Book Review: Improve Your Online Presence, by Catalin Pit
Tags: books, twitter, linkedin, socialmedia
Published: 2020-07-31 20:48:43

*The below post was originally published on [my blog](https://blog.annamcdougall.com/book-review-improve-your-online-presence-by-catalin-pit-ckdap066v00dv59s175153hto). Please also feel free to [follow me on Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/AnnaJMcDougall).*

When I first decided to use Twitter to help myself learn web development,  [Catalin Pit's account](https://twitter.com/catalinmpit) was one of those I regularly saw recommended. I became more involved in the tech Twitter community, and his name began to pop up even more. Naturally, when I had the opportunity to get my paws on a copy of his new book, *[Improve Your Online Presence](https://gumroad.com/l/hClRKQ)*, I jumped at the opportunity.

At the time of writing, I have a bit over 1.5K followers. In Twitter leviathan terms, I'm a small-fry. Yet, at the same time, I have enough of a following and enough daily growth, that I am confident I provide value to my community. My goals are not to be the next big name in tech, but I'm also a naturally ambitious person with a background in digital marketing: I wanted to know if I was on the right track to represent myself and my interests as best I can.

As such, the criteria under which I enter this review is based on three key questions:

1. Did I learn something I wouldn't have learned otherwise?
2. Is the book well-structured and well-written?
3. Would I recommend the book to others?

Let's not dilly-dally!

## 1. Did I learn something I wouldn't have learned otherwise?

The answer to this is a resounding yes, and is the definitive strength of this book.

**Firstly, there were some things I was pushed to do which I knew needed to be done** but which, honestly, I'd avoided out of laziness. Primarily, I decided to finally change my Twitter header image to something representing me and my philosophy. My long-running strawberry field turned into a tech-based image formed around the idea of failure, something I'm extremely passionate about and am sure to post about in future. Additionally, he continued to give me a push (and not the first!) to continue blogging, despite low starter readership. I love writing and helping other devs, so little pushes are all I need in this area. 

{% twitter 1289095975718531078 %} 

**Secondly, there were techniques I learned that I had never thought of or considered.** Naturally, outlining all of them here would defeat the point of reading the book, but one I absolutely would not have considered is that "Twitter...[does] not want users to leave". If you want (or need) to post a link away from Twitter, the best strategy is to post a blurb about it with a preview image (since images help drive engagement) and then post the actual link as a response. This is just one example of the ways in which you can 'strategise' your tweets using Pit's advice.

Furthermore, **there are some things I never thought I would do, such as start  [my own newsletter](https://staged.substack.com/p/coming-soon)**. I saw email newsletters as a remnant of the past and something too difficult to achieve for a small-fry like me. However, I couldn't deny Pit's cogent arguments for starting one, and his tips for how to do it quickly and easily were the final push I needed.

In addition to all of the above, Pit does a great job of outlining how best to use your LinkedIn profile, as well as how best to cross-post Twitter content in a way which is likely to grow your reach.

## 2. Is the book well-structured and well-written?

**On the one hand, I liked that the book was split into smaller sections.** It made it easy to digest, quick to read, and the bullet points for key takeaways were useful for summarising the text.

At the same time, **sometimes the sections were so short that the key takeaways seemed almost unnecessary** since the content was already concisely (and well) explained. This is definitely nitpicking and a natural result of me being a former copy editor, but I do feel some sections could have been put together so that Pit had a chance to talk a bit more before summarising himself. 

Overall though, if you (like me) come away from this book wanting more, then it's pretty easy to see that it's a good book. Which brings me to...

## 3. Would I recommend the book to others?

**Yes, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to do a better job of representing themselves, their abilities, and their niche online.**

As someone with a history in digital marketing and content creation, I consider myself pretty savvy in this area, and I *still* came away learning plenty of new strategies, ideas for content, and practical tips for how to grow my social media presence as efficiently as possible. You will too.