Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Seducing Strangers: How to Get People to Buy What You're Selling

Rate this book
How to get someone, somewhere, to do something.
 
The job is using words, pictures, stories, and music to seduce strangers. In the industrial, mass-media, consumer economy of the past, the job was called advertising, and “Mad Men” did it. In today’s service-based, social media-focused, information economy, the job is called life, and everyone does it.
 Here’s how you can do it. And do it better.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2015

58 people are currently reading
747 people want to read

About the author

Josh Weltman

2 books1 follower

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
85 (26%)
4 stars
123 (38%)
3 stars
85 (26%)
2 stars
22 (6%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Profile Image for shanghao.
291 reviews102 followers
February 5, 2017
Breezy concise primer/refresher for ad agency directors.

Good catch about the prevalent reluctance in the ad industry for competitor bashing nowadays. Politics of course are all for it: the last US elections have proven that smear campaigns are effective.
Profile Image for Shelhorowitzgreenmkt.
64 reviews11 followers
March 30, 2022
Real-life ad man Weltman was a co-producer of the Mad Men TV show for several years. And this book has a lot of good advice for marketers, especially those whose strategies rely heavily on advertising. More importantly, Weltman leads off with excellent lessons in consumer psychology—and to me, those are some of the best insights in the book. A few examples:

* Happiness is not about what you have, but what you EXPECT to have—and how closely that matches reality (p. 10)
* Forget “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” The reality is that once you build that mousetrap—and whether it’s better is subjective—you have to TELL the world (p. 11). For every example like Google, where the world actually did beat a path to its virtual door, thousands of businesses foundered with excellent products strangled by poor marketing.
* Never do a good promotion for a bad product; it will kill your business (p. 12)
* Solving customer problems is more about DISCOVERY than invention; we’re more curious than creative (p. 13)
* (My favorite) Advertising (which I would broaden to include marketing generally) is about CONFIRMING, not changing, prospects’ minds (pp. 14-16)
* Engage both adrenaline (emotional response) and dopamine (explanation); if the main headline confuses, the subhead must explain—or vice-versa (pp 25-28). Emotion cements the brand, while facts cement the sale (pp. 38-40).

Weltman also provides the recipe for a successful advertising developer: keen observer; good listener; endlessly curious; and, interestingly, “pathological inability to lie” in their ads (pp. 15-16, emphasis added). He noted that even Mad Men’s Draper wrote truthful ads, even though truth in other aspects of his life was often lacking.

Advertising [or marketing] is a strange business because different companies (or parts of a company) are responsible for making the brand promise (the agency or marketing department) and for keeping or exceeding that promise (design, manufacturing, distribution, etc.). Both are required to build a brand (p. 33).

For Weltman, successful marketing answers one of four questions, each used at a different stage in the customer lifecycle—and each requiring different ads (or other marketing messages):

1. What is it? (aimed at prospects who don’t know the product or company)
2. Why do I need it now? (creating scarcity or urgency or bargain-frenzy among those who are wavering or not yet committed—with these, be careful not to cannibalize the 20 percent who would buy anyway without a discount or other incentive)
3. What makes it different? (why they should choose you over a competitor)
4. Who else thinks it’s good? (social proof and community building—these ads are aimed at your existing customers, to turn them into raving fans)

By far the biggest portion of the book explores these four types, the situations to use them in, and what you can expect to happen. The important thing is that each marketing piece should only address one of the four, because the different messages aim at different market segments with very different needs.

I’m a long-time believer in segmenting the market; if you’ve heard me speak, you’ve probably heard me discuss marketing differently to Deep Greens, Lazy Greens, Non-Greens, and Green-Hostiles. But for me, the big insight of this book is to also segment by stage in the buying process and the lifetime customer cycle. And I like the idea of using tag lines that unify these different stages (p. 61).

The market also shifts by demographics and psychographics, of course. In one of many case studies, Weltman goes through the process of advertising an SUV specifically to communitarian Generation Y, with a brilliant spot where sequential users do something cool with the car, then toss the keys to the next user (pp. 75-77). That’s useless to individualistic, antiauthoritarian GenXers but sings to digital natives Millennials who create their own participatory Internet daily (pp. 147-148).

Another counter-intuitive case study involves setting expectations low enough that a shaky brand can keep its promise (pp. 91-93)—an advertising heresy! And a refreshing admission that not all marketers believe in the products they’re hired to pitch. (Personally, I turn down assignments that go against my values or my quality standards.)

