>The world has been changing rapidly for the last couple decades. Home computers and home internet access have taken off. Communication has become faster, people are sharing their information and talking more online. This shift in the way we communicate with each other is also changing the way we communicate with brands and local companies and retailers. The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk is a book written for business people about how to leverage the social internet to grow business and interact with customers online.

Vaynerchuk is the owner of a wine store called Wine Library, located in New Jersey. He jumped on board the e-commerce bandwagon early and has continued leveraging new ways to interact with customers (such as Facebook and twitter) as they have come along. Vaynerchuk uses examples from his own experience in social media as a businessperson and social media consultant, as well as examples of other small and large businesses that have successfully and not-quit-so-successfully used social media to interact with customers.

Vaynerchuk’s thesis is that the economy is changing because of social media and the conversations it allows between consumers. When a person has a bad interaction with a company, they can now tell 300 of their closest friends instantly. The same thing is true of an excellent interaction. The Thank You Economy tells businesses to sit up and take notice, because it’s those businesses that adapt to this new environment quickly that will be able to reap the benefits of the Thank You Economy.

I originally heard about this book on NPR and decided to pick it up because I’m interested in the use of social media by organizations. Read the All Things Considered story. Not only is this an interesting read with regards to businesses and social media, it’s also an interesting perspective on how social media is changing the way businesses must treat customers to thrive in a new economy where customers can instantly broadcast their good and bad interactions with a company.