removing offensive material-sometimes thousands of items per day. Sarah T. Roberts, an award-winning social media scholar, offers the first extensive ethnographic study of the commercial content moderation industry. Based on interviews with workers from Silicon Valley to the Philippines, at boutique firms and at major social media companies, she contextualizes this hidden industry and examines the emotional toll it takes on its workers. This revealing investigation of the people "behind the screen" offers insights into not only the reality of our commercial internet but the future of globalized labor in the digital age.

The Synchronous Trainer's Survival Guide is a hands-on resource for enhancing your real-time e-learning sessions. Written by Jennifer Hofmann, a synchronous training leader, it is the first and only book focusing solely on this emerging training method. If you're new to synchronous training, everything you need to know is right here. If you're a seasoned pro the practical tips, tools, and customizable templates in this book will ensure the success of your online training courses, meetings, and events.