# All Marketers Are Liars  ## Metadata - Author: [[Seth Godin]] - Full Title: All Marketers Are Liars - Category: #books ## Highlights - Marketers are a special kind of liar. Marketers lie to consumers because consumers demand it. ([Location 109](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=109)) - Talented marketers understand that the prospect is ultimately telling himself the lie, so allowing him (and the rest of the target audience) to draw his own conclusions is far more effective than just announcing the punch line. ([Location 203](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=203)) - I believe that people tell themselves stories and then work hard to make them true. I call a story that a consumer believes a lie. I think that once people find a remarkable lie that will benefit them if it spreads, they selfishly tell the lie to others, embellishing it along the way. ([Location 280](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=280)) - Marketing is about spreading ideas, and spreading ideas is the single most important output of our civilization. ([Location 307](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=307)) - The biggest myth marketers believe: “I have money, which means that I am in charge. I have control over the conversation, over the airwaves, over your attention and over retailers.” ([Location 386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=386)) - Their worldview is the lens they use to determine whether or not they’re going to believe a story. As the great Red Maxwell said, “Lenses distort things.” The lens your consumers use shows them a different version of reality than it shows you or your colleagues or your other customers. ([Location 479](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=479)) - Your opportunity lies in finding a neglected worldview, framing your story in a way that this audience will focus on and going from there. ([Location 529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=529)) - Once we’ve made up our mind, once we’ve got some assumptions about causation and we’ve made some predictions, then we stick with them. We ignore contrary data for as long as we can get away with it and focus on the events we agree with. ([Location 897](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=897)) - When a person really needs something (food, water, shelter) he cares a great deal about the essence of the purchase. If he’s really hungry, the food is more important than the package. But being really hungry in our society is (fortunately) pretty rare. ([Location 1142](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1142)) - is the utility of the product the main way people shape their desires? No way! ([Location 1164](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1164)) - We don’t need what you sell, friend. We buy what we want. ([Location 1168](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1168)) - You don’t get to just sit down and make up a story and expect that people will believe it merely because you want them to. Consumers are too clever for that. ([Location 1220](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1220)) - The ideas are the same but the lie is different. And the lie is at least as important as the ideas inside. ([Location 1256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1256)) - Storytelling works when the story actually makes the product or service better. ([Location 1321](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1321)) - Just because people might believe your story doesn’t give you a right to tell it! ([Location 1374](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1374)) - Marketing is an awesomely powerful tool, and marketers share the same responsibilities everyone else does. ([Location 1464](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1464)) - Crafting a story that tricks people into making short-term decisions that they regret in the long run is the worst kind of marketing sin. Refusing to take responsibility for it afterward is just cowardice. ([Location 1466](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1466)) - Remember, the best stories promise to fulfill the wishes of a consumer’s worldview. They may offer: • a shortcut • a miracle • money • social success • safety • ego • fun • pleasure • belonging They can also play on fear—by promising to avoid the opposite of all the things above. ([Location 1644](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1644)) - The most important principle is this: you cannot succeed if you try to tell your competition’s story better than they can. It’s almost impossible to out-yell someone with the same story. ([Location 1664](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1664)) - The only stories that work, the only stories with impact, the only stories that spread are the “I can’t believe that!” stories. These are the stories that aren’t just repeatable: these are the stories that demand to be repeated. ([Location 1754](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1754)) - You succeed by being an extremist in your storytelling, then gracefully moving your product or service to the middle so it becomes more palatable to audiences that are persuaded by their friends, not by you. ([Location 1780](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1780)) - A talented marketer is someone who takes a story and expands it and sharpens it until it’s not true anymore (yet). Your goal should not (must not) be to create a story that is quick, involves no risks and is without controversy. Boredom will not help you grow. ([Location 1786](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1786)) - There are no small stories. Only small marketers. If your story is too small, it’s not a story, it’s just an annoying interruption. Kudos to Little Miss Match for taking a little product and turning it into a big story. Make your story bigger and bigger until it’s important enough to believe. ([Location 1809](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=1809)) - The hard part isn’t selling to them—it was identifying the right group and telling them the right story. You can’t change a person’s worldview easily, but you can take advantage of the opportunity that presents itself when the world changes it for them. ([Location 2004](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=2004)) - Nothing is static. Nothing stays the way it was. And everything you build or design or market is going to change the marketplace. ([Location 2019](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=2019)) - There are four reasons why your new release failed: 1. No one noticed it. 2. People noticed it but decided they didn’t want to try it. 3. People tried it but decided not to keep using it. 4. People liked it but didn’t tell their friends. ([Location 2036](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=2036)) - Step one is to offer a thrilling story to the people at the edges who want to hear it. Step two is to back that story up with authentic action and proof that it works. Then the bet is that the worldview of “I want to be like my more successful colleagues” will enable the believers to overcome the desire among their peers to take no risk. ([Location 2175](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00315QK8M&location=2175))