Social Media Magazines

I haven’t checked these out at all yet, but I just wanted to give you all a heads up about these new social media magazines. They are specific to the platform, and are perfect for those who are using social media for business.

I heard about this from Mari Smith on Google+, and apparently it’s a collaboration between Mari, Jay Abraham, Larry Genkin, Eric Yaverbaum, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Nathan Kievman, John Persinos, Stan Genkin,  and Jan Stejskal.

Here is the press release:

SOCIAL MEDIA’S FIRST MAGAZINES SET TO DEBUT IN THE FALL WITH
HIGHEST BUSINESS CIRCULATION IN US

“The Social Six,” a Group of Powerhouse Social Media Marketing Veterans,
Are Joining Forces to Share Their Expertise

NEW YORK (July 18, 2011) – A team of some of the nation’s most influential social media and marketing minds—”the Social Six”—are banding together to launch the first magazines on the business application of social media this fall. The magazines are designed to help businesses and executives leverage the power of the four leading social media services: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google. The announcement was made today by the six social media and marketing mavens behind the venture.

Through an exclusive distribution partnership with Office Depot, the publications—FB & Business (Facebook), Tweeting & Business (Twitter), LI & Business (LinkedIn) and The Big G & Business (Google)—will launch with a circulation base of 5 million business readers. The magazines, debuting September 2011, will surpass distribution rates of previous business circulation leaders like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Businessweek and Fortune.

“Businesses of every shape and size are desperately trying to figure out social media,” says Jay Abraham, whom Success magazine labeled as “possibly the greatest marketing expert alive today.” “What small businesses, which make up 95% of US commerce, don’t need is more ways to trick the search engines. They need authentic, ethical and meaningful methods to generate the enormous impact social media is capable of delivering to their enterprises.”

Abraham is Co-Founder of GSG WorldMedia, the publishing company behind the venture, and will serve as Executive Editor of the Google magazine, The Big G & Business. “The recent launch of Google+ gives this publication even greater importance than I could have imagined during our months of planning—especially for small businesses, which can learn to leverage this virgin platform to outmaneuver their competition.”

Eric Yaverbaum, the publications’ Associate Publisher and Co-Founder, remarks, “We are single-mindedly focused on delivering to business owners detailed, how-to content from today’s leading experts in social media. What will soon be apparent is that the real experts are not the gurus du jour, who tend to be heavy on self-promotion, but light on real-world experience.”

When it comes to the business of public relations, Yaverbaum wrote the book…literally. One of the nation’s top PR executives, he wrote Public Relations for Dummies, which is required reading in marketing classes in universities nationwide.

Like Abraham and Yaverbaum, each of the other members of the Social Six is a “who’s who” in his or her sector. Spearheading the Facebook magazine, FB & Business, is Executive Editor Mari Smith, who has been dubbed the “Pied Piper of the online world” in Fast Company, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on using Facebook for business. Her book Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day (with Chris Treadway) is a must-read for businesses.

Tweeting & Business magazine is led by global business celebrity, former Kodak marketing chief, Jeffrey Hayzlett. As one of the top 10 C-level executive Tweeters in the world, Hayzlett has gained worldwide recognition through ventures blending his leadership perspectives, insights into professional development, mass marketing expertise and social media prowess. A familiar face on television his appearances include being a guest judge on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump and frequent contributions to major business networks like MSNBC and Fox. In 2010 his best-selling book, The Mirror Test, was named one of Inc Magazines top 3 business books of the year.

LI & Business magazine is headed by Executive Editor Nathan Kievman, a leading authority on LinkedIn, which recently had a massively successful IPO. Kievman has taught over 30,000 Linkedin members how to best use the service for enhancing their businesses. He is also owner of the #1 Linked Strategies group, author of three books on the topic, including LinkedInto Marketing: Build Traffic, Generate Leads, and Create Massive Profits Using LinkedIn. His upcoming book, his fourth, is titled An Executive’s Guide to Social Media.

“This has been one of the most difficult economic periods for small businesses, our core customers. Our commitment is to provide them with both the products and tools they need to grow their businesses,” says Monica Luechtefeld, Office Depot’s EVP of Global E-Commerce. “These magazines will serve as manuals for those who understand the importance of social media, but need practical guidance in applying social media strategies to their businesses.”

“The combination of Office Depot’s vision and our experts’ knowledge and vast personal networks allows us to give millions of business people access to the best minds in social media today, completely free,” says Larry Genkin, GSG WorldMedia’s Founder, Publisher and CEO.

The publications will be available at launch in 8 formats, including iPhone, iPad, Android, tablet, BlackBerry, Kindle, multimedia and print. All digital subscriptions are free, courtesy of Office Depot, with a subscription to the monthly print edition, priced at $179 per year per magazine. Free digital subscriptions are available online at www.socialmediamags.com.

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Co-Founder and Associate Publisher Eric Yaverbaum is available for interview.