Tag Archives: Seth Godin

Writing sdrawckaB

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time writing articles and pulling together ideas I’ve collected for an information product for people considering self-employment. I enjoy writing because it’s a slightly new experience each time.

Sometimes things just flow, but the next day I reread what I wrote and it looks like… it flowed, alright, but for a very different reason. Sometimes I wrestle and fight with a piece and don’t like it very much, but other people give me great feedback. Considering that, I might just be writing some of my best stuff ever right now, because I’m having to unscramble things I originally wrote backwards.
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Godin 05-13-10: Cowabunga!

Some call the new pattern of working from project to project the “gig economy.” Instead of having a predictable job, more and more people are contractors working with a particular person or company for the length of a project. Cool idea in the world of self-directed careers, because it allows people to have more control over their schedules.

But the phrase doesn’t even come close to capturing the joy of experimenting and playing and expanding our minds and our abilities that we experience as the creatively self-employed. That’s what Barbara Winter calls the “Joyfully Jobless life.” It’s joyful because it’s an adventure of self-discovery.

Leave it to Seth Godin to capture this wonderful idea in a high-octane analogy: surfing. In this recent post he compares the joy from work that grows us by developing our gifts and talents with the intoxication of the next wave for the surfer.

I can see the surf breaking in the distance with the sun rising on the horizon behind it as I round the corner on the Twisting Road.

Godin 05-07-10: The Future of Media

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A very cool friend pointed me to a vivid poem yesterday. I enjoy poetry that uses concise and precise word choice to compose a scene or evoke a complex response.

I thought about the condensed communication of poetry when I read Seth Godin’s
blog post on the future of media. It’s like a mystical parable, maybe even a zen koan, in that grasping all that it teaches will change your outlook on a lot of things.

Seth Godin’s core messages are contained in this post: find what captivates you, explore it and share it with the world, and your tribe of like-minded and like-hearted people will gravitate to you and provide you with opportunities to receive their gratitude as payment.

There’s also this other lesson we solo entrepreneurs need to catch. Print media is withering, especially if it’s not published daily. It will be replaced by timely digital publications sent to smaller, more narrowly targeted audiences. Heard that for a while, right? But read Seth’s post carefully. Then think about what you’ve heard about having an e-mail newsletter or a blog to build your business. I think as this new paradigm of digital media takes over, our blogs and newsletters are likely to wither, too.

Audiences will be getting compelling, detailed information from sources who immerse themselves in exploring, understanding, and explaining a topic. “5 Quick Tips” won’t be compelling to that sort of audience. It will work to capture the attention of the newbies joining the tribe, and they might sign up to learn more. But in order to keep the tribe’s attention we’re going to have to provide much better content. I’m betting the format of a personal note, a soft content article, and two or three sales messages won’t work in the coming years.

How will you adapt?

Consumer Debt: Seth and Dave Agree

Money is one of the biggest obstacles to people transitioning to a new career, especially one that involves self-employment. The other huge obstacle for people trying to work for themselves is marketing, and marketing at its core is about how to find people to pay you for your work. So money’s a hugely important topic for us.

I used to write about money sometimes when I published my monthly blog-zine, Chasing Wisdom. The archives are available here in the section “Pursuit of Happiness: Money.” Even though I continue to talk with clients and colleagues about money and how to have a better relationship with it, I haven’t written anything about it in a long time.

I realized it’s time to start when I read Seth Godin’s blog post about consumer debt. Partway through it, I though, Dang, he sounds like Dave Ramsey! A few lines later, he was giving props to Dave and linking to an article on Dave’s web site. It’s definitely time for me to share some ideas on getting along with money. I even created a new category to encourage myself to write on this topic regularly.

You get along better with money when you’re in charge. Spend less each month than you make. Save up and pay cash for everything you buy, except your home, and pay cash for your home if you can. Never borrow money to buy things just because you want them. Work, save, and wait. This is the way to show money you’re serious and you’re going to be in charge. Piling up consumer debt says you’re giving up and letting money run wild.

May You Have Everything You Need,

Steve Coxsey