(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)
По сути, эта книга является расширенным до книги большим блогом, примерное содержание которого можно найти в интернете совершенно бесплатно. Если же читателю лень искать информацию в интернете он или она ничего не потеряют, если не прочтут эту книгу, т.к. книга на половину состоит из рекламы автора, т.е. рекламы подкастов, Интернет-ресурсов автора, а так же из самоочевидных советов: I have a lot more examples of breaking the ice that may inspire you for this exercise. Make sure to check them out in chapter 2 of your Superfans Bonus Companion Course, which you can get access to at…; My “100 Email” challenge, which you can find at…; By the way, you can subscribe to both my podcasts at…. К таким советам относится глава, в которой автор рекомендует вступить в интернет-сообщества или даже завязывать общение в реальной жизни с целью узнать у людей их потребности. Хочется спросить: разве это не самоочевидно для любого человека, который занимается бизнесом?
To move people from casual to active, you need to create a moment of activation—something that connects them to you and makes them go, “Oh, that’s different, and I like it.” You need to speak to people in a way they’ll understand and appreciate, addressing their needs and pain points in the right language. And of course, you need to deliver them value! Give them a taste of what they’ll get from you if they subscribe and stick around.
Кстати, довольно бесполезный совет, особенно учитывая, что все компании или даже блогеры предлагают какую-то ценность. Я хочу сказать, что никто не предлагает товар вообще без какой-либо ценности.
Личность автора, так же может многое сказать о содержание книги, как например вот эта цитата.
During a lunch break at work one day, I came across an edgier blog in the personal finance space called I Will Teach You to Be Rich, authored by Ramit Sethi. I’d heard about him and his blog, but had stayed away because the name was off- putting to me. You’ll teach me to be rich—really? I’d read all the strategies about long-term, safe investments—or so I thought.
I clicked on a link from another website to one of Ramit’s new articles about how to save thousands of dollars in ten minutes with one simple phone call. It seemed too good to be true, but ten minutes? I could spare ten minutes to see if it would work. Here’s what Ramit suggested in his article:
1.Call your cable company.
2.Read his script to negotiate a lower monthly payment.
3.Enjoy the extra $.
During lunch, I called my cable company, followed the script, and guess what? It worked! I was able to save 20 percent per month on my bill in just ten minutes. I was hooked. Ramit became my favorite blogger. I went back into his archive and read every single post. I downloaded his ebook. And later, I eventually paid for his products.
Возможно, только я нахожу такое поведение автора странным, но совет «не покупайте хлам, которым не будете пользоваться (а так же дополнительную одежду, если у вас уже полон гардероб), а инвестируйте в ценные бумаги», можно найти на просторах YouTube, но главное, этот совет автора очень хорошо показывает, что на самом деле автору этой книги нечего сказать и что все советы он, с большой долей вероятности, нашёл в других подобных книгах, на YouTube или в интернет в целом. Кстати, автор хоть и пишет о том, что он нашёл ещё какие-то ценные советы у Ramit, но конкретно о них не пишет (скорее всего, никаких ценных советов и нет или же они носят точно такой же вид самоочевидных советов). И ещё. Я бы, как и большинство интернет-пользователей, ограничился сугубо бесплатным контентом, что в очередной раз поднимает проблему потребления исключительно бесплатного контента, но не платного, который предлагают такие вот блогеры.
As Walid says, “I just put myself out there with zero followers, and I started helping photographers little nugget by little nugget with lighting tips, composition tips, business advice, how to talk to a customer, how to negotiate, how to get out of a heated situation.” Gradually, he built up a huge following, mainly thanks to his generosity and the small, quick wins he helped his fellow photographers achieve every day.
Finally, many companies use the small, quick win to put people’s fears at ease and get them excited to face a challenge as part of their new-user-onboarding process.
Во-первых, контент должен быть ценным, что опять же является самоочевидной вещью, а во-вторых и в главных, количество фолловеров может никак не влиять на реальную прибыль, о чём автор умалчивает. И это я не говорю про то, что этот совет никакого отношения не имеет к маркетингу (и бизнесу в целом).
And to do that effectively, you have to amplify the problem. Amplification is essentially making it very clear to someone what will happen if they don’t take action.
<…>
Focusing on a potentially negative future picture will capture the attention of a percentage of people in your audience and motivate them to take action.
Идея выше является стандартной любого учебника и/или курса по рекламе. Это называется негативная реклама или реклама с негативным посылом. К примеру, реклама на основе страха (Fear-based marketing) основана на страхе человека потеря что-то, будь то здоровье, деньги или статус. Профессиональная литература по рекламе и/или маркетингу намного лучше и комплекснее объясняет эту тему. Автор этой книги уделяет этому лишь один абзац, из которого довольно трудно понять идею автора. Опять же, такое чувство, что автор где-то подсмотрел тему Fear-based marketing и попытался своими словами передать её суть, попутно привязав к своим советам.
You see, your audience won’t be buying your product or service—they’ll be buying the change that product or service offers them. They’ll be buying the way it will help them transform their lives. They’ll be buying the solution, and you need to tell them a compelling story about how that solution works.
Опять же, пересказ базовых маркетинговых концепций словами автора («Клиент покупает не сверло, а дырку в стене») выглядит плохо и лучше всего обратиться к профессиональной литературе по маркетингу (она не такая тяжелая, как может показаться и в разы более информативная и полезная, нежели вот эта макулатура).
I’ve used this strategy really successfully in my own business. In the early days, when a person commented on my blog, I’d reply to the comment, then I’d go to their website, read their latest article, and comment on the article. Then, I’d send them an email thanking them for the comment and complimenting them on their article, pointing out something specific I enjoyed about it. Although I can’t get to every blog comment the same way today, I still use a version of this strategy: often, when a person thanks me for something on social media, I’ll send them a direct message via video, thanking them for following my blog or listening to my podcast.
