200. Seth Godin On Marketing — With Ash Roy

Productive Insights Podcast — Actionable Business Growth Ideas — with Ash Roy

Seth Godin On Marketing — With Ash Roy Seth Godin and I caught up on the Productive Insights YouTube channel to talk about a few things recently. The conversation meandered around business growth strategies. A lot of these strategies are particularly relevant in today's rapidly changing environment. Here are some excerpts from our conversation: The truth is, we live in a noisy world and it's hard for a business owner to be heard in the cacophony of voices out there. We have two choices: Spam people or find our minimum viable audience and go from there. Great companies exist because they have empathy. While Apple has taken a different path lately, Seth explains that from his conversations with Steve Wozniak he knows that Apple started its journey using empathy marketing. Steve Jobs' ability to lead (rather than to manage) was to decide when to say "no". He was able to decide where his grit was going to lie and we can too. "Fine" is a goal. You don't have to be the 'winner' you just have to serve enough people who care. To cater to a small community that resonates with your product is scary, but you need to learn to 'dance with fear' You might say: "But Seth you've been doing this for 20 years ... what if I'm starting today? How do I make a difference? How do I make a mark in the world?" The answer: You start with one person and so delight them that they'll tell their friends. We talked about the conversation between Seth and me, which led to my blog post titled "Just begin" Seth explained how in the first three or four years he wrote, his blog had dozens of people read it not thousands. We talked about a habit focused planning as an alternative approach to goal-focused planning. Goal-obsession by definition robs you of the present moment and keeps you distracted with the future. Seth explained that goals are different from outcomes and risk is different from fear. We talked about how we as business owners can contribute to preserving the environment. A cultural shift away from the Milton Friedman profit-at-all-costs mindset is the key to solving this. And it starts with us. We riffed on how to survive and thrive in a world increasingly driven by machine-learning and the importance of being a creator and facilitator of valuable networks. Here's a thought experiment for you: Imagine there was no internet and there were only 300 people in the village ... in that setting what would you do to make those 300 people want to talk about you. How do you do the really hard thing of being worth talking about? We talked about emotional labor and the fact that it's is work worth doing. Links Mentioned: * www.altmba.com * www.akimbo.com * www.GetMeToDone.com * www.Productiveinsights.com * www.YouTube.com/ProductiveInsights Related Episodes: * 175. James Clear On Atomic Habits: An Easy Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones * 107 Sonia Simone On How To Be A Prolific Content Marketer Timestamps: * [0.30] We're in a very noisy world. How does a business owner who's looking to grow his or her business make something she loves * [1.05] You have two choices: Spam people or find your minimum viable audience and go from there * [2.03] Seth's view on how Apple built a great business * [3.10] Great companies exist because they have empathy - Seth * [3.28] Apple's product strategy is interesting. * [4.