If interested, pick up a copy of "The Art of Deception" and "Ghost in The Wires" to understand how vulnerable you are. Yes, they're available for Kindle as well.

Some people would say that your password is irrelevant with the examples proposed in this book.

But let's just make sure your password is not the problem. You've already got LastPass going and everything's fine. 

At the end of the book, you'll know how, the top hacker in the world, literally someone from the FBI's most wanted list, was able to break into some of the biggest companies and most prestigious organizations.

There's even a movie based on this guy, Kevin Mitnick, he's also the author of the book so this is coming straight from the horse's mouth.

The movie may not be as realistic, but I remember when it came out. The movie is called Takedown, it came out in 2000. I remember it being okay, but this book is amazing. 

And you'll be surprised as to what is the problem in the security chain.

It's not your computer, it's not your WiFi, it's not even your password.

Read that book and the answer will be clear. You are your problem. Your neighbor is the problem. That cute receptionist at your Dr.'s office is the problem.

Short post this time, but I thought this would be interesting to you if any of the recent security breaches and online privacy violations have drawn your attention.

The post Book Recommendation: Art of Deception appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I just knew that I wanted to read more and I wanted to have friends I could discuss the books with. In business and entrepreneurship, it really helps when you interact with people who are like-minded so I thought this would be a great way to carry out that idea and bring people together.

The definition of the club is still morphing, but each week it becomes clearer that the book club is a good thing. We've learned about why we do things out of habit, why social media marketing and social media are game changers, and now we're studying grit as it relates to success and perseverance.

I'm not sure what book is next, but I do know that we're having a great time reading and talking about these books. And as we grow, I invite you to come and join us. I've been thinking about expanding the club to have a virtual meeting as well, but we haven't had enough interest so far.  If you can't join us in person, let me know if you would attend virtual meetings like a Youtube live meetup, or some other video conference meeting.

So how can someone join the book club?

There are no dues, joining is free. All you have to do is get the book and show up for the meetings. The first step is to join the newsletter and email updates here. This is where we announce which book we're going to read and what we're going to talk about each week.

Then you also want to join our Meetup page to get the exact date, time and location for each meetup; you can do that here.

We usually meet in Irvine for lunch and we talk about the book. Usually the meetings last between 1 to 2 hours, depending on the discussion and what's going on. We have a loosely planned agenda each week based on the reading assignment.

What are the benefits of joining the book club?

The first and most obvious benefit is the expanding of knowledge and understanding by reading some of the best books that we can get our hands on. Another benefit is the camaraderie developed between the members of the club because of a common interest: to grow and develop our business to new levels.

The books are carefully selected and curated with the goal of helping us learn more about marketing, psychology, business, sales and other related business topics. Sorry, no fiction here!

So if you want to learn more about how to improve yourself, how to grow your business, how to improve your process, or approach, I recommend you join us. The more the merrier, and your input is welcome.

From time to time, we also have giveaways. Last week John brought in some copies of the book #AskGaryVee to give away. And not just that, they were autographed copies. Free to anybody that came to the meetup. You should have been there!

So what are you waiting for? We're reading Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth. You can get it for free with Audible, or get the Kindle version like I did.

The post Book Club Update and The Surprise Giveaway You Mised appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I finally read Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, by Gary Vaynerchuk. If you noticed, we started reading it for the book club about four weeks ago.

I've been recommending the book to clients and friends since it came out, but here's the dirty little secret. I had not read it. I only skimmed through it once or twice, but I inherently understood what the book was about.

And talk about throwing jabs all day long. Gary has put out so much valuable content and so clearly articulated the essence of this book throughout his talks before publishing it that I knew I could recommend this book even without reading it.

How many things would you feel comfortable recommending without actually trying or using yourself?

I trusted that my clients would like the book and get value from it and everyone would come back telling me how great it was. People are still talking about it now, check out the hashtag on Twitter: #JJJRH.

Time to buckle down

But now running the book club and helping more people, I thought it was time to read it and get the details. Especially because of Snapchat. I've been using Snapchat now quite a bit more than I ever did before and I wanted to see what Gary had to say about it in the book.

The spoiler on that is that he doesn't talk much about Snapchat. At the time of the writing of the book, Snapchat wasn't a big network, so it only gets a few pages towards the end. But the whole message of the book applies to Snapchat as it does to anything else.

