Top 5 Books for Communicators (and Business People) - #1

And so, we've reached the end of our countdown. This is the top book on my list of books all communicators (and business people) should read.

This book is somewhat of an anomaly: It's a book about social media, written well before any true social media channels even existed. It's a book that *every* book about social media written since then, pays tribute to (in fact, if there's a book about social media that you find that *doesn't* mention this book, just put the other book down - it will be useless to you).

It's a book that every CEO and marketing director should have read; but most likely, most didn't (and, they've probably suffered for it, on some level).

To those who know me, the book will come as no surprise -- I've championed the book for years now. The Cluetrain Manifesto is 10 years old this year, and yet, nearly every word resonates as strongly as it did when it was first released. Written by four authors (Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searsls, David Weinberger), the book foreshadowed the coming of what we term 'social media.'

I think it's important to identify social media -- too many people (including interviewers) ask, "do you know social media? Do you use Facebook and Twitter?" Facebook and Twitter are, in fact, quite useful channels for social media (just like blogs), but they are not all-encompassing of social media. Social media is more of a comprehensive movement -- one that embraces clear, conversational two-way communication over the previous standard jargon-filled, pompous writing of corporate America.

Facebook and Twitter were born out of the need for channels that would enable that type of communication; but it's infinitely more important to understand the concept (and the benefits) social media presents.

The book's name dervies from a quote from a veteran of a firm that free-fell out of the Fortune 500 -- "The clue train stopped there four times a day for ten years and they never took delivery."

Admittedly, the book is not easy to read. In fact, in the foreward, the guest author says, "...this is no feel-good book. Though the broad theme is overwhelmingly optimistic, the details will make you squirm. This is an obituary for business-as-usual. It reveals how the Internet has made your entry-level employees as powerful as your senior vice-president of marketing."

I've said many times the book is hard to get through. It's one of the most audacious, pretentious and condescending books I've ever read. The entire book, I felt annoyed with the authors - almost a feeling of "...who do these guys think they are?" And then, at the end of the book, you realize they really were the smartest guys in the room. It's certainly not a pleasant feeling; but it's one everyone owes to themselves to feel.

And, although you can buy it from Amazon, you can also read the entire book for free online. That's how important the book is, and how strongly the authors believe in what they wrote -- you can access the entire book (in PDF, ASCII or html format) on its website: www.cluetrain.com.

The book opens up with powerful content: "Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It's going to cause real pain to tear those walls down..."

The book then launches into its 95 Theses (I warned you it was arrogant). Here's a sampling of some of the powerful ideas discussed there:

1. Markets are conversations.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
16. Companies that speak in the language of the pitch are no longer speaking to anyone.
17. Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads on television are kidding themselves.
40. Companies that do not belong to a community of discourse will die.
45. Intranets naturally tend to route around boredom.
52. Paranoia kills conversation. But lack of open conversation kills companies.
74. We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.
94. To traditional corporations, networked conversations may appear confused, may sound confusing. But, we are organizing faster than they are. We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to slow us down.
95. We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.

The book is about 180 pages long, and each page, basically, begs companies (and marketing professionals) to change the way they communicate -- with their customers and with their colleagues. There are seven LONG chapters that - as stated above - are fairly difficult to get through; but the end result is worth it.

To put the book's impact into perspective, here's a brief list of the services launched AFTER Cluetrain:

• Wikipedia
• Second Life
• Facebook
• MySpace
• iTunes
• Flickr
• World of Warcraft
• YouTube
• Podcasts

And, the first blogs were launched in August 1999 -- just a few months prior to Cluetrain's release.

Smart companies have already adopted what the authors recommended; for some companies, there may still be time to salvage their operations; for others, it's already too late (something the recent recession probably accelerated).