Faster Future: Possibilities now and beyond: seth godin

Showing posts with label seth godin. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Brand Anarchy - a book launch I really should have been at

I failed to show up at a book launch last night. I had a school governors meeting (on data) I needed to be at.
It's not that unusual for me to fail to turn up for something I've been invited to, to be fair. It was only when I realised the content of Stephen Waddington and Steve Earl's Brand Anarchy that I realised I really should have made more of an effort.
Stephen (@wadds) had been kind enough to interview me for the book some months back. And the guys have been even kinder in listing myself alongside a very impressive line up in the Amazon blurb:
"As the media landscape looks increasingly diverse and anarchic,
individuals, organisations and governments should not waste time
wondering whether they have lost control of their reputations. The
simple fact is that they have never had control. The question is what
they can do about it now, and what they need to consider for the future.
"The fragmentation of media and the rise of social media has brought
brand and personal reputational risk into sharp focus like never before.
Disaffected shareholders, customers and staff are voicing their
opinions to a global internet audience. In a brand context it is
reputation anarchy.
"In Brand Anarchy, Steve Earl and Stephen Waddington draw on insight
from opinion-makers and shapers such as Greg Dyke, Alastair Campbell,
Seth Godin, David Cushman and Philip Sheldrake to explore how
reputations can be better managed and the new challenges that the future
of media may bring.
"...This plain-speaking, shrewd book pulls no punches. Its a
survival guide for anyone concerned what others think or say about
them."
So, of course, I'm going to suggest you buy a copy - it has generous helpings of me on Open Business! (Wadds has promised to send me one). If you're tempted, move fast. The first run has already sold out and a 2nd run of 10,000 is on its way. Go guys!
Buy the book.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Seth Godin on how he uses social media

Image via Wikipedia

As I read Seth Godin's blog today we had a brief discussion in the 90:10 office about his use (or otherwise) of social media.

I had my thoughts and theories. I'm sure many of you do. So I thought I'd get it straight from the horse's mouth.

So here (with permission) is the email exchange that followed:

Me: "Hi Seth, please forgive the interruption.

"I've been following your work for some many years and always been interested in your apparent disengagement from social media (ie no blog comments on your blog, no follows or replies via twitter etc).

"I don't see you commenting on other people's blogs when they write something you've inspired, or linking out to others who have inspired you, either.

"But I've always made the assumption (you clearly aren't daft, after all) that you are paying a great deal of attention to what is said about you and your thinking via social tools; that you are listening, gathering, considering and incorporating - much in the same way as Apple does.

"Am I anywhere close? And if so what listening tech do you use, how do you go about filtering and why have you chosen to operate this way?

Seth: "David,

"Thanks for your note about comments. I'm delighted that you're interested in my blog, and commend you to: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/06/why_i_dont_have.html for my post on this topic.

"I actually often link to blogs when it's directly on point, I work hard to give credit when it's useful to reader and source and I used to comment on blogs that mentioned me quite frequently.

"I do in fact get an astounding amount of inbound info, and I think if you look at my outbound in terms of impact and number of words, it's pretty big, it's just all in one place.

"Anyway, I hope that link helps you out. It's a disability, but I deal with it.

Me: "Cool. I understand, I think, - something approaching Clay Shirky's 'Fame' thinking (abundance of attention - which Clay and others discussed a little here) combined with the desire to lead (in a triiibes way)?

"Would you mind if I blogged your response; your approach is one often discussed among the people who hang out in the networks I share :-)"

Seth: "sure thing".

So there you have it. Fully engaged.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Merry Christmas from Seth and the 69

Seth Godin has a new book coming out in January. In the meantime he's called in a few favours and delivered us a Christmas gift - 70 big brains contributing a page each.
Download, share, enjoy, retweet etc etc

What Matters Now

Monday, July 06, 2009

Opening up the enterprise - powered by purpose

Here's a monumental post from change management consultant Si Alhir synthesising many great and powerful concepts including Seth's Tribes and my own Communities of Purpose, among others.

The Purposeful Enterprise also includes links to a great deal of valuable background reading.
The diagram here gives you a taste. It's from si's original post. Click to enlarge it.