He talks heavily about Facebook and Twitter, on Round 3 and on Round 4 respectively. Facebook is where you story-tell, and Twitter is where you follow the pulse, where you listen.

I think everyone in the book club also appreciated the choice because many of the members are completely new at social media, and even more so when it comes to using it for business.

The devil is in the details

The book is beautiful, literally. Its body is designed in a wide format and even today is only available on hardback edition. It is almost like a coffee table book and it has a fancy jacket with a prominent old school pair of boxing gloves embossed to represent the "oo" in Hook.

The pages are thick and of high quality semi-gloss paper. Like a high-end book. I was surprised about all this when I bought the book because Crush it and The Thank You Economy were just normal books in these regards. I was also surprised at the price: $32.39, until I really analyzed it and read it.

But the book itself is a metaphor of what Gary is talking about in it. How to tell a story in the chosen medium so that it stands out in the best possible way.

In this case, Gary is using a classic format (book) to tell us stories about social media networks, but he picked the best possible format to deliver that story. This is one of those books that stands out from the rest for several reasons.

It doesn't fit your bookshelf like the other books do. It doesn't blend into the background when you take it out and it isn't something you can read conspicuously. Every page is perfectly crafted.

Full color, solid typeface and smart formatting make this a book you want to keep even after you finish reading it. All these details reflect the message he talks about in every chapter, or rather in every round. Stand out, and do it well.

Mostly Evergreen Content and solid advice

With the exception of a few mentions and predictions of Google Glass and Google Plus, the content still stands up to scrutiny, almost 3 years after it was written.

In social media, that's like 20 years!

The core of the book focuses on what Gary has been doing and saying all along in all of his videos. Learn to speak the language your customers speak. It doesn't matter if your customer is on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, or the latest and greatest hip app. You have to speak natively or you'll die.

Breaking it down

The first two rounds setup the rest of the book by reinforcing core social media principles. Gary talks about how social media is mostly about micro content and content that gives much more than it asks. It entertains, and it works but only when it's native to the platform. This is how the major chapters in the book break down.

Facebook

Then the rest of the book is all about specific networks. The Facebook section is particularly important because Facebook is the biggest social network today. The most relevant, the one with the widest demographics and arguably the one that commands the most attention.

The section is good because it talks about all the nuances of Facebook, but it also showcases short 1 page critiques on various posts by brands. Gary praises or rips each one of them apart and helps you see things as you should, from your customer's point of view but never forgetting the benefit your activity will provide in the long term, if done right.

Twitter

The Twitter section is another sizable section of the book. I still use and love Twitter, despite growing criticism and concerns for its long term viability. I even wrote a guide on how to grow it.

Gary, in classic Gary style goes all in and tells you about using Twitter to listen to your customers. How to listen to trends and make personal connections that will transcend the life of the platform.

On Pinterest

Pinterest is very underutilized, but in round 5, Gary teaches you about "glaming it up on Pinterest." This is a place where you can build community and showcase your products in a very flattering light. Just don't forget to speak the native language.

Like in the Facebook section, there are critiques of good and bad use cases for Pinterest and one of the recurring themes here is to use the platform natively, like making sure your pins have a link to the correct location.

Instagram

The Instagram section is mostly case studies like those on the Facebook and Pinterest rounds. Overall this chapter is short but the basics are reinforced. Speak the language; use hashtags, use great photos, appeal to the younger crowd with visual story telling.

Tumblr

After Instagram, we have Tumblr. One of those huge yet obscure networks. At one point in the not so distant past, Tumblr was bigger than WordPress as a blogging platform. But that's the thing. Tumblr is a blog platform. So it is everything and nothing at the same time.

It's tough to build community and even tougher to use it right. Gary's tips here are to really, I mean, really, learn the language. Use animated gifs, recreate, borrow and uplift content and be careful with pushing your own stuff here.

And yes... I use all of these platforms and more. If you want to catch up with me on any of them, here you go: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr.

The Final Five Rounds are Meaty

In conclusion, you should get this book. You should read it, study it, apply it, and use it as a way to learn about what's coming. There are three sections to the book, the introduction & setup, the case studies and then the closing advice. The book is almost 3 years old now, but still relevant, even Gary thinks so.

STAY RELEVANT OR DIE | DailyVee 061https://t.co/nA44ZnoUkS pic.twitter.com/Ze4sHYfCDS

— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) August 17, 2016

The last five chapters of the book are packed with logic, motivation and inspiration. Things that should help you feel inspired to go on and take on the world. It doesn't matter if you are just joining the social media revolution (but it does matter that you do it now!).

