Seth Godin's Blog, page 295

Telling a story on the label

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 expedition or perhaps just a little bit of joy in the shower every morning. Let's dissect:

1. The hang tag. It's special because most soap doesn't have a hang tag. Hang tags come on things that are a little more special than soap. And hang tags beg to be read. This one says a lot (...

I'm mad at everyone

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 at what you did.

Everyone is frustrated at the slow pace government is getting this done.

Everyone knows you should listen to your customers and do what they say.

Everyone knows that our school is wasting money.

Everyone says you need to go to a 'good' college.

You get the idea. That

Let's spend a (very leveraged) week together

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 the details.

I'm planning on inviting eleven people to an intensive five-day session in New York. This program is designed exclusively for people who:

Already have a job

Want to do more in that job

Can spend five days at my office with their boss's blessing

Take initiative as a matter of course...

SFW

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 too much about what's safe?

Is it SFW to criticize a plan your boss loves?

Is it SFW to ship a product without having every single possible meeting beforehand?

Is it SFW to engage with your customers honestly?

Perhaps it's time to revisit what's safe where you work.

Do you make slush?

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 of Michael Brooke, "I'm not interested in creating slush."

If you have something good, really good, what's it doing in the slush pile?

Bring it to the world directly, make your own video, write your own ebook, post your own blog, record your own music.

Or find an agent, ...

When a freelancer changes the game

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 great. You seek out and find a linchpin who combines inspiration and professionalism and initiative and pushes back on your quest for average. When you interact with someone like that, you might pay more but you get far more...

First and never

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 are fun and exciting and it's neat to keep topping ourselves.

I've also come to grips with the fact that I'm never going to eat tuna ever again, and that I'm never going to be able to easily walk onto a shuttle flight at the last minute and just show up in Boston. Never is a lot harder than...

Anxiety is nothing...

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."]

Not for me

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 never work, it's impossible."

If someone brings you a business plan for a chain of hot dog sushi restaurants, it's fair to say, "this is disgusting, I will never go here," but not helpful to assume that it won't work anywhere under any circumstances.

You can say you don't ...

Driveby culture and the endless search for wow

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, and deservedly so, because they're changing everything.

The second, though, is distracting and ultimately a waste. We're creating a culture of clickers, stumblers and jaded spectators who decide in the space of a moment whether to watch and participate (or not).

Imagine if people...