Internet Books

Working with Exchange everyday this is a book I recommend to any IT person wanting to know more about Exchange. This is the best Exchange book I have purchased so far. Don't pass this book up.

I purchased this book as a sys admin working with Exchange Server for the first time, and this book took an already complex product and made it more frustrating. I was looking for a book that would explain the capabilities of Exchange Server and how to configure it to exploit these capabilities. This book seems much more concerned with migration of existing enterprise messaging systems to Exchange and upgrading existing Exchange installations than actually setting up Exchange from scratch.

While I am sure that there is good info in this book that I will eventually use, I would definitely not recommend this book to someone who didn't know quite a bit about Exchange Server to begin with.

This book is giving you hundreds of useful and practical advises about Exchange administration & configuration. Jim Mc Bee knows what he is talking about. Remember there is NO reference book about Exchange but don't miss what is in this one.

I don't usually write reviews, but I had to for this book. The author not only knows his stuff, but is capable of putting his indepth knowledge in a very step 1,2,3 approach, something I have found to be an exception in alot of what I read. One think I have to note, I am the main systems person for a trading firm, and we are required to do message journaling (keeping all communications for three years). I have tried to find information on this topic and how to implement it on many message boards and other forums, as well as in documentation. Being that I did not know the actual term was "journaling" I found this impossible, and therefore, have been backing up every single mailbox, and that does not even "legally" do the trick. This one 2 page section on how to implement this makes this book worth more than money, because we are now legal. To the author, thank you for your help, and I look forward to anymore lit. that you produce!

I picked up this book by accident thinking it would be a good "starter" book. AKA - Having never used exchange server before, I wanted a basic book for setting up accounts, addresses, basic administration, etc. This is not that book at all. If you want a really low level book, look elsewhere. However, I quickly found out Exchange Server is intuative enough that it's easy to figure out the basics all on your own just from playing with it. Aside from that, I am greatly impressed with this book. It's solved every problem I've ran across, and more. The best thirty bucks you'll spend this year.

I wish I had the information in this enlightening book two years ago when my daughter first began using myspace. I truly like the easy yet intelligent command of the english language the author has used to portray to her audience how there are many facets to be concerned with that involve our youth and how they engage, influence, and deeply affect our children while behind closed doors in their own rooms for endless hours on Myspace. We as parents are so often busy, tired, and all to often aloof to the significant dangers of the inner psychological repurcussions that are manifesting while our children sit mesmerized and addicted in this 'unchaperoned private club.' It is not to late, and to educate ourselves is paramount if we as loving and concerned parents are to help facilitate a change in the amount of time and usage we allow our precious children to interact on this massive meeting place. Afterall, we are their guardians and we must help them with positive action at this vulnerable time in their lives. Be informed, that is what this book does in a most potent way! Excellent job Candice Kelsey and thank you! You obviously are a person who cares and who wants to make a difference to your students and to all others-far beyond the perimiters of your own classroom.

The book it good. It is written by someone who has worked with a lot of teens therefore, her understanding of teens and social networking sites seems well-founded and thus, valid. The book is balanced in that it offers a lot of statistics, perspective and experience of the author as well as first hand stories and examples from teens themselves. A must read for anyone dealing with teens and the internet.

"Sheesh! Another MySpace thing! Mom, MySpace is really not that big a deal!" -My son, on seeing the book.

And therein is the point of the book. This is not a book for teens; it is an attempt to bridge the generation gap between parents and their children, using MySpace as the point of departure.

The author is a middle school teacher in California who has supplemented her personal experience with extensive research. There are no footnotes, but expert commentary and research is well documented within the text. There is also a "Resources" section at the back of the book, listing sources by chapter, as well as a "Recommended Reading, Surfing, and Viewing" section, also broken down by chapter.

There are few holds barred as the author delves into the current world of teens. In the first chapter the author points out that it's not all about MySpace, it's about social networking sites, of which MySpace is the largest. She then proceeds to explain why social networking is so important to teens and how it fits into the overall picture of their lives. In doing so, she exposes the terms and terminology they use and their current cultural context. Although she gives frequent warnings, if you are not prepared for language that would have been offensive in prior generations, you may want to skip this book and try one of the others available.

