Book Review: Now is Gone

Now is Gone, by Geoff Livingston, with Brian Solis



This book is precisely what it claims to be: a practical primer for new media. Moving right to the heart of every topic it covers, Now is Gone is straightforward and on the mark, with a succinct recap of salient points at the end of every chapter.

This is not a tome of theory -- nor should it be. This book is more of a field guide: how to get involved with new media, social media, social networking, how to do it right, how to hopefully avoid certain pitfalls along the way, and to be ready, willing and able to admit culpability in the case of a misstep. Every executive, entrepreneur AND student ought to read this work, because moving forward, the activities and philosophies covered are going to be heart and core of nearly every company out there. New media, especially as covered by this work, is as much, or more, about customer relationship management than it is about PR or marketing; perhaps I should rephrase. PR and marketing, maturing to meet social media as described in this book, are the future of CRM.

Now is Gone returns again and again to the concepts of community, conversation and transparency. Without a doubt these values and practices are becoming, must become, predominant in the culture of any company hoping to succeed and thrive in the evolving, globalizing, always-on business world and consumer community. The people formerly known as the audience are smart, in touch and growing more and more used to getting the "inside story" on the products and services they consume, to having their voices heard, to having their opinions matter. It makes nothing but the best of sense to work with these powerful forces, rather than against them, and Now is Gone offers valuable insights and real world examples relevant to these critical matters without wasting the reader's time with ivory tower nonsense.

Learn more at NowIsGone.com