World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories

by David Meerman Scott

A World Wide Rave ! What the heck is that ? A World Wide Rave is when people around the world are talking about you, your company, and your products. It's when communities eagerly link to your stuff on the Web. It's when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep. It's when tons of fans visit your Web site and your blog because they genuinely want to be there. Rules of the You can trigger a World Wide Just create something valuable that people want to share and make it easy for them to do so. What happens when people can't stop talking online about you, your company, and your products? A World Wide Rave is born that can propel a brand or company to seemingly instant fame and fortune. How do you create one? By learning the secret to getting links, YouTube, Facebook, and blog buzz to drive eager buyers to your virtual doorstep. For free. In World Wide Rave , David Meerman Scott, author of the award-winning hit book The New Rules of Marketing and PR , reveals the most exciting and powerful ways to build a giant audience from scratch.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Social Media, Writing, Leadership, Management, Communication

208 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2009

About the author

Our always-on, Web-driven world has new rules for competing and growing business. Advance planning is out – agile is IN! Those who embrace new ways will be far more successful than those who stay who stay stuck and afraid to change. No one knows more about using the new Real-Time tools and strategies to spread ideas, influence minds and build business than David Meerman Scott. It’s his specialty.

He’s a sales and marketing strategist who has spoken on all seven continents and in 40 countries to audiences of the most respected firms, organizations and associations.

David is author or co-author of ten books - three are international bestsellers. He is best known for The New Rules of Marketing & PR, now in its 6th edition, which has been translated into 29 languages and is a modern business classic with over 400,000 copies sold so far. David also authored Real-Time Marketing & PR, a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He is co-author of Marketing the Moon (with Rich Jurek) and Marketing Lessons from The Grateful Dead (with HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan).

Reviews

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to take from this book: build an online presence so people can find you, engage with your audience, create interesting content, share it for free, and you too could create a World Wide Rave. If you want some inspiration, google "viral marketing success stories" or something of the sort, and check out some of the results.

There. Now you don't have to read this book.

[Ed Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read! Getting Dated But Principles Hold

The principles of viral marketing hold up, and are spelled out exceptionally well in this well written, easy to read book. Engaging and still relevant, the book is on my best list. A comprehensive look at viral marketing that is a must read.

[Jeannie Hardeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great full length book absolutely full of ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Lots of stories and encouragement. At this point, the book is a little old and you can tell by some of the references but that really doesn't detract from it at all. Very helpful and well worth picking up

[Ilona · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about content marketing basics I've read so far.
Would benefit from deleting the bits about social media. This content gets old really fast. I mean, Myspace.

[Chip Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

2009, but not out of date ideas about marketing in the mobile communication era.

[Gary Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been an avid reader of David Meerman Scott’s blog for some time. I even have an Outlook task set so that I can remember to have my once a week look. As such, you won’t be that surprised that I would be a fan of his latest book, World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories. For all of us who look to promote ourselves on the web better, and that should be everyone who isn’t driving an ice cream truck – and some of these guys could use an idea or two – this book is an excellent starting place. Get your education here!

We all need something, some tool to bring our market to us. But more than that, we need to get them speaking about us in a positive manner and passionately spreading the word about our goods and services in a positive way. Your mind is this tool. Not in any esoteric way, but in a very practical and real way. David Meerman Scott shows us how everyone is looking for expertise and the best way to draw people to you is to share that expertise. Each and every one of us have something unique to offer and by offering this freely people (the market) want more and more and will be willing to pay.

David Meerman Scott provided many examples in the book of creating World Wide Rave but the one great example that really touched a nerve with me in the book had not so much to do with marketing online but rather a whole marketing philosophy. And it came from what most people would consider an unorthodox place. The “free giveaway” mentality is the Greatful Dead. First of all, the author and I split when it comes to his love of all things Dead – I have never really been that much of a fan but I have loads of friends who are among the faithful. David tells how the Dead have one of the greatest marketing systems going by simply allowing their fans to make bootleg copies of their numerous shows as well as taking pictures and video taping the experience. The author even listened to the concert he just attended on his drive back home. The Grateful Dead even incorporate this totally into their marketing plan! One can buy personalized photo albums of the experiences. By allowing the fans to make the bootleg copies they, the fans, share the copies and preserve their fond memories of the experience. And they share the experience with other fans and even those who had never been introduced to the band in the past.

The author is very passionate about his subject and throughout the book he urges the reader (yes, you!) to get started on creating your own World Wide Rave. One bit of advice that he did add that I thought was very interesting but extremely astute was that the reader should get on Twitter and keep everyone updated on what they are doing in real time. So if you want to know even more about creating your own World Wide Rave, get on Twitter and start following @dmscott. And while you are at it, tell him that @garydale sent ya!