But the author is not trying to shock as much as to wave red flags. She and many experts say MySpace is not the problem, it is simply a symptom of a larger cultural shift. Kelsey believes, and offers good documentation, that the shift is driven by media and consumerism. With the red flags she also offers advice on dealing with the negative issues surrounding MySpace. The first step, also recommended by other authors of MySpace books, is to visit this part of a teen's "world" by creating a MySpace account and looking around. There is a guided tour through the process, beginning with Chapter 2, "Pimped Out: Anatomy of a Profile." The author recommends not going straight to your child's profile, but using the experience to understand the world of today's teens by seeing it through their eyes. There is a chapter later in the book devoted to assessing your child's MySpace involvement, and strategies to use.

Overall, the book is well written and well documented, promoting strategies that are recommended by experts for dealing with teens and MySpace. The book overall also has an alarmist tone, and uses very frank language. For the clueless parent (including the one(s) thinking, "Not MY teen!"), this is probably a good thing. But it may not be the book for every parent. If you want a full picture of the teen world and teens on MySpace, this book should top your list. If you'd rather not know all the gory details, but still want to know how to approach MySpace, consider something like MySpace Unraveled, by Larry Magid and Anne Collier.

Very informative! Well reasearched! A must for every parent, even those with small children.

I'd like to think that I'm fairly internet-savvy, but when I read Candice Kelsey's book "Generation MySpace," I was blown out of the water. Now I know what my students really mean! I'm not a parent yet, but I can see how useful it will be to parents who want to understand what their kids are into. It's all about the internet these days, and it is a scary, unfamiliar world to many of us. Here comes Candice Kelsey, fearlessly stepping in to decode what we need to know. Thanks, Ms. Kelsey; hopefully you are inspired to write another book that delves deeper into not what but why. I would buy that book in a heartbeat as well.

This book may be overkill for the CCIE R&S track, but if you want to UNDERSTAND VoX and related technologies, this book is awesome. Now I feel like jumping over to the C&S track.

I haven't read the whole book, I'm 50% done, but the first impression is that there's too much theorical information, but I think we really need that. That's absolutely a wonderful resource. After reading some parts of this book I was able to setup a successful VoIP connection. This book also helps to understand the codecs, problems you can find, etc..

Good choice!

Daniel Lafraia
CCNP,CCDP

I bought the 1st edition back in 2000 and since then it is still the most frequently visited reference when I helped my clients to build VoIP networks. It was written completely from a hands-on engineer perspective, aiming at getting the job done. So you would expect very detailed description on signaling ..., design scenario, IOS programming and trouble-shooting in debug mode. My favourite parts are the coverage on Echo, dial-peer programming and SIP. After finishing a SIP network project, I'm just amazed how a book in year 2000 can provide such a farsighted material.

Keagy brings up a lot of important issues a level deeper than most books on the subject. It is a great reference book but most sections are readable all the way through. If you are moderately technical or very technical you'll get something out of this book. The more books you buy the subject the more you'll appreciate this one for its attention to detail and clarity.

I'm a qualified Cisco CCSI/Microsoft course trainer, and needed a book to get me started in the area of Voice networks in a reasonably technical, practical and non-trivial manner. I definitely found it in this book. Keagy provided an excellent overview of the operational details of voice networks & SS7, and married this well to Voice-IP networks and WAN technologies. It was refreshing in that, although Cisco oriented, you are thankfully spared the worst of Cisco's product placement sales pitch (for which you'd need the CVoice book). In fact I can concur with other reviewers in that Keagy's obvious practical experience, mature expressive style with plenty of useful figures/illustrations (which I personally as a trainer really appreciate) and ability to impart knowledge in an enjoyable worldly manner shine throughout in the text in a style that is remniscent of Doyle Routing - I look forward to more books by Keagy (hopefully his wife will let him :o)
Although you can buy books that cover the individual chapters in more detail (Keagy provides numerous references), this single tome is a must for anyone breaking into the trendy area of Voice from a predominantly data networking background.

