Contagious; Why Things Catch On
Jonah Berger
Summarized by Steve Courage and voiced by
Uyoh Uyoh
I remember when I was studying Accounting
in as a diploma course.
I remember reading about marketing, selling
and advertising.
You see, most of the things those poor lecturers
taught us were about how to raise money, have
a marketing budget and interrupt everyone
through the TV, Radio and the Newspapers’
advertisements.
How I wish it’s that simple.
If only we’re in the 20th Century when customers’
attention was concentrated.
In today’s world where an average customer
is exposed to more than 140 adverts daily,
more noise cannot make your product popular.
What’s the way out?
The first major lesson in Jonah Berger’s
book is;
You Must Make Your Product, Service or Idea
Contagious.
Customers Must Talk about it and Share it,
for it to be popular.
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Let’s move to the second lesson.
I wrote a book in the year 2013 and after
selling it for some time, I decided to turn
it to a virus (if you’ve read the Idea Virus
by Seth Godin, you sure know what I’m talking
about).
As at the time of making this video, this
book has been downloaded more than three hundred
thousand times and it has made me thousands
of dollars in revenue, selling a back end
product.
How did I do it?
Not much of what I do, but what the readers
feel.
After reading my book, most readers feel that
they have to let their friends know the hidden
secrets they have just discovered.
Many people go as far as sharing my book with
50 or more people.
Some even keep it in their library for their
little kids.
What is the point here?
Well, nobody is willing to do you any favour,
I’m sorry.
Hahahahahaha…
People don’t talk about a product because
they want to help the company that produced
it.
People won’t share your books or idea because
they want to help you, I’m sorry.
We’re all selfish and people will only share
what makes them feel good, what makes them
feel more advanced within their friends or
what makes them look like messiahs to other
people around them.
Take a moment to think about your idea or
product.
Is it remarkable or exceptional in anyway?
Is it just another product, or another commodity?
If it’s not remarkable, why should I talk
about it or share it with my friends?
The second major lesson in Contagious; Why
Things Catch On is;
People won’t share your idea or talk about
your product because they love you.
They will only do so if it’s remarkable.
Sometimes in the year 2008 a friend of mine
received a call from his friend from another
country.
The message was urgent!
“Go and read the 48 Laws of Power or you’ll
not be great in the future” our friend instructed.
Ok.
Wait!
While was he recommending the 48 Laws of Power?
Was it because he loved the author, the book
or he’ll get referral commission from the
book’s sales?
None of the above.
Our friend recommended the 48 Laws of Power
because he has just read it, he was impressed
by the book and he wants to impress us that
he is ahead of us.
Note the keyword here; IMPRESS.
We all do this every day.
We talk about our expensive wristwatches.
We talk about our newly discovered hotel.
We talk about the political leaders we admire.
All of these because we want to impress others
that we know or have discovered what they
haven’t.
We want to talk as if we’re the insider,
the man who have seen it before the world
does.
The third major lesson in Contagious; Why
Things Catch On is;
If you can design your product to be exclusive,
people who use it will be proud of being the
insiders and will be willing to talk about
it to others.
Now I need to ask you a question.
Which is the most popular business book of
the last 100 years?
Yea, you got it.
It’s Rich Dad Poor Dad.
So what makes Robert Kiyosaki’s book so
popular?
Very simple.
There is an existing idea in the mind of most
people of the world which the book challenges
and proves to be wrong.
It even becomes contagious because most people
have been having the feeling that something
is wrong with the education they are borrowing
money to get.
The point here is clear;
Ideas rarely become contagious, except there’s
an existing situation to trigger it.
The Obama’s 2008 campaign became contagious
because it focused on equality before races
and people, a big trigger against then existing
problem.
Trump’s 2016 campaign could fly because
the tough guy promised to build walls and
push away every immigrant who is making the
United States’ citizens jobless and poor,
a promise that could easily trigger an unsuspecting
electorate who believed their government should
indeed focus on the “America First” agenda.
The fourth major lesson in Contagious; Why
Things Catch On is;
Ideas or product need a trigger to make it
contagious.
Look for a trigger and use it appropriately.
(leave 1 second)
When I decided to make one of my books contagious
as I earlier discussed, I made sure that I
tell my readers what I wanted them to do after
reading (Share.
Share.
Share.
Hahaha..)
Not just that, I use a bait and promised them
another gift (if only they could share my
book).
Because I was expecting a big explosion, I
set an autoreply mail where you can get the
gift I promise you, without me having to send
it myself.
Not just that, I set an auto responder emails,
specially designed to sell you some of my
other products.
Somehow, everything was planned right from
the beginning.
Here is my point;
Don’t think many things go viral just by
mistakes.
Most at times, individuals who make contagious
product or idea do so by putting some of the
earlier stated components together.
The fifth major lesson in Contagious; Why
Things Catch On is;
To make your idea or product go viral, you
must be intentional.
You have to design your product with the intention
to make it contagious.
Now, Let’s Discuss
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book?
What points would you like to add?
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