A top social media guru shares the secrets to expanding your business through relationships

People have always done business with people they know, like, and trust. That's the essence of "relationship marketing." Today, the popularity of online social networking has caused a paradigm shift in relationship marketing. This book helps businesspeople and marketers master this crucial new skill set. Social marketing expert Mari Smith outlines a step-by-step plan for building a sizable, loyal network comprised of quality relationships that garner leads, publicity, sales, and more.

If you're a businessman or businesswoman feeling the pressure to shift your approach to using social media marketing, to better understand the new soft skills required for success on the social web, and to improve your own leadership and relationship skills through emotional and social intelligence, this book is for you.Outlines how to become a significant "center of influence" for your customers and prospectsExplains the unspoken rules of online etiquette--and the common "turnoffs" that drive customers and potential partners awayDetails the unique cultures of Facebook, Twitter, and other popular online platformsShows exactly what to automate and delegate to build your social media persona, yet still retain the personal touch

Even if you currently have zero presence online, this book will help you see measurable results in a short time.

Praise for "Energize Growth Now"

"Effective, timely, balanced-this book captures the critical steps for growing a business the 'right way' and avoiding the usual pitfalls of a poor growth strategy."
--Stephen R. Covey, author, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "The Leader in Me"

"Much like my experience at Apple, you will need to know when it's time to stop acting like a bootstrapper and start operating like a growth company. This book is a great resource to ease the transition. By applying these core principles and time-tested planning guides, you will have changed the world for the better."
--Guy Kawasaki, author, "Reality Check" and "The Art of the Start," and cofounder, Alltop

"I wish I'd had access to this book's wisdom in the past. It's a wellspring of invaluable marketing ideas and wealth-building strategies business owners and management teams can-and should-use to take their companies where they need to go. There's no abstruse theory or hard-to-understand doublespeak here. Just actionable plans anyone can literally start using tomorrow. That makes Lisa Nirell the growth strategy guru for sustainable businesses."
--Jeffrey Hollender, President and Chief Inspired Protagonist, Seventh Generation

""Energize Growth NOW" appears at an ideal time to provide small business owners with their rightful wealth, life balance, and peace of mind through great advice, easily applied. Lisa Nirell's advice is more important than any business plan you now have in place."
--Alan Weiss, PhD, author, "Million Dollar Consulting"

""Energize Growth NOW" is simply a fantastic how-to guide for building a great company. Try the ideas in this book and not only will your business grow, but so will you "
--Marshall Goldsmith, "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" #1 bestselling author of "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" and "Succession: Are You Ready?"

"In "Energize Growth NOW," Lisa Nirell has written a smart, concise guide for business leaders looking to navigate growth successfully. The book provides valuable tips on how companies can grow better as well as bigger, and how leaders can create the kind of vibrant culture that's critical now more than ever."
--Ray Davis, CEO, Umpqua Bank, and author, "Leading for Growth"

"Lisa Nirell has captured the essence of what it takes to grow an entrepreneurial venture into a successful, sustainable enterprise."
--Jerry Andres, CEO, Jeld-Wen Development, and Chairman of the Board, Clear Choice Health Plans

"What's uniquely cool about Lisa's book is the way she interweaves values with financial success. Making big bucks without values smells. Having high values go unrewarded ultimately destroys beliefs. She keeps them together."
--Gary Sutton, author, "The Six-Month Fix" and "Corporate Canaries"

What made the" Sopranos" finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history?
Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible?
What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks?
Elegance.
In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innovative breakthroughs in fields ranging from physics and marketing to design and popular culture. Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements--seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a compelling, story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers surprising evidence that what's "not there" often trumps what is.
In the bestselling tradition of "The Tipping Point, Made to Stick, " and "The Black Swan, ""In Pursuit of Elegance" will change the way you think about the world.

From Guy Kawasaki, the bestselling author of The Art of the Start and Enchantment, The Art of Social Media is a no-nonsense guide to becoming a social media superstar. By now it's clear that whether you're promoting a business, a product, or yourself, social media is near the top of what will determine your success or failure. And there are countless pundits, authors, and consultants eager to advise you. But there's no one quite like Guy Kawasaki, the legendary former chief evangelist for Apple and one of the pioneers of business blogging, tweeting, facebooking, tumbling, and much, much more. Now Guy has teamed up with his Canva colleague Peg Fitzpatrick to offer The Art of Social Media - the one essential guide you need to get the most bang for your time, effort, and money. With more than 100 practical tips, tricks, and insights, Guy and Peg present a ground-up strategy to produce a focused, thorough, and compelling presence on the most popular social-media platforms. They guide you through the steps of building your foundation, amassing your digital assets, going to market, optimizing your profile, attracting more followers, and effectively integrating social media and blogging. For beginners overwhelmed by too many choices, as well as seasoned professionals eager to improve their game, The Art of Social Media is full of tactics that have been proven to work in the real world. Or as Guy puts it, "Great Stuff, No Fluff." Guy Kawasaki, who helped make Macintosh a household name, now runs Garage Technology Ventures, a venture-capital firm. He has held his workshop, "Boot Camp for Start-ups," around the world. Kawasaki is the author of seven previous books, including Art of the Start, Enchantment and Rules for Revolutionaries.

