20 Free eBooks About Social Media

August 7, 2008 · Comments

It’s interesting what you can find when you look around a bit on Google. I thought I’d look for a few new ebooks to read. I found 20 different ones that might be interesting to you. It never hurts to get a few different perspectives. In all cases, the first link is to a PDF file, the second link is to the site where it’s hosted.

20 Free eBooks About Social Media


  1. The New Rules of Viral MarketingDavid Meerman Scott
  2. Marketing AppleMarketingApple.com
  3. Masters of MarketingStartup Internet Marketing
  4. Podcast Marketing eBookChristopher S. Penn
  5. Google Adwords SecretsSEOBook
  6. Get Viral Get VisitorsStacie Mahoe
  7. Marketing With Case StudiesDynamic Copywriting
  8. How to Write a Marketing PlanGeisheker Group
  9. SEO for WordPress blogsBlizzard Internet
  10. Social Web AnalyticsSocial Web Analytics
  11. Geeks Guide to Promoting Yourself With TwitterGeekpreneur
  12. The Zen of BloggingHunter Nutall
  13. What is Social MediaiCrossing
  14. A Primer in Social MediaSmashLab
  15. Effective Internet PresenceEffective Internet Presence
  16. Introduction to Good UsabilityPeter Pixel
  17. Increasing the Response to Your Email Marketing ProgramCRM Transformation
  18. We Have a Website. Now What?Craig Rentmeester
  19. Blogs & Social MediaPRSA
  20. The Podcast Customer RevealedEdison Media Research

Have any more that you’ve found online that you like? Share them in the comments section. And if you want to re-post the list to your site, by all means, please do! Just please be kind and link back to 20 Free eBooks About Social Media.

***Update I really love Brian Solis and all he does. He pointed out a few of his works that I would highly recommend these, as well:

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • Nice finds, Chris. Thanks for posting these. I think your recommendation for "Geeks Guide to Promoting Yourself With Twitter" should link back to your own blog. You're mastering the craft. (I say that with respect!)
  • This is a TREASURE CHEST!
    Thanks!!

    Dr. WRight
    The Wright Place TV Show
    www.wrightplacetv.com
    www.twitter.com/drwright1
  • Um, you know that value thing you always talk about wanting to provide? Well, this post is more valuable than anything else I've read/heard/seen/watched all week -- and I've only just looked at one of these ebooks.

    Many thanks. Got a tip jar?
  • Hi Chris,

    Thanks for yet another great list for me to Digg/bookmark. One fresh-off-the-press e-book that people may want to check out is Dave Fleet's Strategic Communications Plan. It is pretty comprehensive and a great step-by-step approach on putting out any sort of corporate communications.

    The link is here:
    http://davefleet.com/2008/08/strategic-communic...

    --Amrita
  • Another juicey post by Chris Brogan. Look at these titles! This will be the first one from the list that I read: The Podcast Customer Revealed.

    Where do you find all this stuff? Do you have an army of VA's searching the 'net? I'm sure you have a handy little app that does the work of an army to do the research, right?

    I think social media is still a sleeping giant.

    You never cease to amaze me, CB.
  • Thanks for linking to our podcast study, Chris. For those who are interested, I posted some analysis of these numbers here: http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/200...

    Also, I will be elaborating on them (and presenting some more data on advertising and sponsorships) at the New Media Expo on Friday, Aug 15th, and am happy to take questions there if you got 'em!

    -Tom
  • thanks this is site really useful for me http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/200... you have such more types of sites.
  • @Tom - did you have any more like that? Quite a great bit of information in there.
  • Well, for tracking and reference, we have the 2007 data ( http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/200...) and the initial study from 2006 ( http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/200...).

    For a more general look at online audio of all flavors, this would be our primary study on the subject for 2008: http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/200... (scroll down and click on the webcast to hear Arbitron's Pierre Bouvard and I walk through the data). Feel free to use all you want--we'll make more.

    At the NME I will also be presenting a little tidbit on Twitter, and more on mobile media consumption.

    Thanks again for a great list, Chris.
  • I love lists, I love ebooks, I love ebooks about social media, and I really love lists of ebooks about social media. Thanks for the post (wish I had thought of it first).
  • Scott Pete
    Great stuff Chris. Thanks for posting these, I look forward to reading a number of them!
  • Just ran across your blog. Love it! Thank you for sharing.
  • Chris,

    An awesome list. Thanks. Double check your link on the Marketing Apple eBook. You have an extra ing in the URL.
  • @Kevin - thanks for that. Went back and fixed it. : )
  • Great find. I am posting this on our Cal State Chico blog and direct faculty to check out the list.
    Thanks for doing the leg work!
  • Thanks Chris,

    As usual great finding! Summer is the best time to read that much, great you put this thing together.
  • As it often happens, when I wake up with a job-related question, here I find most of my answers=)
    Thank you so much Chris for simplifying my life!
    Sara
  • Kit
    Hey Chris,

    Stunning collection! Surprised there is much 'good' stuff available.

