Book Review: Seth Godin - All Marketers Are Liars

Let me start with a small disclaimer: I am a HUGE fan of Seth Godin, and have been ever since he wrote Permission Marketing and probably always will be. Seth has a very unique take on traditional marketing (he thinks it's dead) and I agree with him. A nice summary of stuff Seth knows was kindly put together by Aaron Dignan at Brandplay.com

That being said, I felt it would be worthwhile to blog a bit about Seth's new book so you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to get his book. That being said, on with the post...

Marketers aren't really liars. Consumers are. Consumers tell themselves story based on the marketing message they hear, filtered through their own lenses, and believe the marketing they hear IF an authentic message is told.

Here's what I learned:

  • You must have a product that delivers on your story if you want long-term success
  • You need to start at the fringes to build passionate users, have these early adopters tell your stories, then you can move a bit to the middle to reach more
  • You only tell your story once. Passionate users continue to tell your story, whether you want them to or not, so you might as well embrace them.
  • You will not reach everyone, so don't try to. Mass messages are too watered down and are not authentic enough to get viral and spread enough to make it worth your while

Those are the big takeaways I got from Seth's book. You can read his blog at allmarketersareliars.com or buy the book from the world's greatest online bookstore, 800CEOREAD.com.

I hope you'll make your own judgment about this book and check it out for yourself. If not, that's fine too. Maybe this book wasn't meant for you.

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team as manager of an IT Help Desk in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component for in his success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow." Feel free to contact Phil at http://makeitgreat.org or call 414.640.7445 anytime.