Joseph Lowery has a love affaire with Dreamweaver dating back to 1998 and version 1.0; that's why this book is more than just an expert writing about a piece of software, Joseph is passionate about Dreamweaver and the result is a real work of love. The book contains 10 chapters, covering different topics; each chapter stands on its own, allowing the reader to pick only one topic at time, there is no need to read from cover to cover here. The vast majority of the material available here is simply not available elsewhere; Mr Lowery covered things that may surprise even a seasoned Dreamweaver veteran like me. If you enjoy pushing Dreamweaver to its limits you can't miss this one

Beyond Dreamweaver covers one of my favorite things about Dreamweaver, which is its open-endedness. Web design is all about pushing limits -- of our own knowledge, of HTML, of browsers -- and Dreamweaver gives its users lots of room to push. So you want to adapt Dreamweaver to work with your company's Content Management System? This book shows you how. You want to work with the latest, greatest XML-based language out there, even though Dreamweaver doesn't *officially* support it? Dreamweaver can support just about anything you throw at it, and this book shows you how. And each chapter is written from a problem-solving, why-would-I-want-to-do-this perspective that makes it quickly useful.

This book will show you what you didn't even know you need to know. I am a medium to advanced Dreamweaver user and I learned so much from this book, starting in the first chapter. I think this book is perfect for people who have used the software for a while, but don't really push it to its limits. Mr. Lowery shows you important things in two general categories: how to accomplish things you couldn't before and how to streamline your workflow to be more efficient.

With an abundance of books on the market focusing on the techniques built into Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX product, reading this book was a breath of fresh air as it takes the product, and completely blows it apart.

The techniques in this book, such as integrating DMX into your content management solution, extending the product using C++ as well as dealing with cutting issues such as accessibility will make you more productive and your workflow more refined.

Lowery leaves no stone unturned, showing clearly how to integrate through the extensibility layer with Fireworks; and explains how to link data into Flash in a concise, easy to understand way.

The techniques discussed are also fully extendable to your own ideas so the book will lay down a very important framework.

A fantastic tome which should hold pride of place on your desktop.

If you have been working with Dreamweaver for some time now, and are ready to take your skills to the next level, Beyond Dreamweaver is the perfect resource. Through a concise and straightforward writing style, the author takes you on a broad exploration of development possibilities beyond Dreamweaver's "everyday" usage.

The book begins with an excellent chapter on the ease of integrating Dreamweaver MX with Content Management Systems. While this chapter may not seem as relevant to developers since Macromedia's introduction of their content management system - Contribute, it clearly demonstrates the extensibility of Dreamweaver. In doing so, it opens the reader's mind to virtually unlimited possibilities for creating custom integrations. Additionally, it continues to be a valuable example for developers using other Content Management Systems such as Interwoven or BlueMartini.

The next chapter provides an excellent overview of Section 508 website accessibility requirements. It also discusses new features available in Dreamweaver MX that will assist developers in ensuring that their websites are accessible.

Beyond Dreamweaver goes on to provide a great introduction to XML. Examples clearly demonstrate how to use Dreamweaver MX, both to export template content to XML and import XML into Dreamweaver templates.

The next few chapters present a variety of techniques that will enhance productivity. You will learn how to build Sequential Navigational Systems for both small and large scale websites; about Dreamweaver's ability to cross-integrate with other Macromedia products such as Fireworks and Flash; and how to go beyond Dreamweaver's built in capabilities and actually build your own custom cross-product extensions.

If you are interested in creating your own extensions, Beyond Dreamweaver explains how to use the standard classes and libraries that ship with Dreamweaver as a starting point. And if you really want to dig in and explore under the hood, it gives you an excellent example of how to take this even further by using C++ to create your own extensions to JavaScript.

