Permission Marketing
Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers
by Seth Godin · first published 1999
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that marketing works best by earning customers' consent and building trust over time rather than interrupting them with ads. Suits founders and newcomers wanting to build an audience.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Whether it is the TV commercial that breaks into our favorite program, or the telemarketing phone call that disrupts a family dinner, traditional advertising is based on the hope of snatching our attention away from whatever we are doing. Seth Godin calls this Interruption Marketing, and, as companies are discovering, it no longer works.". "Instead of annoying potential customers by interrupting their most coveted commodity - time - Permission Marketing offers consumers incentives to accept advertising voluntarily. Now this Internet pioneer introduces a fundamentally different way of thinkin
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…that really cares about what you have to offer. One of the best people to follow for guidance on how to do this is Seth Godin. Follow his daily blogs/emails, and read his books, particularly Linchpin, Permission Marketing, Purple Cow and The Dip. Simon Sinek is another person worth paying attention to.
on “Ask HN: How to get good at social media?” ↗Everything from Seth Godin. Permission Marketing, All Marketers are Liers and Purple Cow are my personal favorites.
on “Ask YC: What books on marketing do you recomend?” ↗Read "Permission Marketing" by Seth Godin, and "Guerilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson. Similar jist: Basically your marketing is how you interact with your customers. That face time is crazy valuable.
on “Ask HN: Connecting developers and marketers” ↗In addition to Four Steps to the Epiphany, Crossing the Chasm, and Getting Real, I would add All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin. Of Seth's other books, Permission Marketing, Free Prize Inside, and The Big Red Fez also made a big impact on me. But All Marketers are Liars is the best starting place I think. Definitely also read Art of the Start. It's less insightful and more…
on “Ask HN: Best startup books?” ↗The Guerilla Marketing series are all good- by Jay Levinson. As is the oldie but goodie 'Permission Marketing' by Seth Godin.
on “Ask HN: What books should I read re marketing for my website?” ↗…marketing book you can get your hands on, and do a deep dive. OK, maybe not literally every marketing book. But if you're interested, here are a few items I'd recommend to a budding would-be marketer. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin All Marketers Are Liars - Seth Godin Purple Cow - Seth Godin Unleashing The Ideavirus - Seth Godin Positioning - Jack Trout and Al Ries Differentiate or Die - Jack Trout The 22 Immutable…
on “Ask HN: How can a non-technical co-founder add value?” ↗…Crazy: Creating Disruption for Fun and Profit by Guy Kawasaki 13. I'm a big Seth Godin fan, I'd say read anything and everything by him. The Purple Cow stands out in my memory as a particularly good one. Permission Marketing is good as well. 14. The Cluetrain Manifesto Also, I don't have any specific titles handy (I'm out of town consulting right now, unfortunately, so I can't even walk into the other room and check), but…
on “Ask HN: What can you recommend to Read for future startup founder?” ↗…market evidence that there were 1 million people that would buy a solar powered stove in the next year, there would be product rolling off assembly lines in less than 6 months. Read Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing if you want to learn about market creation and demand-driven design.
on “Ask YC: Will there really always be room for more successful web startups?” ↗Permission Marketing (Seth Godin) http://www.amazon.com/Permission-Marketing-Turning-Strangers...
on “Ask HN: Are there any good Internet marketing books?” ↗I think Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing covered this ground well. Godin says that the highest level of permission is the "Intravenous Level" exemplified by services like spring water delivery. It takes building and continuously maintaining…
on “The Most Lucrative Business: Repeated Purchases” ↗…current state of a user's account and their past usage patterns should determine which mailers and communications the user receives essentially refers to the techniques outlined in Seth Godin's book "Permission Marketing". Check out Seth's book - I would imagine your readers and users could also use a summary or refresher of the principles behind "Permission Marketing" - it's powerful stuff!
on “Startup Idea: User Retention as a Service” ↗…Guerilla Marketing" By Jay Conrad Levinson & his wife. The Guerilla Marketing Handbook by Seth Godin seemed so dated it was hard to get through, but there were some gems in there. I think Seth's book 'Permission Marketing' is a classic & doesn't get old (not yet at least), I learned alot there. Purple Cow & Free Prize Inside are my favorites of his, still marketing I guess. Good luck.
on “Ask HN: Best intro marketing books?” ↗…Architecture - Code Complete 2 - Clean Code - Pro ASP.NET MVC (if you're into MS stuff like me) - Scrum and XP from the trenches Marketing/business: - Business model generation - Purple Cow - Permission marketing - Rework (how to do these line breaks correct?) I didn't like SICP. I can handle boring books, but this one is pretty extreme.
on “Ask HN: Do you read programming books? What are some good ones?” ↗Permission Marketing - Seth Godin, made me think about what he calls interruption marketing. Purple Cow - Seth Godin, made me think about standing out. The Lean Startup - Eric Ries, really changed the way I think about...…
on “Ask HN: What are some books that changed how you think?” ↗…someone has to ask "How do we get them to see it anyway?" They have forgotten that potential customers don't have to do business with them. They have options. Time for folks to re-read Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing", it seems.
on “Firefox 66 to block automatically playing audible video and audio” ↗