Word of Mouth Marketing Book

"Organic word of mouth is created by products that get your customers to love you so much that they just can't shut up."

I rarely fall over myself getting the word out when I read a new book. Moreover, marketing, as I've been understanding it, has seemed to require some degree of deception.

Now, here is a book about marketing, about remarkable honesty and value and real service, and I love it so much that I just can't shut up.

Willmaster.com's business was built almost entirely on word of mouth. Half a million page views each and every month isn't exceptional, until one realizes word of mouth is responsible.

Yes, search engines help. Still, our positions in the SERPS are not what they might be if we wrote for the spiders. Our priority has always been to write for people.

Only rarely have we actually advertised in ezines or web sites other than our own.

Word of mouth has allowed Mari and me to live full time in a motorhome for over 7 years.

You see now why I took to this book like I did. It validates our business philosophy of excellent products and remarkable service and deception-free product description pages. For real. Actually living it.

But that's not why I'm going on and on about this.

The reason you can't shut me up is because of the many new ideas it has provided.

I learned the motivations that drive word of mouth conversations. And I'm comfortable with the stated rules of word of mouth marketing — me, who has always seen marketing with a prejudiced eye.

Word of mouth is what people say after you do what you do.

Word of mouth is the least expensive, free in many cases, and the most effective marketing there is — when you know how to do it.

Check these quotes from the book:

"You will get more word of mouth from making people happy than anything else you could possibly do."

"Marketing is what you do, not what you say."

"When you are thinking about marketing a new product, what you should really be thinking about is what people will say after they use it — its functionality, its quality, and how you treated them."

Word of mouth marketing, as presented in this book, can be used by the small, one-person startup business and by large corporations. It's a leveler of the playing field.

The book reveals things I had never considered.

For example, offering to pay people who are loudly and enthusiastically extolling your products may in fact make them feel cheapened. I remember several times when I blundered in that way without realizing the effect my actions may have.

The book is "Word of Mouth Marketing; How Smart Companies Get People Talking" by Andy Sernovitz.

Also by Andy Sernovitz, a word of mouth blog and newsletters.

Will Bontrager