Consumers are quite used to the quick star rating when it comes to sharing our input on how we feel about a business’s customer service. Not only has it been available to us throughout companies feedback boxes for years in-store, it has been provided nearly everywhere online too. Heck, even movies are rated in a 5 star format. However it looks like Facebook has finally caught on; better late than never.

Since this type of rating system is widely known, it only makes sense that it makes its way onto Facebook, although you would never know of the change unless you actually click on the recommendations section on a Facebook Page for a business.  It seems like Facebook secretly rolled it out, and even though a secret roll-out is nothing new for Facebook, adding a new feature that will impact a business will be more than subtle.

A whole new way for a happy or unhappy customer to quickly and easily rate a business is surely going to have a greater impression than Facebook’s original and still available commenting system under its recommendations feature. This will undoubtedly affect the Facebook Edgerank (Facebook Algorithm) as you are still able to recommend a business (or express your dissatisfaction) without using the star rating, however, you cannot leave a star rating without leaving a written recommendation.

Since this is a new secretly released feature the impact on its latest form of recommending a business is unknown. As frustrating as it may be for many businesses since this feature not only comes with specific Facebook page categories as a non-deleted default, it is public without a proper public response system.

With that said, since the rating system still requires a comment this means that there can still not be anonymous ratings and if someone is truly happy or unhappy, they are willing to grab your attention publicly using their profile. Thus, giving businesses still the opportunity to message the individual privately by clicking the name associated with the recommendation and then clicking the message button located on the profile. Of course you will need to be acting as your page to professionally respond and will need to respond professionally since even though it is a direct message, nothing “has” to remain private on the web.

What do you think of the new 5 star rating for business pages as a consumer or business owner?

Consumers are quite used to the quick star rating when it comes to sharing our input on how we feel about a business’s customer service. Not only has it been available to us throughout companies feedback boxes for years in-store, it has been provided nearly everywhere online too. Heck, even movies are rated in a 5 star format. However it looks like Facebook has finally caught on; better late than never.

Since this type of rating system is widely known, it only makes sense that it makes its way onto Facebook, although you would never know of the change unless you actually click on the recommendations section on a Facebook Page for a business.  It seems like Facebook secretly rolled it out, and even though a secret roll-out is nothing new for Facebook, adding a new feature that will impact a business will be more than subtle.

A whole new way for a happy or unhappy customer to quickly and easily rate a business is surely going to have a greater impression than Facebook’s original and still available commenting system under its recommendations feature. This will undoubtedly affect the Facebook Edgerank (Facebook Algorithm) as you are still able to recommend a business (or express your dissatisfaction) without using the star rating, however, you cannot leave a star rating without leaving a written recommendation.

Since this is a new secretly released feature the impact on its latest form of recommending a business is unknown. As frustrating as it may be for many businesses since this feature not only comes with specific Facebook page categories as a non-deleted default, it is public without a proper public response system.

With that said, since the rating system still requires a comment this means that there can still not be anonymous ratings and if someone is truly happy or unhappy, they are willing to grab your attention publicly using their profile. Thus, giving businesses still the opportunity to message the individual privately by clicking the name associated with the recommendation and then clicking the message button located on the profile. Of course you will need to be acting as your page to professionally respond and will need to respond professionally since even though it is a direct message, nothing “has” to remain private on the web.

What do you think of the new 5 star rating for business pages as a consumer or business owner?

There has been a promising trend in the automotive industry over the last couple of years. Dealers are starting to pay a good amount of attention to their online reputation, something that simply wasn’t a priority not too long ago. Today, it’s at the top of mind for most dealers. The only challenge is that many are taking action towards improving their reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, and Dealer Rater, but are not focusing at all on the other components of their reputation.

These components are arguably much more important than what Yelp says about your dealership.

This is not to say that reviews are not important. We’re working on what we consider to be the most cutting-edge online review management system in the industry. However, it is only a slice of the reputation pie. The other parts can not only help protect your dealership from the negatives out there. They can actually help to proactively drive more business. Here’s how.

“Skin in the Game” Social media

Facebook has started being more aggressive with their push to get people to use their location review feature. Google Local has been integrated with Google+ for a while and is arguably the most prominent review site in the automotive industry simply because of their biased placement on searches. Twitter is turning around again to be more involved with review sites. All of this is important, but it’s not the most important part of social media from a reputation management perspective.

