My copy of The Tipping Point had been collecting dust on the bookshelf for a couple of years now, and while moving some things around I found myself thumbing through the pages. I know from a few comments that a handful of SEOmoz members and employees have read the book, and I decided it might be worthwhile for me to reread it.
For those of you that don’t know about it, The Tipping Point is a book by Malcolm Gladwell that examines the different phenomenon that happen to make something “tip” in one direction or another once it reaches a certain point in its growth. Economists might refer to this phenomenon as occurring “at the margin” – that is, these things help to determine the direction of a trend once it reaches a certain point – the Tipping Point.
The book itself is a very dense – but easy – read. The author covers a lot of ground on a variety of topics and it would be difficult to summarize it down for a single blog post. But for the sake of this exercise, we need to at least have a handle on some of the more basic concepts of the book, so here it goes.
Gladwell identifies three laws of the Tipping Point:
The Law of the Few This first law has to do with how a relatively few people in society actually affect how information is spread and how the rest of society will react to a given idea. Gladwell says there are three kinds of people who can determine how quickly something is picked up, or if it is picked up at all: Connectors, Mavens, and Salespeople.
Connectors, as the name implies, have relatively large networks of people. They can easily put you in touch with any number of people who may be able to help you with whatever issue you might have – and they love to do it.
Mavens are the people in your life who are particularly knowledgeable about specific topics, and are always caught up on the most up-to-date information. They are the people you call when you want to make a decision related to a particular topic and you need advice.
Salespeople are the persuaders in our lives. They are the ones who feel so enthusiastic about a particular service or product that they just want you to have it. They want you to have it so badly that they probably won’t take “no” for an answer.
The Stickiness Factor This second law has to do with whether a message is sticky. The concept of something being sticky isn’t new to us here on the Internet – we all probably understand about message stickiness. In the book, Gladwell uses case studies – some involving the children’s program Sesame Street – in order to illustrate the stickiness of various messages. He uses a variety of case studies and examples to illustrate all the many things that can go into making a message sticky.
The Power of Context Gladwell uses this third law to explain how our own sensibilities and our perceptions of the environment around us help to shape how we will receive and interpret information. For instance, we’re much more receptive to a message that comes to us from a source we know and like rather than from a stranger. We’re also more likely to be receptive to a message if it fits the context of our life as we see it.
Using these three laws, and dozens of examples, Gladwell shows us how very subtle changes can make the difference between a message or trend that explodes and one that fizzles out.
Note: There is also a handy little chapter on the magic of the number 150. It turns out, as humans we are predisposed to groups that are no bigger than 150 people. It’s actually a very interesting idea, but one I won’t talk about at all in this particular blog post.
What the Tipping Point is Not This is not a book on how to reach what we might call critical mass. While throughout the book he uses dozens of case studies of everything from children’s TV shows to crime and epidemics in the 70’s and 80’s to explain his concepts, most of his discussion is about what happens at the actual Tipping Point. If you picked this book up thinking it would be a “how to” manual for growing your business, or building subscriptions for a blog, or even getting your book to the top of a best seller list – which is an actual case study he uses – you’d be a little disappointed. But fear not, because I’m going to give you a few tips to put the Tipping Point to work for you.
1. Always remember that both the message and the messenger matter. For me, this is probably one of the biggest take-away messages of this book, and it blends all three laws of the book. Everyone likes to focus on the message of their product or service, but you need to remember that the messenger matters also. The first messenger of your message is obviously you – and how you are perceived by your audience is important. Whether they know you (or not) or like you (or not) will affect how they react to what you are telling them.
For instance, I am a deeply biased person. I am not a big fan of Jay Leno, and conversely in my eyes David Letterman can do no wrong. I frequently go to this web site where they reprint some of the best late night jokes from the previous week. While reading the jokes, if I even catch out of the corner of my eye that one is from Jay Leno, the chances that I will find it funny go down dramatically. The opposite is true if I see it is from David Letterman. Don’t judge me, we’re all like this. But here’s the deal, while I won’t particularly like the joke, a fan of Jay Leno (there have to be at least a few) will find his jokes funny. And they in turn will tell the jokes to their fans, and so on and so on.
As an Internet messenger, you have to do the same. Identify your most vocal fans and let them spread the message for you. In a random sampling of your own fans there are bound to be connectors, mavens, and salespeople. By reaching out and including them in your message you have a greater chance of getting your message to spread than if you try to push it out all by yourself.
2. The best way to make a message sticky is to make it so it is memorable and it moves you to action. I kind of touched on this in my YOUmoz post last week about giving people actionable content. Giving your audience a memorable message and showing them how it can fit into their life is the number one way to make a message sticky. You want your message to be sticky so when they are casually talking – or blogging – to their friends they’ll remember it and spread the message for you. If you have a message you want to spread, just remember to ask yourself two things: is it memorable and will it move one to action?
3. Think about your message’s packaging, because packaging matters too. While messengers are important to a message’s success, the packaging of the message may be just as important. Besides the people involved, a multitude of things go into the packaging of a message:
- Is it written or spoken?
- Did I ask for it or did it come unsolicited?
- What other agendas might be tied to the message that I need to know about?
- Does the message match the environment?
By tailoring the packaging of your message to the preferences of your audience, you increase your chances of getting the information to spread.
4. Do the little things right, because victory is found in the margins. The whole idea of The Tipping Point is that little things at the margin can make all the difference. For instance, the difference between a ho-hum children’s program and the almost 40 year success of Sesame Street is a few minor changes in the areas that matter most. And like a great many things in business and in life, victory is fought and won in the margins. The book isn’t about reaching critical mass in order to grow your business; it is what happens once you reach critical mass that will help you explode your business. All of the little things add up, and that is when you have the tipping point.
While it isn’t entirely applicable, it does remind me of one of my favorite baseball quotes, which I leave you with now:
No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference. ~Tommy Lasorda
