I know it’s a busy week in New York City with several events and conferences happening all over the city …. but  … there is one event, one event you should not miss, and I’ll definately be there as well .. because it’s my own meetup group, DataStories.

BOOK REVIEW: Pre-Commerce: How Co’s & Customers R Transforming Business Together

I’ve been reading a copy of the new Pre-Commerce book by Bob Pearson and it’s hot – not only is it  very hot, but it’s got some of the top business leaders, top corporate leaders who have written exceprts and case studies personally, for the book.

The idea of PreCommerce is that most of the selling of an idea or brand comes way, way before you actually try to buy anything - and I guess, it's another way of saying the relationships you build, or the "pre-commerce" if you want to put it that way, are what determines weather customers are going to buy from your brand, or not.

Anyone who shows up next Wenesday will probably be able to get a free signed copy of the book , and this will be a book you'll want to own, especially if your into marketing, sales or public relations.  And, you get to hear it from the author, Bob Pearson, himself.

I want to say something else - having just finished writing a book I'm much more appreciative of what goes into it creating a living, breathing manuscript.    One other thing - that the idea of pre-commerce could really be extended out to friendship and social networking - though that's not the focus of Bob's book.

When I think of Pre-Commerce, I think of friendship, pure friendship, just liking people, hanging out, having fun - and "being there".   For several years I did just that - go to events in New York, hang out with people I liked and for the most part, asked nothing from them.

Eventually, I needed a job, mine had just ended at Monster and I was talking to a friend who just started at Porter Novelli (at the time, Stephanie Agresta was working for PN, she now works for a different company) ... when I asked for a favor, it was much easier  because I already had a relationship and established my identity and authenticity.

In the same way, when I wrote my book on Social Media Analytics for McGraw Hill, I had many friends in the Analytics Industry to draw up for case studies, interviews and advice.  People like Gary Angel, Dennis Mortensen, Philip Sheldrake, Avinash Kaushik and so on, and the list is long, very long in fact.

But it gets back, I think, to Pre-Commerce.  You can't expect to just cash in on an idea, a campaign, a slogan, a message now, if you haven't build a relationship with your audiences beforehand, the old way of doing business, or friendships, or anything, has more or less changed - or should I say, that it was was about relationships and we just now realize it.

Anyway ... I hope to see you at WCG next Wednesday evening for the next NY DataStories meetup and bring your friend - the first who show up get free books, and you might learn something new - and build relationships ... and who knows where that leads to ... esp in these tough economic times.