I’ve been catching up with some work-related reading recently, including the following two books on social media, social business and influence.

Both books were kindly sent by their publishing companies, and then unforgivably got hidden in my library during a house move, so having uncovered them again I’ve finally got around to finishing them both.

 

Return on Influence by Mark Schaefer

As indicated by the title, Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing looks at the various social scoring measures, such as Klout, Peerindex and Kred, which have become increasingly popular with both social media users and brands looking to reach them.

It focuses mainly on Klout, including the reasons why it exists and how it was started, reasons to use it, and how to improve your scores or outreach.

It’s a very readable book, with plenty of examples for both business and individual social scoring – and plenty of experts are quoted and referenced. And there’s plenty of further recommended further reading.

It would be a great book for anyone who is just starting out, or who has heard names like Klout and has no idea what it does. It wasn’t so helpful if you’ve been using the social scoring services for a while – the tips are fairly logical, and there’s a limit to how deep Schaefer can do into a proprietary algorithm which is being tweaked and refined.

But definitely worth keeping as a reference work for clients and friends who want a detailed look into social reputation measurement without me needing to go through the basics every time!

 

Likeonomics by Rohit Bhargava

Another very readable book packed full of relevant examples, but aimed at building business strategy and organisations wanted to build trust, with a formula for Truth, Relevance, Unselfishness, Simplicity and Timing.

It’s not unique in proposing that a modern company or individual benefits from building on these principles in the digital era when any customer can share their experiences, and there are plenty of references and further reading to pick up on.

It’s very well executed and laid out, meaning that it’s good to dip in and out from when you need to refer to a specific area or example, and it’s a good collection of principles and ideas to spark your own initiatives.

Having worked in this area for quite a long time now, I did find an occasional example and idea which made me think about things slightly differently, even if the concepts in the book weren’t exactly alien to me. It’s a book I suspect I’ll keep nearby and refer to regularly to refresh my mind and the what I’m working on. Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspiring Action