Seth Godin's Blog, page 302

The work you do when you spread the word or run an ad or invent a policy is likely aimed at one of these four groups.

Strangers are customers to be, but not yet

Critics are those that would speak ill of you, or need to be converted

Friends are those that might have given permission, or even buy now and then

Fans are members of your tribe, supporters and insiders

You already know the truth: can't please all these groups at once. And you also probably realize that each of us with...

Many months ago, I asked my readers to send me pictures of people who mattered, who made a difference--people they couldn't live without. The result of that shout out is now published on the inside cover of my new book.

If you didn't get your picture in on time, you can post it, along with a description, links, guest books and more at whoisthelinchpin.com. Even better, post someone else. It's a nice thing to do for someone who matters to you.

Celebrate the linchpins. We need more of them.

How can I explain the never-ending irrationality of human behavior?

We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the shipping schedule. We say we want to be thin but we eat too much. We say we want to be smart but we skip class or don't read that book the boss lent us.

The contradictions never end. When someone shows up and acts without contradiction, we're amazed...

Free is something you get, no matter what.

A bonus is something you get as an add-on when you purchase something, or trade your attention.

The purpose of free is to spread the word, alert the universe and generate interest.

The purpose of a bonus is to reward immediate action and to sway the undecided.

Here are some free things we built for Linchpin:

Download an eight-page manifesto from Changethis. (My favorite one)

Find posters and riffs on Scribd.

See a brainstorming video on Vimeo.

Watch...

There's going to be a lot of hoopla this week, some of it on this very blog (three posts already today!).

I want to be the very first author to announce a new project for Apple's tablet.

Apple is announcing the device tomorrow (I wish they had waited a week), but I thought I'd let you know early that I've licensed Vook the rights to Unleashing the Ideavirus so they can convert it into a multimedia app. It should be finished before the tablet ships, so we intend to be ready when they are.

Steve...

[I'll be updating this post all day, just fyi, click through to see the latest update]

You know by now that I haven't gone to any traditional media for the launch of my new book - no pitches to newspapers, magazines, or television. Instead, I went directly to my readers and the many intelligent voices online. I sent review copies by request to my readers - who were generous and creative in their reviews, and now we'll hear from the bloggers and other online denizens. This is the short head...

If you've never written a non-fiction book, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to. It organizes your thoughts. It's a big project worthy of your attention.

Noted.

But once you've written a book, it's not clear that it's a useful thing to publish one. After all, it takes a year. It involves a lot of people. You need to print a lot of copies, ship them everywhere, create a lot of hoopla and hope that people actually a) hear about it, b) decide it's worth the effort to track it down...

My definition of art contains three elements:

Art is made by a human being.

Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.

Art is a gift. You can sell the souvenir, the canvas, the recording... but the idea itself is free, and the generosity is a critical part of making art.



By my definition, most art has nothing to do with oil paint or marble. Art is what we're doing when we do our best work.

Sure, there are playoffs in football, but competition is everywhere, we just forget to notice it.

There are three hundred photographers looking for work in a particular specialty. One puts a creative commons license on his shots in Flickr and they start showing up in many places, from presentations to brochures. Which of the 300 photographers has won the competition for attention? Which one of the three hundred has shared his ideas enough to be noticed?

There are twenty towns you can choose...

File this one under basic human emotions that marketers need to be aware of.

When a global slowdown, national tragedy or random event hits, people look for someone to blame. If there's no one to blame, sometimes they look for someone to hate, even if it is ultimately self-destructive.

A novice computer user downloads viruses, interacts with spyware and encounters a system crash. He calls tech support for the word processor he uses and lets them have it with both barrels.

A flood hits a town and ...