Совет уровня школьника, вот только стоит ли ради таких советов покупать книгу? Я так не думаю. Книга бесполезна не только для маркетологов, но даже для обычных людей, которые решили стать блогерами.
Essentially, this book is a blog post expanded into book form, the content of which can be found online for free. If the reader is too lazy to look for information online, he or she won’t miss out on anything by skipping this book, since half of it consists of the author’s self-promotion—that is, ads for his podcasts and websites—as well as self-evident advice: “I have a lot more examples of breaking the ice that may inspire you for this exercise.” Be sure to check them out in Chapter 2 of your Superfans Bonus Companion Course, which you can access at…; My “100 Email” challenge, which you can find at…; By the way, you can subscribe to both of my podcasts at…. One example of such advice is the chapter in which the author recommends joining online communities or even striking up conversations in real life in order to find out what people need. I can’t help but ask: isn’t this self-evident to anyone involved in business?
To move people from casual to active, you need to create a moment of activation—something that connects them to you and makes them go, “Oh, that’s different, and I like it.” You need to speak to people in a way they’ll understand and appreciate, addressing their needs and pain points in the right language. And of course, you need to deliver them value! Give them a taste of what they’ll get from you if they subscribe and stick around.
By the way, that’s pretty useless advice, especially considering that all companies—and even bloggers—offer some kind of value. What I mean is that no one offers a product that has absolutely no value at all.
The author’s personality can also say a lot about the book’s content, as this quote illustrates.
During a lunch break at work one day, I came across an edgier blog in the personal finance space called I Will Teach You to Be Rich, authored by Ramit Sethi. I’d heard about him and his blog, but had stayed away because the name was off- putting to me. You’ll teach me to be rich—really? I’d read all the strategies about long-term, safe investments—or so I thought.
I clicked on a link from another website to one of Ramit’s new articles about how to save thousands of dollars in ten minutes with one simple phone call. It seemed too good to be true, but ten minutes? I could spare ten minutes to see if it would work. Here’s what Ramit suggested in his article:
1. Call your cable company.
2. Read his script to negotiate a lower monthly payment.
3. Enjoy the extra $.
During lunch, I called my cable company, followed the script, and guess what? It worked! I was able to save 20 percent per month on my bill in just ten minutes. I was hooked. Ramit became my favorite blogger. I went back into his archive and read every single post. I downloaded his ebook. And later, I eventually paid for his products.
Perhaps I’m the only one who finds the author’s behavior strange, but the advice to “don’t buy junk you won’t use (or extra clothes if your closet is already full), but invest in securities” can be found all over YouTube. More importantly, this advice clearly shows that the author of this book actually has nothing original to say and that he most likely found all of his advice in other similar books, on YouTube, or on the internet in general. By the way, although the author mentions that he found some other valuable advice from Ramit, he doesn’t go into detail about it (most likely, there isn’t any valuable advice, or it’s just more of the same self-evident advice). And one more thing. Like most internet users, I would limit myself to strictly free content, which once again raises the issue of consuming only free content—and not the paid content—offered by bloggers like this one.
As Walid says, “I just put myself out there with zero followers, and I started helping photographers little nugget by little nugget with lighting tips, composition tips, business advice, how to talk to a customer, how to negotiate, how to get out of a heated situation.” Gradually, he built up a huge following, mainly thanks to his generosity and the small, quick wins he helped his fellow photographers achieve every day.
Finally, many companies use the small, quick win to put people’s fears at ease and get them excited to face a challenge as part of their new-user-onboarding process.
First, the content must be valuable—which, again, goes without saying—and second, and most importantly, the number of followers may have no impact whatsoever on actual profits, a fact the author fails to mention. And I’m not even getting into the fact that this advice has nothing to do with marketing (or business in general).
And to do that effectively, you have to amplify the problem. Amplification is essentially making it very clear to someone what will happen if they don’t take action.
<…>
Focusing on a potentially negative future picture will capture the attention of a percentage of people in your audience and motivate them to take action.
The idea described above is a standard concept in any textbook and/or course on advertising. It is called negative advertising or advertising with a negative message. For example, fear-based marketing is based on people’s fear of losing something—whether it be their health, money, or status. Professional literature on advertising and/or marketing explains this topic much better and in greater depth. The author of this book devotes only one paragraph to it, and it’s quite difficult to grasp the author’s point from that paragraph alone. Again, it feels as though the author came across the topic of fear-based marketing somewhere and tried to convey its essence in his own words, while tying it in with his advice along the way.
You see, your audience won’t be buying your product or service—they’ll be buying the change that product or service offers them. They’ll be buying the way it will help them transform their lives. They’ll be buying the solution, and you need to tell them a compelling story about how that solution works.
Again, the author’s rephrasing of basic marketing concepts (“The customer isn’t buying a drill; they’re buying a hole in the wall”) comes across poorly, and it’s best to turn to professional marketing literature (it’s not as difficult as it might seem, and it’s far more informative and useful than this trash).
I’ve used this strategy really successfully in my own business. In the early days, when a person commented on my blog, I’d reply to the comment, then I’d go to their website, read their latest article, and comment on the article. Then, I’d send them an email thanking them for the comment and complimenting them on their article, pointing out something specific I enjoyed about it. Although I can’t get to every blog comment the same way today, I still use a version of this strategy: often, when a person thanks me for something on social media, I’ll send them a direct message via video, thanking them for following my blog or listening to my podcast.
It's advice on a high school level—but is it really worth buying a book just for advice like that? I don't think so. The book is useless not only for marketers, but even for ordinary people who've decided to become bloggers.