We Are All Weird [Hardcover]

Seth Godin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2011

We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values. For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to force us into little boxes, complying with their idea of what we should buy, use or want. And in an industrial, mass-market driven world, this was efficient and it worked. But what we learned in this new era is that mass limits our choice because it succeeds on conformity. As Godin has identified, a new era of weirdness is upon us. People with more choices, more interests and the power to do something about it are stepping forward and insisting that the world work in a different way. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description: We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.

For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to force us into little boxes, complying with their idea of what we should buy, use or want. And in an industrial, mass-market driven world, this was efficient and it worked. But what we learned in this new era is that mass limits our choice because it succeeds on conformity.

As Godin has identified, a new era of weirdness is upon us. People with more choices, more interests and the power to do something about it are stepping forward and insisting that the world work in a different way. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.

There are only 11,000 copies of the hardcover available from Amazon.com.

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Jacqueline Novogratz Reviews We Are All Weird

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture capital fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Acumen Fund has invested over $50 million of patient capital in 50 businesses that have impacted more than 40 million people in the past year alone. Any money returned to Acumen Fund is reinvested in enterprises serving the poor. Currently, Acumen has offices in New York, Mumbai, Karachi, and Nairobi. Read Jacqueline's guest review of Seth Godin's We Are All Weird:

Seth Godin's latest book, We Are All Weird, is a song of freedom, an exuberant manifesto with the richness of choice that comes with wealth, the markets, the Internet, our increasing connection with one another across the globe. He argues that the era of mass marketing is over (thankfully), and that as humans we seek not just to consume but to "connect," and therefore we find those who love what we love and, when it works best, create or join "tribes." We are allowed--indeed, encouraged--to be individuals, to specialize rather than fit in or be "normal," and this is where richness begins. As Seth says, "Stuff is not the point." Connection, choice, pursuing what we love is.

Seth has advised the organization I founded, Acumen Fund, for many years. He constantly reminds us to be unafraid to focus on a small group of believers who make the choice to opt in, and I can see that lesson elucidated brilliantly in We Are All Weird. We have the extraordinary luxury of choice and, for the most part, of doing what we want to do. How we use that choice to make the lives of others around us the richer for being connected to us is critical to Seth's evolving understanding of marketing and creating systems that release rather than stifle our energies—regardless of who we are, where we live, or what language we may speak. Read this book slowly and read it again, for the lessons are rich and wise. I couldn't feel prouder to be a part of Seth's tribe.

--Jacqueline Novogratz

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Review

"This is a book about giving a damn. It's about caring about what you do and (as importantly) who you do it for. Professional apathy is a relic of a dead era and, as Seth teaches brilliantly, a mentality you cling to at great peril. Everyone with a pulse and a paycheque should be living We Are All Weird."
--Chris Taylor, Founder of ActionableBooks.com

"This book will resonate with anyone who wants to lead a tribe, be authentic, dance to the beat of their own music and make a difference in the world. If your inner critic (the resistance) has been telling you that you are not enough, your work is not good enough and who do you think you are to make a difference, then buy this book. Let your freak flag fly high!"
--Sherold Barr, Master Coach + Freedom Fighter

"Seth has done it again. Open this book to almost any page. Read it, and change your thinking, your work, your life, or better express your art. Weird how he does this, isn't it?"
--Rob Berkley, Executive Coach, VisionDay.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: The Domino Project (September 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936719223
• ISBN-13: 978-1936719228
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Learning

More About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of fourteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. His Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

His book, Tribes, was a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter.

His book Linchpin, and was the fastest selling book of his career. Linchpin challenges you to stand up, do work that matters and race to the top instead of the bottom. More than that, though, the book outlines a massive change in our economy, a fundamental shift in what it means to have a job.

Since Linchpin, Godin has published two more books, Poke the Box and We Are All Weird, through his Domino Project.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth is founder and CEO of Squidoo.com, a fast growing recommendation website. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at squidoo.com/seth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Godin's Best Work, September 24, 2011

By 

Joseph Dale - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: We Are All Weird (Kindle Edition)

I've been a follower of Seth Godin for a while now--I read his blog daily, and have read a majority of his books. I think that was actually a bad thing relating to my enjoyment of "We're all Weird". Too many of the ideas were pointlessly longer recapitulations of Godin's previous messages, from both his blog and his books, and the general message about the fall of mass and the rise of individuality (weirdness) seemed trite. Less ardent fans of Godin might find the book refreshingly insightful, but those familiar with his writing likely won't find anything new.

60 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now is the time to embrace your weird, September 21, 2011

By 

David M. Scott "David Meerman Scott" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We Are All Weird (Hardcover)

Seth Godin's latest is a little book with big ideas about how to live your life. For marketers and business owners, it is also a wakeup call for how to reach buyers of your products and services.

Seth argues that the one-size-fits-all mass market is dead. But you know that already because you probably don't listen to top 40 radio or watch the evening news. This idea of the end of "normal" is essential to work because if you're selling ads at a top 40 station, work probably isn't much fun these days. Embrace the weird and it can be!

I love this quote from the book: "The epic battle of our generation is between the status quo of mass and the never-ceasing tide of weird."

Weirdness takes many forms. When everyone else is carrying nylon computer bags and sporty backpacks, weird people insist on an "old-fashioned" leather briefcase (guilty). Many people think it is weird to go to over 50 Grateful Dead concerts and own recordings of hundreds of their concerts (also guilty).

Is it weird to spend six hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in a dingy rec room playing Dungeons and Dragons? To collect chewing gum wrappers and own over 2,000, with examples from over 50 countries? To read instead of watching television? To ride a bike instead of driving?

The weird is us. And the weird is you. (What would they think if they knew?!).

In other words, weirdness is a huge market. I'd argue that unless you sell a commodity product - like paperclips - that you need to embrace the weird buyer in your marketing efforts. Heck, there are animal shaped paperclips and colored paperclips and huge paperclips so even commodities can be marketed to the weird.

Mass = Normal. Weird = Rich.

You can read "We Are All Weird" in an hour. Or savor the book in small bites over a day (as I did). It is an important book with a very simple idea. Yet so far, only true weirdos really understand the implication of these ideas for life and work.

Now is the time to embrace your weird.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too broad and trite, October 8, 2011

By 

The Defender (Duluth, GA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: We Are All Weird (Kindle Edition)

I like most of Seth Godin's ideas, including this one, but to what end is the purpose of this 100 page book that, I believe, would have been suited for a short article or blog post.?

We are all weird, is self-evident in a day when we can choose between a couple of hundred pasta sauces in the supermarket. If you want to buy and learn how to play the ukulele, you will be sure to find like minded people online. The market is no longer of limited choice dictated by others.

Today, you can do, buy, sell, and associate with anyone you want, as long as it is legal, and it's as easy as ever to find it. That pretty much sums it up.

Seth Godin is still an amazing person to listen to and take advice from. I think Seth Godin's book, " Poke the Box" deserves 5 stars.