Seth Godin
Unleashing the Ideavirus
Stop Marketing AT People! Turn your ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you.
Hyperion, 2001
What's inside?
If you can get your idea to spread like a virus, when everybody else gets “sick” from it, you can do very, very well.
Recommendation
In Unleashing the Ideavirus, Seth Godin says your idea is contagious, like the flu. But hold on - he’s not being insulting. If you think of your idea as a virus, says he, you can "infect" the marketplace by motivating customers to talk about your product. He stretches this metaphor to explain how to captivate powerful "sneezers" so they will spread the word. Not a pretty picture, if you are a literal type of person, but you get the concept. For the right product or service, this is an alternative to advertising (or, as Godin calls it, "interruption marketing"). Though he builds on multi-level marketing concepts, Godin distances himself from their negative image. He writes in a breezy, easy style, with examples, charts and illustrations. If you want to spread the word about this book, getAbstract.com suggests that you just cough politely on someone in marketing, advertising or sales.
Summary
About the Author
Seth Godin is the author of many marketing books, including the national bestseller, Permission Marketing. He founded Yoyodyne - the first direct marketer on the Internet - which Yahoo! acquired in 1998. He served as the Vice President of Direct Marketing for Yahoo! until 2000, when he left to devote his time to writing and speaking.
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