Post: #1

Okay, so this book The Tipping Point isn't really a secret, has been around for quite some time and I think many people have to read it in college for communication or business classes so I imagine a few peeps have read it.

Everyone who runs a business, is an affiliate marketer, or even a blogger is always trying to figure out how to make something go viral. Though this book doesn't really touch on internet sensations and more things from the past this is basically the guide, the psychology and the sociology behind how and why something goes viral or becomes a movement which essentially is waht we are all after in all our endevours.

Though not really a self help or self improvement book I think it could be very useful and thoughtful book for this crowd on here. I know we have a lot of affiliate marketers and bloggers, businessmen and hustelrs on here.

Though the book is more about statistics and phenomenons, I think it's cool to hear stories and learn concepts about how the smallest thing can make the biggest difference.

It's been a while since I read it so I forget some detail type stuff but just saw it on Amazon the other day and was thinking I should give it another read. The whole concept of mavens and stuff like that show how you can start a movement or get others working for you, really pretty interesting stuff

Just curious if any of you guys have read it and if so did it benefit you or your business at all? I just found an old copy in my library gonna give it another read.

Post: #2

I read it a while back, pretty good. It was interesting how getting the right people interested in a fad is really what it takes for it to take off. I didn't really get the feeling that it offered a magic formula for businesses though.

Post: #3

(03-02-2014 02:28 PM)Osiris Wrote:  I read it a while back, pretty good. It was interesting how getting the right people interested in a fad is really what it takes for it to take off. I didn't really get the feeling that it offered a magic formula for businesses though.

I'm going to re-read it this week so it's been a while so the concepts aren't fresh in my mind.

The book definately doesn't offer a magical formula or even a how to guide, especially since many of his examples are pre internet age. I do however think understanding what makes an idea, business, brand, movement tip is something we can all apply to what we do whether it's guerilla marketing, growing a brand or trying to get brand awareness, etc.

I really like the idea of getting people to work for me for free whether it's affiliates or just customers of mine who refer friends and family.

Post: #4

Yes, I read it.

Review Rating: Donkey Balls

Brief Summary:
- Homie starts a tax prep business. Competes in the down market for tax return prep. (Think same market as check-into-cash or Payday Loans)
- Homie gets a lot of traction and then rolls out marketing campaign
- Experiences quick growth (his "tipping point")
- Homie gets in big trouble with IRS. Unfortunately his business is dependent on being in compliance with IRS (sucks for him)
- Homie should have hired more CPAs and EAs to oversee all of those tax returns, but hey, how the heck else do you keep your margins low?
- Homie spends half the book griping and whining about how unfair he was treated by IRS
- Homie then figures out how to get his licenses (or whatever) back and gets the ball rolling again, but things will never be the same as before
- Homie then writes a book called the "Tipping Point", which makes it sound really important, and better yet makes people that haven't read it think they know what it is about.
- Homie should've named the book "The IRS Isn't Fair, I Didn't Do Anything Wrong".

There you have it.

Post: #5

(03-02-2014 04:53 PM)anonymous123 Wrote:  Yes, I read it.

Review Rating: Donkey Balls

Brief Summary:
- Homie starts a tax prep business. Competes in the down market for tax return prep. (Think same market as check-into-cash or Payday Loans)
- Homie gets a lot of traction and then rolls out marketing campaign
- Experiences quick growth (his "tipping point")
- Homie gets in big trouble with IRS. Unfortunately his business is dependent on being in compliance with IRS (sucks for him)
- Homie should have hired more CPAs and EAs to oversee all of those tax returns, but hey, how the heck else do you keep your margins low?
- Homie spends half the book griping and whining about how unfair he was treated by IRS
- Homie then figures out how to get his licenses (or whatever) back and gets the ball rolling again, but things will never be the same as before
- Homie then writes a book called the "Tipping Point", which makes it sound really important, and better yet makes people that haven't read it think they know what it is about.
- Homie should've named the book "The IRS Isn't Fair, I Didn't Do Anything Wrong".

