Tuesday, August 16, 2005

A Review of "The Virtual Handshake" by David Teten and Scott Allen

Last week I shared in this space a story of one of my searches that appears in Chapter 21 of the new book, The Virtual Handshake. I have now finished poring over each of the book's 30 chapters, and am ready to offer my thoughts and enthusiastic recommendation.

The Virtual Handshake - Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online is a treasure trove of practical advice on how best to use the rapidly proliferating assortment of social networking tools. I consider myself a reasonably informed networker and yet I found helpful information in each section of the book. Let me share just one story of how the book has had an immediate impact on me.

Like many of us, I find e-mail to be a two-edged sword. I love the way that it enables me to stay in continuous contact with family, friends and business colleagues around the world. On the other hand, even with new Spam filters, the volume of incoming e-mail has long been daunting and overwhelming. Even after deleting Spam and obvious junk, I still have often found myself awash in a sea of e-mails that need to be answered in some fashion. Chapter 14 - Manage The E-mail Deluge - offered me the first workable system for handling the avalanche of e-mails in my In Box. For the first time in years, I now have an empty In Box and a sensible plan for handling the backlog of correspondence that needs to be attended to. This nugget alone makes the book worth the purchase price.

Teten and Allen share their wisdom in the following major categories:

Building Relationships Face-to Face and Virtually

Social Software

You Are the Virtual You

The Seven Keys to a World-Class Network

Turning Theory into Action: Online Networks in Your Job, Career, and Life

At the end of the day, the greatest value of this book for me is that it provides both a theoretical grid for understanding the tools of social networking, and practical wisdom for mastering those tools rather than running the danger of being mastered and overwhelmed by them. I will keep this volume handy on the shelf above my desk - as a reference handbook for solving the problems and challenges that arise in the world of online networking.

This book comes with my strong endorsement and gratitude for rescuing me from the flood of unanswered e-mails!

You can purchase this book at Amazon.com or through the Virtual Handshake Website:

http://www.thevirtualhandshake.com/

Enjoy!

Al

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