Unleashing The Ideavirus
By Seth Godin
Simon & Schuster, 1999 - 255 pages

Seth Godin writes about social observations and then applies them to the world of business. For example, this book is about "viral/word of mouth marketing" whereas his prior book was about permission based marketing and its impact on communications with customers. His recently released book, Survival is not Enough, is about "survival of the fittest" via his Darwinian-like take on business.

I read permission marketing some years ago and really enjoyed it as it refreshed my thoughts on customer satisfaction and interaction. Then, this book came out and it really changed my paradigm about the growth aspect of businesses and how "viral marketing" could have a profound impact on an upstart Internet companies growth trajectory. I've read Gladwell's The Tipping Point and I must say, this book is better written and has examples more applicable to business.

Before buying the book I encourage everyone to download a copy of the free .pdf version of the book.  A free copy of Unleashing the IdeaVirus can be downloaded @ www.ideavirus.com/downloads/IdeavirusReadandShare.pdf

I found myself reading the book quite quickly as I was consumed by it as it was filled with interesting ideas about how to get people interested in what you have to offer. The principles mentioned in the book could be applied to anything you do in life that you want others to notice but I found the examples on Internet businesses to be fascinating. Counter to traditional marketing wisdom, which tries to count, measure, and manipulate the spread of information, Godin argues that the information can spread most effectively from customer to customer, rather than from business to customer. Godin calls this powerful customer-to-customer dialogue the ideavirus and cheerfully egg marketers on to create and environment where their ideas can replicate.

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur this book is not a "how-to" book with a step-by-step approach to marketing but, if you read permission marketing and then this book you will have a VERY THOROUGH understanding about how to market on the Internet and grow your business.

Other useful books on marketing that I have read or been recommended include Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and Unleashing the Ideavirus (both great reads), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Jack Trout and All Reis (excellent authors and a good read), Robert Cialdini's Influence and Ogilvy on Advertising or Wizard of Ads for help in sales copying.

About the Author: Seth Godin was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry's leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998.  After Yoyodyne was sold Godin joined Yahoo as head of permission-marketing where he helped integrate direct marketing, permission marketing, and Internet promotions into the company's Fusion Marketing Online program for its clients worldwide.  In January 2000, Godin left to pursue personal interests and continues to serve as an external advisor, consultant, and friend to Yahoo! Godin currently is a Fast Company contributing editor. He writes about change and how corporations and individuals can successfully deal with the massive rifts our economy is facing. Mr. Godin holds an MBA from Stanford and was called "The Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week.