Scott Rutherford

So this is the second post about books I have recently finished and as with The Cathedral and The Bazaar it is a book I really should of read about 5 years ago. Doh. Having said that, it is very interesting to see how the companies and ideas outlined in this book have developed (or died – e.g AllAdvantage.com) in the last few years – which lets face it have been both turbulent & interesting in the world of the web and e-commerce…..

Having said that, some of the viruses outlined in this book have nothing to do with the web, Polaroid and Tupperware for example, although they do show how important the web can be in the determination of how virulant your virus is.

I guess for myself I found this book to be a bit of a revelation even though most of it seems so obvious once you’ve read it (as he himself points out). In fact I don’t think I’ve ever found myself saying “of course” so often while reading a book – certainly not one about marketing!!

I had never really taken the time to appreciate the beauty of permission marketing as opposed to “interruption marketing”, or to even really understand the true concept of viral marketing and how that differs to word of mouth (or mouse!!).

There are some interesting links to from this book to others I have read (Crossing the Chasm, The Cathedral & The Bazzar, The Tipping Point, and my current book – Naked Conversations), and I find myself drawn to the way of thinking of all of these people and to the visions they all seem to share of the way the world works, and the way it can be made to work better either for you, your company or just in general.

Another interesting of the book is the terminology, Godin admits that he has made an effort to provide a new way to talk about this style of marketing with buzz words such as: Smoothness, Hive, Velocity, Sneezers and Medium. The funny thing is they all seem to fit the domain so naturally that once defined you find it hard to even remember the way you would of described it before.

Here (for my own benefit really) is the step by step guide to unleashing an ideavirus (if you want more clarity read the book!!)

1. Invent a virusworthy idea.
2. Identify the hive.
3. Expose the idea.
4. Figure out what you want the sneezers to say.
5. Give the sneezers the tools they need to spread the virus.
6. Once the consumer has volunteered his attention get permission to follow up.
7. Amaze your audiance so that they will reinforce the virus and keep it growing.
8. Admit that few viruses last forever. Embrace the lifecycle of the virus.