Last month I celebrated (very quietly - in fact blink and it passed) 18 years of marriage!

One of the things that we all receive as a wonderful gift when getting married is the gift of parents in law and brothers and sisters in law. But how often have you thought that you chose your loved one but not their family.

So how would it be if your mother in law were your friend? In fact your mother in law may already be your friend. But if you are not enjoying the best of relatonships, I’ve got the answer for you.

Today is the book launch of  ‘The Daughter-in-Law Rules:101 Surefire Ways to Manage (and Make Friends with) Your Mother-in-Law!’.

Talented Jazz Musician and Composer Sally Shields is author of a new book called ‘The Daughter In Law Rules’.

To celebrate the book launch today, 6 May 2008, if you purchase the book at Amazon you can also access a number of gifts at no cost from friends of Sally. 101 to be exact - the same number of tips as are in her book.

And for my male readers - this is NOT the book to buy your wife as a present for Mothers Day in the US next week - you have been warned. I am not saying it’s not a great book, just that the mother to your children may not appreciate it in the spirit it was given! A wonderful bunch of flowers, a dinner in fancy restaurant or a day without the kids bickering would be much more welcome (just in case my husband is reading this).

Purchase your copy of ‘The Daughter in Law Rules’ TODAY ONLY (6 May 2008) and you can have access to the 101 gifts from relationship advice experts and success coaches from around the world, as well as 1-800-Flowers.com with a unique promotional code created specifically for this book.

In addition, 15% of the proceeds of this book go to the charity ‘Much Love’.

I definitely recommend you visit Sally’s website - it’s a very engaging design. And take a look here  at how she is using the social media platform of YouTube.com to share her video with tips from The DIL Rules book - and yes she composed and plays the background music herself - how’s that for talent!

And don’t forget that if you would like to know more about how you can create, promote and market your book online with social media, you can join me at the forthcoming workshop in Dublin for authors - check details here for how you can avail of a special discount as a reader of Biz Growth News.

UPDATE AS AT 11 MAY 2008

Please note that the comments on this post are closed due to some disputes relating to this book and I do not plan to engage in any email or online conversation about the publishing of this book or it’s contents.

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Are you looking for a current understanding of the scale of social media across the globe? Well look no further than the extensive study undertaken in March 2008 by Universal McCann - Power To The People - Wave3.

The research covers input from 17,000 internet users across 29 countries and was undertaken to understand the rise in consumer generated content and how people are using social media.

It is certainly the most extensive global report I have seen on the subject of social media adoption.

Key notes from the Power To The People - Wave 3 report include the following statistics:

• 83% of people are watching online video, an increase from 62% at the time of the last study in June 2007
• 78% of people are reading blogs, an increase from 66% in the previous study
• 57% of internet users are members of social networks
• RSS consumption has increased to 39% from 15%
• 48% of the people surveyed listen to podcasts.

There are also some interesting differences about social media adoption across geographies:

• Blogging - China leads the way with 70% of internet users writing a blog (that’s 42 million bloggers versus 26 million people in the US), followed closely by the Philippines at 66% and Mexico at 60%
• Social networking - the Philippines leads the way with 83% of the people surveyed being a member of a social network, followed by 76% in Hungary and Poland alike.

Unfortunately there is no specific data for Ireland - I guess we are such a tiny dot on the social media landscape and as we have discussed here previously we are still behind the curve in the adoption of social media of business blogging an podcasting, though increasingly more people are a member of social networks from Linkedin to Facebook, from Bebo to MySpace.

You can access the Universal McCann Power To The People - Wave3 social media report online.

A word of warning - the file is over 25MB.

Thanks to Theresa Houlihan of Universal McCann for sharing the report with me.

I do recommend that you check out the Universal McCann where you can access other reports including their Anytime Anyplace report that covers mobile phones and portable technology.

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I was just tagged by Priscilla Palmer who has kindly listed me on her Personal Development list of blogs for Biz Growth News and Todaey’s Women in Business. It’s quite some list - many of the authors I know and follow and many more that I will be spending time to get read their blogs when back from vacation and with an Internet connection.

I also added a couple of my favourite blogs by Andrea Learned, Debbie LaChusa and Melanie Benson Strick.

Who would you add to the list of business bloggers who blog about personal development? Why not go over to the original list and let Priscilla know. In the meantime, you can read the list as it stands today here: Continue reading

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If like me you are an avid reader of business books (especially those about building your brand, personal branding and attracting more clients), you might want to check out a new book published by Wiley that is launched today by Ben Mack about branding.

I’ve heard Ben Mack on a number of programmes and he has some very helpful insights and has been working closely with a number of leaders in internet marketing in the US, assisting them in determining their point of differentiation (though I have to admit I often find his conversations a little rambling). 

Now Ben Mack is bringing his expertise about branding together in his new book – “Think Two Products Ahead”.

You can purchase the book at Amazon.

A host of big names are supporting Ben’s book launch – he has editorial reviews from non other than Kevin Roberts, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide and T. Harv Eker, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Secrets of the Millionaire Mind so I am guessing that is a sign that there is substance in “Think Two Products Ahead”.

And if you purchase the book today, you can access additional information and resources by providing Ben your Amazon receipt details – just register at Ben’s website.

(Note: I’m not getting any affiliate income from these links, but I have provided a business colleague of mine who is helping Ben promote “Think Tow Products Ahead” with a valuable resource that he is sharing with people who purchase his book today.)

I’m heading over to Amazon now to buy my copy of “Think Two Products Ahead” right now.  

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Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Terry Prone of Carr Communications and co-authors of a great new business book “This Business of Writing”.

In fact I would go so far as to say that she and her co-author Kieran Lyons a director with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, are two of the nicest, smartest business people I have met this year.

I interviewed Terry for the Women in Business radio show and we had a wonderful conversation about how our writing can win or lose us business.

One of the areas we covered was proof reading our work - something I often don’t pay attention to on my blog in particular and I am sure there are many typing errors i have missed.

Failing to proof read and pick up errors can leave people with an impression that we don’t have a brand that stands for qualitiy ad attention to detail - something that all purchasers of professional services expect as a minimum.

So here are some of my top tips on what we need to look out for when writing emails or blog posts:

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