Unlike standard review sites, there’s skin in the game for those who post about you on their social profiles. When they go to leave a review on Yelp, Dealer Rater, or any of the other sites, there is very little chance that anyone who knows them or trusts their opinion will actually see the review. They are willing to leave these reviews as a semi-public dialogue between them and the dealership. I used the term “semi-public” because while most review sites identify the name of the person leaving the review, their identity is not of any real importance. People who look to review sites are trying to get a general sentiment. They may be looking for dirt, of course, but it’s a check box in the overall buying experience.

More and more press is coming out about fake reviews on these sites as well. Those of us who understand the industry or have been delving into reputation management for some time are well aware that many of the reviews are encouraged. Some are downright fake. Ours isn’t the only industry that knows this which is why fewer people are as trusting of review sites as they once were.

When people post about you on social media, they’re involved. They are now part of the conversation in a way that their friends can and will see. If they say something good about your dealership on Facebook, more local people that know and trust them will see the positive sentiment. It will register to them now and influence them whether they’re in the market today or thinking back six months in the future. The opposite is true as well. A negative review on Dealer Rater will hurt your overall score and a scathing writeup will be written by some who are very curious about the way you do business, but in reality the damage is not that great. If they post a hateful message about you on Facebook, however, you’re now exposed. If the user is active on Facebook, then the negative sentiment will definitely register.

There’s two primary takeaways to this point. First, we’re very proactive as an industry when it comes to getting reviews on review sites, but we’re not taking advantage of the conversation and trust-factor potential of social media as a reputation component. Second, people will vent on their social media profiles when they have no other course of action. Some will do it anyway regardless of what a dealership does, but some can be prevented by giving a direct line of communication to the customer. The scariest part about negative social media posts is that you’re probably completely unaware that they happen. They do. That much is certain. unfortunately, they’re not all consolidated to a single venue like they are with the review sites. Bad word of mouth is amplified when it’s posted to Facebook.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of social media as it pertains to reputation is that it has anything to do with your dealership’s pages and profiles. It doesn’t, at least not from this perspective (though I’ll cover the other perspective shortly). They don’t have to post negative feedback to your page for it to be out there. The sooner that a dealership understands the dynamic between social media and reputation, the closer they’ll be to being able to use social media to drive traffic and referrals to their dealership.

How You Appear on Searches for Your Name

Contrary to popular belief, people don’t normally find your reviews by going to DealerRater.com or Yelp.com directly. They get there through search, in particular searches for your dealership by name. It’s important to understand that controlling as much of the Google search results pages as possible when people search for you is of the utmost importance. By properly controlling what people are able to find when they search for you, you’ll have a much better chance of keeping them interested before they even fill out a lead form or come into the dealership.

In the example above, a person searching for “Lebanon Ford” will find the dealership-controlled websites, of course, but they’ll also find the dealership’s social media presence. In this case, it’s Facebook and Twitter. Avid users of these and other social media sites will want to see what you’re portraying on your social media pages. They can get a better understanding of the humanity behind this presence by visiting these pages. What will they find when they visit yours?

Will they find the type of activity that they want to find? Will they see relevant posts that pertain to the automotive industry, the local community, and the dealership itself, or will they see memes and funny cat pictures. Despite a dangerous belief held by many that posting irrelevant images is the way to go with your social media presence, the reality is that these types of posts, though “likeable” by some, are a turnoff to many. Average people don’t want any businesses posting irrelevant content. It’s insincere. It makes a dealership look like they’re trying too hard to fit into to the community as an individual by being frivolous. That’s not the way to handle social media in 2013.

Today, people that are willing to interact with companies through social media (and that number is growing every day) want to know that a business is on-target. They want to know that you’re not spamming, that you’re engaging, and that you’re staying true to your business and community. They don’t want memes. They don’t want cats. They want to know that you are willing to be the authority on your brand in the local area.

Of course, review sites play a big role when it comes to search. It’s important that you focus your efforts on the review sites that people can find. If they want to know what others are saying about your dealership, the most likely search terms they’ll type in will be either your name or your name plus the word “reviews”. Do those searches and see what’s on the front page of Google and Bing. Are you scoring well? Do you need to get more positive reviews to those sites?

