Winners Never Cheat/Huntsman 1-14

If the game runs sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake. Thomas Jefferson.

8 The rationale that everyone fudges, or that you have to cheat to stay competitive is a powerful lure, to be sure. The path to perdition is enticing, slippery, and all downhill.

9 Nice guys really can and do finish first in life.

14 Forget about who finishes first and who finishes last. Decent, honorable people finish races-and their lives-in grand style and with respect.

The twentieth-century explorer Ernest Shackleton, whose legendary, hero exploits in Antarctica looked at life as a game to be played fairly and with honor:

Life to me is the greatest of all games. The danger lies in treating it as a trivial game, a game to be taken lightly, and a game in which the rules don’t matter much. The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly or it is no game at all. And even to win the game is not the chief end. The chief end is to win it honorably and splendidly.

All Marketers Are Liars 100-105

103 For the last decade, I’ve been writing about treating consumers with respect, about transparency and creating things worth talking about.

104 If your idea is good, it’ll spread.
The public demands that you tell them a story. The story is part of the product or service that they buy—in many cases, the story is what people set out to buy. But at the core of a story is the thing, the real thing, the essence of what you’ve built. And if you try to build on a rotten core, you’ll succeed for a bit but then you’ll lose.

105 The good news is clear; authentic marketing, from one human to another, is extremely powerful. Telling a story authentically, creating a product or service that actually does what you say it will leads to a different sort of endgame. The marketer wins and so do her customers. A story that works combined with authenticity and minimized side effects builds a brand (and a business) for the ages.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 251-256

253-256 Creating buzz is an active process.
Have you planned seeding efforts?-Does you plan include seeding with both mega-hubs and regular hubs.
Can you limit access to your product, so that scarcity builds interest at the outset?
Can you use a sneak preview to capture the imagination of a selected group of customers?
What can you do that will surprise people? People talk about the unexpected.
Can you be outrageous?
Can you take your customers behind the scenes?
Can your story include a hero?
Can you stage an event that will feature your product and get people talking?
Can you create a simple (paper) pass-it-on promotion? Does your web site have a pass-it-on mechanism? Is it easy to use? Is it presented in a friendly, polite way?
Is your product visible?
Are your customers talking to one another?
Is there something in your service that can make it more useful as more people use it?
Is your product being given as a gift?.
Do you have a referral awards plan? Are you exploring all possible network?

Never Eat Alone/Ferrazzi 107-108

108 A handwritten thank-you these days can particularly capture a person’s attention.
The thank-you note is an opportunity to reinforce a perception of continuity in a relationship and create an aura of goodwill. Mention any pertinent information you failed to bring up in your meeting.
Tips for follow-ups
Always express gratitude
Be sure to include a item of interest from you meeting or conversation—a joke or a share moment of humor.
Reaffirm whatever commitments you both made
Be brief and to the point
Always address the thank-you note to the person by name.
Use e-mail and snail mail.
Timeliness is key. Soon as possible after meeting.
Say thank-you often
Follow up with the original referrer, let know how went, and express appreciation

The Tipping Point/Gladwell 256-end

257 …we need a convenient shortcut, a way to make a lot out of a little, and that is what Tipping Points, in the end, are all about.

258 Those who are successful at creating social epidemics do not just do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions.

259 We are actually powerfully influenced by our surrounding, our immediate context, and the personalities of those around us.

…how acutely sensitive we are to even the smallest details of the everyday life. That’s why social change is so volatile and so often inexplicable, because it is the nature of all of us to be volatile and inexplicable.

Merely by manipulating the size of a group, we can dramatically improve its receptivity to new ideas. By tinkering with the presentation of information, we can significantly improve its stickiness. Simply by finding and reaching those few special people who hold so much social power, we can shape the course of social epidemics. In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push –in the right place—it can be tipped.

All Marketers Are Liars 90-100

94 …the right thing to do is to buy a product or service because of what it actually does.

96 In other words, irrational beliefs aren’t a distraction—they are an intrinsic part of the quality of the product.

Storytelling works when the story actually makes the product or service better.

97 A fib is a story that makes something better. Nobody really minds a fib, and if your consumers find out that your story isn’t based on facts, they’re not enraged.
A fraud, on the other hand, is a story based on little or nothing. It’s a story you tell primarily for personal gain. And worst of all, a fraud, when discovered (and it will be discovered), enrages your consumer—probably forever.

100 Just because people might believe your story doesn’t give you a right to tell it!

Marketing is now so well developed and so embedded in our culture that consumers longer make decisions based on a rational analysis of facts. Instead they decide based on the stories they’re told. To disclaim responsibility for a fraud is cowardly.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 249-251

259 Generating buzz calls for a different attitude, a different approach to the promotion of your product that is typical.
-Am I operating in a spirit of truth, honesty, and directness?
-Am I thinking in terms of networks?—Your objective is to maximize the number of positive comments about your product that flow among nodes in this network.
-Am I willing to work to accelerate contagion in the network. Intense personal effort may be required to push the word and to leapfrog directly to the most productive hubs or into untapped clusters.

