This is the cover to my forthcoming book 'Mug and Tweet' - Social Communication in the digital age.

The book will be available in April.

The foreword of 'Mug and Tweet' is by Tim Fargo - Online Influencer and Bestselling Author of 'Alphabet Success'

Here is the foreword by Tim : 

I'm very pleased to write the foreword for Mug & Tweet by Rich Simmonds. Not only because of the high regard I have for Rich, but also because amidst the clamor for more information on the social media tool-set, Rich has had his usual contrarian vision to address the more fundamental issue of communication itself, and how that can be powerfully married to our current and future social media tool-set to maximize our potential.

With the advent of social media, people are highly interested in how to use the various tools, with little regard to the quality of the communication they'll be conducting. We are social animals, and as Rich points out, hard-wired to communicate with one another. But more often than not, the quality of that communication is of questionable quality. If anything, the speed of today's interactions require an improved, deeper understanding of communication.

The purpose of Mug and Tweet is to help us navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of today's multi-dimensional communication with skill and grace. Rich is offering us a guide to help us interact competently - and avoid landing on the rocks of disagreement, misunderstanding and discord.

This message is extraordinarily important as the expansion and speed of communication tools have created tremendous opportunities to interact on a level that enhances both our business and relationships.

The growing transparency of our world dictates that we both listen and speak with clarity.

What Rich further explains is how important that clarity is, as social media now transforms our previously linear communication to complete openness. The previously ‘two-sided’ e-mail might now instead be communicated as a tweet heard around the world. Mug & Tweet will help you find the opportunity in what previously may have seemed a daunting threat.

Whether you’re dealing with a dissatisfied client or even an upset spouse, it means that some element of communication has gone awry. Something was promised either explicitly or implicitly and the perception of the recipient is that it wasn't delivered - leading to an impasse.

But, as Rich points out, we must move away from our ‘complaints culture’ where mistakes and manipulation fester, block and entrench the dysfunctional brand/business-centric culture. It's time to replace this with an customer-centric environment where errors actually drive education and understanding.

Through actively utilizing the openness of modern social media, we can turn blame to benefit, and irritation to improvement.

Moreover, the message isn't just upward or downward - it's a potentially limitless communication both inside and outside our relationships: to existing friends and clients, and potential friends and clients, not to mention competitors, enemies, and pretty much anyone else who happens to be paying attention!

While this may all seem rather challenging, it translates into amazing opportunities. To be sure, there are some communication ‘hills to be climbed’, but with Rich's guidance you'll find the view from the top to be pretty spectacular.

Tim Fargo  @AlphabetSuccess

Bestselling Author – Alphabet Success