All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin Book Review

by Bryn Youngblut on June 4, 2009

sethgodinI read this book a month ago so it’s not totally fresh in my mind but I think I can do an alright job at summing it up. This was the first Seth Godin book I have read and I can honestly say I loved it and I didn’t want to put it down until I was finished. I only ever have time to read when I’m either flying or on vacation lying on the beach, so I started and finished the book while in Cuba in May. I found the book repeated the same ideology a lot about how you simply need to tell a story to your customer. Customers want to hear and believe your story, and believe it’s what they need.

The title of the book itself; “All Marketers Are Liars” is really a lie in itself. Marketers aren’t liars. They are just storytellers.  It’s the consumers who are liars. As consumers, we lie to ourselves every day. We lie to ourselves about what we wear, where we live, how we vote and what we do at work. (excerpt from the back of the book)

I think the main thing I love about Seth’s books are that when he explains things he usually tells a short story or example of a real life company or person to help you visualize what he is explaining.

I first read about this book at my friend Shoemoneys blog, if you want to buy it I would highly recommend it. Here’s an amazon link to purchase it, I am using Shoemoneys amazon link so he gets credit for any purchases since he was the one who inspired me to first purchase it.

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Meji June 4, 2009 at 10:49 am

i agree. You read the stories on Sales pages and you’re like PLEASE…I remember for my product I wrote a true story though – I guess that’s why it doesnt perform that well.

Mejis last blog post..Pay It Forward For The Global Community

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2 Spencer June 4, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Hey Bryn,

I am currently reading Purple Cow by Seth Godin. It’s about how marketing has changed from just needing some good advertisements to sell product, to needing to create an amazing product that appeals to early adopters and becomes viral. It has really provided me with a lot of insight towards my music business. I’m going to check out A. M. A. L. when I’ve finished this one.
Cheers

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Bryn Youngblut Reply:

Yeah I need to get Purple Cow too, I just finished the Dip and it was short but good.

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3 mariana June 17, 2009 at 10:38 pm

Hi! I think its not good to say that “all” marketers do lie. I have discovered a very helpful website for effective marketing. I think those who are interested about sales should take a visit to this website. Hope this could help. Sell it with mrkt.it

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4 Daily Trader June 18, 2009 at 5:42 am

Seth Godin is a pretty good liar … err i mean writer, i have read some of his articles online, and i m pretty impressed by his writing style.

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5 Craig June 20, 2009 at 7:54 am

I can recommend this book too.. first Seth Godin book I had read and it is really good.

I am currently halfway through Meatball Sundae by Seth as well.. so far so good as well.

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6 joe smith July 13, 2009 at 5:21 pm

This was my least favorite Seth Godin book. But he’s still the man.

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7 Marcus July 14, 2009 at 12:46 pm

My favorite books were Permission Marketing, The Idea Virus and Purple Cow. The others you can live without and he’ll still change your life forever.

Marcuss last blog post..Performing Fourth Of July Search Campaigns

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