Welcome to Books and Ideas for Entrepreneurs, a show where we talk through the theory so that you can put it into practice on your journey to building a better business. On today's show we're going to discuss a book by Seth Godin called This is Marketing. In a lot of ways, this book is a return to first principles. It’s clarion call to professional marketing, a line in the sand that makes a clear distinction between permission marketing and the spam promotion, black-hat tactics that unfortunately characterizes much of digital marketing today. Seth Godin is the Cal Ripken, ageless wonder of the marketing industry. His perspective is refreshing, contrarian and inspiring.
What is marketing, Seth? (at minute 1:58)
Marketing is a generous act to help people resolve a problem ....their problem. Definitions are important because they give provide meaning, purpose, and actionable next steps. A lot of what's happening online is not marketing, it's spam. Marketing is about serving others and solving problems.
Seth Godin's 5 Step Marketing Plan (at minute 4:20)
1. Create something that matters, with a story that’s worth being told for people who want to talk about it
2. Design and build it in such a way to benefit a few people who really care about it
3. Tell a story that fits with your internal narrative and the dreams of your minimum viable audience
4. Spread the word
5. Be present, consistently and generously, for years and years to lead and realize the change that your want to see in the world
3 Sentence Marketing Message. (at minute 11:18)
My product is for people who believe _______________
I will focus on people who want ______________
I promise that engaging with what I make will help you get ______________
Who is the product for? It's about positioning. (at minute 13:05)
If your product is for everybody, then it's good for nobody. Business is a paradox. You add by subtraction, especially in the early days. Seth gives us a great tool to help us position our products and services. It's called the X Y Axis.
Definition of culture (at minute 15:40)
People like us do this, but we don't that. And you get to define what "this" and "that" is. - Seth Godin
For Patagonia : People like us care about the planet and we take action on the most pressing environmental issues, we don't buy products that harm animals or the environment in the production process.
For Financial GPS: People like us want to build a sellable business that function well without us, we use leading indicators to find issues before they become problems, we don't confuse outputs with impact. We only want to do work that matters.
Resources Mentioned
www.seth.blog | Seth's Blog