Should You Read Naked Conversations?

The short answer to that question is yes.

I’ve just read a pre-publication copy of Naked Conversations by unabashed blogging evangelists Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. Don’t miss this book even if you and/or your organization haven’t yet jumped into the blogosphere.

Scoble and Israel hammer home the point that blogging and other forms of social media are transforming how businesses communicate with customers, suppliers, and all their constituencies. And many would agree with them.

But this isn’t a one-sided, navel-gazing tome on the virtues of blogging. This book is full of hard-hitting advice from dozens of successful bloggers on what makes some blogs work and others flame out.

The book itself is like a blog on steroids, but with a natural thread through the topics that leads the reader easily from one subject to the next. It’s more of a conversation than a traditional book.

Throughout the case studies, the authors let the voices of the bloggers shine through, giving the reader a sense of the issues each company faced. When the authors agree or disagree with how a business handled a situation, they let you know—in a civilized way.

Scoble and Israel boil down their research and experience to help businesses understand the nuts and bolts of blogging without going geeky on the reader. They’ve got eleven tips for a successful blog, how to blog your way through a crisis, and an update of Scoble’s Corporate Weblog Manifesto.

Make no mistake—this is a business book. If you’re blogging now, read it for the hundreds of insights you’ll uncover. If your organization isn’t blogging, use this book as a discussion starter for deciding whether blogging is right for your company.

The book will hit the online bookstores in January 2006, but you can add it to your wish list now. You can find out more at the authors’ blog, Naked Conversations.

Comments

[Phil Dunn]

Can't wait to read this one. I have a book coming out next year on online networking (via services like Linked-In)... and I'll bet there will be some similar threads. I've developed quite a few conversations and really great contacts via both blogging and networking with people via LinkedIn. Do they touch on this in Naked Conversations?