1. “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”by David Meerman Scott Social Media is not just an option for marketing and PR it is a must..

2. Who is David Meerman Scott? He is one of those people that went up against the social norms and greatly succeeded in doing so. David Scott at the height of the dot.com boom was Vice President of marketing at NewsEdge Corporation. Before that position, he gained a lot of experience in his prior position as Asia marketing director for the online division at Knight-Ridder. At that time it was one of the largest newspaper companies in the world. He went against the advice of the PR professionals there that told them to not put valuable information online “somewhere competitors could steal it.” David created newsletters and sites that costed virtually nothing that created more buzz then the professional agencies did. He was fired from NewsEdge in 2002 because they said he was too radical with his new ideas.

3. Purpose behind the book… David Scott’s goal in writing this book was to show not only companies that are already in existence, but also for those that are thinking of starting a new business the importance of social networking in their marketing plans. His passion for social media and the use of it in companies today is emanate throughout the entire book. This means not only having a webpage, but having blogs, twitter and other social networking tools to interact with consumers by gaining feedback about the products and services.

4. How will social media gain more sales/revenue? He believes that the key to gaining not only more revenue but a brand that will last is through the “New Rules”. What are the new rules? Focusing on the buyer more then the product. Using social networking to not only promote your products and services but to sale them. Marketing to the specific “buyer persona”. Being able to take negative feedback through blogs, and then being able to make adjustments that will be beneficial in the long run.

5. Social Media into a Business Plan? David also talks in the book about with any business you learn the four P’s in the marketing mix: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. However with his new rules, this is no longer true. You number one focus should be the buyer and then go off of that. In order to sale any product or service, the key is knowing what the customer will want. In the book David says, “No one cares about your products but you.” At first I thought wow really, but its so true. People now days care about what’s going to benefit them, that’s why as innovators come up with new products they must first decide who they are marketing to and then go from that point.

6. Rules of the Rave These are distinct guidelines that David gives on how to make your products, ideas and services worth sharing on the web: Nobody cares about your product *(but you). No coercion required. Lose control Put down roots. Create triggers that encourage people to share. Point the world to your (virtual) doorstep. He believes that by following these rules you can start a “Rave” in the social media world that people WILL talk about and want to share with their communities.

7. Blogging reaches out to your customers… I know for me personally, I’ve always just thought of a blog as something to give your opinions about something, or to get out how you are feeling. However, I learned quickly by reading this book that blogging is way more beneficial than I imagined. It helps to not only promote your thoughts, beliefs and feelings but when you start sharing it can create others to do the same. As well as for companies to gain feedback on what “the people” are saying about their services and products. I have felt many times as though writing about an issue on a blog won’t really cause a movement, yet I saw by reading this book my mindset on that definitely needed to change.

8. Social Networking for Advertising? On Facebook we all have ads and special deals that pop up on the right hand side. I have clicked on quite a few myself, so I was aware that more and more advertising was leaking into social media. Through reading David Scott’s book it showed me that now days with so much time that people spend on the internet if you really want people to see your ads social networking sites are really the way to go. Newspapers and billboards just wont cut it in the advertising aspect of a company anymore. In order to really hit home with the consumers you have to go where they are, which is the internet.

9. Who can benefit most by reading this book? Anyone that is either already in Marketing and PR, and also anyone that plans to do so. From those that are the CEOs of the big fortune companies, to those that are thinking of starting their own business and anywhere in between that. If you want to market yourself, someone else, a product or service in order to succeed in gaining a long lasting “RAVE” it starts with social media and ends with it as well.