Dave Balter Is Everywhere I Turn Lately

Chris Brogan, Jonathan Fields, Seth Godin, Jackie Huba, Guy Kawasaki, Drew McLellan, John Moore and several more authors I read have mentioned him in the last week.

In the last week? Kelly, who the heck is Dave Balter?

Dear reader, this proves that we do not run in all the same circles. Believe me, when everybody starts yammering about the same thing, be glad you are reading something else.

Dave Balter is the founder and CEO of the Boston-based buzz marketing firm BzzAgent. A company whose main purpose is to find ways to help his clients generate Word-of-Mouth, otherwise known as “buzz.” They’re arguably the most well-known company creating “managed” Word-of-Mouth (WoM), with a client list that will let you know how influential the niche is becoming. Buzz marketing agencies have a mixed reputation in marketing circles, because they are not paid to increase organic WoM (you and I talking to each other about something we like or dislike). They seed WoM artificially, “purchasing” buzz through freebies and other methods, which is fairly controversial.

I’m a big fan of organic Word-of-Mouth, but the non-disclosure which often (usually?) goes with “managed” WoM makes me rather queasy.

However, this is not why Dave Balter’s name is splashed all through my favorite marketing blogs.

Dave Balter has written a book. The Word of Mouth Manual: Vol. II. There is no Vol. I, in case you were wondering. For $45.00, you can buy it.

Lots of people write books. This is not why I am reading about him ad nauseam, either.

Dave Balter is giving his book away.

Dave Balter is not just giving his book away (as a free pdf). He is giving it away semi-exclusively, through links at only a few really interesting and influential blogs. He is not giving away a chapter. He is not giving it away for a limited time.

You can do what I did, dear reader: click on any of the links in the second paragraph and you can download the book, too. If you hate e-books like I do, print it out and stick it in a lovely 3-ring binder.* Works great.

If you want, as he says, “the shiny, water-resistant version, handsigned [by a monkey], with an original piece of art by Seth B. Minkin [not a monkey],” you can get that too. Did I mention? Pony up with forty-five bucks.

Now let’s get down and dirty.

Dave Balter’s Secret

You think he wants you to download this 120+ page book, fall in love with it, and spend the $45.00 for the fancy shelvable version.

Or download it, get sick of screen reading, and buy the book.

Maybe you think Dave Balter is sharing with the masses while looking for his 1,000 true fans to bail him out, resulting in $45,000 big ones for Mr. Balter.

What was that title?

Dave Balter Does NOT Want to Sell his Book

I was so floored by his brilliance last week that I nearly got teary.

Controversial dude or not, this one move is such genius I couldn’t believe it.

Dave Balter wants Chris, Jonathan, Seth, Jackie, Guy, Drew, John, and over 18,000 others as I write this (Yahoo! search for terms “Dave Balter” + “Word of Mouth Manual”), to talk about him. To mention him, to mention the book, to mention his company. He doesn’t want your forty-five dollars. He wants to show big, big companies what a big, big stir his firm could create for them in the blink of an eye.

Dave Balter wants buzz. Buzz will land him a year’s worth of new business, and 1,000 true fans buying his book can’t even pay the taxes on all the earnings from those new clients.

Dave Balter is playing with the Big Boys, and he plays to win.

Are you playing to win? Let’s have a rockin’ BrainStorm today. Could you create buzz that lands you a year’s worth of new business? What do you think of Dave Balter’s method of promoting his book firm?

Later this week: Steal Dave Balter’s Secret!

 

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

 

*By the way, though I did download the book and put it in a lovely 3-ring binder, I made a decision not to read it before writing this post. This is not a review of the book, and I didn’t want his thoughts on WoM in general clouding my thoughts of his current genius.