Words of wisdom from a 10 year old (Part 1)

This month marks the 10-year anniversary for what I consider one of the most important manifestos on the Internet. My goal over the next several days is to entice you to read (again or for the first time) The Clue Train Manifesto (free).

Here are some money quotes that are still (if not more) relevant today. Keep in mind this was 1999, well before anything that could have been labeled web 2.0 or social media:

• Markets are conversations. Markets want to talk to companies.
• There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market. In most cases, neither conversation is going well.
• Most corporations…only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies.
• [L]earning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about “listening to customers.” They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.
• Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what’s really going on inside the company.
• Companies must ask themselves where their company cultures end. If their cultures end before the community begins, the will have no market.
• The community of discourse is the market.
• If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it interesting for a change.

Read The Clue Train Manifesto

Happy Tuesday!