Reading Reflection No. 3

Book chosen: The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users by Guy Kawasaki 

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The theme or layout of this book is a hundred practical tips for understanding social media and growing your personal or business brand on social media platforms. The book covers treating your social media account professionally, presenting content that viewers want to see in addition to what you want to market, and allow various accounts to talk to interact with one another as you market what you are marketing. 

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I think this book connects with this class because it covers how to take an idea and a solution and communicate it effectively to potential investors. We learned in this class how  to conduct elevator pitches and present what we offer to potential business partners, and this guide to social media also details how to present your information using many of the same principles. The book also discusses the difference between communicating what you want to market and marketing what you have to what the audience wants to know about. This applies directly to the main points of marketing that we discussed in the second half of the course. 

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I would have the class create social media pages for their product ideas and then integrate them together as the book suggests. The assignment requirements would match the suggestions of the book and students would have to build a brand for their product by focusing on what their viewers would want to see. 

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

The part of the book's information that was most surprising was how it showed how that everyone is a media company. That now, with Amazon, facebook, YouTube and Twitter, anyone can broadcast themselves or their product to the world and gain a following. It's both a gift and a disadvantage. On the one hand, it comes at no cost and so is very easy to get started on it as an entrepreneur with little money. However, it is becoming more saturated as the platforms become more popular. Therefore, it is necessary to be unique and relate to your audience's needs and tendencies as much as possible when you post and share.