And I love his focus on the power of the right words, noting again that persuasion requires both fact and emotion. That means ruthlessly going over copy drafts to change weak words like “hungry” into powerful ones like “voracious” (p. 120). And remembering that once your prospect agrees to your key principle, persuasion is happening.

Unlike most marketing authors I’ve read, Weltman sees online as fundamentally different than offline marketing. The final nine chapters focus on online: how to demonstrate values and vision through empathy, what stories to tell to whom (pp. 161-162), four key strategic questions (p. 165), and why to change people’s sense of what’s possible (167-168).
Profile Image for Brittany.
494 reviews17 followers
February 5, 2017
I'd love to host a book study with some other English teachers. Great insights, especially into audience.
Profile Image for Taylor.
305 reviews12 followers
August 21, 2017
Fun book, good information, and a little bit inspiring, but not the end all be all of advertising books. I naturally enjoyed his little stories about working on Mad Men and wish there were maybe 2 or 3 more good ones. However, throughout the book Weltman refers to other books about advertising which I immediately looked up on Goodreads. They all have over 4 stars and are now in my 'to-read' list.
Profile Image for Laureen Peltier.
Author 1 book24 followers
December 6, 2015
I'm not a marketing person and I find most marketing books a little intimidating and more than boring. But Weltman blends story with facts in a very Gladwell-like manner. I particularly liked his Doritos story where Weltman explained that Doritos was marketing to mothers (who bought the product) and he changed it to marketing to kids (who ate the product). This books explains why people respond to advertising and how to ask the right questions when considering advertising for anything. It's entertaining, easy to read and practical.

I think at the heart of us, we all advertise to some degree, and more times than not, we are marketing ourselves. This book helped me in developing a blog for my consulting business.

If you find human behavior interesting and you want to understand a little more how to utilize advertising to your advantage, than this book will delight you.
151 reviews2 followers
January 5, 2019
“Persuading is about getting someone to do your will. Selling is about making your proposition, goods, or services attractive, visible, and well-priced…To achieve certain business goals, companies and organizations…need to get emotional.”

At a time when everything screams ‘social media is king’, it’s great to read a current marketing book that hasn’t forgotten about what really matters, the message and the way it’s delivered. Don’t get me wrong, social media is great for what it does and online advertising is still very new and underpriced however, it’s a small part of marketing and advertising as a whole. Certainly, one of the best uses of funds for small marketing budgets, more certainly not the only place you should be focusing if you have the budget. This book covers every major aspect of marketing (including digital), giving strengths and weaknesses of all of them.

It’s a great perspective reading about advertising from someone who was very successful in Madison Avenue type businesses. With a career of successful experience, Josh Weltman is both entertaining and educating, while remaining current and not coming off as ‘last generation’.

“Effective persuasion leverages people’s inherent beliefs. It doesn’t change or control them.”

One of my favorite sections actually had nothing to do directly with advertising, it was about personal success. Loosely summed up, he tells a story about what happened when he started in advertising. First he had a very successful boss who was a Midwest football star complete with looks and charisma, after trying to imitate his style, he failed miserably. His second very successful boss was a large overweight man who was very energetic and would even get on tables for presentations. Again, he tried to emulate his style and failed miserably. It wasn’t until he figured out that he needed to try and use his own style. He was an apprehensive and slightly nervous type person, so he started building his presentations around that, and found his initial success. It wasn’t because he had great charisma, or was incredibly entertaining that he succeeded, it’s because he was true to his self and people could pick up on it.

“The difference between winners and losers is that a winner is willing to walk away a winner. A loser keeps playing until he has lost.”

It was a great section because so many of us get wrapped up in learning material and then trying to emulate it exactly. What’s going to give you the best result is to learn material and adapt it to who you are, implementing your own version. Be true to who you are, and make that work for you.
74 reviews1 follower
August 6, 2023
I read three books on marketing back to back to back. Each book covers similar topics, but in a unique way. This book is short and to the point, has lots of examples and takeaways, is intriguing and funny, and covers more than just marketing.

One example, I read the book Never Split the Difference. Chris Voss talks about a negotiator who says it's 10 years from now and we're celebrating a win; what does the deal look like?. The author says he tells clients it's a year from now and we're celebrating a win, what did we do? There were other similarities between the two books.

