All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works--and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All

by Seth Godin

SO, WHAT TO DO NOW? Do you have a storytelling plan? I believe this needs to become an essential part of any marketing plan or business plan—something that every nonprofit, start-up, big business and politician that intends to succeed must draft. Fill in the blanks and you’re on your way. It starts with a discussion of which group you will tell your story to. The people in a group must share a worldview, a worldview that makes it likely they will sit up and take notice. Which worldview are you addressing? If you don’t get noticed, you’re invisible. You can’t tell a story and your marketing ends there and then. The story you’ll need to tell in order to get noticed must match the worldview of the people you’re telling it to, and it has to be clear and obvious. Which frame are you using? How do you frame your story so that people with that worldview will be aware of it, listen to it and believe it? What’s the story that’s worth noticing? Once you’ve framed it properly, you can tell a subtle story. Use frames to make the stories palatable to people who share a worldview. Tell a story that your audience cares about (and one you can learn to care about!). You only get one chance to tell this story—and it’s a story you’re going to have to live with. So pick a story that works, not one that your boss likes. How will you live your story? Be authentic. Live the story. Making promises you can’t keep or selling for the short term instead of the long term is a lousy trade-off. You have...