How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe

You can't trust buzz.. I don't know about the author of this article.

But I do know that you have buzz, whether you want it or not.. so feeding it positive info is the only recommended course.

How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe: "How much can you trust buzz?

I'm one of Balter's 117,000 agents.. a very corporate approach to the type of marketing I teach. Hard to be "grass roots" when you get too organized

By Scott Kirsner | November 14, 2005

Critics can be so cruel. So Dave Balter, founder of the Boston-based marketing firm BzzAgent, thought it would be nice to have some nonpoisoned pens writing on his behalf when his book was published earlier this month. ''Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing' is Balter's first book, and he wanted to give it every possible advantage. The review from Publishers Weekly, posted prominently on Amazon.com, was a cast-iron pan. Grapevine's ''slapdash, 'admittedly nonscientific' analysis is backed by little more than enthusiasm, quotes from The Tipping Point and three years of BzzAgent anecdotes,' PW wrote. ''Balter's gee-whiz, narcissistic writing voice won't help win converts, either.'

But ''Grapevine' received a much warmer welcome from the amateur Amazon.com reviewers, who bestowed on the book an enthusiastic four stars (out of a possible five). It helps that many of the most glowing were written by foot soldiers in Balter's army of 117,000 BzzAgents -- volunteer product promoters who get free samples of new products. Two thousand of his buzz agents got an advance copy of Balter's tome."