4.03.2014

Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation in the Digital Age is a must-read book


Smart fish
If you work in Public Relations or Marketing, you’ve likely heard of Gini Dietrich or read her blog, Spin Sucks. Gini is the founder and CEO of PR and marketing firm Arment Dietrich. She just published her second book, Spin Sucks.
A little over a month ago she announced on her blog that she was looking for brand ambassadors to help promote her new book Spin Sucks. It sounded like an amazing opportunity and I signed up right away. I was super excited when I got the email saying I was chosen! This meant I got to read the galley (advance copy)! Well the book officially launched and is available now on Amazon for just 15 bucks.
I really, really enjoyed Spin Sucks. It’s written in an easy to understand way, and provides tons of real world examples. Halfway through the book, I’d already found three specific items that I wanted to share with my boss. I wanted to tell him what I’d learned about keyword stuffing, how the purpose of press releases has changed in the digital era, and about Talkwalker Alerts, an alternative to Google Alerts. (Which by the way, I’ve since set up and can attest to how much more helpful they are than Google Alerts.)
Another thing I was excited to take back with me to work was that according to Gini, one new blog post each week is sufficient enough to keep your website or blog up to date, and search engines satisfied with your updated content. She says it’s important to be consistent when updating content, so if you want to write a new blog post every day, you have to write one every day, if you don’t have time for that, try once per week, but publish at the same time every week. The book dives much deeper into SEO and links, and I appreciate how easy it is to understand and put this info to use.


With Spin Sucks being a business book, I think it’s important to note that I was never bored reading it. I didn’t find myself wanting to skip ahead, or thinking that the chapter I was reading didn’t seem applicable to me.


I think everyone who reads this book will come away with learning at least a few things that they can put to use right away. And, the glossary at the end will really come in handy for reference. I ordered the paperback since my advance copy was an e-version. It just came in the mail today and I can’t wait to go back to re-read and highlight the heck out of it!