Seth Godin

Seth Godin is a marketing rock star. If you don’t know who he is, you’ve likely heard of some of the concepts he’s coined like permission marketing, purple cow, the dip or linchpin.  With over 8000 blog posts (yes that is eight thousand), 19 best-selling books and the hugely popular Akimbo podcast, no one epitomizes a thought leader more than Seth Godin. That discipline and consistency of effort is a great example for us all.

Seth’s blog is one of the few that I make a point to read every day. He always has great insights that help me see key issues in a new light. If you want a good introduction into Seth’s thinking, you can’t go wrong by listening to his free  Startup School.

I’m not sure when I first started reading Seth’s writing, but his Ideavirus book excerpt in Fast Company magazine had a big impact on me. (Download the full version of Ideavirus)

Seth is famous for not using  social media. He reasons that if he can’t be the best at it, he doesn’t want to waste his time.

It’s interesting to note that Seth Godin’s popularity has allowed him to get away without doing all the common search engine optimization that all the experts recommend such as using images in posts, optimized heading tags or meta descriptions.

Seth Godin is also breaking new ground with his altMBA and online workshops. Instead of offering online courses that normally have only a 2 or 3% completion rate, Seth’s programs are more like a hybrid coaching/mastermind. Students are put in groups with a coach and are held accountable to make actionable progress on projects with themes like:

• Making better decisions
• Overcoming procrastination
• Taking action before you have all the answers
• Pushing through fears
• Making change happen
• Being vulnerable
• Getting feedback

Seth Godin also is working with others on workshops on topics like Podcasting, Story Telling, The Marketing Seminar,  Bootstrapper’s Workshop

Throughout the years, Seth Godin has hinted at what he did to succeed early in his career. He mentioned that motivational tapes from Zig Ziglar got him through the hundreds of rejections he received in his book publishing business. When FastCompany magazine first came out Seth would write the editor every week to write for free for the magazine. He mentions that early in his career he would speak anywhere and everywhere for free just to hone his skills and build his audience. I think these are all amazing lessons for aspiring thought leaders and influencers. Check out Seth Godin’s projects over 30 years.