Cluetrain started out as a 95 point theses. It became a book, in which each of its authors, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke (also known as RageBoy), Doc Searls and David Weinberger, contributes his piece. You can buy it on Amazon, or read it online for free.

What’s it About?

The ClueTrain is all about communication and how the internet changed communication.

Why Should You Care?

Because internet marketing is all about communicating. By now, you must have heard the phrase “social marketing”. If not here, then on any other blog and in any other newsletter. Social marketing is the hot new trend of 2008 and everybody’s is joining the band-wagon. Some with great success- others fall on their face. The ClueTrain Manifesto predicted it all.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Human

The Cluetrain is pro-human/anti-consumerism and as such liable to (and did) piss people off. Mainly advertisers, corporations, PR people and marketers. However it’s writers take a notable stand, in which they acknowledge that behind a corporation stand people. And this is, in effect, their whole point. These people need to be heard, they need to shed their office suits, sit in their bunny slippers and casually speak and laugh with other people. Other departments, management, customers- everybody needs to communicate.

Not a How-to Guide but a Manifesto

Finally a manifesto worthy of its name. The Cluetrain isn’t a how-to book and you won’t find any tips and tricks, but you will be inspired and you will need to reread. The Cluetrain is the bible of internet marketing conduct. Understanding the internet-user is key to successful internet marketing, and Cluetrain can clue you in to how internet users utilize the web. And it clues you in to how you can make a sale.

The Cluetrain is Self Exemplary

Everybody’s talking about things that go viral, but nobody really knows the magic formula. The Cluetrain is one of those magical viral things. Something that was emailed down from person to person, because people found it to be of value. This is the second time I passed on marketing related information to loved ones and friends (the first being Simpleoligy 101), and guess what, I wasn’t even asked to, with a despicable, low-down “tell a friend and get some free stuff” page. I just did it because I thought they’d enjoy it. I thought that those specific people would find this kind of reading material interesting, I thought it would bring them some sort of spiritual value. Cluetrain is that valuable- so valuable you’d just want to tell a friend about it.

And that’s exactly what lays at the core of the Cluetrain theory. People want to communicate. They want to communicate about things of value. They want to communicate about things of value to them. Can you provide these kind of things?


The Cluetrain is the internet marketing bible.

Tags: The Cluetrain Manifesto, Internet Marketing bible, online communication, social marketing conduct