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Bestselling author, Entrepreneur and Agent of change. Seth's blog can be found at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
March 2010
Wednesday March 31, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:24AM EST on March 31, 2010
If you read a book that tries to change you for the better and it fails or doesn't resonate, then it's a self-help book. If you read a book that actually succeeds in changing you for the better, then the...
Tuesday March 30, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:46AM EST on March 30, 2010
Real world friends are hard to find and hard to change. But virtual friends? If your online friends aren't egging you on... If your online friends don't spread the word about the work you're doing... If your online friends aren't...
Monday March 29, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:55AM EST on March 29, 2010
A magazine with a million subscribers might spend more than a million dollars to deliver a single issue to its subscribers. A million dollars spent on postage, printing, subscription sales, fulfillment, ad sales, sub rights and more. I wouldn't be...
Sunday March 28, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:51AM EST on March 28, 2010
is a little like hanging out in a singles bar if you want to get married. It might work, but there are way better ways to accomplish your goal. If you love writing or making music or blogging or any...
Posted by: Seth Godin at 12:21AM EST on March 28, 2010
Perhaps the most forwarded poem ever, from a full time poet no less. You can buy his book, too. (Thanks, Rod, for the link). [Video includes a coarse but common gesture, in case you need the alert]. Linchpin teachers engage...
Saturday March 27, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 6:07AM EST on March 27, 2010
I got an email from someone who had hired a consulting firm to help his company find their true brand selves. They failed. He failed. He asked me if I could recommend a better one. My answer: The problem isn't...
Friday March 26, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:14AM EST on March 26, 2010
Peter Singer is famous for posing a stunningly difficult question, paraphrased as, "If you are walking by a pond and you see a child drowning, do you save her? What if it means ruining a very fancy pair of Italian...
Thursday March 25, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:08AM EST on March 25, 2010
If you have a teacher (of any sort) that you cannot please, that you cannot learn from, that is unwilling to take you where you need to go because he is defending the status quo and demonstrates your failure on...
Wednesday March 24, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:32AM EST on March 24, 2010
Here's a $20 bottle of soap. Functionally identical to a $3 bottle, so what's the $17 for? Let's assume the people buying it aren't stupid. What are they paying $17 for? A story. A feeling. A souvenir of a shopping...
Tuesday March 23, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:16AM EST on March 23, 2010
No, not you. Not anyone in particular, actually. I'm angry at the idea of 'everyone' and what they want and what they say. Everyone says you should do your site and your online presence a certain way. Everyone is upset...
Monday March 22, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 3:52PM EST on March 22, 2010
For a year, people have been asking for a sequel to the free alternative MBA program I ran in early 2009. Here it is. Like the last one, it is also free, but it's different, so please read on for...
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:46AM EST on March 22, 2010
Everybody knows what NSFW means. It's not safe for work if a link contains misogynistic videos, or various curse words or insane prattling sure to upset the boss and your co-workers. But what about safe for work? Have we thought...
Sunday March 21, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:43AM EST on March 21, 2010
A few months ago, the Journal wrote a piece about the demise of the slush pile, that undifferentiated mass of unsolicited ideas from authors and screenwriters in search of a publisher or studio. They missed the point. In the words...
Saturday March 20, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:43AM EST on March 20, 2010
Often, businesses hire freelancers (writers, photographers, process consultants, trainers) to solve a specific problem for the lowest possible cost. And a good freelancer at the right price is often the right approach. Sometimes, though, you spend more and get something...
Friday March 19, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 6:07AM EST on March 19, 2010
I met a new addition to the family the other day. She was eleven days old. It was the warmest day of her whole life the day I was there. And she had just eaten her biggest meal ever. Firsts...
Thursday March 18, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:53AM EST on March 18, 2010
but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste. [and a bonus from George Orwell: "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."]
Wednesday March 17, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:41AM EST on March 17, 2010
A worthwhile discipline: when giving feedback, separate "not for me" from "not for anyone." If someone brings you a business plan for a power plant that will use perpetual motion as a power supply, it's fair to say, "this will...
Tuesday March 16, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:43AM EST on March 16, 2010
The net has spawned two new ways to create and consume culture. The first is the wide-open door for amateurs to create. This is blogging and online art, wikipedia and the maker movement. These guys get a lot of press,...