When customers are truly thrilled about their experience with a product or service, they have the potential to become one of its influential evangelists. Savvy marketing professionals know that this group of true believers can be leveraged as a potent force to build word of mouth that leads to new customers. Creating Customer Evangelists explains how to develop marketing and sales strategies that create communities of passionate customers. By cultivating a dialogue and then creating emotion-driven relationships with customers, companies can inspire grassroots support. Creating Customer Evangelists shows how to convert good customers into exceptional ones who willingly spread the word. "Lessons of customer evangelism related through real life company stories make this book an absorbing read." -- Harvard Business School "I'll admit it: at first, I was a skeptic. But halfway through this savvy and compelling book, I became a convert. And by the time I'd turned the last page, I'd become an evangelist. Say it with me, brothers and sisters: customer evangelism is the future " -- Dan Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind "An inspiring and thorough book packed with real life examples, action items and insight." -- Emanuel Rosen, author of The Anatomy of Buzz Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, authors of Citizen Marketers, popularized the term "customer evangelism." The Seth Godin-edited New York Times bestseller The Big Moo featured them among 33 of "the world's smartest business thinkers."

What do you really want? Powerful communication can get it for you. This classic book, now in its third edition, guides you to save time, avoid miscommunication, build confidence, gain instant rapport, persuade with ease, close sales, manage difficult situations, reduce stress through cooperation, gain a new job or protect your job, and align yourself for promotions and raises. A new chapter, "Truth No One Will Tell You," shows how you can thrive in an economic crisis. Award winning speaker, author, university lecturer and CEO, Tom Marcoux coaches you to success through job interviewing, public speaking, media relations, and personal branding. Learn a system of persuasive communication techniques for business and life. Examples from the lives of prominent contemporary success stories include Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Short articles by other eminent authors provide further strategies. A rich collection of quotations stimulates the reader's imagination, ranging from Emerson to Oprah.

Presented in letter form, here are private messages of hope from 33 exceptional individuals--including actress/model Renee Russo, jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick--which will inspire others to overcome their own adversities and achieve richer, more fulfilled lives.

THE CLASSIC BESTSELLING GUIDE TO LAUNCHING AND MAKING YOUR NEW PRODUCT, SERVICE OR IDEA A SUCCESS. 'The ultimate entrepreneurship handbook' - Arianna Huffington Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, small-business owner, intrapreneur, or not-for-profit leader, there's no shortage of advice on topics such as innovating, recruiting, fund raising, and branding. In fact, there are so many books, articles, websites, blogs, webinars, and conferences that many startups focus on the wrong priorities and go broke before they succeed. The Art of the Start 2.0 solves that problem by distilling Guy Kawasaki's decades of experience as one of the most hardworking and irreverent strategists in the business world. Guy understands the seismic changes in business over the last decade: Once-invulnerable market leaders are struggling. Many of the basics of getting established have become easier, cheaper, and more democratic. Business plans are no longer necessary. Social media has replaced PR and advertising as the key method of promotion. Crowdfunding is now a viable alternative to investors. The cloud makes basic infrastructure affordable for almost any new venture. The Art of the Start 2.0 will show you how to effectively deploy all these tools. It will help you master the fundamental challenges that have not changed: building a strong team, creating an awesome product or service, and facing down your competition.

Learn how to master Google+--the world's fastest-growing social-media service

"Attract followers. Engage enchanting people. Promote your brand."

The former Chief Evangelist for Apple knows a superior product when he sees one, and he sees one in Google+. Hands down. In "What the Plus ," Guy Kawasaki explains how to get started, create an enchanting profile, optimize for social searches, share posts and photos, conduct hangouts, and gain followers.

"We didn't expect over 100 million people to join Google+ so quickly. If we had, we might have written a tutorial like this one. Lucky for us, Guy has written this wonderful introduction to Google+. Highly recommended "
--Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President, Social, Google

""What the Plus "is the G+ motherlode Guy's book will make you fall madly in love with Google+ and never look back "
--Mari Smith, author of "The New Relationship Marketing" and coauthor of "Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day"

"People ask me why I like Google+ better. I struggle to find the words, but Guy Kawasaki not only figured it out but shows you how to get the most out of this new social network."
--Robert Scoble, Rackspace Videoblogger

"Brimming with tips for optimizing the Google+ experience, the author explains how to get started, find people, search by interests, manage circles (segmented relationships with family, colleagues, etc.) and streams (the flow of posts that you see), and hang out in groups for classes, press conferences, and other purposes."
"--Kirkus Reviews"

PACKED WITH SCREENSHOTS THAT TAKE YOU STEP BY STEP THROUGH THE GOOGLE+ EXPERIENCE

"Don't even think about trying to launch a startup without reading Guy Kawasaki's "Reality Check."" -"BizEd"
For a quarter of a century, in his various guises as an entrepreneur, evangelist, venture capitalist, and guru, Guy Kawasaki has cast an irreverent eye on the dubious trends, sketchy theories, and outright foolishness of what so often passes for business today. Too many people frantically chase the Next Big Thing only to discover that all they've made is the Last Big Mistake.
"Reality Check" is Kawasaki's all-in-one guide for starting and operating great organizations-ones that stand the test of time and ignore any passing fads in business theory. This indispensable volume collects, updates, and expands the best entries from his popular blog and features his inimitable take on everything from effective e-mailing to sucking up to preventing "bozo explosions."