Seducing Strangers is very practical. I'm doing a few reviews today, and bemoaned the similarities of impractical books written by academics. Practical books share positive features. One, there's something for the reader to do. Another, thoughts in practical books tend to be similar despite being on disparate topics - e.g., from this book "In order to succeed in collaboration, you must know what's motivating the people you're working with." This idea is about more than marketing. It could be in a book on marriage counseling.

Of the three books I just read, I think this one is the best bang for your buck: it has great information, is short, and is easy to reference with a bunch of short chapters. I would never read just one book on a topic. But if I did, I might recommend this book for marketing.
Profile Image for Chris Weatherburn.
Author 1 book1 follower
May 3, 2020
Book about advertising written by someone who contributed to producing Mad Men, the successful TV series.

When promoting or selling things it is not wise to try to get people to do things they don't want to do. Better to highlight to them what they do want. Then show that your brand or product facilitates this. So, when selling first get somebody to agree to a potential need, then bring out the potential solution.

Realise when giving presentations people generally do want you to come up with a good idea and succeed. Your boss doesn't want to punish you, they actually rely on you coming up with a good idea.

To be good at marketing remember to sell to people to help them become what they aspire to be like.
Profile Image for Ramon.
19 reviews
August 23, 2018
3 Big ideas found in the book:

1. The better a message works the first time, the worse it will work the next time. The more a message successfully reduces doubt, the less doubt there is to reduce.

2. Those who feel deep down that they are losers, will play until their suspicions are confirmed.

3. When you get a yes, stop talking, stop selling, stop seducing, stop doing everything you’re doing. Just get up, shake hands and walk away winner.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for John Riselvato.
Author 17 books4 followers
March 6, 2020
Pretty interesting read from one of the advertisement gurus that helped with the TV series ‘Mad Men’. What i got most out of the book was the last section about the digital world (internet) and marketing. I ended up even inventing my own little acronym for the types of marketing: PPLP

Advertising to someone to hit them with:
Possibilities
Probabilities
Legacy
Position
... and you’ll do well to making your next product a success.
Profile Image for Jorge Cavazos.
Author 2 books17 followers
November 10, 2017
I learned A LOT. If you're even mildly interested on how to get someone someplace to do something, read this book.
Profile Image for Cody.
174 reviews1 follower
January 24, 2018
Awesome little book. Straightforward ideas with very little fluff, and I enjoyed the anecdotes about working on Mad Men.
Profile Image for Leilani Martin.
159 reviews
March 4, 2019
A lot of great information included in here.

I’m not in advertising, but found a lot of helpful tips to selling.

I learned quite a bit!
Profile Image for Matt Steinman.
2 reviews
November 17, 2019
Excellent read. Might have to reread to entrain some of the concepts into my head. Must read for digital marketers who want to disrupt their industry.
58 reviews
July 15, 2021
Good book about the big picture of advertising but definitely doesn’t get down to the nitty gritty.
130 reviews1 follower
May 22, 2022
Selling Is Art Always Needs To Be Updated. . .❤‍🔥🥳👌🏽 #UnderstandingStrangersMattersMost❤️ #SellingWhatWeHaveGivesBestFeel🤩
Profile Image for Alan Luna.
15 reviews
January 29, 2025
Solid book about finding creative ways to get people to buy what you’re selling. Whether that be ideas, products, or a mode of thought. A bit repetitive, but still good.
Profile Image for Terrie Schweitzer.
15 reviews
July 22, 2015
I didn't really expect to enjoy this book so much or get so excited about it. I chose it because of my fascination with "Mad Men" (Weltman was a consultant to the show) but found some really thought-provoking stuff related to my work—so much so that I ordered the hard copy after reading it on the Kindle so i can mark it up. There's a type of writing I love to read: when someone gives words and shape to something that just feels like intuitive space to me. Weltman's genius may be that he took a topic that I found uninteresting and even distasteful and turned it into something I now see as fascinating and more emotionally neutral. He also gave me some tools for how to discuss copy and to give some rational voice to the feeling of "it just sounds better this way."

Some of his pronouncements and examples of the online space fall a bit flat. But the underlying concepts that are the focus of the book are gold.