Monday March 15, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:39AM EST on March 15, 2010
At the local health food store lunch buffet, they offer stir fried tempeh. I never get it. Not because I don’t like it, but because there are always so many other things on the buffet that I prefer. That's why...
Sunday March 14, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 6:29AM EST on March 14, 2010
David points us to the Montague Bookmill. This is the bookstore of the future, because it's not a business trying to maximize growth and ROI. No, it's a place, an attitude, an approach to an afternoon. They don't sell every...
Saturday March 13, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 7:03AM EST on March 13, 2010
Too often, it seems, this attitude is missing from teams, organizations or the community. It's missing because people are quick to opt out of the 'we' part. "What do you mean, we?" they ask. It's so easy to not be...
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:31AM EST on March 13, 2010
Oleg points us to http://wordoid.com/ It's a conjugator, brainstorming and domain finder, all in one. Nicely done. I've done a few posts on naming to help you get started. Here's an old one too. And while I'm sharing links, here's...
Friday March 12, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:16AM EST on March 12, 2010
I stumbled on a great typo last night. "Staff in the lobby were wondering around..." Wandering around is an aimless waste of time. Wondering around, though, that sounds useful. Wondering why this product is the way it is, wondering how...
Thursday March 11, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 2:56PM EST on March 11, 2010
Since Linchpin was published six weeks ago, I've gotten some terrific email. Most of it is about individuals who used the ideas in the book to instigate a process of self-reinvention or validation. Some of the best mail, though, has...
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:21AM EST on March 11, 2010
...is not the same as obeying the list. Do you make the list you check off, follow and work on every day? When does it get made? Who approves it? Do you identify tasks or perform them? If you had...
Wednesday March 10, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:35AM EST on March 10, 2010
When the platform changes, the leaders change. Wordperfect had a virtual monopoly on word processing in big firms that used DOS. Then Windows arrived and the folks at Wordperfect didn't feel the need to hurry in porting themselves to the...
Tuesday March 9, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:24AM EST on March 9, 2010
Old time factories had a linear layout, because there was just one steam engine driving one drive shaft. Every machine in the shop had to line up under the shaft (connected by a pulley) in order to get power. That...
Monday March 8, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:07AM EST on March 8, 2010
This is deceptive. You don't rock all the time. No one does. No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it's a self-defeating goal. You can't do it. No, but you might rock five...
Sunday March 7, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:43AM EST on March 7, 2010
Carnegie apparently said, "Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors......Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory." Is there a...
Saturday March 6, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 12:44PM EST on March 6, 2010
Readers have told me that they enjoy my off-the-wall book lists. Here's another. Science fiction, Tom Peters, Krista Tippett and even a book for touring musicians. Enjoy them. And don't forget it's okay to share books. They don't wear out.
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:36AM EST on March 6, 2010
People are drawn to existing competitions like moths to a flame. It's precisely the wrong way to succeed. Lots of journalists take significant detours in their careers and their writing in order to win a Pulitzer. Maybe not to actually...
Friday March 5, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:52AM EST on March 5, 2010
I posted this eight years ago (!) but a reader asked for an encore. ...are we stuck in High School? I had two brushes with higher education this week. The first was at a speech I gave in New York....
Thursday March 4, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:40AM EST on March 4, 2010
If I can sell you something without a sales call or expensive ad campaign, I can sell it cheaper. If you want to buy a business development relationship but you're not willing to negotiate, do contracts and invest a lot...
Wednesday March 3, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:29AM EST on March 3, 2010
The usual mantra is to 'try harder'. Trying harder is impossible when you're already trying as hard as you can. But you can always try different. Years ago, I was creating trivia questions for a product we built for Prodigy....
Tuesday March 2, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 6:18PM EST on March 2, 2010
Think about that for a minute or two... Sort of turns the whole idea of 'cool' upside down. From an interview with David Horvath. And my favorite new blog in ages (from an old friend and sage): Alan Webber.
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:55AM EST on March 2, 2010
This is an Italian word for being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort. It's a combination of elan and grace and class, sort of the opposite of loud grunts while you play tennis or a...
Monday March 1, 2010
Posted by: Seth Godin at 5:52AM EST on March 1, 2010
What's it? Why do you need to feel like something in order to do the work? They call it work because it's difficult, not because it's something you need to feel like. Very few people wake up in the morning...
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