Review by A. S. Johnson:

This book is a good way to get familiar with online social tools. The author covers ways to use email, social networking tools and publishing tools. He has good information about establishing some goals and determining a strategy for meeting the goals. He also has a lot of useful references if you want to get more familiar with a particular topic.

I only gave it three stars for the following reasons:

– Too much coverage of the history of the internet, email, and web pages. If I was interested in that, I’d get a book on the history of the internet, email, and web pages.

– Misinformation on some tools, and missing information about other tools. For instance, the author mentions Joomla, a content management system that can be used to create websites and blogs. He mentions it in a way that may mislead people as to its uses when he states that it can pair with any number of applications. It might work with other applications, but that may require coding skills or money to pay someone to make them work together. He also ignores the multitude of other open source content management systems that are out there.

– A serious amount of repetition in sections one and two. A lot of what is stated in the second section is already in the first, so it added a few hundred pages without saying a whole lot.

This is a good book. It’s less complete than the title suggests.

Review by Jeff Lippincott:

Great book! Loved it! It’s huge and heavy and not particularly pricey. I found it to be well organized and well written. And it was certainly packed to the gills with content. There are 43 chapters split into three different sections: (1) Background basics & tactics, (2) Tools, & (3) Strategy. The chapters in the first part provide an introduction and framework regarding the book. The numerous chapters in the second part cover 100+ social media tools. And the last five or six chapters in the third part can help you do an audit of the social media marketing your company does (or doesn’t do).

The book is comprehensive. I haven’t seen a book that covers so much and in such depth on the topic of social media marketing (or Internet Marketing). There were a ton of “Expert Insights” sprinkled throughout the text that really made the book shine. And each chapter ended with three summaries: (1) Commandments, (2) Conclusion, & (3) Readings & Resources. Each were well done. In particular the Readings & Resources for each chapter were better than most books have at the end of an entire book. 6 stars!

PS. To see the chapter titles and how the book is specifically organized I encourage you to peek at the Search Inside feature Amazon offers for this book. With 43 chapters there are a lot of chapter titles to read.

Review by A. S. Johnson:

This book is a good way to get familiar with online social tools. The author covers ways to use email, social networking tools and publishing tools. He has good information about establishing some goals and determining a strategy for meeting the goals. He also has a lot of useful references if you want to get more familiar with a particular topic.

I only gave it three stars for the following reasons:

– Too much coverage of the history of the internet, email, and web pages. If I was interested in that, I’d get a book on the history of the internet, email, and web pages.

– Misinformation on some tools, and missing information about other tools. For instance, the author mentions Joomla, a content management system that can be used to create websites and blogs. He mentions it in a way that may mislead people as to its uses when he states that it can pair with any number of applications. It might work with other applications, but that may require coding skills or money to pay someone to make them work together. He also ignores the multitude of other open source content management systems that are out there.

– A serious amount of repetition in sections one and two. A lot of what is stated in the second section is already in the first, so it added a few hundred pages without saying a whole lot.

This is a good book. It’s less complete than the title suggests.

Review by Jeff Lippincott:

Great book! Loved it! It’s huge and heavy and not particularly pricey. I found it to be well organized and well written. And it was certainly packed to the gills with content. There are 43 chapters split into three different sections: (1) Background basics & tactics, (2) Tools, & (3) Strategy. The chapters in the first part provide an introduction and framework regarding the book. The numerous chapters in the second part cover 100+ social media tools. And the last five or six chapters in the third part can help you do an audit of the social media marketing your company does (or doesn’t do).

The book is comprehensive. I haven’t seen a book that covers so much and in such depth on the topic of social media marketing (or Internet Marketing). There were a ton of “Expert Insights” sprinkled throughout the text that really made the book shine. And each chapter ended with three summaries: (1) Commandments, (2) Conclusion, & (3) Readings & Resources. Each were well done. In particular the Readings & Resources for each chapter were better than most books have at the end of an entire book. 6 stars!

PS. To see the chapter titles and how the book is specifically organized I encourage you to peek at the Search Inside feature Amazon offers for this book. With 43 chapters there are a lot of chapter titles to read.

Review by Mary L. Whalen:

I am a psychiatric social worker who purchased “Indigo Teen Dreams” for our unit. We have utilized this wonderful CD on a twice weekly basis as part of our relaxation curriculum. We have a very diverse population of adolescents ranging from kids who are moderately depressed or highly anxious to severely behaviorally and emotionally disturbed. This CD has reached teens across the board and given them the initial realization that they do have some control over their bodies and how they choose to respond to situations and stressors. I applaud “Indigo Teen Dreams” CD for its usefulness in everyday life in supporting teens with many diverse needs and challenging issues to find a better way to deal with their stressors.