It doesn't matter because as you'll see, there are new things coming up all the time and in contrast with the old media formats like TV, Radio, Magazines and Newspapers, social media changes daily. This gives you an advantage to stay ahead of the curve by working your ass off, by paying attention to the trends and your consumers.

One thing that I found particularly interesting was the title and message for round 10. This is something I've been telling my clients for years, even before JJJRH. You are a media company, whether you like it or not. I don't care if you sell washers and screws, if you teach driving lessons, or do wardrobe shopping for celebrities.

You are a media company now and it's up to you to be a good one. And if you don't know what I mean by that then I recommend you go and pick up a copy of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.

If you already read it, what were the most salient points you took from it? How about your favorite quotes? Drop them in the comments and I'll include them in my next round up.

The post Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. – Review & Recap appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We're reading: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, by Gary Vaynerchuk.

We selected this book during the last meetup for The Power of Habit. By all accounts, The Power of Habit was a fantastic first choice. I expect that our next choice will be as enlightening.

I have read Crush It! and The Thank You Economy, also by Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary is on his 4th book now: #AskGaryVee, but we're starting with Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, his 3rd book because it is very relevant to our business. Most of the people involved in the Dot Com Lifestyle group have or want to have an online business.

We seek the kind of business that frees up our time and resources so we can do whatever we want. Social media has risen to be a very disruptive force in today's world. We've seen complete industries turned upside down because of Facebook, and Twitter. Instagram and Flickr changed the photography landscape forever.

We've seen regimes collapse under the pressure created by social media users. We have seen businesses explode because of a good Youtube commercial. This is why we want to read this book. How can we as entrepreneurs tap into the power of social media?

The title is descriptive of the philosophy that Gary preaches. Jab, Jab, Jab means to deliver the small but solid hits that pave the way for a knockout --the Right Hook-- punch in a fight. My buddy John Chow pointed out that it's a strange analogy to use when you're trying to build a business and generate sales.

Like do you want to "punch" your customer? He asked during our first meeting last week. And I can see that the principle could have been better illustrated with a more friendly analogy. But at the same time, in business we often say " go knock them out!" when talking about delivering a presentation, or business proposal.

Either way I'm really looking forward to reading this book. The questions that come to mind as of the writing of this book are:

• What exactly does Gary mean by Jab, Jab, Jab?
• When and how do you deliver the Right Hook?
• How do we translate our business goals, intentions and sincerity into social media activities?

The book Breakdown is as follows:

• Week 1 - Start the book. You should have read up to the "Kit Kat: Timed Out" section (page 75) before meeting for week #2.
• Week 2 -  Read up to Comedy Central: Bringing Community Together (page - 148), before meeting for week #3.
• Week 3 - Read from 149 to finish. before meeting for week #4
• Week 4 - Let's wrap up the book, commentary, lessons learned, questions pending and selecting the next book.

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If you want to be notified of upcoming events for our group (everybody is welcome to join), then don't forget to subscribe via meetup at the Dot Com Lifestyle meetup page here.

Before I let you have my thoughts on the first week of reading. These are the questions would put up for discussion:

• What is The Habit Loop?
• Why do we do things when we don't want to?
• What is a cue?
• What is a reward?
• What is a routine?
• What habit do you have that you want to change? Identify it clearly
• What habit do you wish you had and want to institute? Identify it clearly.
• If we are conditioned to doing something after it becomes a habit, how do we force ourselves to modify that habit?

Prologue, The Habit Cure

The prologue sets up the stage by introducing us to Eugene Pauly "E.P." someone that lost all capacities to remember new things at an early stage in his life, but continued to live a semi-independent life. He could not remember anything prior to the incident that caused this memory loss, but over the next decades researches found so much about how our brains work and why we can do things even without having much recollection of why or how we do them.

As I read the prologue, I couldn't help but think about Blink by Malcom Gladwell, and Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. Blink because it seems that a lot of our "thin slicing" is based on cues and habits that we form and unknowingly embed into our deep subconscious. And Moonwalking with Einstein because that's where I first learned about Eugene Pauly, and it's all about memory. If you have the inclination, I recommend both of those books as well!

