Are you on Twitter, Sphinn, Second Life, Wesabe, LinkedIn, or Squidoo? Social networks operate differently with categories in: general (MySpace, Facebook), vertical (Wesabe, Cafémom), bookmarking (Digg, Sphinn), recommendation engines (Yelp), social shopping (Kaboodle), horizontal (LinkedIn, TripAdvisor), photo and video sharing (YouTube, Flickr), virtual (Second Life), mobile (Twitter, Utterz), and international (Orkut, Cyworld). Which should you use? Know your business goals first, and then choose specific social tools. The social aspect of all networks requires interaction, which means developing an online presence, listening to site members, and giving honest news to your customers. Social marketing requires giving up some control of your product, an unsettling thought to some, but crucial for online success.

Were you part of the twenty million downloads of "Bellagio Fountain," the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment? Started by Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe, the viral video attracted millions of viewers, and then the attention of Coke leaders, who worried about the 10,000 copycats and the video’s silliness. Would the video affect their brand name? Would they be liable for copycat experiments? Their marketing department led them to a new marketing outlook: Coke is receiving free exposure, and people are enjoying their product. Diet Coke product sales increased by five to ten percent. Coke saw more profits when they took an even bigger step and sponsored Voltz and Grobe’s next experiment by providing soda, ads, and a contest.

Author Paul Gillin provides solid advice based on study results. Sixteen chapters cover topics on the reasons to use social media; how to match your business goals with the right social tools; how to make blogs, podcasts, videos, photos, contests and reviews work for your business; finding online influencers and understanding online behavior; measuring your social marketing results; and a future outlook of online media. Gillin’s prose is insightful and easy-to-follow with interesting anecdotes. Fitting for this review topic, I discovered Paul Gillin and his work through a tweet, the name for a Twitter post. I highly recommend Secrets of Social Media Marketing to experienced marketers as well as the book’s focus audience of new entrepreneurs. Regardless of your online experience, your next marketing step should include Secrets of Social Media Marketing.