Review by Yoga Dad:

As a parent, I would give this CD 10 stars because I think it is so valuable!

Lori Lite, the creator of Indigo Dreams and Indigo Ocean Dreams (as well as many other wonderful tools for children) has now created a real gift for teens. This Indigo Teen Dreams CD is a wonderful resource to help teenagers learn to empower themselves by learning how to connect with their inner being and strength, as well as how to deal with this very stressful time in their lives.

Considering all the pressures they have to deal with, from peer and social pressures (which often lead to eating disorders),a changing physiology, pressures to do well in school and other activities, teens can benefit immeasurably by learning the techniques presented here.

This CD has tracks that contain guided affirmations, deep breathing techniques, relaxation and visualization, tools that will not only help them during the difficult teen years but can also help them build a foundation that can help them for the rest of their lives.

By learning to go within and learn how to live from the inside out rather than from the outside in, teens can find a place that is always available to them, a haven to weather the storms of life. Even when they may not be dealing with a specific stressful event, these tools can help with the ability to concentrate and build a general sense of confidence.

When you connect with a place larger than the day to day dramas that can often swallow one up emotionally, you can live from a centered place, and that is true empowerment.

This program is also a wonderful tool for teens to use in order to relax into sleep after a stressful day (and parents may find themselves wanting a copy for themselves as well to help them deal with their own stress).

As with Lori Lite’s other CD’s, the quality of the production is top notch from the fidelity of the recording, the pacing of the individual tracks as well as the narrators and the music.

I only wish I had a tool like this when I was going through those difficult teen years, but I am grateful that my own children have Lori Lite’s CD’s available for them. My almost 9 year old daughter and 12 year old son have already been using both Indigo Dreams and Indigo Ocean Dreams and now my Son can use Indigo Teen Dreams as well. I will have a copy ready for my daughter so that she’ll also have this available to her when she enters those difficult years.

Highly recommended!

Review by Business Case Pro:

If you are looking for an easy-to-read overview of all the components of Web 2.0, then, this book is a good choice. It covers web sites, SEO, blogs, podcasts, video and social networking — all in one book. It’s easy to read. Unusually for a Web 2.0 book it makes a start on helping the business reader build a business case for the different Web 2.0 tools. For example, it lays out the elements for thinking about the ROI of a blog. The publisher, Kogan Page, tends to produce short, practical books and Susan Rice Lincoln’s book follows this template.

Though this book is more a sketch than a blueprint, it’s much more practical than “Trust Agents” from Chris Brogan.

Mastering Web 2.0 is a little breezy in tone and could offer more substantive evaluation of the tools it evangelizes. Also, the book talks about the importance of a web strategy in the introduction, but does not really help the reader build an overarching strategy.

The whole area of Web 2.0 seems to lack a convincing, rigorous, and practical book.

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Review by Midwest Book Review:

The coming of the internet has altered normal business practices for ever. That’s why any entrepreneur or corporate executive must become computer literate and know how to use web sites and other social media tools — many of which did not even exist as recently as a decade ago. That’s why “Mastering Web 2.0: Transform Your Business Using Key Website And Social Media Tools” by Susan Rice Lincoln is such an invaluable instruction manual. A professional online marketing consultant, Lincoln draws upon her years of experience and expertise to explain how such online social media as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others, have altered and affected communications. Readers will learn how to insure that their web strategy is effective, search engines are optimized in their behalf, the use of articles to establish themselves as leaders in their particular niche, the use of blogs and podcasts to enhance business performance and reinforce customer loyalties, and so much more. Anyone charged with the responsibility of insuring their business can compete successfully in today’s volatile and competitive marketplace in this age of the internet would be exceptionally well advised to give a close and careful reading to Susan Lincoln’s “Mastering Web 2.0″.

Review by Mohan Dutt:

A great guide for building, accelerating or transforming your organization’s Web 2.0 strategy.

Don’t miss out on the social media revolution sweeping the corporate world.

There are great case studies along with tips to build your Web 2.0 strategy.

It’s a bible for Web 2.0 at the workplace!

Review by Sherry A. Benjamins:

Thank you for a great book on the evolving use of social media in our corporate settings. This was the most insightful, easy to digest, and practical discussion of what is happening in this space. I particularly valued the chapters on where social media has impact, on Trail Blazers (great stories) and on the Future…what is next. This really brought it to light. There is so much noise in this arena and the authors here help us look at the bigger picture with plenty of specific examples. I have changed the way I think about social media in my consulting practice with clients. I have given this book to my clients and they have appreciated this for many have said, “where do I start?” I suggest you start here…read this book and share with your human capital leadership…and line leaders too!