The chapter "Making Flash Connections" was of particular interest to me as a designer/developer who specializes in Flash site development and dynamically generated database driven websites. A valuable example that was provided demonstrates the ability to pass data - either static or dynamically generated - from a Dreamweaver coded page to a Flash .swf file. Additionally, a second example demonstrates the new Flash Remoting features which allows Flash to send and receive more complete data structures. I particularly enjoyed exploring the possibilities of combining the Macromedia tri-product MX powerhouse - Flash, Dreamweaver and ColdFusion. Quite a combo!

Beyond Dreamweaver does not extensively delve into any one topic. Instead it provides the reader with a broad range of examples that can be used as a springboard for further exploration.

After many failed attempts at starting an onlinr forum, I decided that I would start a forum about helping others start a forum. I did some reaserch on the subject and began the process. One of the resources I found during my reaserch phase was a forum called CommunityAdmins.com which was started by and is run by Patrick O'Keefe. The forum is bustling with activity and there is some very good information there. While on the forum I saw an advertisement for Patrick's book, Managing Online Forums. Of course I was inclined to by the book, which I did. While alot of the stuff descussed is very common sense, Patrick does get into some finer points and things I never knew about. This book is a must read for newbies and those of intermediate internet skills.

Patrick practically takes you by the hand and walks you through various scenarios in forum building. He also discusses the pro's and con's of using paid forum posting services. If you have attempted to start and maintain a success online forum but have been unable to, reading this book just may help you. Buying the book just for the list of resources he has added will make your purchase worth it.

I give this book two thumbs up, or five stars :)

Gilberto Cintron
Forum-Starters.com

Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards

I have to confess I chose this book because it was a recent release, and with computers, 6 months from publication means a lot has changed. I was wrong: This book is TIMELESS! Almost every piece of advice here applies to basically every fundamental thing a forum admin HAS TO KNOW, regardless of which software or what version they use. This book will be as good in 2 years as it is now. if you`re trying to become an online community admin and you have no previous experience you should not take a step forward without reading this book first.
PROS: straight to the point, easy to read, CERO prior technical knowledge needed, gives a lot of real life examples, covers just about everything with good and practical advice.
CONS: not too specific about technical stuff, has too many ethical advice, and even though he comments on how to defend yourself from unethical threats from others, real life is usually not the good against the bad but rather the smart vs. the dumb or the more resourceful vs. the less resourceful.
As a side note, the final proof of whether this books has helped me at all or not, should be MY new forum. Today it is absolutely empty, so if you`re reading this review a few months after June 15 2008, come see for yourself if and what this reading material worked for me. My forum will be in w w w dot HydrogenLounge dot kom. Or: [...]

MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO CREATE AND RUN SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY DISCUSSION BOARDS is the first book to cover everything an administrator needs to know to launch and run a community forum. From understanding forum software and the basics of developing a safe environment for people to share their thoughts to either creating a community or taking over an existing one, MANAGING ONLINE FORUMS is a key business tool recommended for business and public libraries alike.

EXCELLENT book on the current Social Media/Networking trend with forums. Patrick is a smart dude that has networked and "connected" himself with "the" premiere gurus in the field today-recommended!

When I first started reading the book I was locked into a mindrut of thinking in the context of online forums only. However, after getting through the first couple of chapters I realized that just about everything I was reading is information that can be applied to just about any type of website or online community. That could be seen in a blog, a business website or really any other social network community. The strategies that Patrick shares are built from years of being in the trenches himself. Save yourself some time and frustration and pick-up this book and give it a read. I'm sure you will come away with at least a dozen things you can apply to your endeavors right off the bat!

I picked up this book because I have always found e-mail to be an effective way to begin and develop relationships with interesting people I would never have otherwise met. That's one of the many reasons I like to write reviews on Amazon.com. Since most books about the Internet are extremely simple and out-of-date, I had low expectations. Imagine how pleased I was when I discovered that this book not only answered many of my questions (such as how to get started with e-mailing to opt-in lists of people who have given permission to be contacted with information in certain subject areas) but also provided information that I did not imagine existed (such as sites for posting e-mail press releases and statements of competency to reach the media). Best of all, the ideas here take little capital and expertise so most people who are active on the Internet can use them.

