How To Start A Cult: Be bold, build belonging and attract a band of devoted followers to your brand Paperback – 21 Dec. 2021

I've been waiting for this book my whole life! I run my own business and I'm bored sick of outdated mainstream marketing, stuffy strategies, underhanded fomo and bro marketing tactics - this book has a totally different flavour and I. for one, am loving it. Reading about Jody's inadvertent cult following is as funny as it is insightful - and to have the savvy to reverse-engineer it into an 'authentic' (if you know you know) marketing and brand strategy is simply genius. I'll be integrating the insights and abiding by the rules in my business and I've no doubt it's going to have an incredible impact on just how many people I can help with what I do .

Let's face it - you hear "cult" and alarm bells start to ring pretty much immediately.When a book is titled "How to Start a Cult" then you'd definitely think that you're in for a concerning (or, at the very least, outlandish) read.Yet, the only thing concerning about this book is just how engaging it is from page one.Bold, well-composed, and a little bit cheeky in places (okay...maybe a lot), Jody Raynsford manages to effectively propose what sounds like an initially impossoble idea. Namely, that the "reel em in" approaches of recruiting cult members can create a positive and mutually beneficial framework for effective marketing and leadership strategies.Okay...the term "cult" will never sound 100% a-okay. But, to be frank, this book is much more about understanding and appealing to the human desire for connection as opposed to anything nefarious.It could just as easily have been called "How to Start a Community" but that's nowhere near as compelling a title, nor is it reflective of the author's quirky and professionally playful writing style.Jody Raynsford's particular brand of writing makes the book feel almost conversational and this really helps to make the content more digestible.With this book you're not wading through a dry business text because you know you can squeeze some very useful information out of it (despite hating every moment). Instead, it's more like you're chatting with your business-minded friend at the pub and happen to learn some highly useful skills as you share a round of beers.The case study of an accidental running cult was especially interesting and not at all what you'd get in your average business publication.At the end of the day I have to hold my hands up and say that Jody Raynsford makes a really good point. Long before the trap of a cult springs, there are typically some core elements that make them seem intriguing in the first place.Those elements (when used in a positive way) provide transferable skills for developing a successful business that will grow organically and self-sustain effectively.When it comes to business, we really could learn a whole lot from cults.A brilliant read and one I highly recommend.

Actually I loved this book and since reading it I realised I have already begun a cult with my business - I just need it to grow and indoctrinate my followers a bit more!Funny and inspiring. Also a bit scary: need to pull my big girls pants up and get on with the exercises.I have since joined Jody’s build a cult academy. Here is to mass indoctrination in 2025!

I read this because it was shortlisted in book awards I'd entered when I wasn't and I wanted to see how wrong the judges wereBut they weren'tI thoroughly enjoyed it and have had the chance to speak to Jody sinceHe's a decent bloke too (as cult leaders go)So it's only fair I leave a review even if a little begrudginglyHere goes... hope it helpsWhat's not to like about a book with a Mandalorian reference?And many other references and examples that bring this to lifeThe Rules and Commandments are solid and nicely explained with enough to be able to understand and get stuck into the exercises (which are also supported by other resources)However it is the writing that makes this a pleasure as you feel as though Jody is sat telling you this stuff.It is humorous and moves along at a cracking paceImportant points are emphatically made while the reader is not treated as an idiot (which is a good call really as readers are potential cult leaders!)Well worth the read for anyone trying to mobilise groups of people in an increasingly noisy world

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this book but I was amazed!Unlike most books in this genre it is surprisingly readable, the advice and tools are invaluable and if applied correctly will help change the way you work.The book flows really well and has a little humour in the way it’s written but is deadly serious when needed.Highly recommended

This book has an entirely different approach to brand building. In an over-saturated market where nothing much has changed since the world did, in terms of how business marketing is carried out, this is a refreshing change in encouraging the reader to kick their comfort zone into touch, 'leave their ego on the shelf' and approach the process of brand-building more clinically and with specific target methods that people are more likely to respond to, one way or the other. It effectively 'weeds out' the ones who are not your target market, thereby reducing tha amount of time and energy inloved in preaching to those who will never convert. I like this book, and I look forward to putting some of the methods into practice.

How to start a cult is a book all about bringing together a truly invested tribe in your business. No more magnolia. No more being overly invested in the pure metrics of followers and creating a metric in your business to establish credibility.Building a business is all about having a tribe of people who are invested in your mission and your message - this book is the guide to show you how.It’s better to have a smaller crowd of invested followers than a large crowd of ambivalent followers