Review by Michael Martine:

Time to come out from under your rock. This book is aimed squarely at business owners and people inside organizations who need to get up to speed and succeed. Janet has spend years in the trenches breaking it all down for beginners and making this seemingly overwhelming subject accessible to the point of mastery.

In Chapter 1, What is Social Media? You will get a great layman’s definition of where these sweeping changes came from and what you need to know about them now in order to even discuss them intelligently. And in this first chapter you discover something very important: this is not some happy “feel good” book about social media as so many of them are. The author does not pull punches and tells it straight, and I for one really appreciated that. Disillusionment is a powerfully enervating force, but you get a straight deal in this book. Even in Chapter 1, she discusses social media backlash. Good stuff.

Chapter 2, Quelling the Naysayers, is super important for those who work in organizations where you know you have to “sell” social media to others and try to bring them on board. Making cogent and persuasive arguments for adopting a social media strategy may not exactly be your strength, but this chapter gives you the ammunition you need.

Chapter 3, Inbound Marketing vs Outbound, explains these two concepts very well. Understanding inbound marketing is key to online marketing success, because that’s practically the only kind of marketing you can do online.

Chapter 4, It’s Not About You, makes the important point of what kind of mindset and attitude to have in order to achieve social media success.

Chapter 5, Building Your Social Media Network, starts to get into the nuts and bolts of specific strategies and tactics that work. It also deals with a number people have been tossing around a lot, lately, called “Dunbar’s Number.” This is supposedly the limit of how many people you can know and remember.

Chapter 6, Finding Your Network, is about how to successfully connect with the right people in the vast space of social media and networks. In this chapter you’ll learn about specific online and software tools you can use to target the correct topics in social media. This is something many people get wrong, and then they think social media itself is a waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth; they just didn’t know what they were doing.

Chapter 7, Choosing the Right Venues, gives you guidelines for deciding on sites and tools to use.

Chapter 8, Set Some Rules (Or at Least Some Guidelines) helps you craft your social media policies in a way that protect organizational interests while also creating maximum marketing benefit for the organization. This is another disaster area for most companies, but this info will steer you through it easily.

Chapters 9 – 15 Cover all the popular social media sites and general tools on the web and provides you with a winning game plan to tackle each one if it’s right for your organization to use. Covered are Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, video, and blogging.

Chapter 16, Creating Your Social Network, dives into what kind of information should be in social media profiles, talks about social bookmarking sites specifically (a subset of social media), and also discusses automation.

If there’s a downside to this book, it’s that it doesn’t make it obvious the book is aimed at business people in organizations, rather than single-person businesses or non-business people. That doesn’t mean they won’t benefit, but there’s information in the book that wouldn’t apply to them.

The work I do online is similar to what Janet does, and in fact I know Janet because we’ve worked together on several projects. That’s how I know that what she’s saying in this book is good material. As I read it, I thought to myself there was much in it I could not have said better myself. Am I “biased?” I have nothing to gain from a positive review of this book. The book is simply worth your time.

Review by Laura Schaub:

The Social Media jungle can be daunting for the newcomer; there are so many choices, each with their own particular flavor and set of rules, how do you begin? And more importantly, how do you SUCCEED? Traditional marketing and sales methods don’t work the same in this world, and one has merely to look at the many people using Social Media unskillfully to see that. This is web 2.0 people, the new math!

Anyone venturing into uncharted waters benefits from a teacher, a guide who has been through it and can show you the way. Janet Fouts is an experienced Social Media coach who can help you make sense of how Social Media is changing the business landscape, and also how you can find your place in it. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand these new communication tools and how people and businesses are using them now, with great success.

Review by Mohan Dutt:

A great guide for building, accelerating or transforming your organization’s Web 2.0 strategy.

Don’t miss out on the social media revolution sweeping the corporate world.

There are great case studies along with tips to build your Web 2.0 strategy.

It’s a bible for Web 2.0 at the workplace!

Review by Sherry A. Benjamins:

Thank you for a great book on the evolving use of social media in our corporate settings. This was the most insightful, easy to digest, and practical discussion of what is happening in this space. I particularly valued the chapters on where social media has impact, on Trail Blazers (great stories) and on the Future…what is next. This really brought it to light. There is so much noise in this arena and the authors here help us look at the bigger picture with plenty of specific examples. I have changed the way I think about social media in my consulting practice with clients. I have given this book to my clients and they have appreciated this for many have said, “where do I start?” I suggest you start here…read this book and share with your human capital leadership…and line leaders too!