There you have it.

I'm kinda in the dark about what your talking about, is that something from Gladwells personal life? Did a quick google search and find some stuff in reference to a book he wrote called David and Goliath or something like that but tipping piont if I remember corrrectly didn't have anything to do with that. Tipping point was a bunch of short stories about what makes movements gain traction basically.

Post: #6

Yeah, I've read this book, as well as Blink, and Outliers. They're all entertaining. He has a gift for tying disparate examples together in making a singular argument.

Post: #7

Read it and really liked it. I've liked all of Gladwell's work, but I really have no idea what you are talking about anonymous? Could you enlighten us a bit? There's nothing really in there about the IRS or tax, and a google search didn't show anything either....

Post: #8

(03-14-2014 10:21 PM)Seadog Wrote:  Read it and really liked it. I've liked all of Gladwell's work, but I really have no idea what you are talking about anonymous? Could you enlighten us a bit? There's nothing really in there about the IRS or tax, and a google search didn't show anything either....

I was also confused, I looked into it, I think it has to do with his book David and Goliath. I havn't read that one but I'm pretty sure he made some argument about the IRS vs average Joe and that was kinda the theme of David and Goliath. I'm also somewhat confused though.

Post: #9

I've read it (and his other works). Although he gets maligned by serious social scientists, I think his works provide invaluable insight on certain topics. I've often referred back to his ideas in Blink (specifically the idea of rapid cognition, and that our brain takes in information both consciously and subconsciously).

Interesting side note: many commentators use "tipping point" incorrectly. They use it to refer to an "inflection point," where some trend is hitting it zenith and is/will be decreasing ("tipping point" is when a trend is about to go from linear growth to geometric growth).

Post: #10

Gladwell is a great story teller, but the problem is, it's just that, stories. He cherry picks evidence, cites studies that have results that can't be replicated, and generally makes shit up. The 10,000 hours thing? Bullshit, it works for the Beatles, but the Beatles aren't the only great rock group.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and...ience.html

Post: #11

(03-21-2014 11:52 PM)RockHard Wrote:  Gladwell is a great story teller, but the problem is, it's just that, stories. He cherry picks evidence, cites studies that have results that can't be replicated, and generally makes shit up. The 10,000 hours thing? Bullshit, it works for the Beatles, but the Beatles aren't the only great rock group.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and...ience.html

Really anyone can twist statistics to fit the story they want to show. Everyone does it so why not gladwell. I get he's not liked by serious statisticians but I still find some value in his stories even if they are just that. I try to keep some of those points in mind when marketing and advertising and I do think some of those strategies work.

Post: #12

Quote:The 10,000 hours thing? Bullshit, it works for the Beatles, but the Beatles aren't the only great rock group.

Gladwell claims that The Beatles are only The Beatles because they were lucky enough to know the right person to get the gigs in Hamburg so they were lucky to get their 10,000 hours.

Total BS. It was not luck. They would have got their 10,000 hours or however long in any case. They were hungry.

I could play in bands for 10,000 hours and I sure as hell would not be writing that quality of music.

He makes the same stupid BS argument about Bill Gates.

Bill Gates is only Bill Gates because he went to a privileged school that had a computer when it was rare for a school to have a computer and so he was one of the few kids who was able to learn programming.

His programming ability had nothing to do with his success at Microsoft. (Anyone who has used Windows knows that excellent and efficient code is not an important part of Microsoft corporate culture).

The success of Gates has to with recognizing a future market (the rise of personal computers) and taking action to exploit that opportunity. It has nothing to do with how much time he spent coding.

He doesn't explicitly state these two examples in his book as such but in supplemental audio interviews to his book, this is what he says.

He goes on to make the argument that they are just lucky and therefore don't deserve their wealth because they got their "10,000 hours" through sheer luck.