Category Archives: Seth the Mighty Godin

Seth Godin. Nothin’ more to say.

Godin 12-03-09: Did Seth meet Ken?

Sometimes the valuable nugget for me in Seth Godin’s blog post is not the main point. Sometimes it’s a tangential aside, and sometimes it’s just an automatic way of thinking that shows his point of view. In fact, in one post he referred to this as an accent in the way people speak, write, and act.

I was reading through the bullet points in Seth’s recent post titled Is it too late to catch up? which is about ways for companies that have not established a web presence to go digital and learn about online marketing. It wasn’t a particularly interesting topic to me so I was scanning, until I hit the last two bullet points:

• Don’t [have any meetings about your web strategy]. Just do stuff. First you have to fail, then you can improve.

• Refuse to cede the work to consultants. You don’t outsource your drill press or your bookkeeping or your product design. If you’re going to catch up, you must (all of you) get good at this, and you only accomplish that by doing it.

I added the brackets in the first one, because you can fill those brackets in with a lot of options and the wisdom still rings true.

“Don’t plan the format and structure of your blog for the next year. Just start blogging. First you have to fail; then you can improve.”

“Don’t fret over every sentence in the article you’re writing to post online. Just write it. First you have to fail; then you can improve.”

“Don’t memorize every possible variation you might encounter during a consulting session. Just have consulting sessions. First you have to fail; then you can improve”

I think Seth Godin may have been reading Ken Robert’s Mildly Creative blog post about the two-step process for making meaning. Ken tells us, “you can’t do anything with it until you make it.” [my note: “it” = whatever you’re creating or doing]

The second bullet point above, the last from Seth’s long list, will totally upend the worlds of most coaches and other consulting types I know. We have been trained relentlessly from all sides that it’s better to hire someone to do the web stuff unless we are highly technical and web oriented. We’ve been told not to waste our time on it because we can outsource it and spend our time in better ways.

But now I’m thinking of a coaching friend who isn’t sure if her blog is updated because she sent material to her VA but doesn’t know when it will be posted. Hmmm…

Maybe it’s good to have help doing the online marketing, but it’s important to know how to do it ourselves if we need to. Marketing is the number one activity of most successful businesses, right?

Kind of goes along with that first point.

First you have to fail; then you can improve.

I really love that one.

Godin 2009-10-12

How does serendipity work again? Am I thinking about something, and that resonates unconsciously with someone else, who is drawn to say or do something related to it? Or is that other person pondering and doing, and I unconsciously pick that up and start wondering?

Seth Godin writes a lot of blog posts, and often I read and think, “That makes sense and I see who the target audience is… but it’s not me.” But once in a while I read a post of his and think, “How did he know?”

I have conversations with people transitioning to self-employment, trying to design a small business or grow one from a tiny seed to a productive tree. Lately the questions and concerns have focused on risk. People want to know, What are the real risks of starting a small business and pursuing self-employment? That’s a great question, but the equally important question is, What are the risks of not doing it?”

Seth amplifies the difference in Apparent risk and actual risk.

Godin 09-25-09

When I consult with people on steps to transition to self-employment and grow a small business, inevitably we hit some roadblocks when we discuss marketing. Even though I start with a simple, basic overview and the easiest, least expensive things to do, a lot of people get overwhelmed by all they have to consider and learn. I feel like the Grinch, stealing their Christmas. But after reading Seth Godin’s “overview” of questions to ask about your website, I can see that he’s the real Grinch! I’ve been a puppy dog Santa compared to him. But he’s successful because he knows the right questions, like Things to ask before you redo your website.

Sometimes the only thing to move more slowly than a corporation is a non-profit corporation. “When was the last time you had an interaction with a non-profit (there’s that word again) that blew you away? …if you don’t have a ton of volunteers happy to help you, then you’re not working on something important enough.” Seth challenges that head-on in The problem with non.

New media opened the doors for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs to get in the conversation with lots of prospects for a very low cost. Seth Godin sees this is part of a paradigm shift where marketers will build their own platforms instead of using those of the entertainment media.
The platform vs. the eyballs

Marketing: Strategy vs. Tactics

I have been explaining to people for months now, maybe even years, that using one or a half-dozen marketing tactics is not a marketing plan. Tactics are the means of implementing a strategy. Without strategy, which states the clear outcome desired with defined steps, there is no plan.

Seth Godin explains it succinctly, and of course with a lot more authority, in a recent blog post. You can read what the guru says here:

When tactics drown out strategy