Book Review: Six Pixels of Separation
Written by
Nancy Duarte
Mitch Joel is president of Twist Image, a agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. I met him at TED two years ago. It’s nice to read a book by another CEO who is running an agency and taking on the role of author—I can empathize with the challenges. Mitch did a fantastic job encapsulating the entire online ecosystem. I wish this book had been published a year ago when I dove into social media, it would have been like having a mentor.
No wonder Six Pixels of Separation is on Seth Godin’s reading list and received fantastic reviews and on the “popular book” list at 800-CEO-read.
In the book, Mitch addresses many topics–some I already knew, but he framed them in a way that helped me understand them more clearly. He brought context to my social media journey. This book can help you gain a strategic vantage point into how you’re perceived on the web. As an entrepreneur and author, many meaningful relationships have developed for me through Twitter and other social sites. It’s actually changed my destiny in many ways, but up until now it’s been happenstance, rather than intentional.
I’ve come to know some unspoken rules that were initially unknown to me–like how once I’m out blogging and twittering, I need to feed the community and not ignore it. I’ll admit that right now I am grateful when I can get a blog posted, let alone dive into comments and communicate with the community. Not making the time to respond to comments is like breaking one of the commandments of blogging and it can give a negative perception of my brand. Participation is an opportunity to demonstrate my leadership.
Mitch’s writing style is strategic, smart, and accessible. Each chapter is written as a series of short stories. It’s insightful, yet snackable content. He weaves personal stories among conversations with businesses that everyone would recognize. After reading Six Pixels of Separation, I feel like I’ll have smarter conversations at cocktail parties and be on top of lore and trends. Thanks Mitch, I’m inspired to be smarter in how I connect to my global audience!
Written by
Nancy Duarte
TOPICS:
Business, Strategy
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