Over the last two weeks, I've received no less than seven invites for Shelfari, a new social site for sharing favorite books. And you know what I did?
I ignored them. Deleted them. Angrily, sometimes, even.
I mean, I have a blog or two. And a podcast. I'm on LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter. My god, people, how much sharing do we really need to do online, after all?
But this morning, I was in an adventurous mood. So I gave it a try. And you know what? I like it. It's easy to use, even if you haven't had your coffee yet.
The idea is that you simply create a free account by creating a user name and password, and then... you just list your favorite books. Period. That's it. If you want to list books, you click "Build Shelf." Then type a key word in the box, like "Harry Potter" or "Getting Things Done." It will bring up books that match that title or author, and you just click to add to your shelf. In 15 minutes this morning, I added 30 books by my favorite authors.
What's the point of that, you ask? Ahhhh! It's all in the sharing. The next step is to click on "My Friends" and "Invite Friends." With one click, you can import all the email addresses from your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail account, and anyone who accepts will be able to see your book recommendations. See the possibilities? Sure, we talk with our clients all the time, but how fun would it be to see what your too-busy, never-time-for-a-phone-call client thought of the latest Harry Potter book or Karen Post's Brain Tattoos on business branding? Or it might provide a fun way to connect with friends or colleagues you just don't get to see all that often. Basically, it's kind of like having your own, worldwide book discussion group.
It's simple. I like it. Wanna see my books? Click here! If you try it out, let me know what you think!