Here is the table of contents to give you a sense of how the book is organized:

Chapter 1: E-Mail Newsletters

Chapter 2: Discussion Lists

Chapter 3: Online Networking

Chapter 4: Signature Files

Chapter 5: Autoresponders

Chapter 6: Customer Relationship Management

Chapter 7: Promotions and Direct E-Mail

Chapter 8: Online Public Relations

Chapter 9: Advertising in E-Publications

Chapter 10: E-Mail Marketing Rulebook

Chapter 11: Technical Know-How

Chapter 12: Measuring Results

Chapter 13: Opt-In List Brokering

Chapter 14: Worksheets

Chapter 15: 20 Recommended E-Mail Publications

As a result of reading this book, I began to wonder if I should also offer a free e-mail newsletter of more analytical and detailed book reviews covering those books I like best, with the reviews organized to be easier to access. Your opinions on that subject are most welcome!

The technical support in the book can save you some money on implementing by allowing you to do more of the work yourself. You are also directed to examples and organizations that can help you. I wrote down more than 30 web sites I want to investigate as a result of reading this book. That's about 27 more than I got out of the last 400 books I have read.

Another positive feature of the book is that it is anti-Spam. If you are like me, you get about 40 Spam messages a day that have no connection to any interest you have and seem to be created by people with little talent. One reason I have been slow to use more e-mail marketing is because I am very anti-Spam and didn't want to become a Spammer even by accident.

The best advice from the book is to build your own lists from people who reply to you and give you permission to contact them again, and use those to establish and maintain mutually supportive relationships. That makes sense to me. My web designer has been urging me on with this idea for years, but I never quite got the point before. Now I see what I should be doing. Even though I have read and liked Permission Marketing, the idea just hadn't clicked before.

Even if you don't plan to do e-mail mass marketing, the ideas in here for online public relations will make the book valuable all by themselves.

The authors also offer you access to their web site for more information and help.

A revised edition is planned for a few weeks from now, and I suspect that it would be a good idea to see what is in that edition as well. I wouldn't wait for that one, however, to get started. You can make significant progress in the meantime with this edition.

After you have finished reading this book, ask yourself what is the one thing you could do today that would help get valuable knowledge out to those who need it most. Then take that action. I also urge you to make that question and action step a daily process thereafter. This book should make you very capable of doing this!

For anyone looking for an experienced and relaible method of managing opt-in email marketing this is for you.

Marketing With E-Mail is a quick reading that broadens your horizon by giving you a concise, to the point overview of the different tools available to market a company and its products/ services through e-mail. Permission marketing is the mantra of Marketing With E-Mail and her author, Shannon Kinnard. E-mail marketing, though important, is not a stand-alone communication channel. By offering your prospects and customers multiple response paths, you increase the probability that they will respond to your product offering. In addition, Marketing With E-Mail and the companion web site refer to many resources that you can explore to get additional insights into that new field of marketing. Shannon Kinnard, however, does not cover the economics of e-mail marketing thoroughly. Case studies are not usually backed up by any in-depth financial analysis that should definitely convince you that investing in e-mail marketing provides a sensible return on investment and positively influences customer lifetime value. Hopefully, Shannon Kinnard will further share her (financial) expertise with you in the second edition of Marketing With E-Mail that will be released soon.

I am a technoid (See my about me area) so when I first started reading this book and Kinnard described the tools I thought the book was going to be fairly boring. Later when I entered in the chapters on marketing I was thrilled with an entry level book.

I needed (and still need) good ideas to help me market my business. I used my highlighter a great deal in this book. In almost every one of the later chapters I found really good ideas. Also the structure of the book was wonderful. The beginning of every chapter is a series of descriptive or narrative paragraphs, case study, resources and a cheat sheet. The structure that Kinnard uses makes this a tool for reference as well as a good read.

