My book One Good Trade is sold out. This took three weeks. A rush reprint will be underway soon. Save a few exceptions, it is now only available on the Kindle. I was told, “This has never happened before with a trading book.” This is a social media tale.

I considered hiring a PR firm to rep my book before release, pitching all things traditional media. One charismatic and powerful NYC book agent explained to me that my project would only be worth her time if I became a star TV Talking Head. When she learned I wasn’t the one from our firm regularly on CNBC suddenly she had to take another call. I left thinking- isn’t it better to be the co-founder of the firm that placed the paid traditional media contributor in this coveted slot? And is traditional media even the best path for me and my book? Another PR flak who reps trading legends sent me a proposal that screamed Dude you aint a big shot so I only will offer to take your money and do nothing for you. Well that was a mistake. Two other options were considered and tabled for after Labor Day.

One Good Trade opened and immediately found #5 on Amazon’s Finance Leaderboard. Actually I didn’t even know it was available for sale until I received an email from a blog reader. I certainly didn’t know Amazon had a Leaderboard. And then the Influencers entered the room. An Influencer is someone who can move their audience to act or purchase. @Stevenplace ran a book contest that spiked our overall Amazon to the this thing is for real category. @abnormalreturns, the biggest new traffic generator, did his thing and drove sales. @alphatrends and his 20k loyal followers read and heard Brian’s numerous endorsements. @martinkronicle @traderinterview showed their muscle broadcasting one on one interviews. @aiki14 @annemarietrades @ragheehorner @afraidtotrade kept the momentum moving forward with praise of value for the reader. @crosshairstrader @thereformedbroker @weeklyTA penned book reviews causing Amazon to search for more stock. The StockTwits community tweeted and retweeted everything. The StockTwits stream, named by Time Magazine as one of the Top 50 websites in 2010, tweeted and RTd the generous reviews. The Influencers moved people to buy One Good Trade and now it is sold out.

The firm I co-founded, with my best friend, SMB, has been blogging for two years. Today, a significant audience of traders visits SMB blog daily. We built this audience by sharing, giving, sharing some more, and then giving some more. We embraced social media by developing a partnership with StockTwits (HT @Jbedya), where both parties are invested in each other. We have cultivated lasting connections with Influencers, many top trading and investing bloggers. I have not stepped foot on a TV studio, and in a day when hardcover is not supposed to move, my book is sold out?

But is any of this really a surprise? Let’s take two examples of book promotion. Writer A participates in traditional media, is placed in front of a large audience (most of whom are not that interested or not listening), and an ego receives a very large stroking. But then a potential purchaser leaves the traditional media medium and goes about their day. Later they might sit at their computer and ask, “What was the name of that book I wanted to read from traditional media?” Why did I want to buy that book?

Writer B embraces social media. Writer B places their book in front of a smaller audience, but one very willing to buy, many of whom already have a relationship with the writer’s work through the blogosphere. Further Writer B’s book is placed in front of this highly interested audience with a link you can just click to purchase. With social media, the internet and the blogosphere, Writer B can put his book right in front of you with a link to purchase. The friends of Writer B then share this same link with their highly interested followers (see @ThisIsSethsBlog for the power of this). The Influencers put Trader B’s book right in front of their audience with a link to purchase. How can Writer A compete with Writer B? How can traditional media compete with the Influencers placing product right in front of the consumer with a link to purchase?

Now none of this works if your book is not awesome. Traders’ Library recently included One Good Trade on a short list of “recently published and will most likely become time honored classics.” One Good Trade enjoys a five star Amazon review rating as I write. I found this tweet today:

@tech_analysis_t
@smbcapital I only praised your book , it’s a great book and a very important one. When are u going to publish the next book ? )

Moreover I receive multiple daily emails proclaiming One Good Trade has substantially helped their trading. Also, the book was published by Wiley, the place where most of the best trading authors publish, whose team made every page better.

Ironically our plan was to push One Good Trade after Labor Day. Now there are numerous social media events that we will reschedule until after the book is reprinted. We will let you know when we know when the reprint will be available. Until then it is just the Kindle. But for future authors I hope my experience offers an idea path for your success. Share your genius and start broadcasting. Why can’t you create a tale like mine?

Now I wonder what would happen if traditional media embraced social media and then a Writer C combined the tactics of Writer A and Writer B? What a remarkable tale that would be.

Mike Bellafiore
Author, One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading

Click on the picture above for the full review.

Steven Place writes for Investing with Options
Join him for StockTwits Brunch with Steven Place on Saturdays at 11 AM on StockTwits TV
For more about Steven Place see his new site: earningstrades.com

At 9PM EST Bella will appear on Talk Your Book on StockTwits TV with Dr. Phil Pearlman. Literally Mike will be talking about his book One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading (Wiley Trading)

Mike also will discuss the importance of StockTwits.