Keep in mind that if a review site cannot be seen in on the front page of Google or Bing for either of those two search variations, the review site really doesn’t exist. It will be rare that a single person will ever see that 5-star rating you have on Superpages if it’s buried on page 3 on Google and Bing searches. Reviews aren’t just about what people are saying about you. They’re also about what other people can find. If a review is posted on a review site and nobody ever visits it, did that review have any affect on your business?

How You Appear in Other Searches

Earlier this year, I posted an article about how SEO is becoming a PR tool. This cannot be stressed enough. People trust that search engines are able to give them good options from which to choose. Most do not understand exactly how the search engines rank sites, but they do believe that there’s some sort of authority factor. When you’re able to rank at the top of the searches for generic terms such as the one displayed above, the person doing the search knows that it happened for a reason.

In the very localized market, this isn’t as much at play. If you’re the Chevrolet dealership in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, then appearing at the top for “Fond du Lac Chevrolet” isn’t going to help you from a reputation perspective. You’re the one in that city, so ranking at the top is expected. If, however, your Fond du Lac Chevrolet dealer is able to rank at the top of the searches for “Milwaukee Chevrolet Dealers” ahead of Chevrolet dealerships that are in Milwaukee, there must be a reason. It’s amazing publicity and a strong play for your dealership’s reputation when you’re able to start ranking well outside of your immediate area.

That doesn’t mean that a Fond du Lac dealer should start trying to rank for “Dallas Chevrolet”. It has to make sense.

* * *

Reputation is an important defense. However, it can be used on the other side of the ball as well. Don’t just pick up a reputation management solution and call it a day. Take a long look at what your potential customers are seeing and make an effort to improve your overall reputation, not just what appears on Yelp.

There has been a promising trend in the automotive industry over the last couple of years. Dealers are starting to pay a good amount of attention to their online reputation, something that simply wasn’t a priority not too long ago. Today, it’s at the top of mind for most dealers. The only challenge is that many are taking action towards improving their reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, and Dealer Rater, but are not focusing at all on the other components of their reputation.

These components are arguably much more important than what Yelp says about your dealership.

This is not to say that reviews are not important. We’re working on what we consider to be the most cutting-edge online review management system in the industry. However, it is only a slice of the reputation pie. The other parts can not only help protect your dealership from the negatives out there. They can actually help to proactively drive more business. Here’s how.

“Skin in the Game” Social media

Facebook has started being more aggressive with their push to get people to use their location review feature. Google Local has been integrated with Google+ for a while and is arguably the most prominent review site in the automotive industry simply because of their biased placement on searches. Twitter is turning around again to be more involved with review sites. All of this is important, but it’s not the most important part of social media from a reputation management perspective.

Unlike standard review sites, there’s skin in the game for those who post about you on their social profiles. When they go to leave a review on Yelp, Dealer Rater, or any of the other sites, there is very little chance that anyone who knows them or trusts their opinion will actually see the review. They are willing to leave these reviews as a semi-public dialogue between them and the dealership. I used the term “semi-public” because while most review sites identify the name of the person leaving the review, their identity is not of any real importance. People who look to review sites are trying to get a general sentiment. They may be looking for dirt, of course, but it’s a check box in the overall buying experience.

More and more press is coming out about fake reviews on these sites as well. Those of us who understand the industry or have been delving into reputation management for some time are well aware that many of the reviews are encouraged. Some are downright fake. Ours isn’t the only industry that knows this which is why fewer people are as trusting of review sites as they once were.

When people post about you on social media, they’re involved. They are now part of the conversation in a way that their friends can and will see. If they say something good about your dealership on Facebook, more local people that know and trust them will see the positive sentiment. It will register to them now and influence them whether they’re in the market today or thinking back six months in the future. The opposite is true as well. A negative review on Dealer Rater will hurt your overall score and a scathing writeup will be written by some who are very curious about the way you do business, but in reality the damage is not that great. If they post a hateful message about you on Facebook, however, you’re now exposed. If the user is active on Facebook, then the negative sentiment will definitely register.