The Power of Habit is broken down into 3 parts and each part into several chapters. For the first week, our asisgnment was to read the Prologue, and the first 2 chapters.

The Habit Loop; How Habits Work

We learned more about Eugene and other cases and studies that helped researchers understand how habits work. This first chapter is captivating and you can't help but keep turning the pages to see where all of this information leads to. Most of the research into habits started around 50 years ago. EP's case was pivotal in this research.

Scientists were able to isolate why we do things "out of habit" and what part of our brain controls this. Turns out that habits once formed, are very hard to break. They are ingrained into the most primal areas of our brains. This is what makes habits so strong and a double-edge sword.

We have good and bad habits, and while these happen almost instinctively once they are formed, it is only by conscious actions and efforts that we can shape and change the habits to benefit us.

I think this small excerpt explains most of what this chapter is all about, and really I expect this to be part of the overall message of the book:

Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness, or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission, but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts. They shape our lives far more than we realize---they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.

In this chapter, we also learn about The Habit Loop, which is composed of three parts. The cue, the routine and the reward. The cue is what triggers a routine, and the reward is what comes after the routine.

It seems so obvious when you look at it like this but it is much more nuanced than that once you understand how cues trigger a routine and eventually this delivers a reward that may or may not be good for us.

John talked about this in a recent video:

The Craving Brain; How to Create New Habits

The second chapter talks more about how industry has researched and used the power of habit to further its goals. For example, we learn about how during World War I, dental hygiene was a considered a national security risk by the government and how one creative marketer tapped into the habit loop to change this, selling toothpaste to millions of people worldwide and making brushing your teeth a thing.

Brushing your teeth was not a thing, until the maker of Pepsodent teamed up with Claude C. Hopkins to make it a thing.

Prior to this time, most people didn't brush their teeth like you and I do today, three times a day. Yes, it seems painfully obvious that this is a good thing, but why it became a habit in a matter of 6 months to 2 years speaks volumes about how things can change quickly if we align the elements of the habit loop in a strategic manner.

pepsodent-advertisment 1940-1950-pepsodent

Obviously, as marketers and business owners, we must learn about the habit loop. If we can align our products and services to fit within the habit loop then we will be able to help more people solve their problems. As you'll read in the book, even when a problem is painfully obvious, people may not necessarily find a rational way to solve the problem. As you wrap up chapter two, you'll learn about how Febreze is a perfect example of this dilemma.

Here you have a highly effective product that could literally eliminate bad odors of all kinds, yet when it first went to market in the mid 90's, it tanked. It was a total failure.

The mega corporation P&G was about to pull Febreze off the shelves and call it quits. But then they found the right cue, routine and reward. They reworked their marketing strategy and the rest is history. Febreze is perhaps one of the most recognized brands of all time.

What's next?

In the first blogpost about the book club, I broke down the sections to read in a weekly basis, but I think I made a mistake in breaking it down by page numbers and then going to the nearest section or chapter break. I'll be updating that blogpost. But for now, to correct this, the next week of reading may be a little heavier, but the break should make more sense it's listed below:

If you want to follow along, for this week you should read the following:

• Part 1
  • Chapter 3, The Golden Rule of Habit Change: Why Transformation Occurs.
• Part 2
  • Keystone Habits, or the Ballad of Paul O'neill: Which Habits Matter Most.
  • Starbucks and the Habit of Success: When Willpower Becomes Automatic.
  • The Power of a Crisis: How leaders Create Habits Through Accident and Design.

If you haven't picked up the book, then now it's a good time to do it, paperback is around $8.50, and kindle edition is around $11.00 if you have Amazon Prime, check prices here.

If you started it and you want to take advantage of our collective discussions then come out for our regular meetup, and write about it on your blog. Let me know if you do and I'll include your links in a round-up type of blogpost.

If you don't have a blog, I will be happy to host your reviews or commentary on my blog as a guest blogger. You can also leave a comment below to talk about any of this, don't be afraid, jump in!

The post The Power of Habit: Week One Completed appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The biggest question I have about the habit loop as I understand it now from discussing this and from videos I've watched so far is how do you not cheat the loop?

Setting yourself up to get a reward that you can get at any time seems ripe for self sabotage. One of the examples Charles gives during a talk is that if you wanted to exercise, try having a piece of chocolate at the end of your run as a reward.

But then I wonder, what prevents us from taking the easy route and get the piece of chocolate immediately? It's not like we have to run 3 miles to get the piece of chocolate at the end of the run.