During one interview today I was asked what SMB gets out of all the sharing we do on StockTwits. Well really thoughtful emails like the below are one thing:

Mike,

For what it’s worth, my observation of the changes and improvements that you have
made in your video presentations over the past months is that they are remarkable.
The substance of the material presented and the mechanics of production of the
videos seems to improve each month. You’ve provided quite an impressive mix of
topics, presentations, presenters and backgrounds. I can tell that what we have
seen to date is only the beginning, the wind is at your back, there is much more to
come.

Most of your initial hiccups have been addressed. Sometimes the sound on the video,
especially when you are in the class room setting, is difficult to hear or follow.
I am sure you are aware of this issue and, of course, it is of relatively minor
consequence. Respectfully, may I suggest that the presenter/moderator repeat or
paraphrase the questions from the audience or that a mic be provided for use by the
class room audience.

I am sure SMB’s commitment and expense has been notably substanial. For my part, I
would not have been able to come to know SMB or have benefited from your
presentations otherwise. Please accept my appreciation of your efforts and my
admiration of your accomplishments….keep it coming.

With regards to all at SMB,

Mark

A great base-stealer works on his technique to get even better.

60 percent of StockTwits followers are hard core professional traders.

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” — Maya Angelou
from @Shimmy33

An Email from Trader Rob S

Hope all is well. You likely heard it on TV, but I thought of you when I listened to the discussion on Shani Davis and his daily routine to winning the gold tonight.

- Writes daily in his journal daily. What he did right, wrong, how he felt , how he reacts to his performance each day…….. it was like reading your blogs on trader journals.

It went on, you get the point. I best do an extra good job on mine tonight!

Michael Arrington from Tech Crunch reviews StockTwits.

Brian Shannon from @alphatrends offers advice on why to stop using 60 minute charts.

Dr. Steenbarger of TraderFeed posits whether traders can be trained to maximize trading intuition. Fascinating question!

Fed communicates that it is not tightening broadly.

Manufacturing jobs may be on the rise.

Charles Kirk from @thekirkreport shares a list of 100 fundamentally strong stocks near highs.

When you see someone on Financial TV are they just talking their book?

Special StockTwits TV show tonight at 8:30PM EST. We will be releasing my intro to our Reading the Tape Seminar from last Saturday.

What it takes to be great.

Sent by one our traders bummed he still wasn’t in college.

An inspiring link with Will Smith sharing his secret to becoming a successful actor.

Helpful blog link from @sellputs on how he used his tape reading skills in a recent SPY trade.

Had a nice conversation with Drew Birenbaum about trading and found this helpful list of Chinese stocks from his site that trade in the US.

Dr. Steenbarger of TraderFeed shares how traders can use simulation to improve their trading.

The US falling behind in the use of High Speed Rails to China.

We will be watching the Greece bailout closely this week.

China putting the breaks on for their economy.

The Bonus Bounce for the NYC housing market from Wall Street bonuses?

Please come by the Trader Expo this Monday at 8AM to watch a few of us from StockTwits discuss what is working in this market.

10. The SEC tax declining by about 35c per thousand shares traded.  2009 was a tough year made much tougher because of this tax being raised 400 percent last year.  This will mean a possible extra 17k for some of our traders.

9. Secret Project X.  SMB has developed a practice tool we are very proud to unveil to our in house traders.  Deliberate practice is how you become successful at anything.  This training innovation allows the developing trader the chance to practice.

8. The launch of our new SMB Training website.  We have been working on an improved site for many months.  Roy Davis, our coder and graphics designer are working hard to produce an amazing new product.  I have seen glimpses.  The site design will finally match the quality of the distance learning offered.

7. StockTwits TV 2010. Howard Lindzon and Phil Pearlman have started a killer trading community. The new and improved video for StockTwits TV is so exciting. Can we just fast forward to 1/4/2010 already and launch the new look?

6. SMB Trades2Hold of the Week.  Every Friday we will hold a new session where we discuss the best Trades2Hold intraday from the past week.  This will be an awesome learning session that leverages the trading talent from our desk.

5.  Dov Blogs.  One of our future star traders is starting to get stalkers.  I noticed some google searches directly for his name.  Dov thinks the searchers were his mother and possibly a new young lady seeking to learn if he is out on probation.  See he is very witty.  Much more to come from Dov.

4. The Shark Tank.  They are coming for you market players.  They are hungry.  They prepare for battle.  Stay tuned.

3. Tie: Me losing some weight.  Some jokester sent me an email the other day mocking how much weight I have gained since “Wall Street Warriors.”  I have gained 30 pounds since I started SMB Capital and SMB Training.  Time to take that weight off.

And continuing to exchange ideas with Dr. Steenbarger from TraderFeed on building a world class training program for developing traders.