Worth a read for anyone contemplating the role, form and function of organisations in the networked world.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

People doing what other people do

Awesome example of the ability of a group to form in the right conditions. Molecules in an agitated state. The Herd in action.

Ask yourself why one guy wasn't left dancing alone?

Via Seth Godin. But also read Herd.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

The Power in context

Dr Chris Thorpe has seen me present a couple times - once in New York and on another occasion in London.

We've got to know each other somewhat. In fact we've got to trust each other, so much so that he's agreed to join a network of consultants I'm bringing together who share a vision of the networked world.

I tell you this by way of disclosure because he's just published an exceptionally kind review of my book The Power of the Network.

"His insight into the current landscape... is fantastic and from it he provides a stunning vantage point into the networked world which is building minute by minute, connection by connection, conversation by conversation around us. For people outside of this networked world this vantage point could quite easily be daunting, even vertiginous. However through examples, quotes from other thought leaders and a very good and not overdone smattering of illustrative case studies he makes things simple. This is done without making things over simplified though, and the book can almost be seen as a way of talking someone from old marketing/advertising off the ledge they may currently be finding themselves on."

Chris has also identified some of the poetry that I've strived for in my writing from time to time.

"Themes running throughout the book often have a recurring linguistic motif... This makes the book almost like a piece of music where themes will come in and out of focus but remind you of their presence... it feels very well structured although in essence it is a collection of semi-connected essays."

It's something the thoroughly excellent Ted Shelton, also referred to when we met earlier this week.

And that's very interesting to me - and I hope to you.

Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.

But what you may find even more interesting is his discussion of the merits of reading the same words you can discover digitally, on this blog, in the context of a printed book - and how the print experience compares with the audio one (in Seth Godin's Tribe download).

Those who would replace our libraries with e-readers and kindles may do well to note.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

To lead is to listen

Seth Godin interviews Richard Branson about the value of listening for innovation and leadership. You can spare 1min 15 for that, can't you?

Listen - and listen aggressively!

As Branson says, your customers have got more and often bigger brains than you have. And they'll tell you what they want - for free. (Image courtesy)

Watch it here.

BTW American Express, while you're listening... we prefer portable video (ie a code snippet which makes it playable here a la Youtube) not a fixed location we must point at. Just so's you know.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Listening to Tribes: The need to lead

Book cover via Amazon

"Work is too time consuming to be dull"

I discovered (via Todd Sampson on twitter) a free download of Seth Godin's new book Tribes (pre-order it for £8.57 here).

You'll find the free audible download here (hint; say you're from the US even if you aren't when you register).

It's also available on itunes for 99p!

Seth talks about Tribes needing leaders, and all of us needing to belong. There is much of Mark Earls' Herd in this and much of Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody and even echoes of my own thinking about Communities of Purpose and the adhoc nature of group forming and who gets to be famous/a leader within each, as Seth would describe them, tribe.

But Seth's usp is his call to action. Tribes is a clarion call to the heretics - those of us who see the need for change. He demands that you take the initiative and make it happen.
He calls the heretics, our leaders and says that the technological tools available to us today make it easier than ever to effect change, to become a leader, if YOU take the initiative.
It's an energising message. Don't just pontificate; activate. Blogs, email and social networks give you the tools to not only to organise but to lead.

He demands YOU start your own movement. And he fears that people like you and I (we are the heretics, right?) are in short supply but therefore of the highest value.
Seth's message is writ through with the sense that this change to a purpose and passion driven mode of production is good (and, for the record, he ain't wrong there). Hence the repeated message that we need YOU.

It's ok to follow. But if you want to and need to lead then you can and you should, because it's never been easier, he says.

Seth has often talked about how everyone is a marketer now (much like my own claims that we are all publishers and advertisers now).
Tribes take this a step further. Not only are we now all marketers (publishers/advertisers) but everyone is a leader now.
Tribes offer something to believe in (again, echoes of Mark Earls' purpose idea). We heretics have visions that function as emotive drivers of action - action intended to change the status quo.