There’s two primary takeaways to this point. First, we’re very proactive as an industry when it comes to getting reviews on review sites, but we’re not taking advantage of the conversation and trust-factor potential of social media as a reputation component. Second, people will vent on their social media profiles when they have no other course of action. Some will do it anyway regardless of what a dealership does, but some can be prevented by giving a direct line of communication to the customer. The scariest part about negative social media posts is that you’re probably completely unaware that they happen. They do. That much is certain. unfortunately, they’re not all consolidated to a single venue like they are with the review sites. Bad word of mouth is amplified when it’s posted to Facebook.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of social media as it pertains to reputation is that it has anything to do with your dealership’s pages and profiles. It doesn’t, at least not from this perspective (though I’ll cover the other perspective shortly). They don’t have to post negative feedback to your page for it to be out there. The sooner that a dealership understands the dynamic between social media and reputation, the closer they’ll be to being able to use social media to drive traffic and referrals to their dealership.

How You Appear on Searches for Your Name

Contrary to popular belief, people don’t normally find your reviews by going to DealerRater.com or Yelp.com directly. They get there through search, in particular searches for your dealership by name. It’s important to understand that controlling as much of the Google search results pages as possible when people search for you is of the utmost importance. By properly controlling what people are able to find when they search for you, you’ll have a much better chance of keeping them interested before they even fill out a lead form or come into the dealership.

In the example above, a person searching for “Lebanon Ford” will find the dealership-controlled websites, of course, but they’ll also find the dealership’s social media presence. In this case, it’s Facebook and Twitter. Avid users of these and other social media sites will want to see what you’re portraying on your social media pages. They can get a better understanding of the humanity behind this presence by visiting these pages. What will they find when they visit yours?

Will they find the type of activity that they want to find? Will they see relevant posts that pertain to the automotive industry, the local community, and the dealership itself, or will they see memes and funny cat pictures. Despite a dangerous belief held by many that posting irrelevant images is the way to go with your social media presence, the reality is that these types of posts, though “likeable” by some, are a turnoff to many. Average people don’t want any businesses posting irrelevant content. It’s insincere. It makes a dealership look like they’re trying too hard to fit into to the community as an individual by being frivolous. That’s not the way to handle social media in 2013.

Today, people that are willing to interact with companies through social media (and that number is growing every day) want to know that a business is on-target. They want to know that you’re not spamming, that you’re engaging, and that you’re staying true to your business and community. They don’t want memes. They don’t want cats. They want to know that you are willing to be the authority on your brand in the local area.

Of course, review sites play a big role when it comes to search. It’s important that you focus your efforts on the review sites that people can find. If they want to know what others are saying about your dealership, the most likely search terms they’ll type in will be either your name or your name plus the word “reviews”. Do those searches and see what’s on the front page of Google and Bing. Are you scoring well? Do you need to get more positive reviews to those sites?

Keep in mind that if a review site cannot be seen in on the front page of Google or Bing for either of those two search variations, the review site really doesn’t exist. It will be rare that a single person will ever see that 5-star rating you have on Superpages if it’s buried on page 3 on Google and Bing searches. Reviews aren’t just about what people are saying about you. They’re also about what other people can find. If a review is posted on a review site and nobody ever visits it, did that review have any affect on your business?

How You Appear in Other Searches

Earlier this year, I posted an article about how SEO is becoming a PR tool. This cannot be stressed enough. People trust that search engines are able to give them good options from which to choose. Most do not understand exactly how the search engines rank sites, but they do believe that there’s some sort of authority factor. When you’re able to rank at the top of the searches for generic terms such as the one displayed above, the person doing the search knows that it happened for a reason.

In the very localized market, this isn’t as much at play. If you’re the Chevrolet dealership in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, then appearing at the top for “Fond du Lac Chevrolet” isn’t going to help you from a reputation perspective. You’re the one in that city, so ranking at the top is expected. If, however, your Fond du Lac Chevrolet dealer is able to rank at the top of the searches for “Milwaukee Chevrolet Dealers” ahead of Chevrolet dealerships that are in Milwaukee, there must be a reason. It’s amazing publicity and a strong play for your dealership’s reputation when you’re able to start ranking well outside of your immediate area.

That doesn’t mean that a Fond du Lac dealer should start trying to rank for “Dallas Chevrolet”. It has to make sense.

* * *

Reputation is an important defense. However, it can be used on the other side of the ball as well. Don’t just pick up a reputation management solution and call it a day. Take a long look at what your potential customers are seeing and make an effort to improve your overall reputation, not just what appears on Yelp.

