To rephrase Einstein, E=MC4; Effectiveness = Motivation x Commitment x Concentration x Clarity x Consistency, where motivation and commitment both include action as well as positive thinking, concentration is focus and clarity is having a clear objective.

Whilst “The  Secret” and the “Law of Attraction” are deserverdly popular – they have focused people’s attention on the important part their beliefs play in their daily lives, they miss out on the action element.  Empowering beliefs and positive thinking  on their own are not enough, otherwise we’d all win the lottery! Taken to its logical conclusion, if positive thinking and beliefs were all that is required, you needn’t even take the action of buying a ticket! But we know that’s absurd, we know that action and effort are required.

Yet the idea of putting effort into something has become unpopular as more and more people want a fast fix, quick buck, easy solution. If people really understood tha social media and networking is not a sprint, it’s a marathon as Gary Vaynerchuk is fond of saying, I’m prepared to bet that the number of bloggers out there would drop off sharply!

Where does effort come into the equation above? Effort is a combination of the energy that comes from being committed and motivated and the repetition of consistency.

Maslow, in his well-known hierarchy of needs, says there are two processes necessary for self-actualization: self exploration and action. It’s not an either/or, it requires both. So, what are the characteristics of self-actualized people? According to Maslow (1) they:

• Embrace reality and facts rather than denying truth.
• Are spontaneous.
• Are interested in solving problems.
• Are accepting of themselves and others and lack prejudice.

(1) Maslow, Abraham H. “A Theory of Human Motivation.”  (1943) PDF retrieved 14 December 2009

I’m sometimes asked to recommend a book on social media and social networking and thought I’d post a few ideas from some of the social media experts here; these are all books that I’ve read in the last 12 months!

	Trust Agents – Chris Brogan, Julien Smith This is in some ways similar to Penny’s book in that the focus is clearly on creating trust.  Because trust is key to building social media reputations, the authors define those who understand the value of, and set out to create, trust as “trust agents.” It’s a mixture of the theoretical and the practical and is well worth a read, if only because it is written by authors with over 10 years of online social media experience
	Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me – Penny Power Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me is different from the other three social media books. She uses her experience as a co-founder of ecademy (I often describe this as my ‘base’ on the internet)  and the trials and tribulations it went through to make important points about her belief that social media offers a better way for business people to meet, connect and help one another solve problems and expand their businesses. It is written in a warm, very personal style and is a great read. If you want a book that goes into details about how to make use of the many social media tools out there, Mitch Joel’s book would make a great companion read to Penny’s book.
	Crush it – Gary Vaynerchuk I am a huge fan of Gary V., of what he has done for the wine industry and for his business and of the way he uses video blogging, the new kid on the social media block. I have to confess that for me, what makes him so good at video blogging, his speed of delivery, his enthusiasm, his ‘flow’, doesn’t come over so well in the book. That said, the checklist in appendix a is worth the price of the book alone, for those who are new to social media or who what to make sure that they have covered everything.
	Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel Whilst I have listed the books in no particular order, this is my favourite of the four when it comes to social media’how to’.  It’s a great book written in a relaxed style that covers everything you would want to know about social media, and more! Mitch emphasises that he is not a technical person, he is just one of us. It takes on an ambitious task, to unify the concepts of Personal Branding, Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship, and achieves it in a clear, fun and provocative manner. Full of  case studies to illustrate the points he makes, this book offers a complete set of social media tools, tactics and insights to empower individuals to reach a global audience and consumer base with a few clicks of the mouse, and almost all of them for free.

Social Media Books – Recommendations

So, my recommendations? I enjoyed all four and think anyone wanting to find oute  about more about social media will benefit from reading any or all of them. And recommending books is always difficult as it’s so much a matter of personal preference and each of these books has much to offer.

All of the books are written in easy to read styles offering examples of best practice for everyone to emulate.

Mitch Joel – Full of Social Media Tools, Tactics and Insights

However, if I had to make a recommendation, it would be to buy Mitch Joel’s book and if you want to add a semi-autobiographical account from a woman who’s been there, read Penny’s too. Then get on the internet and watch Gary V’s videocasts and hop over to Chris Brogan’s blog (one of my favourite blogs) for a full set!

However, to repreat what I wrote above, any and all of these books make a great read for the social media afficianado, as are the authors’ blogs each of which features in my list of favourites.