Posted by
joshua duncan – February 1, 2010
I have been looking forward to reading Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin. While waiting for the release, I went back and read my favorite book from Seth, Purple Cow.
Purple Cow was published in 2003, way before Facebook, Twitter, and social media became household names. There are so many gems in this book it is hard to know where to start and the best part is that save for a couple of dated examples, Seth’s points are even more relevant today (the dated examples actually prove another of Seth’s beliefs that it is hard to maintain a remarkable position).
Seth’s thoughts on the end of mass media advertising:
After Advertising, we’re almost back where we started. But instead of product succeeding by slow and awkward word of mouth, the power of our new networks allows remarkable ideas to diffuse through segments of the population at rock speed.
On the new rule:
Create remarkable products that the right people seek out.
and on ideas that spread:
It’s not an accident that some products catch on and some don’t. When an ideavirus occurs, it’s often because all the viral pieces work together.
Read Purple Cow again or for a first time. You won’t regret it.
Posted by
joshua duncan – December 28, 2008
Its OK to admit it. Most of us hate our competitors. They are always doing something to make our job miserable. However, two recent articles got me to thinking maybe we should be thankful for this constant pain in the ass competition.
From Seth Godin,
You can pretend that you are unique, that you have no competition and never will. Inevitably, this will create an attitude that, while fun for a while, will probably harm you later. The alternative is to acknowledge that the competition exists and in fact, to encourage it.
and the The Red Queen among Organizations takes this to another level with an academic discussion around the need for competition in order to survive:
If today your organization encounters competition, it will not perform as well as it might have otherwise. To meet this challenge, you will likely attempt to improve; you may even experiment with new ways of approaching the job at hand. If you succeed, now your rivals face stronger competition from you, as your solutions have become their problems.
Bottom line, you don’t have to like your competition but you should be grateful that you are in the game being pushed to make your product even better.
