Creating What Matters » Seth Godin

Video, Print or Radio?

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:04:33 +0000

As you know I have long been a follower of Seth Godin and when you look at his rise to prominence it is easy to miss the real talent of the guy to see things from a different perspective. This is just another example.
this is what he says
Twenty years ago, only big companies and TV stars worried about media channels.
Oprah was on TV, then she added radio. Two channels. Then a magazine.
Pepsi set out to dominate TV with their message, and billboards and vending machines. Newspapers, not so much. The media you chose to spread your message mattered. In fact, it could change what you made and how you made it. [Stop for a second and consider that... the media channel often drove the product and pricing and distribution].
Today, of course, everyone has access to a media channel. You can create a series of YouTube videos, or have a blog. You can be a big-time tweeter, or lead a significant tribe on Facebook.
Harder to grapple with is the idea that the media channel you choose changes who you are and what you do. Tom Peters gives a hundred or more speeches a year, around the world, for good money (and well earned). But this channel, this place where he can spread his message, determines what he does all day, impacts the pace of the work he does, informs all of his decisions.
Oprah lives a life that revolves around a daily TV show. Of course it would be difficult for her to write a book… that’s a life dictated by a different channel. And she’s a lapsed twitter user because it demands a different staffing and mindset than she has now.
This applies to non-celebs, to people with jobs, to entrepreneurs, to job seekers. We all spread our ideas, at least a little, and the medium you choose will change your ideas. If you only pay attention to the world when you need a new job (your channel is stamps and your message is your resume) you’ll spend your day differently than if you are leading a tribe, participating in organizations or giving local speeches all the time.
We’ve come a long way from a worker having just two channels (a resume and a few references) to having the choice of a dozen or more significant ways to spread her ideas. Choose or lose.

Sensational Journalism – Media Hype

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:24:46 +0000

This year for my wife and I it’s been fairly traumatic because we have had to handle her breast cancer and our elder two daughter’s weddings – my wife made the dresses while undergoing treatment. We used to watch the evening news at about 10 o’clock at night before going to bed but realized that actually the negative content of the news as reported quite often resulted in us not sleeping well. On Seth Godin’s blog this week he made a very interesting statement about news reporting and content. If we continue to allow the media to dictate our thinking then we end up believing, very often, that the sky is falling in. In reality the sky isn’t falling in. Yes there are bad things happening all over the world but that’s always been the case it’s just that we’ve become much better at global communication and in particular finding bad news. So what is the answer? Find some good news.

We voted with our feet and switched off the television. We actually kept it on and watched numerous episodes of scrubs, highly entertaining and subsequently would actually sleep at night. The world doesn’t stop because we didn’t watch the news and we learnt become much more selective about what we watch and won’t be listened to.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/the-problem-with-cable-news.html

Hate Powerpoint – Here’s an Alternative

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:27:06 +0000

You may already realise that I’m a fan of Seth Godin and follow his thoughts and processes quite closely. Today is no exception. I’ve hated Powerpoint and computers for any presentation and much more so for one to one presentations. There is nothing worse than sitting a potential business colleague down and saying watch this and I’ll talk you through it. There is no interaction and very little eye contact – resulting in a potentially wasted opportunity.

Seth has a great simple idea that I’ve seen before but well worth reiterating – Use a Talking Pad – in this case a yellow legal pad and a big marker pen.

He explains it so well that I might just as well let him show you

Your World or THE World

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:17:39 +0000

Seth Godin is a guy (founder of Squidoo.com) who has the uncanny ability to ask questions that rattle around in my skull, sometimes for days, and this is no different. Who am I marketing to and for. So often I market my products or services to the world as I see it rather than the world as my potential customers see it.

Make some changes to the way you do things and see what the results are? Go and read his post and see what comes to mind. I’ll post my thoughts about what he’s triggered in me with his question this time in a few days once I’ve thought it through.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/05/your-world-vs-the-world.html

Remember my offer let me set up your first squidoo lens and account for free (the account is free anyway)