Katie McCaskey

I’ll say, emphatically, that I love the book Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel.

The premise of the book is neatly summed up in the secondary title: “Everyone is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.”

(Perfect example: to the right you’ll see Chris Penn of the Financial Aid Podcast, who is profiled in Six Pixels of Separation. I met Chris while at the financial start-up, Geezeo.com.)  

Six Pixels of Separation is an important book for anyone starting or running a business today. In particular, Six Pixels of Separation should be read by people who do not come from a digital media or marketing background. Why? Well, the book summarizes a variety of practical tools for digital marketing and branding. It also explores current technological trends and how they may impact small business in the near future. The entire book is easy-to-understand and sure to be thought-provoking.

Those who work in digital media and social marketing take these principals for granted. Yet, they are still remarkably new to the general public and many small business owners. My experience talking to other local entrepreneurs here in Staunton (a rural city in Virginia, for anyone unfamiliar) is that some, but very few, are using these tools.

When my husband and I started our corner grocery store last year we immediately embarked on a digitally-based, targeted marketing campaign. Nothing fancy: an email invitation to the store’s opening, a website, and a Facebook presence. This was met with great enthusiasm. We quickly met the handful of other small businesses in town using social media (e.g. Pufferbellies Toys & Books) and enjoy exchanging tips.

Not surprisingly, we also received perplexed, downright indignation from some corners of local traditional media advertising. (What do you mean you don’t want to paper the town with fliers? Why don’t you want to spend money on the radio or Little League jackets?)

It wasn’t that we felt we were better than these outlets. We just knew we were on a strict budget. Like anyone else, we wanted to reach our target audience as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Personally-speaking I was really impressed with Joel’s chapter regarding online reputation. I think it’s interesting to observe what some might call the “over-share shift”. How is it defined, and how is your reputation (as business or individual) managed?

Based on our experience marketing the grocery exclusively via social media, I believe Six Pixels of Separation should be required reading for anyone starting and marketing a business.