Finally, I think Kinnard has an excellent style. I think one of the great tasks of writing a book like this one is that most of the audience really is not interested in reading the material. We just want to know it so that we can use it. So, time spent reading and learning about email is tiresome. Kinnard does a good job of making the paint dry quickly.

As a web designer for small businesses, the task of bringing visitors to a site often falls into my lap. It's a daunting task and with internet marketing still in it's infancy it's difficult to look to anyone as an expert. Ms. Kinnard is worth her weight in gold; demonstrating how to handle the new field of e-marketing and expertly giving how-to advice.

Many of my clients are regional shops and businesses that do not have the big business (big $$) marketing budgets. Not only do I often find myself referring to this book often, but I recommend it to all of my clients as well.

Business owners are often one of the biggest draws for a business; their personality, eye for detail, or craftsmanship is what attracts customers. By reading this book, my clients are able to market themselves, which my all accounts is a win-win scenario.

If you own a business or if you represent a business that is trying to increase their market share on the Internet, make this mandatory reading.

If you are a retail business owner that is looking to turn things around in this economy this is the go to book. What I love about the book is that it is easy to read and easy to implement. All it takes is for you to make the effort and put the tactics to use and you will see results immediately.

After reading a ton of other retail specific books this is by far the most important book to have in your library. You will not be disappointed. A must for all retail business owners.

[...]

Even though I have my website listed as #1 on all the major search engines I thought this book might be of help. After reading the book, I realized that I had done almost exactly what was prescribed in the book. It is really good advice and everyone building their own website needs to know this information before starting. Professional website designers and builders would be well advised by purchasing and reading this book also. The small price you pay is nothing compared to the price you would spend otherwise trying to get top listing in the search engines. It also has advice on other types of advertising that can really save you money. I highly recommend this book because it takes you through the entire process of business building.

Marketing Your Reatail Store in the Internet Age does a lot of things just right.

It puts people into the right frame of mind so they can develop a "Marketer's Mindset." It outlines key concepts that are the foundation of smart business decisions. And it provides actual, realistic, easy to understand techniques that can be implemented starting immediately (and gives real life examples and case studies to help you apply the techniques to your business).

There's a goldmine within these pages, and because of the simple, user-friendly way it's laid out, you won't have much trouble finding it. Great book!

As a new brick and mortar cosmetics store I am always looking for ways to market and save money. Some days it seems like more people come in to my store wanting me to advertise then want to shop. This book helped put my marketing plans into order with tons of ideas. It was easy to read and understand while offering information that I will be able to put into acton tomorrow.

Bob and Susan Negen have put together an excellent book on how to "do" retail. The book is laid out in four "steps".

Getting new customers

Turning first-time buyers into regular customers

Getting customers to shop more often

Keeping customers for life


It may seem simplistic, but it's often the simple things that trip us up. Any retailer or any other business for that matter that can execute the four steps consistently and well is sure to be a success. Bob and Susan provide practical, proven "tactics" to do just that. This stuff would work just as well for dentists or barber shops as it does for retailers.

While the title might suggest that this is a book about internet marketing, tactics are described as either "Low-Tech" or "High-Tech". For example, "donut marketing", taking donuts to neighboring non-competing businesses who are in a position to send customers your way is about as low-tech as you can get. It's something that's been used successfully for as long as there have been sales people and donuts. The question is, do you do it? There are a lot of tips like that in this book.

The thing that sets this book apart from many similar books is that it's practical. You can read about a tactic in the morning and actually be making money using it in the afternoon. This is not an academic book. It's like a cookbook for retail merchandising and marketing.

The book is well laid out. You can read it from cover to cover, which is what I did, in a couple of evenings, or you can use it as a reference book, cherry-picking the various tactics.

Unless you buy the book and throw it into a drawer without reading it, you'll recover its cost many times over if you just adopt a few of its suggestions.

If you're looking for a step by step how to guide on how you can create Million Dollar Mailings on a shoestring budget, then skip this book.

