Stelzner’s Launch Presents Solid Ideas For Business Success

Over the weekend I came to a near record in minimal time spent to read an entire book, cover-to-cover. Michael Stelzner’s Launch: How To Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition is one of those books I was excited to get in the mail for a couple reasons. First, Mike is a friend and seeing a friend’s hard work come to fruition in something tangible like a book is a good feeling. Almost as importantly, though, I knew the book would have some good ideas in it. Social Media Examiner, Mike’s blog, and his subsequent online events have kicked everyone’s ass, including mine, in the last couple years. So I wanted to see how many secrets he would share.

It’s no question, Stelzner is the one guy out there that knows how to build a successful online business quickly. Social Media Examiner launched in late 2009 and within weeks (not months) was one of the top blogs in the social media space. His virtual events, the Social Media Success Summit, Blogging Success Summit and Facebook Success Summit, made Social Media Examiner a million dollar business in the space of a year.

Launch takes the strategies Stelzner used to do it and puts them on paper for all of us to see. It delivers on that promise as the book is a roadmap to building something huge and fast using the techniques he used to build Social Media Examiner.

My thoughts are better captured in this edition of Social Media Explorer TV:

Know that the criticisms of the book are mild. I do highly recommend it, know that it will arm you with a solid approach to launching your next big thing and might even give you the arsenal of ideas you need to knock it out of the park. But I would also caution you a bit. Michael Stelzner knocked it out of the park with Social Media Examiner because he works his ass off. Launch will give you great ideas, but it won’t build your business for you. That’s on you. It’s a blueprint. But drawn up by a guy who knows how to get it done.

Buy the book on Amazon. Review it there, too, when you’re finished. And buy a copy or two for those clients or friends who need some lift on their coming projects. They’ll thank you for it.

You should also follow Mike Stelzner on Twitter and subscribe to Social Media Examiner. It’s a great resource.

Have you read Launch? Jump in the comments and tell us what you thought.

NOTE: Amazon links are affiliate ones. I like cheeseburgers.