The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 7

The 3rd M: Motivation

We might as well face it: You can’t directly motivate anyone to do anything without using force or deception. You can only indirectly set up the conditions under which they are most likely to motivate themselves. These conditions are called incentives.

So, how do we create these conditions or incentives so that people will motivate themselves? The good news is that you don’t have to. You need to create the kind of company, product, and service that people want to talk about for the reasons already given. If you do that, they don’t need any additional motivation. Opportunity, yes. Motivation, no.

But people are always asking me, “Why would people recommend my product? What would get them to talk to others about ...