On the other hand, if you're an advertising professional charged with the task of effectively spending your client's money on marketing and advertising, then by all means, buy this book. This is your chance to look over the shoulder of a seasoned professional as he looks at some of the most successful direct mail pieces in history.

As for the cost of the book... a course on "marketing" at your local community college costs more and won't provide 1/10th of the information contained within this book!

Wow says it all. Read the prior reviews. Pound for pound this book is worth more than gold per pound to anyone who writes copy. A life time of learning for way less than $100. Have spent 10X as much for a fraction of what this book will give you. Thanks Mr. Hatch

Thousands and thousands of different direct mail packages are mailed every year.

A few are super successful. This book collects the cream of the crop. the "control" letters that made these companies fortunes over the years. And explains why they worked. Will cut decades off your learning curve.

You can use these time tested successes to duplicate. So that your own mailing will be a success. Shows all different types of formats for mailing. As well as different types of offers.

Two other recommended books to learn from are Herschell Gordon Lewis' "World's Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters" and "The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of all Time" by Richard S. Hodgson

But both of these are hard to find and expensive. Who knows how long Million Dollar Mailings will be available for?

However, there is a danger in that you'll see how stupid some of the marketing has been done, and is being done, by others in your company. You might get restless, run out the door and scream.

Worth it's weight in doubloons.

Caveat: Bean counters, and bean counters masquerading as marketers, will not understand this book. If all you send out are post cards and self mailers (ads with postage stamps), and you think they're effective, keep doing that. We true direct marketers will gleefully steal your lunch money with Mr. Hatch's assistance.

Expensive, but definately worth it if you can afford it. Like others have said, don't expect a "how to" course on putting together a direct mail piece. However, the mail pieces included provide some real invaluable insights into what works (and there is a pattern).

The only thing I could add is that maybe some of the old control pieces could have been added so you could examine why they were beaten.

Otherwise - really top notch!

This book is well written and contains a lot of great content about Internet marketing. It was written by three CEO's whom have made their own success. I would say that its focus is more from the serious business perspective than for the armature home business newbie looking for some "how to?". But still this book was definitely worth my time. It was easily worth my 12 dollars! This book has many references which will really help out and all the theory is backed by statistics making all the data very convincing. I am sure that if any of those dot com's had this data, there would be more of them still around :)

One of the hardest things about being successful on the Internet is keeping up with the pace at which the playing field keeps changing. I found this book to be extremely well-written, and more importantly, presents information in a way that's not dated by the time you've read it. It's good, simple, common-sense advice for what works. Loved the case studies. It's an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs who can benefit from others' experiences.

There are many titles that deal with the topic of web marketing. Net Results.2 stands head and shoulders above the rest. It addresses the complexities faced by both novice and experienced marketers and provides solid, understandable advice for achieving success at either level. Great case studies help pull the advice into context and give the reader insight into tried and true methodologies that really work. The real beauty of this book, however, is that it provides AFFORDABLE advice for how to garner online success and build traffic. I believe that many of the now failed dot.com startups would still be around today had they heeded the advice available in Net Results.2.

Bought this to read over the weekend. Was a very good read, but what I found amazing is at least 1/3 off the web resources they list are either dead links or offer a totally different services than what was discussed in the book. Great for basics, great ideas - but they really need to update the book (which I would buy)

NetResults.2 is an overview of what is necessary to market a web site. Nine chapters explain things from Investment Goals to Public Relations. Each chapter has pictorial examples of the explanation and a Resource section at the end of each chapter. The book is printed in an easy-to-read font, large enough to make reading a breeze.

The Content section contains seven pages, an appendix of Internet Resources is nine-pages and the index section is seventeen pages long making it user-friendly. On each cover is an extra "turn over" so you can "bookmark" where you stopped reading and as an added incentive, the book cover is plastisized so you can read and drink your coffee without fear of spillage!

I bought my copy 2 weeks ago and it is already marked up and highlighted.
Jeremy's message is clear: The best marketing plan in the world won't make up for a shlocky book! Write the best book you possibly can. Get a PRO to edit it and design your cover. And, be HONEST.

