Book Review : e-Riches 2.0

Few months back, there was a guest article by best-selling author Scott Fox[of Internet Riches fame] on Internet Riches for Indian Entrepreneurs[articles here & here]. This time we review Scott's new book e-Riches 2.0

A short review
Let me start off with one of the best reasons to read the book - "Today your customers are online, even if your business has nothing to do with the Net, computers or Technology. To keep up with the competition, you need to promote what you sell by using the latest online marketing techniques to interact with your customers". This is where e-Riches can help you to use the medium of the internet to establish your brand, make money and outsmart your competitors.

In depth review
It does not matter whether you are a web startup since this book covers a broad range of topics which might be helpful to four kinds of people

1. A corporate marketer or agency employee
2. A small business owner or partner
3. E-business curious and
4. Worried about your financial future.

In the current economic situation, most of the people can be put under the category[4] and internet can definitely be an alternative source of generating some income. This is where e-Riches 2.0 comes in very handy since it covers the various aspects of Web 2.0 and beyond. Also, even if you are not able to earn online, the book would definitely help you/your business to create an effective brand.

It touches upon the various aspects of the Web namely -

1. Email marketing
2. Social Media Marketing
3. Importance and usage of mediums like Blogs and Microblogs
4. New online Public Relations[PR] and Promotion tools
5. Online broadcasting [How to use Video Marketing]
6. What makes a winning online marketing strategy

Most interesting chapters
Although the entire book was quite interesting to read, few of chapters entered in my favorites category. They are -

Social network marketing
Whether you are Web startup or not, Social Networks have become very important since, all the conversation about your brand is happening there. Many times, I hear that we are not internet-savvy & hence you become unaware about what is being told about you as a person/your company. This is where this chapter comes in handy since it touches upon all the aspects of SN Marketing namely -

• Why should you/your startup use Social Networking.
• Which Social Networking medium is best for your business.
• Strategies for success in Social Networking.
  
• Quick start guide for guys who are new to this medium.

Era of Blogging and Micro-Blogging
Everyone [or should I say most of us] know what is a Blog, but how many of us use the medium effectively.This is where this can be an excellent starting point if you want to use Blogging to reach the right set of people and to promote your business. It explains the Do(s) and Don't(s) of blogging and touches upon each & every corner of the medium.

Microblogging especially Twitter has now proved an effective medium for marketing and the chapter talks on Twitter for Personal use as well as for business use.This complete chapter was a delight to read !!!

Who should read e-Riches 2.0?
If you are already quite acquainted with the Web and the various aspects of Marketing, this book would help you with some important pointers which can be used in your daily routine. However, if you are new to this entire Web arena, e-Riches could turn out to be an excellent starting point of your journey.

What else could it have?
1. The chapter on Twitter could have been a bit more exhaustive and should have included some interesting tweets on how businesses are using that medium. A small Q&A with few business owners could have made a huge difference giving it a more dialogue oriented approach.

2. Though Facebook had a huge mention in the book, Orkut was left far behind. Some more detailed analysis on how Orkut could be used a marketing machine would have been insightful [Note-Orkut is hugely popular in India though Facebook is catching up ...]

My personal learning
It has been long[4.5 years] since I am blogging. I have been thinking of booking my own domain[which would stand as my own brand] but had been delaying for a quite a long time.

After reading Scott's book, I understood personal branding in a much better way & have now registered ThoughtsPrevail

Final Words on e-Riches 2.0
As stated before, it could be an excellent starting point or an excellent resource for detailed reference on some of the activities that you perform on the Web.

My personal thanks to Scott Fox for including my Facebook profile[as his Fan] in his book.Scott, if blogging wouldn't have been there, we wouldn't have connected with each other !!!