How does that fit in the factory-style process pipe of traditional business? Not so well, I'm guessing...

The second big theme of Tribes is that the individual has more power than ever. Good people with ideas that matter are now able to step forward with the power to turn things upside down. And he keeps on insisting that they should.

You are not a 'sheepwalker'.

So what are you the heretic about? Where are you ready to lead?

And why aren't you doing it already?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Best Practice in Social Media? Best practice being human

The estimable Neil Perkin just tagged me as part of a 'Best Practice in Social Media' meme.
Trouble is Neil has said much of what I would have.

Actually, that's not a problem - it's a great thing that so many of us are converging around similar conclusions: Seth Godin, David Armano, Mark Earls, Jackie Danicki, Alan Moore, Euan Semple and seminally Doc Searls and the rest of the Cluetrain gang, to name but a few...

So yes I'll agree with Neil, once again, that human interactions are critical. (Image by dotbenjamin via flickr)

They are exemplified in notions such as P2PR, Lean-Too Marketing, The Intention Economy (which Doc was referring to more than two years ago, so I'm a late comer on that!) and summed up as best as I know how in this slidedeck:

Adapting Brands To The Networked World

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: internet network)

If you want a case study; try this. The slidedeck above also refers to some great examples of the use of social media.

Quick guide? Well I wrote this for 'how to blog'. Seems much of it is appropriate to all social media.

Time to tag: I nominate: Neville, Christopher, David, Mark and Jonathan
Dan was already tagged by Neil! This meme was started by Mitch.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Seth Godin joins the call for human interaction

Fantastic. Seth Godin says what David Armano, Mark Earls, Jackie Danicki and myself have been banging on about for not a little while.

(Seth Godin, the first law of mass media)
One by one, the mass marketers have insisted on robocalling, spamming, jingling and lying their way into our lives. The pronoun morphs from "you" to "me" to "us" to "the corporation" ...

The public works tirelessly to flee to actual interactions between real people, and our organizations work even more diligently (and with more leverage) to corporatize and anonymize the interactions.

The irony, of course, is that an organization with guts can go in the opposite direction and win. Image by Steam Talks via flickr

It's that last line that should be getting your action hands twitching.

Friday, June 06, 2008

What's next in media? The Dead Fish bounce...

Neil Perkin, who writes the very excellent Only Dead Fish and also does something at IPC, has been kind enough to credit this blog as one of the sources of inspiration for the presentation you can share below. Frankly to be placed alongside the likes of Seth Godin, Clay Shirky, Joseph Jaffe, Jeff Jarvis, Mark Earls, Don Tapscott et al is the highest flattery I can think of. Consider me duly flattered... and not a little humbled.
Neil says: "...the story here is broader than just media and a lot of what I talk about applies to marketing and advertising as well. Unsurprising I suppose. After all, advertising is but a form of content, no? I hope you enjoy it."
Absolutely Neil: Ad as content, content as ad. And where they converge, you get a service.
Share this:

| View | Upload your own

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Less focus on SEO, more on the point-worthy

Why do we spend so much time focusing on search engine optimisation when perhaps we should be looking at content optimisation?

Time and again I hear how good seo will improve our page rank, will bring us crowds and cover us in gold. And I'm sure it has a role to play.

But the internet is about people pointing at stuff that they feel is worthy of their advocacy. And one thing is for sure: No one points at seo.

Seo is no purple cow (seth godin). But your content and services can be.

Content, as Cory Doctorow put it so well, is to give us something to spark up conversations. It is what people of shared interests want to talk about. Which is why it inspires us to point at it, raising a flag that we are ready to engage in a conversation about it (the simple url links in twitter write this large.

So if you want more relevant visitors, give them better unique things to talk about.

One point-worthy thing a month that no-one else has contributed has so much more value than a 1000 press-releases that can be found in manifold other locations on the web. People might find your version of the press release – but why would they point at you, rather than the other x thousands?

It is the role of media brands to present something point-worthy, something you can't find elsewhere, something that is hard for anyone else to do. Focus on that.

Layer some good seo on that and you may find more relevant people willing to point at you. But don't put the cart before the horse.