Publishers are increasingly using “book trailers” to raise awareness for their books. We are certainly using them here at Thomas Nelson. For some projects, they are very, very effective.

Yesterday, we held our Quarterly Team Meeting at Thomas Nelson. This is a meeting with all our Nashville-based employees. In the meeting, we report on our most recent quarterly performance, recognize our top performing divisions, preview a few of our “coming attractions,” and then hear from one of our authors. (Yesterday, we heard live from Emerson Eggerichs, author of Love and Respect.)

It used to be that great marketing was the difference that made a good book a bestseller. As a publisher, all you had to do was demand sufficient shelf space in the bookstore, get your author on some big-time media shows, and then spam the target audience with advertising messages until they succumbed and bought the book.

In the old world, if the book succeeded, it was because it was an obviously brilliant book. If it failed, it was because the publisher didn’t spend enough on marketing.

Sometimes when I speak with marketing executives about social media, they seem to get it. But they don’t. Not really. They falsely believe that Twitter and Facebook are like every other broadcast channel. They see it as an opportunity to blast their message out to thousands of followers—for free!—and sell them stuff.

I find myself increasingly speaking on the topic of social media. I’m not a guru or an expert, by any means. I am just a practitioner who is learning through trial and error.

Social media has changed everything. It is now possible for you to take the thing you are most passionate about, create a social media platform, and build a real business that makes serious bucks. In his New York Times bestseller, Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuck shows you how. In a moment, I will tell you how to get a copy FREE.

I am constantly shocked and amazed at how badly some people and organizations understand and use Social Media. Some, it seems, believe that Social Media sites are places to advertise and nothing else, but surely that defeats the purpose of these sites being “social.”

Last Friday, I spoke at the Music City Media Mixer, a luncheon sponsored by George Uribe and Ebie McFarland. I spoke on the topic of “The Importance of Building an Author Platform.” While my talk focused primarily on authors, the principles I shared apply to anyone trying to sell anything in today’s environment.

Building an author platform has never been more important. This is because of three realities author’s face today:

The most critical step in the hiring process is reference checking. This is important not only in hiring employees but especially in hiring consultants. Not everyone has the expertise they claim.

For example, I am increasingly being pitched by so-called “social media” experts. A very few are bona fide experts. Some are traditional media people, who are repacking the same old advice using the new buzz words. More than a few are unemployed marketing people who discovered Twitter last month.

My good friend and neighbor, Randy Elrod, is trying to land his dream job. I want to help him, and I want to ask for your help as well. Why would you do this? Because it is an opportunity for you to experience first-hand how you might be able to use social media in yet another aspect of your business.

First, let me give you some background. Murphy-Goode is a family-owned winery located within Sonoma Country’s Alexander Valley. They are looking for someone who really knows how to use Web 2.0, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube , so that they can help the company get the word out about their wines. As the co-creator of LifeWork 2.0, Randy is the perfect candidate.

We are publishing a new book by Donald Miller this September. It is called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. In case you are not familiar with Donald Miller, he is the New York Times bestselling author of Blue Like Jazz. His free-flowing narrative style and authenticity have made him one of our most popular authors.