If you read this blog regularly, you know that I like to link to Seth Godin. A lot.
That might equal points off for me from some of you, which is fine. There are plenty of other passionate marketers out there, and one size doesn’t fit all.
And, if this is a little too much for you, so be it. But as far as marketing and business thinking goes, I believe Seth is the best. Here are five reasons why:
1. Seth’s a paradox. He writes quite a bit about ideas that seem contrary to business, yet work effectively. They’re also ideas not easily put into practice by most people, but they’re simple to understand. At the heart of it, he recommends acting in a way that appears backward, but isn’t. Life’s like that. Why shouldn’t business be?
2. Seth’s honest. I also like his willingness to cut out large parts of the market for the sake of better business, clearer messages, and truth in marketing. Seth says don’t be all things to all people. Just be you, and be you really well. I like telling customers exactly what I don’t do; I think it gives more credibility to what I do do.
3. Seth’s blunt. Every book and every blog post gets right to the point. If you’re going to get offended by someone exposing what’s wrong in your business, Seth’s stuff probably isn’t for you. It’s all constructive, but it’s not sugar coated. There’s no time to pretend the emperor has no clothes; there are too many opportunities for greatness around for that.
4. Seth’s selective. Seth remarked in his blog a while back that the best review he got for one of his books was something from the New York Times that was along the lines of, “The book is written for and will only appeal to the most motivated people out there” (not an exact quote). So, his ideas appeal to me because I’m in that group. My education has been out in the field; my degree honestly hasn’t helped me much. Seth tells me that’s a positive, and I believe him.
5. Seth’s right. There’s example after example of businesses that do exactly the kinds of things Seth talks about, and they’re thriving. They’re Purple Cows, they go through The Dip, they get Permission, they form Tribes. Sure, there are financially successful businesses that do exactly the opposite of what Seth says to do. But which ones would you rather participate in?
Me? I’d rather start something great. Thoughts?
Tags: business relationships, business trust, content, marketing strategy
Ben – I agree with all 5 of your points, but #1 really hits home for me. I had the opportunity to talk to Seth this week, and I asked him the question “why does the world need your book?” (I was talking about “The Dip”)
His answer? “The world doesn’t need more books, the world needs more conversations”. Every other author would have given me a spiel about why their book was great and why people should buy it.
That’s why I love Seth’s work – he’s almost always counter-intuitive.
Thanks for starting a conversation here!
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Ben Curnett
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August 12th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Fascinating. I agree- he’s a very counter-intuitive thinker, as the whole “world doesn’t need more books” comment attests. What’s so striking about that to me is that it’s such genuinely smart sentiment, from a business standpoint. I mean, whose book would I buy, after hearing that? I’d buy his.
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