2. I am about to be an uncle!

1. Watching how much our traders improve next year!

To all of us at SMB Blog thank you for reading.  We look forward to sharing our trading stories and education with you in 2010.

Happy New Year!

To succeed at anything requires hard work.

Dr. Steenbarger responds to our blog on the Ten Interview Tips for Proprietary Trading.

Well done by Goldman. They are in a position to set the standard for the new Wall Street.

Watch Howard Lindzon of StockTwits.com give his take on the GS apology.

GMan discusses what adjustments the intraday trader must make because of HFT.

An informative chart of where jobs are being created and lost.

Our friend Corey Rosenbloom on spotting an SPY reversal.

An interesting comparison of Gold Miner ETFs.

Don’t forget to watch SMB University tonight at 8:30PM EST on StockTwits TV.

I am writing an article for SFO magazine on HFT (High Frequency Trading) and its effects on the markets.  For me the most glaring change are the plays that no longer work.  Specifically paying for a new high in a stock and playing for upside momentum.  Too often the result of paying for the new high is a seller sticking the offer, and then coming sharply low offer, causing the short term longs to hit the bids lower.  Ripper.  We can this the Sell the New High Program.  A mirror image of this program is placed into the market for a stock that hits a significant low.

My question to our readers is: What effects do you see HFT having on the markets?  What changes have you made to your trading as a result?

This article will be published in SFO magazine and then I will discuss this article and HFT in greater detail on my Sunday night show on StockTwits TV.

So last night was my debut on StockTwits TV. And after that experience I have some thoughts for the suits at StockTwits TV.

1 ) Clearly I was awesome. My awesomeness existed on so many levels I find it hard to begin. Have you seen my reviews?

@downtowntrader$$ Must watch stocktwits.tv by @smbcapital – really great job tonight Mike. http://bit.ly/cxgzP

And this guy is from Florida. Clearly we have gone national.

@montaukmack @smbcapital Bella did a great show on $Stocktwits TV!!

This guy is from the Hamptons (well close to the Hamptons). I might be reaching the rich people.

@YMjeff @smbcapital Enjoyed the sunday night session. Will follow more. Wrote down “Tomorrow we can all start getting better” Will remember that! TX

I have such a hold on this guy that he is taking notes during my show.

So networks suits this means one thing for my 8:30PM EST show on Sunday nights: RENEGOTIATION! Come one say it with me,”Renegotiation.”

2 ) I am going to need a few things. I prefer to wear Paul Smith shirts. You can just have them sent to SMB Headquarters, which by the way is on the 5th avenue bitches. And I would like some refreshments for my Sunday gig, preferably Coke Zero (you know what since we are just getting started a Sprite or Canada Dry works for me as well. Make sure it’s cold though.)

3 ) Get that bitch Dr. Phil off my back already. Do you know how hard it is to read my notes, look into the camera, change the cameras, watch the StockTwits feed for questions, talk as awesomely as I obviously am, and read his GChats? Do you think Regis has to deal with this nonsense?

4 ) I am not sure if every Sunday night is gonna work for me. Can we tape a few episodes on Friday evening? Maybe a few reruns from time to time? How many shows does Entourage shoot a year? That might be a better schedule for me.

5 ) Getting back to the refreshments. You know Diet Sunkist is acceptable as well. Just please, no water. Bella doesn’t do water.

6 ) What do you think about a cute, bubbly, blonde co-host or side kick for me? Again think Regis.

7 ) I am thinking we are going to have to up this production budget now that we are clearly reaching the masses. I am thinking a driver to the show, a hot hair and makeup girl, two researchers, a personal trainer, a body guard, a personal assistant, and a chef (hey I need to look good for my fans).

8 ) What is with all these people asking me questions during the show? These people treat me like the NY Press does ARod.

9 ) Getting back to my awesomeness. I left out another example. After the show while I was walking down the streets on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where many of us TV personalities call home (you know all the soaps are shot there, and again think Regis). Someone yelled out, “Bella.” Now I have played pick up basketball with this gentleman for years at the Reebok club, again on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for all of you lesser people unable to live in NYC, but clearly he had just watched the show. I mean the guy was so happy to see me I thought he was going to whip out a pad and pen and ask me for my autograph.

10 ) Can you people stop being so positive? Enough already with the “great job” Mr. Lindzon. What am I going to complain about if you and Phil don’t have the decency to threaten, cajole, criticize, demean, censor, and control my every action. Come on guys. You are better than that.

So take some time with my demands above. Please respond to the new personal assistant you will be providing me. And I will get back to you, when I get a chance.

Seriously we had a lot of fun last night.  Looking forward to many more to come where we can share some of the lessons the market has taught us with you.   Thxs to all of those who took the time to watch and participate.  We are redefining how content is delivered.