Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator [Rilegato]

Make no mistake. This is not some reformed offender coming clean after some soul searching, as the author is attempting to project himself. And no, this book is not a free manifesto to download to help us clueless masses get enlightened about the ways of the media. No sir! This is a man with an overpriced product to sell, a man out to remove money from your pocket using the exact same tricks he deployed in his book for his clients.

In the book he talks about Jeff Ritze (one of his many fake profiles) who went about planting deceptive stories (using fake email addresses) in the media to help his clients manipulate public perception, sell more and make a fortune.

The author continues to use that self-same deception to now sell THIS book.

In the book's description he says, "Why am I giving away these secrets?...I'm pulling back the curtain because I don't want anyone else to get blindsided". But alas, he goes about promoting this book using the exact same fraud that he describes delivering for his clients.

Here are some of them...

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1) Fake profiles
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'C.L.Mershon' was the FIRST person to give this book a 5-star review. CL Mershon then hangs out in the comments section, answering questions from readers, bending over backwards to resolve their queries, as if he were the CUSTOMER SUPPORT person for the book! And if that was not enough of a giveaway, he then religiously UPDATES his review to bring you Ryan Holiday's "LATEST" exploits in the media. :)

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2) Assistants that neutralize enemies on the net
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One of the reasons I updated this review is to inform readers about the speed with which people swarmed in and marked my review UNHELPFUL. Within minutes of my posting, 3 people had marked it UNHELPFUL! By the following day, a whole bunch more had marked it unhelpful. The speed with which this happened indicates that the author's assistants (that he has admitted to using in the book) are hard at work here too.

Here's more proof that the author uses virtual assistants. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles has 244 five star reviews but do u know how many people have clicked its LIKE button on Amazon? Just 43. Compare that with this book under review Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator. It has just 28 five star reviews and do you know how many LIKES? 63!

Steven Pressfield, the author or War of Art is a world famous author with a massive fan following, while Ryan Holiday the author of this book is a total newbie.

Yet, the former has just 43 likes despite 244 five-star reviews while the latter has 63 LIKES with just 23 five-star reviews.

This can only happen when an army of cheap, elance powered VAs (virtual assistants) from Bangalore (India) are swarming the net clicking UP for the author, and clicking DOWN for all opposition.

See, it's easy to get a VA to hit a LIKE button or mark a review as UNHELPFUL. All it takes is a click. But getting VAs to write 5-star reviews is not so easy. That takes brains, not so cheap to buy.

But there is a way to cleanse the world of media manipulating viruses like Ryan Holiday. And that's by staying away from ANY BRAND he is associated with, because you can be sure the brand employs deception and fraud to manipulate your perception.

Spread the word : Avoid anything or anyone associated with Ryan Holiday. Let's make the world a better place.

This book makes the other books I have read on social media and blogging virtually worthless. Holiday lays out more effective plans, proven by his track record, and pulls it off for less money. If you have any interest in business, social media, or blogging than it is a must read.

That said, I think it does ultimately fall short of its potential for a few specific reasons. The good outweighs the shortcomings, but there are people I won't recommend the book to because of them. First, the good.

The Good

* Ryan Holiday can write. He is a great writer, and this is a refreshing read.
* Gut-wrenching info on the structure of today's media. Literally made me sick to my stomach at points.
* Content is very strong, delivers high value for the money. If you are thinking about getting this, get it - you will get the best marketing advice you have read for a pittance.
* Well-researched, funny, and an entertaining read.

The Bad

* The structure of this book is a little muddled. It's really three books in one. First, it is a confession of what Holiday has done for his clients. Secondly, its a book on how you can do it yourself. And lastly, its a book that proves that you should not do it and should actively fight against how the media is structured.
* Because of the three-books-in-one, I have found that I have fewer people in my sphere to recommend it to. There are many people that I wish I could give the warnings about the media portion to, but the other parts of the book would be useless to them. For me, and probably for any entrepreneur, the whole book is valuable - for the general public, not so sure.

The Ugly

* The writing is very good, the content is excellent. But, Holiday inserts vulgarity at various points in the book that detract from its value. The internet and media portions of the book have enormous value, but some of the style choices take away from the value rather than add to it.

Holiday is young and will have many more books in his future. I have followed his reading list for close to a year, and anyone who reads as much as he does has much to offer. If you have any interest in the media, buy this book. It is eye-opening, scary at points, and disenchanting . . . you will also learn a lot. Recommended.

Hello,

I checked this book out of a local library and planned to buy it if it were really good. I'm glad I saved my money.

Holiday opens the book with a cautionary tale about how a political blog called Politico followed Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty around and "made" a Presidential candidate out him even though he was previously ignored by major publications such as the New York Times. Pawlenty was thrust into the political spot light which, Holiday writes, he never desired in the first place, as a result of Politico's efforts. The end result? His candidacy was very short lived and Pawlenty fell off the map just as quickly as he appeared. Holiday posits that this some sort of manipulation because no one would have paid Pawlenty any attention if it weren't for Politico. My question is, "So what?" Politico decided to follow a politician around and write about it. It generated some interest for him and hits for their blog. The people listened to what he had to say and pushed him aside all the same, so ...who exactly got manipulated? This all sounds more like grass-roots reporting to me. Regardless, even though Pawlenty turned out to be a dud, what if he became the greatest President the country has ever seen? Politico would have been heroes!

Weaker still is writing about his work with Tucker Max's movie I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and the clothing company American Apparel. Max's movie grossed less than $2 million against a budget of $7-$8 million and American Apparel is a penny-stock company with NEGATIVE earnings! So what does that say about the effectiveness of his methods? If Holiday is putting these relationships on his resume and using them evidence for blog-driven media manipulation, he must not have much to work with. Of course, the book itself may be Holiday's last ditch effort to prosthelytize these endeavors!

More importantly, after reading Trust Me, I'm Lying the big take away for me was "Beware, sometimes `journalists' are full of it!" If you didn't already know that, then this is a good place for you to start. For people who are savvy enough to explore both sides of an argument, check author's references or carry with them a healthy amount of skepticism, this book is not for you.