[Victor Barger · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're at all familiar with social media and the marketing concept, it's unlikely you'll find anything new in World Wide Rave. However, if you're a businessperson who's just getting started, this book might be just the ticket; it's easy to understand and it's filled with interesting, real-life examples. In fact, it could easily have been published as part of the popular "For Dummies" series under the title "Social Media for Dummies".

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is easily digestible and is great for someone looking for a social media pep talk. I do think, however, that he oversimplifies the issues and takes the 'anyone can and should be doing this' argument too far. I also disagree with his argument that musicians would have been better served by letting Napster and other free file sharing continue. Meerman Scott suggests that such publicity would up their public exposure and therefore let them sell more in collateral merchandise. While I think such a position is patently unfair to content creators, I also think this business proposition is weak. To quote a blog post I read recently, 'Free is the new stupid.'

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An examination of what it takes for a marketing message to truly go viral, along with a number of fascinating case studies that illustrate these factors and demonstrate strategies that you can adapt for your own maarketing neecs. Great companion read for The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by the same author. It's a more general overview of marketing and PR in a web 2.0 world, while this is a more specific look at particular web 2.0 campaigns that have really teken off and used the new media to greatest advantage.

[Dana Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scott does a great job of story telling in this book, relating a number of examples of how companies are using the viral power of the Internet to create a following for their products and services. Most of the examples are of big company strategy, which as an entrepreneur I found a little hard to relate to. But as I listened to the audio book I found my mind wandering from the narrator's voice to ideas for my own book marketing business, and I made several notes of project ideas, including contests.

[Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very uneven -- in its advice, its pacing, and its readability. At times I found myself bored with the repetition and oversimplification whereas some chapters had me saying "YES!!" with great enthusiasm.

I will likely refer back to parts of this book but most of it was heavy handed refresher course for me. If new media is still new to you, World Wide Rave may be of interest. It offers best practices because there is no guarantee for how to make digital content go viral -- on that aspect I definitely agree with the author.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me a lot of Tribes by Seth Godin, but it definitely had a lot more practical ideas. I got it for free when he was giving it away to Kindle owners. I appreciated that because he wrote a lot about creating content then giving it away for free. If you're looking for ideas on using Web 2.0 or social networking sites to expand your ideas or business you should check it out. If you're not you probably won't get a whole lot out of the book.

[Anandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have no clue about social media and how to build relationships to improve your brand/business, you need to read David Meerman Scott's book! Even as someone who is pretty well skilled in Web 2.0, I found the tips he had to be useful and definitely applicable to what I'm doing. I love that he uses real case studies to illustrate how these ideas actually worked for others.

[Abdulaziz Alzain · Rating 4 out of 5]

World Wide Rave = how to spread the word more effectively to your audience. There's no more excuses that you don't have enough money to share your thoughts! It just needs the effort and social media sites to become a great storyteller worths to be talking about. My first advice is read the book and learn the basics of spreading the word.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommending this book to all the old school marketing folks I encounter. Great read for anyone who wants to know where we're headed, and how much the groundswell effect has already become a part of our lives.

[Aaron M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for web centric small business types who need some guidance when it comes to marketing on the web. As a developer I definitely understood how to use these tools, but Rave provides a real game plan for doing it right.

[Maria Mcdavis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the real life stories of tangible success in creating movements. David has broken down the concepts in a way that focuses the reader... This book is required reading for every business leader, ministry and non-profit!

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great full length book absolutely full of ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Lots of stories and encouragement. At this point, the book is a little old and you can tell by some of the references but that really doesn't detract from it at all. Very helpful and well worth picking up!

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book about an internet marketing campaign. It is useful to any busines and it has entertaining stories and examples about those who have used the Internet in unconventional ways to promote their business.

[Rdj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I would have written it. He's fresh and modern, without sounding like a bad grad student. He's done it with his blog and it's very inspiring. I plan on sending him a copy of my book. :)

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew most of what was taught in the book, but I did appreciate some of the reminders.

[Yukari Watanabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't need to have professional PR agency to make things happen now. This tiny book is filled with useful ideas.

[Puneet Agarwal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very impressive

[Martijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book full of examples how the web can work for you. I must say that Scott's live presentation on stage at SXSW in Austin was good, maybe better than the book :)

[Kimberly Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Easy to read with big, inspiring ideas & attitude!

[Jamie Pleasant · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is an easy read. It is very strategic in nature and does a fairly good job of bringing you up to speed with inbound marketing principles etc.

[Jamie Pleasant · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book. Well laid out and simple to understand. Great examples.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great idea on how to spread ideas; I took notes as I went through this book and I'm excited to implement some of them.

[Angela Randall]

Parts of this book are available to read in the free ebook "Lose Control of your Marketing", available here.

[Thefalconerswife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really wonderful book for those interested in sales, marketing or the executive team!