To me this is a "why to" book more than a "how to"

Definitely got my money's worth.

Good companion books are How Not To Write A Novel and Publicize Your Book.

Author, Jeremy Robinson has proven that you can be successful at using print-on-demand to launch your book publishing career. In his book POD People, he covers the stigmas of print-on-demand publishing and gives you some tips on how to avoid or rise above them.

The number one mistake that would-be successful authors make is publishing their books before they are ready. Robinson stresses the importance of quality throughout his book. Hire an editor to help you polish your story before it is published. Hire a designer for your cover if you don't have design background. He provides links to free photo editing software for those who simply can't afford to hire a designer.

In the marketing section of POD People, he talks about how he garnered author blurbs for The Didymus Contingency and suggests that you hold off publishing your book until you can get these blurbs. He suggests the same thing for reviews. The more reviews and blurbs you can get for your book, the higher your credibility will rise. This is solid advice that I plan to use for my upcoming novel.

The section on how to use Amazon and Barnes&Noble to market and sell your book is very useful, as is his book signing tips. These techniques not only earned him more sales, but helped him land an agent for his other books, Raising the Past and Antarktos Rising.

His conversational, get-to-the-point style makes this book an enjoyable and fast read. I started reading this book yesterday afternoon and finished it this morning. Don't even think about self-publishing until you read this book. Once you finish reading this, read other books on self-publishing and book marketing.

Jeremy Robinson is the success story every POD author longs for! Now, he's written a book offering his advice to other struggling POD People telling you how he did it. The information he provides here, based on his own POD experience with [..], is a tool every self-publishing author should invest in!

Jeremy offers advice on formatting your manuscript, getting author blurbs for your cover, creating a cover that stands out and doesn't look amateur, setting up a blog and website, email etiquette, getting book reviews, book signings, and even Amazon Marketing 101. It's all here.

Jeremy approaches his advice in an easy and comical manner. But this is not a complete "how-to" book from start to finish. He constantly reminds the reader to do their own research, but he touches on these subjects and lets you know what did and did not work for him. He also provides numerous websites for you to seek out for help.

I read this book in one setting and kept a highlighter handy, constantly marking things I wanted to come back to later. His advice and personal success story makes this a much needed reference for anyone considering POD today.

Thank you, Jeremy!

In the past five years, I have read 15+ books on self publishing (SP) and Jeremy Robinson's "POD People" is certainly unique and informative. Along with Dan Poynter's "Self Publishing Manual," "POD People" can help SP newbies figure out if SP is a viable option.

"POD People" frequently addresses the concerns of starving writers. Robinson found a back door into POD and you can benefit from his advice.

Believe me, SP is not for everyone, but these two titles will help you understand enough to make an informed decision.

"POD People" lives up to its title's promise, by isolating the elements that contribute to the ever-growing stigma of print on demand. If you take nothing else away from these books, just know that editing, page layout, and cover design must be outsouced to professionals. Moreover, an aggressive marketing campaign is a must, but you can do all that yourself. Otherwise, your book will join a zillion other titles in that massive black hole of publishing failures.

Finally, each SP book offers unique elements but also overlaps with other SP books. Interestingly, the overlaps are just as important because they drive home the essentials. Do yourself a favor and read more books than these, if you are dead serious about SP. If you choose wisely, 10 titles ought to do it.

Yes! Another book that describes the POD business model as something other than a technical advancement to the traditional publishing model. Publishing POD requires different tactics and a different understanding of the publishing business. Copying what one knows or understands about the traditional publishing industry and then trying to shove that knowledge into the POD world is like shoving a round peg into a square hole. It just doesn't fit. Jeremy Robinson understands that well and POD People does a good job of explaining the advantages of POD to those who are open to understanding its differences. Those differences make for unique marketing opportunities (which this book also covers) and lucrative results if one is open to letting-go of pre-conceived notions. Kudos, Jeremy! - Brent Sampson, author of Self-publishing Simplified: Experience Your Publishing Dreams With Outskirts Press