In today’s social media ventures it is no longer about just being present on Facebook. Many businesses have yet to catch up to the realistic values that Facebook can bring from online to offline due to misusing the site. Facebook has created a tight nit structure that is to help keep fluidity within its newsfeed so that its users are not bombarded by spam, too many pages or of people and pages that are not as of much interest to them.

Businesses have disregarded the actual functionality of Facebook either because they do not have the time to learn about it or do not understand it. Some may just be happy that they are there and posting to their Facebook page.

If you are going to do it, do it right the first time.

Your presence on Facebook as a business is great and kudos to you for being active, but do you want to be successful or just there? The Facebook algorithm sure is tricky and for many understanding it in-depth is a time-eater and confusing but knowing some simple and basic knowledge that can lend a hand to amplifying your potential reach can always be of use.

Here are 5 Reasons Underestimating the Facebook Algorithm Hurts Your Business:

1. Posting images of customers : Many people have told you that posting images of your customers is a great idea and in moderation it can be. But we have over used this form of content and sharing such a niche photo actually limits the amount of actions you could receive if you chose a more widely acceptable image.

How posting images of customers affects the Facebook Algorithm: Posting niche images limits interactions and interactions such as likes, shares and comments will naturally move you up within the Facebook algorithm.

2. Posting content back to back: Just because you have the time to post content to your Facebook page doesn’t mean you should go crazy. Posting anything in a less than 1hr period actually hurts your chance of having the piece of content seen at all, so you basically should not post it at all, unless you are willing to make it into an album or wait a 1hr span.

How posting back to back content affects the Facebook algorithm: When posting images, links or status updates you must wait a 1 hour period or it will get lost within the newsfeed. Facebook does this to prevent flooding the newsfeeds of those who have liked your page. Respect them.

3. Choosing the right type of content: Don’t just plaster something up on your page and call it a day. Take time in finding likable content that is relatable to your industry. Don’t be passively active, be passionately involved. Care about your audience and share content that is worthy of their time.

How choosing the right type of content affects the Facebook algorithm: If you are just posting something to your Facebook page to post, than your page will likely receive less interactions. Less interactions over time decreases your reach and hinders your page as being irrelevant as opposed to choosing content that is visually pleasing or is of educational value.

4. Using Facebook Insights. Period.: Many businesses are not using Facebook Insights to help guide them to find the right type of content to suit your Facebook audience. You should find out the gender that dominates your page, check and see if you are targeting locally and use the knowledge to find relatable content to your industry and location.

How not using Facebook Insights affect the Facebook algorithm: You wouldn’t drive without a lesson or bake a cake without a recipe, so why would you post to your Facebook page blind? You need a basis to begin with; if you don’t then you are literally shooting in the dark. This will decrease your visibility even when using promoted posts or page ads.

5. Promoted Posts and Page Ads will not Save You: If you think that you can just post anything to your Facebook page and slap a few dollars down on a promoted post or keep a Facebook page ad running you might as well take your stack of dollar bills and throw them out the window while driving. Content is always going to be the deciding factor and no matter how many eyes you pay to have on it, if it is not socially written, visually appealing, clever or helpful in some way, you are wasting money.

How promoted posts and Page ads will affect the Facebook algorithm: Even though you are paying Facebook to display your content within newsfeeds or as ads that does not guarantee that the receivers will be receptive to the post. If you are constantly running ads and receiving no traction you are still damaging your credibility to Facebook’s algorithm. Money is not paid to those who choose to place an action on your content, so keep that in mind when choosing the content you intend to promote. Regarding Facebook ads, this is to highlight your page, so step back and look at your page and ask yourself if you would like it based on the content you have shared on the page.

I was going to add no cat pics or adding your logo to a non-original image, but you should know better by now that you’re not a veterinarian (unless you are, than post away!) nor are you a thief, so adding your logo using Photoshop to images you didn’t create and just found online is just simply silly.

Most importantly, you need to take away from this article is the knowledge that every action you take as an admin or Facebook page owner needs to be purposeful. You can no longer just BE on Facebook, you actually need to think prior to posting and mixing up your content is ideal when posting. However, although content is a huge key player, knowing when to post and that less is more is just as important.

Facebook can generate leads; it all depends on who is leading.

