A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow
Iâm Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers to manage their online promotion efforts. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!).
I decided to change things up a little this week and do a book “outlook” on two of Seth Godin’s books: ‘Linchpin’ (his latest) and ‘Meatball Sundae’ from 2007.
Lately the buzz around Seth Godin has been surrounding his latest book ‘Linchin’. As you can see here is an example: one where he was Skyped in to a university classroom to talk about the elements of this book. In the video, the highlight I caught was how Seth was talking about people wanting to be around you (or tweet with you, or befriend you on Facebook) because of “how you make them feel”.
That is one thing I have always admired about Seth, is his ability to make people stop and think. And most of the time the concept is very simple. Because most of the time he is right on point.
Think for just a moment, why do you listen to certain music? Because of the words and the voice of the person singing, right? Why do you read certain books? Because of the emotions the words on the page touch your heart, right?
Well, that is what Seth is talking about here—-you can become a “want” to other people because they can’t (or don’t) wish to be without you and your services.
And while ‘Linchin’ has been all the buzz lately, I have picked up one of Seth’s earlier works, ‘Meatball Sundae’, to take a look and share some ideas I found interesting in this book about marketing and how it has changed over the last decade. Because the subtitle to this book is “Is your Marketing Out of Sync?
Meatball Sundae
Here are few concepts I would like to explore with you:
The first concept I would like to discuss is the difference between “old marketing” and “new marketing” and driving innovation deep. On pages 22-23 Seth talks about how some companies found “new” ways to market their products and did so successfully.
Did you know that Cafepress.com (they sell promotional products) sell millions of dollars of imprinted items each month? I figured they were doing pretty good, but I didn’t realize they were that popular. They took a concept (personal promotional products) and found a way to do it on a bigger scale by allowing the individual person customize their promotional products. Then they took it one step further and allowed people to set their prices for their own products. And to top that, it is all done over the web and the person doesn’t have to have inventory. What a great concept, right?
Also, did you know Audible.com carries more books on tape than any store or library….all on the web without needing to set up a physical location.
My point here is (well, really Seth’s point is) the way you are able to set up your business and get it to other people has changed drastically and you can thrive with it.
Next concept is realizing how the technology has changed the environment but human nature hasn’t. Seth offers this—(page 48)
“Marketing has always been about discovering what people want and need and telling the story about how they can get it (from you). It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that the list represents a change in what people want and need. Human nature hasn’t changed a bit. What has changed is the environment we live in. The combination of technology and competition has lead to a world where many people can get what they want, when they need it…what we’ve wanted all along is to be treated with respect and to be connect to other people.”
Again, he made me stop and think. Because when I first read this I thought, “No, Seth human nature has changed!” But we have just adjusted as a result of the environment around us.
Another concept he talks about his offering your clients a way to receive what they want (from you) in a way that allows you not to break the bank either. One example he used was Lulu.com. You can work with Lulu to get your manuscript turned into a book. They will offer you a online storefront to sell it from and will give you an ISBN to allow you to sell your book from any bookstore in the word. Of course, now their are more than just Lulu.com to do this, however, the concept is the same.
There are many more great concepts in this book and you can pick up a copy for yourself at Amazon and from his website.
You have more possibilities and opportunities for marketing and to get out to those who will want and need your services and products more than you have before. And it is your ability to find your own UNIQUE way to be authentic that will get you connect with those who will want to network, buy and share with others about you.
I hope you have enjoyed this “outlook” on Seth Godin and two of his books.
How do you keep you marketing in sync with the ever changing technology?
I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.