    I'll be back!

    The Internet is an In-joke
  • Thanks for the great list!
  • Thanks for sharing
  • Awesome Book Collection!
  • Some of these ebooks need updating. The WordPress one, for example, is definitely speaking from a pre-WordPress 2.5 platform. It suggests that you copy and paste to NotePad (if you've written the post on Word) before pasting to WordPress rather than pasting directly. However, since WordPress 2.5, writers have had the option of posting from WordPress directly.
  • Again, Chris, fantastic information. Your newsletter and blog are sterling examples of the value gained by both sides of the social media share.

    I have a new assistant on a Social Media development project I am working on, and she is starting from scratch gathering information and personal knowledge related to everything social media. Your blogs and fantastic lists are her starting blocks, and today's just adds to the heap that you have provided so far. Thanks.
  • This looks like it will be fun to investigate for a "nugget" or two. Thanks for the collection.
  • Ralph
    Thank you very much! This saved me a lot of time!!! Also the list of 50 social media site was very helpful. I enjoy your blog very much.
  • Mike B
    Great list. Have already tarted going through some of them. Will make up a chunk of my August reading.
  • Not an ebook, but I've been reading "WE-THINK," which falls right into this category.
  • Here's another one by Brian Solis titled "Essential Guide to Social Media".

    http://www.briansolis.com/2008/06/essential-gui...
  • Thank you so much for this list. The Twitter guide looks intruiging.
  • Great post, Chris. I'd like to humbly add an offering of mine that addresses the use of social media in learning situations (arguably all social media does that, but this is specifically about its uses in delivering/facilitating educational experiences - Learning 2.0). Large number of views/downloads so far, so the need appears to be real:

    http://blog.missiontolearn.com/2008/02/learning...

    In spite of the title, it applies well beyond associations.

    Jeff
  • Jurie
    Wow, you'd think "social media" is code for "marketing, advertising, PR, SEO".
  • Fantastic post, Chris.
  • Thanks, Chris, for sharing this list with us. I'll have my students in my Corporate PR class read many of the e-books and write short reviews them. I've reposted your list at my Public Relations Matters blog (http://publicrelationsmatters.com/2008/08/10/ch...)
  • Chris - I wrote this one this week and it's been well received

    Twitter for Business - http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/08/0...
  • Hi Chris,

    Thanks for including the Blizzard SEO For Wordpress Blogs.

    We're working on an update (newest version of WP) and will send it to you when we're done.

    The list is great, and we've already downloaded the ones you've mentioned that we didnt already have. Thanks for this awesome resource.

    ~Carrie
  • Great links! Seems your popularity might have exceeded the bandwidth capabilities of at least one of the Authors, but what the hell, that´s social marketing for you...
  • Great list! Thanks - Brian Solis offers a collection of ebooks from here:
    http://www.briansolis.com/

    We Media - Chris Willis, Shane Bowman
    http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php

    Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive, Mark Briggs (for journalists (who isn't becoming one?), a very practical technical assistance manual.
  • I read through the first eBook and am amazed at how much I learned, how much was justified in my head about what I was already doing. The Website Grader at www.hubspot.com was amazing. What gets me is my grade of 88 compared to a couple of my competitors who were in the 40's or 50's. I can't wait till it all pays off.

    The best thing that I did was incorporate my blog from Blogger into my site using Wordpress MU, and creating sites for my clients to use that are all linked back to my website. I went from 70-90 unique visitors a day to over 275 per day. And my page views went up 20 times. What a boost! Google has picked up my site multiple times and placed it on the 1st page at least 10-15 times due to blog posts. WOW! This stuff works.
    Thanks a bunch
  • Chris, an addition to your already fabulous list:

    The Social Web Analytics ebook by Philip Sheldrake is pretty useful for those trying to quantify, qualify and show the ROI of social media to colleagues/bosses.

    Thanks for these invaluable links!
  • Great list Chris!

    Forgive the self-promotion but I thought I'd also share my own primer that can be found at:

    http://www.ginocosme.com/downloads/Introduction...

    I'd welcome some feedback from you and your readers as it's up for an update soon.
  • Hi Chris,

    Big fan of the blog here. Great list of resources here too. I re-posted on my blog, but don't worry, I gave you plenty of link love. :)
  • Hi Chris,

    Thanks for your post. I wanted to share with your readers a handy search tool (in beta) that you can use to find e-books and pdf documents on specific topics:
    http://www.pdfgeni.com/

    I found it while scrolling through Delicious.

    Cindy
  • Thanks for posting these resources Chris, I'm looking forward to reading many them. They're great for what I'm trying to do in regards to helping small business owners get up to speed on social media.