As a birder, I've found that just sitting in a parking lot can be fascinating stuff. Now I can have some of that experience when I see advertisements and can deconstruct them a bit to see why they work (or don't). Now if we can just wield this power for good...
Profile Image for Dane Cobain.
Author 22 books322 followers
April 19, 2015
Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

This book breaks all of the rules. Seriously, it has two subtitles. I have no idea of how to punctuate this within a normal sentence, so I’m just going to do this:

Josh Weltman, co-producer of Mad Men – Seducing Strangers: How to Get People to Buy What You’re Selling [The Little Black Book of Advertising Secrets]

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about the actual book! Weltman is an advertising industry veteran with a lot of knowledge to teach you, in the form of a series of perceptive essays on all sorts of different subjects. On occasion, it feels a little bit too gut-based for my liking, but then the author does talk about this exact phenomenon inside the manuscript.

So it’s a pretty good book for anyone who works agency-side, and my ‘executive’ creative director would love it.
Profile Image for Omar M. Khateeb.
121 reviews17 followers
February 9, 2017
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. As a marketer, this book made me realize how much value there is in learning from old school advertising. They didnt have fancy tools and technology like we do today. They had to run ads that got people to take action. Here's on of my favorite takeaways:

FOUR REALISTIC BUSINESS GOALS COMPANIES CAN HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH ADVERTISING:
1. Increase inquiries by making people curious.
2. Boost sales by giving customers temporary opportunities or limited time offers.
3. Improve market share or get a bigger piece of the pie by reminding people what makes the company or its products and services special
4. Build or defend profit margins by aligning the company’s philosophy or reason for being with its customer’s philosophy or reason for being.
Profile Image for Senna Brata.
4 reviews57 followers
February 16, 2016
As a student of one of the best business school in my country, I did not expect this book to be such a valuable source of information on marketing. Weltman's writing is excellent, providing insights and models while presenting real-world cases (which are his own experiences as a marketing directors in various ad agencies) for every piece of advice he preached. The book's quality itself is also top-notch, with a thick and durable paper for the covers (pressed/embossed to mimic leather and feels soft to the touch) and high-quality papers for the contents.
Profile Image for Aditya.
1 review5 followers
August 21, 2015
This is the most enjoyable textbook I've ever read. It is appropriate for students and also practitioners. Josh did a beautiful storytelling on this book. I love to read it word by word. Every page contains great lessons. He redefined advertising, based on his experience in old-fashioned advertising and also new media in this digital age. I really love this book, and I'm recommending this book to anyone who wants to know more about advertising, especially for creative people.
Profile Image for Garima Mamgain.
44 reviews18 followers
November 26, 2015
at most bookstores these days all marketing related books are on Digital marketing - this book is different. It is on Josh Weltman's take on communication in general. His insights into very basics of marketing is great. What i found most interesting was his bold views on content and how it is only a figment of imagination mediums that thrive on it.
It is a quick read and a good for all in the business of marketing and communications.
Profile Image for Manopo.
11 reviews
February 12, 2016
you can get knowledge for seducing people after reading this book....they tell you how make people curious and attracting about what you had make....using words, pictures, etc. The main idea of this book i think four steps for making good advertising. That is introducing your service or product, Limit time offer (LTO), what makes your product different than others, and keeping your margin size of selling.
Profile Image for Lou Anders.
Author 39 books202 followers
May 31, 2016
Seducing Strangers was a fascinating read. This relatively slight book packs a lot of information. Before I was even a third of the way in, it had me rethinking my approach to online marketing and promotions, and I can see this being one of the few books that I refer back to frequently in years to come. Meanwhile, it's had the ancillary effect of making me want to watch Mad Men again! Recommended.
Profile Image for Patrick Tay.
7 reviews
May 12, 2016
Much as I love the US series "Mad Men", I love this book more. Written by Joshua Weltman, co-producer of "Mad Men", the writer provides the writer with the gist of advertisement without too much elaboration, and I find much of the insights in the book useful not only in the advertising industry but also in aspects of corporate or personal branding.
Profile Image for Linda Tapp.
72 reviews3 followers
June 1, 2016
A good book on advertising with lots of ideas to think about - not only in the pure marketing/advertising sense but also in getting people to do what you want. I can apply many things to training I deliver as well as volunteer work I do where I have to get other people to part with their money. It's a fairly quick read.
5 reviews
June 19, 2015
Quick, easy, informative primer on advertising.

Each section has a little lesson that clearly took the author some time and effort to learn. Good lessons that can apply beyond the advertising field.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.