You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'seth godin' tag.
Seth makes an interesting point here around unemployment and what you do with all that spare time. We can’t avoid it, redundancies are happening and if you are unfortunate enough to be one of those people how do you become more than just another statistic?
Seth talks about freelancers with more time on their hands but what about people who were actually employed by somebody, what do they do?
The effect of being made redundant is harsh and can be incredibly debilitating. For years of your life someone or something has given you something to do for at least 7 hours of the day, now if you don’t motivate yourself nobody is going to find another job for you.
Is finding a job full time work in itself? It can be, initially at least but then gaps start to appear in the day and you find yourself watching TV shows you wouldn’t normally know even existed. This is wasted time, time we’ve never had before and time we don’t automatically know how to use so it is easy to unknowingly treat it as leisure time.
Seth suggests to the freelancers to increase their reputation and visibility. As a former employee you may not even have a reputation outside of your own workplace so maybe it is time you began to build one. What are you good at? Think about both in and out of the workplace. Think about anything and everything.
For example maybe you were employed as an accountant and maybe you are an expert in a piece of accounting software such as Sage. It’s time to promote this ability by helping others and offering support on the most popular forums. Start a Sage for Dummies blog where you give simple plain advice every day. Talk to your local newspaper about writing a tax column. After as little as a year doing this your reputation and visibility will be so high you could probably start your own business and the best thing is your customer base will be already waiting – they are your fans, followers and readers with whom you have built the utmost confidence.
Alternatively maybe you have an interest outside of work that could turn a profit if you put your mind to it. That star seller rating you earned by accident on eBay could give you a head start on becoming a reseller for a product or range of products or maybe your love of the kitchen could give you a good base for a culinary qualification or even starting your own bistro. Believe it or not you don’t even need a store front to do such a thing, a local couple here in Bournemouth run a successful ding venture whereby people pay to be their dinner guests in their own home.
It is time to think on your feet. Next time you find yourself sitting in the void find a way to fill it. It could just turn things around.
This post follows on from the post about Tribes by Shaune. What Seth is saying is that these days the greatest gains are to be achieved by being seen as a leader – to have a tribe as he says it.
Great! What has this to do with training and learning? All too often, if you are in training and learning you follow. You deliver what the client wants, what the company wants. You may even be a leader of a training department / company / devision / organisation. But so what if you are? You are still a follower in the big picture.
Well how about we stop doing that? Just stop working like that. Instead we start delivering what people need. There is a difference between want and need. Identifying the need and fixing the need is what is required during these difficult times.
We are the trainers, the experts, the people who see things from the outside. This is our (new) role. Not to only fulfill briefs, but to do more.
So trainers, now is the time to dig deep, to be seen as a leader. A person with solutions, ideas, new ways of thinking and exciting developments. No one knows who to turn to. So make it you!
Just recently Seth Godin released his latest marketing book called Tribes. This time though marketing is actually a byproduct of what the book is truly about – leadership.
This fact remains however; How do you lead without followers? Even more vitally how do you create interest in something in the first place?
There’s a great quote in the free Triibes e-book, which came from a group which Seth began in order to prove a point really. The quote comes from Dr. Saleh AlShebil, speaking about an iPhone hackers group.
“Get a group of people from anywhere, driven by a passion for something, target a single goal, challenge them and let them do “magic.” “
Is it really that simple?
Can you actually make yourself the single hub of a common interest for the many?
Does it have to be a non-product related spin?
Absolutely not, just look at Apple and its loyal bunch of followers, they make nice simple shiny things and the followers spread the word and create more followers.
Does it have to be computer related?
Nope. Just look at the success of the Mini over the years. Originally a small, quirky car which created a large number of followers by being different and more importantly friendly. Now with the new Mini it has a new owner, BMW but they have taken everything great about the ethos of the Mini and used it as a central part of the campaigns. When you buy a Mini you even get a handbook on how to interact with and attract other Mini drivers.
Can a faked tribe become a real tribe?
Yes. Kellogg’s have been running an advertising campaign for Crunchy Nut Cornflakes for years around a mythical group called the “Crunchy Nutters”. Now there is a Facebook group dedicated to people who love Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
If you want to see more evidence of this kind of thing in action check out the Triibes e-book. It makes a fascinating insight into not only leadership and the following of leaders but also why groups or tribes suddenly appear.
Get it here.
Image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Maasai_tribe.jpg
Today’s quote comes from the remarkablized Seth Godin. I urge you to think about this one next time you’re coming up with a project idea, or a new way to hook customers in, or a radical product concept, etc, etc.
“Over the top isn’t… over the top any more.
The bar keeps being raised. That service you thought was so remarkable is now standard. Sorry.”
With all the trouble at the moment around file sharing and Bittorrent in particular it’s rather refreshing to see somebody embracing the art of sharing.
Seth Godin has an event coming up where he will launch his new book. During the event he will no doubt plug his new book but also knowing Seth there will be some top tips on marketeering and business in general.
Usually at an event like this the audience is forbidden to make recordings but in this instance Seth is encouraging it. The more people who record it, the more people will see it and before the end of the day it could be live on thousands of blogs. It’s a brilliant way of getting free publicity by giving something away for free, something that people will actually find useful.
His talk is in NYC at a venue that only holds a few hundred people by the looks of it, so if you go along there is a chance you may not get in. Many people who would love to go along don’t live in or near NYC so they can’t get there to see it. Many people who would love to go along (myself included), aren’t even based in the US so they have no chance of seeing it.
So why doesn’t he record it himself and put it on his own blog? Simple; the power of word of mouth marketing. If Seth directly tells somebody about his new book it is nowhere near as powerful and as viral as a personal recommendation from someone completely unconnected.
Maybe we’ll even post a feed here when it is available.
Find out more about the Tribes event here.
Recent Comments