Brain Rules (John Medina, 2008) 8.0/10
How We Decide (Jonah Lehrer, 2009) 8.2/10
How The Mighty Fall (Jim Collins, 2009) 6.7/10
The Element (Sir Ken Robinson, 2009) 8.2/10
Jeff Immelt and the New GE Way (David Magee, 2009) 5.0/10
The Talent Code (Daniel Coyle, 2009) 6.5/10
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Robert B. Cialdini, 2007) 7.0/10
The Ten Commandments for Business Failure (Donald R. Keough, 2008) 7.3/10
The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets (Peter D. Schiff, 2008) 5.2/10
The Brand Bubble (John Gerzema and Ed Lebar, 2008) 6.0/10
A Sense Of Urgency (John P. Kotter, 2008) 6.5/10
Who (Geoff Smart and Randy Street, 2008) 6.8/10
Reality Check (Guy Kawasaki, 2008) 7.2/10
Tribes (Seth Godin, 2008) 4.7/10
Talent (Edward E. Lawler III, 2008) 5.8/10
Business Stripped Bare (Richard Branson, 2008) 7.8/10
Call Me Ted (Ted Turner with Bill Burke, 2008)
Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell, 2008) 6.0/10
Winning (Jack Welch with Suzy Welch, 2005) 8.0/10
Tuned In (Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott, 2008) 7.2/10
Inside Steve's Brain (Leander Kahney, 2008) 6.0/10
Yes! (Robert Cialdini, et al, 2008) 6.7/10
The Answer (John Assaraf & Murray Smith, 2008) 7.2/10
Six Disciplines Execution Revolution (Gary Harpst, 2008) 4.0/10
The Future of Management (Gary Hamel and Bill Breen, 2008) 7.3/10
Meatball Sundae (Seth Godin, 2007) 7.0/10
“The challenge for marketers is to harness the amazing power of the World Wide Rave. The process is actually quite simple; anyone can do it, including you.”
“World Wide Rave” by David Meerman Scott is a small book on the new marketing. It is a book that encourages you to go out and give it a try. The rules of marketing have changed and will never be the same by the Internet and more importantly, social media. This book talks about “how” people use the new media to spread the ideas. Spreading ideas worldwide is no more a privilege of gigantic companies but anyone can do it, including you.
Contents
You (and I) Are Incredibly Lucky
This is the introduction to the World Wide Rave. David Meerman Scott started out with an intriguing story of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on how telling a story to seven people can spread the idea to more than 350 million people worldwide, for free, of course. There are also a couple more interesting stories in this introduction.
Nobody Cares About Your Products (Except You)
The author explains the term, “buyer personas” and how the company (or you, or anyone) has to focus on the understanding of the market problem of your buyer personas (or target market) without obsessing with your product. Apart from many stories, the author encourages you to start writing an e-book which has replaced resume for many people (while multiplying the effect phenomenally).
No Coercion Required
Sometimes viral marketing is badly implemented which is just an extension of the old-world marketing. This short chapter tells you the difference between viral marketing and the World Wide Rave.
Lose Control
There is no such thing as a free lunch. But currently, there are millions such things as free videos, free songs, free information, free media, and so on. The author writes that trying to taking control will painfully backfire. An interesting part of this chapter tells you how to start making videos on YouTube. He also tells you how blocking social media sites, MySpace, facebook, YouTube, etc. in the workplace is a foolish way to increase productivity. Hear hear!
Put Down Roots
This chapter focuses on facebook, Twitter, and blogging. David Meerman Scott gives you advice on how to “put down roots” or participate in these social media websites.
Create Triggers That Encourage People to Share
The great site does not come with lousy contents. You need to have great contents to create the World Wide Rave and the advice for a great content is being interactive. And interaction can spread the ideas vigorously.
Point the World to Your (Virtual) Doorstep
Being in the first page of Google does not come from spending huge on SEO but rather from the content itself. You need a great content and you need the web site that synchronises with your customers. Instead of hiring an SEO, David Meerman Scott believes that you should hire a journalist instead.
…
I’ll compare this book to an ideal business book; a book that is easy to understand, distinct, practical, credible, insightful, and provides great reading experience.
Ease of Understanding: 8/10: This book is a short book and it is plainly easy to read and understand. The two points taken are from the blog-like writing which, although easy to read and understand, can be difficult to link with one another. Moreover, you might struggle a tad if you are over 30. Nevertheless, this is a straightforward book surrounding the idea of spreading ideas.
Distinction: 5/10: There have been countless books on the Internet and social media already. “World Wide Rave” is just one of them, albeit a good one. The great point of this book is that the author does not tell you how facebook, or Twitter, or YouTube work but he told you how real people used them and created a World Wide Rave.
Practicality: 8/10: The author gave you very good guidelines and instructions. One of the best parts of the book is the “Advice for generating a World Wide Rave” by the actual people who made it after their stories. However, everything depends on your contents and also your luck. However, I am fairly disappointed with the part of Venture Capitalist that creating a World Wide Rave is like investing, you hit some and you miss some. Although it’s true, it’s not particularly helping.
Credibility: 9/10: All the stories are from actual successful people including the author himself. Although David Meerman Scott did not create the World Wide Rave of more than ten millions in a week like Susan Boyle, his e-book, “The New Rule of Viral Marketing”, is an achievement. And I would like to exphasise more that “Advice for generating a World Wide Rave” is a gem.
Insightful: 5/10: The author has done a fine job in a small book. He had lots of interviews and insight from the actual World Wide Rave creators. The size of the book is the constraint but for a small book, it is insightful in its own right.
Reading Experience: 8/10: It is very fun and it is encouraging. It is not yet a revelation but it is eye opening. The book really encourages you to participate more in the social media.
Overall: 7.2/10: If you are not virtually active, this book will tell you how to be active. If you are already active, this book will give you an advice to spread your idea and become a World Wide Rave. If you already created a World Wide Rave, you can still read the book and sing your own praises! It might be time for marketing students to dump their huge 400 pages marketing communication and PR textbooks and read this book instead.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Viriya
Many thanks for the review. You obviously gave my book a careful review and I appreciate that. Best David