I'm happy to receive book reviews of Facebook Inspiration any day of the week, but this one was particularly pertinent. Facebook Inspiration: 30 days of creativity for your page was first available on Amazon on 2nd March 2017, and I received this review the day after the book's first anniversary.

How did Facebook Inspiration cross paths with Bill Bryson?

I wrote the book to help anyone with a Facebook page (or group) generate conversation and interest in their page, helping it reach a wider audience organically. So when I first stumbled upon Chris and Charlie's Adventures page, and saw that their page was relatively new, I shared details of my book with them. Having read A walk in the woods by Bill Bryson a few years ago, I was particularly interested in Chris and Charlie's walking adventure.

I was delighted that they offered to review it for me. And even more delighted when I received this detailed review, published originally on their website, Chris and Charlie's Adventures.  

Here's the review written by Chris and Charlies's Adventures - also viewable on their website:

Introduction

When we were first approached by Vanessa Hunt to introduce us to her book and to wish us good wishes on hiking the Appalachian Trail, I was slightly apprehensive about what to expect from a book titled 'Facebook Inspiration - 30 days of creativity for your page'. I've more than done my time researching SEO and social media and have found a lot of the resources available to be extremely self-serving, laden with keywords and not much else. I was pleasantly surprised and captivated instead by what arrived from Vanessa. Rather than a solid block of dull text with formulaic and dubious step-by-step instructions to achieve online fame, this book is set out more like a workbook, with daily, actionable exercises to energize your Facebook page.

Judging a book by its cover

The book itself is very eye-catching with a playfully designed front page, solid and durable production quality and a unique but easily readable typeface throughout. Each week of exercises is color-coded and easy to flick back and forwards between, as you will find yourself doing a lot when working your way through this book. The pages themselves are thick and pleasing to write on, as you are encouraged to do whilst working through the book. On reading the book, the more wily of you will also realise how cross-platform applicable this course is. There is no reason why you couldn't use it to boost a tired Twitter profile or yawn-worthy Youtube account, as I will definitely be doing when I can pry the book out of Charlie's hands.

Talking results rather than content

Whilst I have read my way through the book, I feel that this review is better served by me talking about the effect that this book has already had on our travel blogs; 'Hikr' and Chris and Charlie's Adventures. Since receiving the book a few weeks ago, Charlie has been working tirelessly to put the succinct and actionable advice into practice to benefit our social media presence.

Our Facebook page for Chris and Charlie's adventures has lit up with captivating content and already we're seeing the benefit of this with much higher user engagement and a rapid increase of unique visitors to our website, showing that traffic is being effectively driven over from social media. Questions from Vanessa such as 'What do your customers value about you?' and 'What makes you quirky?' have sparked interesting and thought-provoking conversations about the direction we want to take our Facebook pages. I'm already excited about applying the 30-day course to my personal Youtube account ChrisFliesPlanes and seeing the results directly.

Final Words

Overall, I think this book is an incredible investment at an RRP of £14.99. If you approach it with an open mind even the most simple Facebook pages can become an engaging and effervescent way to drive traffic to websites and e-commerce sites. We are already seeing the beginnings of a lively community building up around our Facebook page, and even our Twitter and Instagram accounts are seeing a boost in creativity and content. I honestly can't wait to see where this book can take us and couldn't recommend it more highly.

If you are hoping to build an online brand or just looking to breath a little life into whatever Facebook page you own, you can pick it up at Amazon for £12.99 at time of writing and read more about Vanessa Hunt by clicking this link.

Farewell Chris and Charlie!

I'll certainly be following Chris and Charlie's Adventures with interest on their Facebook page, Chris and Charlie's Adventures.

Perhaps I'll see you there?