The piece of chocolate is in your cupboard and it takes just a few steps to get it, why would you do the run. And especially if you've struggled with exercising in the first place.

This should be answered as I read the book I suppose.

Thanks everyone for coming out today, hope to see you soon and for those of you that missed the meeting, don't forget to get a copy of the book and check out the weekly progress breakdown on this previous post.

The post The Power of Habit Discussion appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you're going to join us, then pick up a copy. We will have our first meeting in person to get started so people can meet face to face and then we'll have a lot of the interaction online.

During the first meeting, we'll decide if we do a weekly or bi-weekly meeting. But we will be reading the book in 1 month or less. Not counting the notes and prologue section, the book is 302 pages.

This will be the breakdown:

• Week 1, pages 1-55
• Week 2 pages 56- 126
• Week 3 pages 127 - 212
• Week 4 pages 213 - 302

Additional information

The following links may help you understand more about the book, keep in mind they can also contain spoilers.

Review of The Power of Habit on Bloomberg

Developing Good Habits has a really nice review and breakdown of the book. I'll be borrowing from this review to come up with questions and discussion for everyone.

Questions to think about throughout the book

• What is the habit loop?
• How do habits actually work?
• Why do people keep doing self-destructive things?
• Can habit development cause a positive change in an organization?
• How do you form a good habit?

A quick video by Thomas Frank about some of the lessons he learned with this book.

Happy reading, and hopefully see you in person soon.

The post Book Club Update – The Power of Habit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Below are the books that are on the current to-read list. If you want to change it or add your own, then you can vote below.

We'll put various books up for a vote each month so that we can all get a chance to learn more and grow. We will meet at least twice a month on Wednesdays or Thursdays to discuss and have lunch. We'll also have a virtual discussion so we can talk about the books at anytime.

The purpose of the book club is to read the book, and discuss the topics and how we can apply what we have read towards improving our business.

If you aren't part of our meetup group, I suggest you become a member. It's free, you just have to join. Go to the Dot Com Lifestyle Meetup here.

The List of Books

Here are the books we have up for voting, you can read a brief description about them, or click on the title to read more and purchase the book. Unless otherwise specified, we'll be reading the latest printed paperback edition. From the picture listed, we have taken Suze Orman's book out of the list for now because it is 15 years old and it talks a lot about IRAs, tax regulations and other topics that might have been outdated by now.

The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuck (hardback only).

The Thank You Economy is about something big, something greater than any single revolutionary platform. It isn't some abstract concept or wacky business strategy—it's real, and every one of us is doing business in it every day, whether we choose to recognize it or not. It's the way we communicate, the way we buy and sell, the way businesses and consumers interact online and offline. The Internet, where The Thank You Economy was born, has given consumers back their voice, and the tremendous power of their opinions via social media means that companies and brands have to compete on a whole different level than they used to. (read more here)

The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

The mainstream financial gurus have sold you blindly down the river to a great financial gamble: You've been hoodwinked to believe that wealth can be created by recklessly trusting in the uncontrollable and unpredictable markets: the housing market, the stock market, and the job market. This impotent financial gamble dubiously promises wealth in a wheelchair -- sacrifice your adult life for a financial plan that reaps dividends in the twilight of life. Accept the Slowlane as your blueprint for wealth and your financial future will blow carelessly asunder on a sailboat of HOPE: HOPE you can find a job and keep it, HOPE the stock market doesn't tank, HOPE the economy rebounds, HOPE, HOPE, and HOPE. Do you really want HOPE to be the centerpiece for your family's financial plan? (read more here)

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, David Allen’s Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. “GTD” is now shorthand for an entire way of approaching professional and personal tasks, and has spawned an entire culture of websites, organizational tools, seminars, and offshoots. (read more here)

The Shoemoney Story by Jeremy Schoemaker

Transparent and shockingly honesty, you can't help but like and identify with the brazen narrator and finish his story with a renewed sense of your own self-confidence and hope. In the end, Schoemaker--the man behind the alias--leaves us with a final understanding that anything's possible if you celebrate yourself and embrace your natural talents because--as he's learned--that's the stuff that never changes. (read more here)

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives. (read more here)

Voting

There are three questions presented below. Which book you want to vote for, which book you want to eliminate from the list, and a place for you to suggest another book be added to the list for next time.

(survey closed)

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