Episode #282: Seth Godin – You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See

Seth Godin is the author of 18 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He’s also the founder of the altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed the work of thousands of people. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip and Purple Cow. In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world. In 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame. His book, What To Do When It’s Your Turn is now in its fifth printing. The newest book, This Is Marketing, comes out in November 2018).

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“In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” 

Show Notes:

  • Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
    • It changes over time
    • Must be willing to fail – “Okay… Will I do things that might not work?”
  • Some of Seth’s failures: many teaching mistakes, tried to build philanthropy platform that failed, blog has failed at times
  • How to handle a slump? – “There’s no such thing as a long slump.”
    • Stephen J. Gould – “The real problem is how you respond to the failure. You can’t tell yourself a story that’s not true.”
    • Have honest self talk — “This isn’t a slump.”
  • Stanford MBA – Friends with Chip Conley.  “Everyone there feels like a fraud or an arrogant jerk. I felt like I was drowning. The sessions with Chip changed my life.”  Chips “Random Acts of Initiative” were life changing.  Chip taking initiative and not fearing rejection. Remarkable.
  • Empathy – A mentor wants to see you do things that are bold, leap forward because of them.
  • Be a mentor – “Make the world shinier. Bring life to more causes.”
  • Economy of words – “I made the decision to write like I talk.”
    • “Talking isn’t better because you’re afraid.”
  • The book publishing world and why Seth chose to traditionally publish This Is Marketing
  • What percentage of Seth’s success is luck? “98.2%”  The final 1.8% is “relentless persistence.”  “The 98.2% is the parent lottery.”
  • How to deal with rejection after rejection…
  • “Culture IS strategy. How we treat people. It’s hard to do the things we’re proud of.”
    • “Great ones have better clients.”
  • Side hustle advice — Start it on the side so that you don’t have to make money at it right away. You can choose your clients and never just “do it for the money.”
    • “Exactly. Great advice.”
  • Keys to storytelling – “We have too much stuff.”
    • Better understand the story you’re telling yourself.
  • Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
  • Use the “Get To Know You Document“

“Luck for me is 98.2% of it. The other 1.8% is relentless persistence.”

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