    B.Croom
    thesocialmediaconsumer.blogspot.com
  • Not sure if this was noticed yet but #1 and #6 are the same ebook. FYI.
  • Definitely an absolutely lovely list of books! Thanks for sharing.
  • I’d like to offer mine e-book "The New Rules of Business Blogs". You can find it at www.positioningstrategy.com/ebooks/New_Rules_Of... or at my blog www.positioningstrategy.com.
  • Thanks for the work that you do! I just found your blog what a great resource you put together.

    Remember
    "The Creation of a Thousand forest is in one acorn" Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Fabulous set of resources Chris. Thanks for taking the time to post these.

    Cheers!
    -Lee
  • Excellent resource, Chris!
  • Thanks for the links!
  • Chris - this was so popular I saw this on several of the blogs I read. You should consider separating comments and trackbacks in your blog, especially with posts like this that have SO MANY trackbacks =)

    Cheers,
    Adam
  • Chris. This helps a lot, thanks for posting it up.
  • Thanks for yet another great list. I also want to share free ebooks with you. You can download ebook from my blog http://free-ebooks-download-1.blogspot.com . Download this ebook for FREE. No need to signup.
  • Hi Chris

    Just came across this blog entry today. This is so helpful. Thanks for posting the list
  • Chris,

    You get better and better. This is one of the best posts, no, best post I've ever seen.

    Thanks!
  • Blogs and Social Media really brought great changes in human relations. Wright & Hinson's research on Social Media is really useful to know how this phenomenon of blogging and other aspects are potential to bring dramatic changes in many other aspects of social & public relations.

    The Google's Adwords Secrets also very useful book for the one who wants to get more benifit using Google as Marketing media.

    I really appreciate Chris for the great list all at one place. Thanks.

    Social Media Marketing – 1600902.60479998
  • 好文章,这个这个...想转载一下不知道可以不?嘿嘿136
  • thanks good blog and post
  • Thanks for the list.The following ebook may be included which teaches to parents about what their children doing on social media and blogging and their safety.

    http://www.childnet-int.org/downloads/blog_leaf...
  • Falimmidai
    http://ptolemydecides.freehostia.com/card04c.html lajoie philadelphia baseball card
  • just visit and ask for various pathological services
  • Thanks Chris for collecting eBook social network, its really helpful for reference my Thesis.
  • Thank you so much Chris for these ebooks. Your contribution saved me invaluable time. Let's keep in touch.
    Warmly,
    Nadia
  • Excellent list of books. We'll use these internally to educate of sales staff.
  • Lea
    Ebook lovers please come to my site http://4free.site90.net, and get free ebooks there.
  • derekshowerman
    Great post, we have a free eBook available as well: http://www.authoritydomains.com/social-media-co...

    Please download and share as you like. I would love to hear your feedback too.
  • Ross
    This is a seriously outstanding list of resources, about 1/2 through the first one, much thanks for posting!
  • Awesome resource list this Chris, I love it.

    Ever since reading David Meerman Scott's eBook about the new rules of PR I have been a fan of his work. I am sure that several other ebooks in in this list that will become new favourites.
  • Wow, these ebooks are a great find...and this is a year later after this post was originally made. Good stuff for the peeps trying to shorten their learning curve...including Brian Solis additions!

    Timothy Carter
    http://twitter.com/timothycarter
  • A very interesting selection of books on a fascinating subject. Thanks so much for sharing.
  • Really a Good post.I totally liked it.It has enabled me to understand the things in just few minutes which troubled me till i read your post.I really found it very useful in using the wordpress.It gave me feeling like I had found in using the twitter applications.You can read more about it at http://thetwittersecret.com/.
  • hi nice article list great work and thanks for u sear this with us
  • here is a duplicate content of your orig article:

    http://www.teratips.com/free-20-ebooks-social-m...
  • password = books_for_all
    Download them more clearly and easily at
    http://mondowebs.com

    hi i have got an link and i think it would suit your needs best
    all ebook files can be viewed at

    www.easy-share.com/o/3751801
  • freeebooksdownload
    I want you to add this good website to the list
    Free Ebooks download
  • weird Chris, how come this article did not show up in my RSS of your site? :s what went wrong? :S
  • Thank you Chris for sharing these resources :) I think social media is the new way to go! I've tried a lot of different marketin styles, but been moving to social media, facebook, youtube, twitter and blogging more and more! Because it's FUN :)

    - Chris
  • Great list.Really this is awesome .I love e book about social media.Thank you for sharing this list.
  • Ric Rubiales
    amazing! I´m working in the museum field and we need all of that. Thank you so much for this insigths!!!
  • Of course, I enjoyed the post, This is very Helpful.
  • Thanks a lot for the article i will try as much as possible to improve on my skills from the advices in the article. Keep blogging. Looking forward to reading your next post.
  • Thanks a lot for the article i will try as much as possible to improve on my skills from the advices in the article. Keep blogging. Looking forward to reading your next post.
  • Thanks for sharing.
  • blackhatspace
    Excellent guide. Thanks for sharing
  • mbt1451
    That’s something,That's what I was thinking.Brilliant idea.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post:

Next post: