Authors from Washington DC Write Social Media for Business Book to Help Small and Micro Businesses

July 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Washington DC - Two social media professionals with roots in Washington DC and the surrounding area have published a book with the aim of helping small and micro business owners launch and grow their businesses more successfully: Social Media for Business by Martin Brossman and Anora McGaha.

Martin Brossman was raised in Washington DC, and his parents still reside there. Anora McGaha, was a diplomat's daughter who spent her high school years in the DC area, in Bethesda Maryland while her father was stationed at the Department of State. Much later she would return again to live with her family just over the DC line in Chevy Chase.

The book has been well-received by many who are working hard to grow their businesses, including displaced workers who are starting their first businesses. On the book's first anniversary, Social Media for Business became a #1 best selling Marketing eBook on Amazon in three countries simultaneously: the US, the UK and Germany, in a July 2012 Kindle Select Promotion on Amazon.

Writing Social Media for Business was Martin Brossman's idea. Interfacing with hundreds of micro business (businesses of 1 - 3 people) and small business owners through his classes teaching business success and social media management with community colleges, Small Business Centers, chambers of commerce and professional associations, Brossman said, "It was apparent how critical social media and Internet marketing skills would be to their success, and that a very clear book focused on their needs would support them after the classes were over."

As members of the ComeOnInside.com training network that started in the Triangle area of North Carolina, Inside919.com, www.inside919.ning.com, both Brossman and Anora McGaha were meeting many dozens of micro business owners online and at the in-person events. With the economic collapse and millions of workers losing jobs from factories and offices, everyone was starting businesses hoping to continue to pay their rent or mortgage. "We knew that Internet literacy would be critical for just about everyone starting a business," said McGaha. "It's only part of the picture, but it's a critical part."

Brossman reminded, "Though we wrote our book primarily for those starting and running small businesses, I strongly advise all professionals who are still employed not to ignore social media. The time to start building your LinkedIn profile and online presence is yesterday, because there are no guarantees in this economy, and future employers will be searching for your name on the Internet, and definitely on LinkedIn."

McGaha, who was laid off from her corporate job in 2006, a year before economic woes started hitting the news, started two micro businesses, and then after sustaining an injury, turned to blogging and building her Internet marketing knowledge in 2008. Both she and Brossman share a commitment to empowering people to have the skills and knowledge to support their economic viability. (View their video trailer. http://youtu.be/4tBJrc39E78)



Social Media for Business was published by Outer Banks Publishing Group in paperback in July 2011, and in ebook format on Kindle in August. http://thesocialmediaforbusinessbook.com/about-social-med... Although all these social media and online sites have made significant changes in details in one year, the book's focus is not "how-to" with screen shots for setting up Facebook profiles or privacy settings, which have changed. The book's focus is broader, giving readers key perspectives and examples, and thus it remains current. The book has three sections:

One, there's a paradigm change from advertising, to listening and communicating. This has been discussed by many authors, but every author has their own unique and valuable insights. We include essays by a number of social media professionals in this section (and throughout the book.)

Two, social media is what's getting all the media buzz, but really, business owners have to know about the whole Internet ecosystem which includes understanding search, key words, search optimization; artcles; links; blogging; building communities and allies, to name just a few elements.

Three, building your own online reputation as a professional, or online presence as a business, non-profit or group, takes another level of perspective and a social media and Internet marketing plan. Social Media for Business' third section focuses on the ways to do that.

As one July 2012 reviewer on the Amazon Japan site said:

"This little book has given me a clear, easy to understand overview of the social media landscape. And I was pleasantly surprised to find out that aggressive marketing is NOT being advocated. Instead, I was advised to use the convenient and mostly free tools of social media in order to reach out, inform, encourage and help others with their questions, problems, and concerns. In other words, be genuinely kind and helpful to folks online -- and reap the rewards later on... which sounds pretty good to me. ... It appears to me that most of the info it contains is still pertinent and useful."

While the book does not mention Pinterest, there is a code in the back of the book that gives readers access to updated content information on TheSocialMediaforBusinessBook.com website, which includes a video recording on Pinterest and Google+ as well as other content.

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In the spring of 2012, Anora McGaha and Martin Brossman set out to record a 13 module training program to train others in the successful social media management methods they had developed for small businesses. They completed the video recordings and exercises in May and currently have it available as a trial by request. They are migrating the training to a new platform for September completion, one that will including testing, online class and interaction capabilities and provide a much more comprehensive setting for participants. Inquiries are welcome.

Martin Brossman and Anora McGaha can be reached through http://www.martinbrossmanandassociates.com, or through any of the social media sites, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Martin Brossman has offices in both Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington DC. Anora McGaha has an office in the Triangle, and visits her family in the DC area several times a year. Both are available to speak, advise or offer classes, individually or together, in the Washington DC area, North Carolina, and elsewhere.