[Image via: businessweek]

In today’s social media ventures it is no longer about just being present on Facebook. Many businesses have yet to catch up to the realistic values that Facebook can bring from online to offline due to misusing the site. Facebook has created a tight nit structure that is to help keep fluidity within its newsfeed so that its users are not bombarded by spam, too many pages or of people and pages that are not as of much interest to them.

Businesses have disregarded the actual functionality of Facebook either because they do not have the time to learn about it or do not understand it. Some may just be happy that they are there and posting to their Facebook page.

If you are going to do it, do it right the first time.

Your presence on Facebook as a business is great and kudos to you for being active, but do you want to be successful or just there? The Facebook algorithm sure is tricky and for many understanding it in-depth is a time-eater and confusing but knowing some simple and basic knowledge that can lend a hand to amplifying your potential reach can always be of use.

Here are 5 Reasons Underestimating the Facebook Algorithm Hurts Your Business:

1. Posting images of customers : Many people have told you that posting images of your customers is a great idea and in moderation it can be. But we have over used this form of content and sharing such a niche photo actually limits the amount of actions you could receive if you chose a more widely acceptable image.

How posting images of customers affects the Facebook Algorithm: Posting niche images limits interactions and interactions such as likes, shares and comments will naturally move you up within the Facebook algorithm.

2. Posting content back to back: Just because you have the time to post content to your Facebook page doesn’t mean you should go crazy. Posting anything in a less than 1hr period actually hurts your chance of having the piece of content seen at all, so you basically should not post it at all, unless you are willing to make it into an album or wait a 1hr span.

How posting back to back content affects the Facebook algorithm: When posting images, links or status updates you must wait a 1 hour period or it will get lost within the newsfeed. Facebook does this to prevent flooding the newsfeeds of those who have liked your page. Respect them.

3. Choosing the right type of content: Don’t just plaster something up on your page and call it a day. Take time in finding likable content that is relatable to your industry. Don’t be passively active, be passionately involved. Care about your audience and share content that is worthy of their time.

How choosing the right type of content affects the Facebook algorithm: If you are just posting something to your Facebook page to post, than your page will likely receive less interactions. Less interactions over time decreases your reach and hinders your page as being irrelevant as opposed to choosing content that is visually pleasing or is of educational value.

4. Using Facebook Insights. Period.: Many businesses are not using Facebook Insights to help guide them to find the right type of content to suit your Facebook audience. You should find out the gender that dominates your page, check and see if you are targeting locally and use the knowledge to find relatable content to your industry and location.

How not using Facebook Insights affect the Facebook algorithm: You wouldn’t drive without a lesson or bake a cake without a recipe, so why would you post to your Facebook page blind? You need a basis to begin with; if you don’t then you are literally shooting in the dark. This will decrease your visibility even when using promoted posts or page ads.

5. Promoted Posts and Page Ads will not Save You: If you think that you can just post anything to your Facebook page and slap a few dollars down on a promoted post or keep a Facebook page ad running you might as well take your stack of dollar bills and throw them out the window while driving. Content is always going to be the deciding factor and no matter how many eyes you pay to have on it, if it is not socially written, visually appealing, clever or helpful in some way, you are wasting money.

How promoted posts and Page ads will affect the Facebook algorithm: Even though you are paying Facebook to display your content within newsfeeds or as ads that does not guarantee that the receivers will be receptive to the post. If you are constantly running ads and receiving no traction you are still damaging your credibility to Facebook’s algorithm. Money is not paid to those who choose to place an action on your content, so keep that in mind when choosing the content you intend to promote. Regarding Facebook ads, this is to highlight your page, so step back and look at your page and ask yourself if you would like it based on the content you have shared on the page.

I was going to add no cat pics or adding your logo to a non-original image, but you should know better by now that you’re not a veterinarian (unless you are, than post away!) nor are you a thief, so adding your logo using Photoshop to images you didn’t create and just found online is just simply silly.

Most importantly, you need to take away from this article is the knowledge that every action you take as an admin or Facebook page owner needs to be purposeful. You can no longer just BE on Facebook, you actually need to think prior to posting and mixing up your content is ideal when posting. However, although content is a huge key player, knowing when to post and that less is more is just as important.

Facebook can generate leads; it all depends on who is leading.

[Image via: businessweek]