Are you looking to get into social media, but just don’t understand most of it?  I know that there are a lot people out there who are just like that and The Social Media Marketing Book is the book for you.  This book gives you a complete overview of everything that falls under the Social Media umbrella.  Each chapter is covers a small topic of social media, so you don’t have to worry about getting overwhelmed.  You’ll learn about the history and culture of each social media type and how to correctly use it.  At the end of each chapter, there are takeaway tips that really get to the meat and potatoes of what you should have gotten out of that chapter.  It is written in terms that you don’t even have to be computer literate to understand.  However, this is a book for a beginner.  If you are trying to explain why your company needs a social media presence, hand this book to your boss.  He’ll thank you for it.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

New to the social media world? Want to understand why Twitter, Facebook et al. is good for business?  Want to fine tune what you are already doing online and enhance your marketing?  Then, Friends With Benefits is for you.  I have to admit this is a book for more of the beginner crowd.  That being said, it is extremely well written, and at a level that almost anyone can understand (as long as you already know how to get online).

Friends With Benefits isn’t a book just on Twitter and Facebook (however big they are, there is more to social media than just those two companies).  This book covers everything from RSS (what it is, why you care, etc), corporate blogging, and social media new releases.  It even goes into how to approach bloggers.

This is where my first criticism comes in.  You can’t paint bloggers with one stroke.  The theme over and over in this book is that bloggers shouldn’t be paid for their work.  And yes, it is work.  The time I spend reviewing your product is time away from my family and other things I could be doing.  As someone who sometimes does get paid for reviewing prodcuts, I take offense to a book telling people not to pay bloggers.  Something else they left out is that if you send a blogger a product to review, don’t expect them to send it back.  Most bloggers have a policy on their site explaining how they do reviews.  Take care to read it, so you both know what to expect.  A personal request of my own is that if you send me a product make sure you put some marketing materials in with the product.  Sometimes bloggers get so many products that we often don’t know who they came from.  Make it easy for the blogger to contact you back with a review or questions.

The section on spammers is great.  I think marketers often forget that they are talking to real people and we don’t appreciate being addressed as “Dear Webmaster”.  The list they provide definitely makes you do a double take on your own behavior.  There is also a chapter about defin­ing suc­cess and return on invest­ment (ROI) which are the holy grails of social media mar­ket­ing.  They ask the question of how you define suc­cess.  If you don’t know your end goal, how do you know if your campaign was successful?  Are you inter­ested in brand-building? Grow­ing traf­fic? Con­ver­sion to sales? Social media men­tions? Increased buzz? How are you going to do this? Mon­i­tor­ing? Lis­ten­ing?  I love how they go into how to respond when you find bloggers talking about you or your product.  However, I wish they would have went one step further with it.  When working with clients, if I find a blog post about them that we like, I often send it to social media sites like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc.  Not only does it give the blogger more visitors, it gets more eyeballs on my clients product.

If you are looking to dabble in social media, Friends with Benefits is a must read for you.  It is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time on the social media field.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

This giveaway is over. The winner is Judy Brittle. Congrats!

If you’ve got kids like mine who want to help out in the kitchen, then the Pretend & Play Bakery Set is something you need to get for your house.  This 31 piece set has everything they could ever need.  The eggs crack open, cookies are in 4 shapes to cut out, the pie can be filled, and the bread can be cut.  There is even measuring cups and spoons!  The pieces are large and definitely make them feel as if they are part of your kitchen.  Madison has a play kitchen that this works well with.  We were able to fill the pie and put it into the play oven (though we made cookies and she stuck them in the  microwave).  I love that is a toy that doesn’t require batteries and makes my kids use their imagination.  I’ve been able to use this set to distract my kids while I am cooking — I have them make pretend food while I am cooking.  This is for 3 and up, but again, Will was able to play with most of this also.

Now, I know you want this for your house.  Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post.  Besides this, which Pretend & Play set would you love to try out or which set do you know your kids will love?

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away a Pretend & Play Bakery Set!  http://lisareviews.com/2009/05/23/learning-resources-pretend-play-bakery-set-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries:

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

<a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" alt="Lisa Reviews" border="0"></a>

If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post. Each of these will give you 10 additional entries:

1. Join my Spark E Crew at Social Spark. Click here to find out how to sign up. If you are on my crew, please leave your social spark ID, so I can verify it.

2. Sign up for my free newsletter!

This contest is for US and Canada residents and will end at June 6th at noon CST! Good Luck!!!

This giveaway is now over. The winner is Marianna! Congrats!

Can I tell you how much my kids love our Pretend & Play Fishing Set?  We have yet to take the kids fishing, so this is the closest they get to the real thing.  I love how they really thought of everything to include in this set.  The set consists of 11 plastic pieces includes fishing pole with magnetic hook, 3 magnetic fish, 3 worms, net and vest.  The kids like the worms the best I think.  At least for Madison, it makes it more real for her.  This is a toy that is for 3 and up and the worms are definitely small.  If you are like me and let your to be 2 year old play with this, you just need to keep an eye on those worms.  The magnets in the the pole and the fish are embedded, so you don’t have to worry about the kids swallowing them.  The fishing vest is too adorable.  I am thinking we may turn this playset into a Halloween costume!  It’s that cute!  There is also a little write and wipe activity book with 6 pages of fishing themed activities.
The best thing is that this comes with a tackle box, so everything nicely fits in there, and you don’t have to worry about losing any pieces!

This is a huge hit in my house, and I’d love your little ones to enjoy it as much as mine do, so I have arranged to give away one of these Fishing sets to one of you.  Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post.  Besides this, which Pretend & Play set would you love to try out or which set do you know your kids will love?

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away a Pretend & Play Fishing Set!  http://lisareviews.com/2009/05/22/learning-resources-pretend-play-fishing-set-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries:

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.

3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed

4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

<a href="http://lisareviews.com"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk258/blm03_photos/125ad-1.png" alt="Lisa Reviews" border="0"></a>

If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post. Each of these will give you 10 additional entries:

1. Join my Spark E Crew at Social Spark. Click here to find out how to sign up. If you are on my crew, please leave your social spark ID, so I can verify it.

2. Sign up for my free newsletter!

This contest is for US and Canada residents and will end at June 5th at noon CST! Good Luck!!!

One of the newest ways out there to promote your product is to use sponsored conversations. If you aren’t sure what a sponsored conversation is, watch this video:

Now, does this really work? Having used this in my work and for my own personal blogs, I would have to say yes. It is a great way to get your product (or for me, blog) if front of eyeballs you wouldn’t normally. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tactics. As a mom, I am more inclined to listen to another mother myself. Before I buy most of our big ticket items, I do a search for reviews on it. I am not the only one either.

From my own personal experience, I highly recommend sponsored conversations if you are looking to get more eyeballs on your products or your blogs.