251 Are You Listening to the Network?
You need to listen to the networks. The best way to do that is by talking to people.
Know what customers are saying
Use a possible approaches to hearing buzz.
Track what the industry is saying.

251 Are You Working with Network Hubs?

Hubs are the key to influencing the network, so finding and influencing hubs is crucial in building buzz.

Identify your network hubs.
Use all available techniques to find even more hubs
Track your hubs
Give your hubs what they need
Be receptive and responsive to their feedback and input

Have You Considered All Possible Techniques for Building Buzz?

Never Eat Alone/Ferrazzi 106-107

107 When I leave the meeting, I put the name and e-mail address of the new acquaintance in my database and program my PDA or BlackBerry to remind me in a month’s time to drop the person another e-mail, just to keep in touch.

In his follow-up, he always reiterates the commitments everyone has make, and asks when a second follow-up meeting can be arranged.

…don’t remind them of what they can do for you, but focus on what you might be able to do for them. It’s about giving them a reason to want to follow up.

The Tipping Point/Gladwell 254-256

255 It is possible to do a lot with a little.

…what they all have in common is their modestly…small budget that was used intelligently. …changed the context, changed the messenger, changed the message itself. …efforts were focused.

This is the first lesson of the Tipping Point. Starting epidemics requires concentrating resources on a few key areas. The Law of the Few says that Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics, which means that if you are interested in starting a word-of-mouth epidemic, your resources ought to be solely concentrated on those three groups. No one else matters.

256 The Band-Aid is an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems. The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.

All Marketers Are Liars 88-90

89 If a consumer figures something out or discovers it on her own, she’s a thousand times more likely to believe it than if it’s just something you claim.

In order to be believed, you must present enough of a change that the consumer chooses to notice it. But then you have to tell a story, not a lecture.

The process of discovery is more powerful that being told the right answer—because of course there is no right answer, and because even if there were, the consumer wouldn’t believe you!

90 Expectations are the engine of our perceptions.

…each element is at least as important as the item itself.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 248-249

249 People will pass on positive comments-the kind of buzz you want-only if the product or service really does impress them.

There is no point in stimulating the networks to create buzz unless your product meets the test:

Am I offering a quality product or service—The product has to work from day one and offering everything that was promised.

Does my product enhance the lives of people who use it?

Is my product visible-and can I help make it more so? Contagious products are often visible.

Am I offering something new? Something about your offering must be fresh and different.

Is my product ready?

Never Eat Alone/Ferrazzi 103-106

104 When your day is fueled by passion, filled with interesting people to share it with, reaching out will seem less like a challenge or a chore and more like an effortless consequence of the way you work.

105 When you meet someone with whom you want to establish a relationship, take the extra little step to ensure you won’t be lost in their mental attic.

106 The follow-up I remember best is the one I got first.

Good follow-up alone elevates you above 95% of your peers.

FOLLOW-UP IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN ANY FIELD

Give yourself between 12-24 hours after you meet someone to follow up.

It was a pleasure meeting you. We must keep in touch.

All Marketers Are Liars 74-88

75 Superstitions are nothing but incorrect theories based on snap judgments.

76 Humans are able to make extremely sophisticated judgments in a fraction of a second. And once they’ve drawn that conclusion, they resist changing it.

82 …the reason they buy stuff they want is because of the way it makes them feel.

83 But is the utility of the product the main way people shape their desires? No way!

84 Stories let us lie to ourselves. And those lies satisfy our desires. It’s the story, not the good or the service you actually sell, that pleases the consumer.

88 So growth starts with better questions. Questions about storytelling, not about commodities.

Subtlety matters.

You don’t get to just sit down and make up a story and expect that people will believe it merely because you want them to.

The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 239-248

HOW TO KEEP BUZZ ALIVE

246 Buzz is about newness, and when newness fades, buzz will decline.

Customer Involvement
246 The first element that will determine how much long-term buzz your company gets has to do with the degree of involvement your customers feel over time. The more they think about your product, the more they’ll talk about it.

New Customers
The second way to keep buzz going is to find new people who have not been exposed to the product.

It is also important to realize that younger generations who haven’t been exposed to your products are a fertile ground for new buzz.

Innovation

…talking is to come up with new and exciting improvements.

The companies that consistently introduce creative improvements that are worth talking about-find creative ways to market them-are those that get most of the buzz. Creativity is probably the most important factor is keeping it alive.

BUZZ WORKSHIP

Never Eat Alone/Ferrazzi 101-103

102 When our relationships are stronger, our businesses and careers are more successful.

Make a list of the things you’re most passionate about. Use your passion as a guide to when activities and events you should be seeking out.

103 Your passions and the events you build around them will create deeper levels of intimacy. Pay attention to matching the event to the particular relationship you’re trying to build.

ACTIVITES TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH BUSINESS AND PERSONAL FRIENDS

15 minutes and a cup of coffee.
Conferences
Invite someone to share a workout or hobby activity.
Meal
Special Event
Entertain at home.