Seth Godin on Getting Unstuck. October 2012 Revolution Weekend
1. A
Summary
of
Seth’s
Advice
on
Ge6ng
Unstuck
from
the
October
Revolu>on
Weekend
★ Why
are
you
here?
★ Why
do
you
go
to
work?
★ What
is
holding
you
back?
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The target audience is men and
That product or
women Aged 0 and up
service that you’ll
make, who is it for?
oops!
If it’s for everyone, you’ve failed.
The more specific you can be, the more
likely you will make something the
specific group of people will find
remarkable.
Getting Unstuck
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3. Why do tourists who go to New
York or Rome go to McDonald’s?
Because it’s safe.
It’s about how it makes them feel
Those people you are and what the specific group of
making the product or people believe.
service for,what do
they believe?
Getting Unstuck
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4. This group of people,
what
with their beliefs,
“Find the early adopters,
embrace them, adore them, have they bought
support them, don't go away,
don't let them down. And then
before?
be patient yet persistent. Mass
market acceptance is rare. Viral
connections based on
experience are the only reliable
way to spread new ideas in
communities that aren't
traditionally focused on the
cult of the new.”
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
2010/09/marketing-to-the-bottom-of-the-
pyramid.html
Getting Unstuck
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5. Your job is to teach them This group, with their
and reach them.
beliefs, have they bought
There are so many new a product or service like
creative ways to do it today. do they
this before and
The key is to use all the know that you exist?
tools and vehicles that are
available to you to connect
the people you are targeting,
with their beliefs and what
they care about. This is
where communities become
important.
Getting Unstuck
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6. This is a deep moral
and ethical issue.
This group, with their beliefs, have Depending on what
they bought something like this before? you are "selling,"
Have they needed a service like this? the amount of trust
And, do they know about you they have in you
may change.
and do they trust you?
They can pay you
with cash, attention,
time or connections.
Getting Unstuck
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7. Does your service or product connect one person to another?
All Twitter does is connect people. Google connects customers
to ads - it connects people with trust to people with
attention.
“Who you hang out with determines
Godin
what you dream about and what you
collide with. And the collisions and the
dreams lead to your changes. And the
changes are what you become. Change
In this economy,are the outcome by changing your circle.”
— Seth Godin
you a connector?
Getting Unstuck
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8. Are you solving a
problem?
The more you specialize, the more likely
you will solve someone's problem.
Clayton Christensen found that when a fast food chain wanted to improve milkshake sales, they asked people to
describe the ideal milkshake: thick or thin, fruity or chocolatey. Their data was good, but they didn’t see any sales
improvement. By going to the restaurant and analyzing who bought milkshakes when, they found two main buyers:
early morning commuters (who bought 40%) did so to have something to do during their commute and keep them
full; and parents who wanted an innocuous way to placate their children and feel like loving parents.
Christensen suggests that many companies lose out because they don’t know what their customers really need. So
when you’re studying your customers to improve your sales, remember to look for problems they’re having that you
can help them with. Ask questions and always start with the “why.” Motivations are key.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcWvrgVnhg4
Getting Unstuck
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9. “How dare someone offer it for
free when I have been doing it
If this catches on among
for a long time? How dare Uber
make it cheaper?” They can
people you are trying to
steal your ideas but they can’t
steal what matters and the way
why won’t cheaper
reach,
you do it.
competitors steal your
"The problem with competition is
that it takes away the business?
requirement to set your own
path, to invent your own
method, to find a new way.
When you have competition, it's
the pack that decides what's
going to happen next, you're
merely trying to get (or stay) in
front. Competing with yourself is
more difficult, it requires more
bravery and leads to more
insight."
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
2012/07/competition-as-a-crutch.html
Getting Unstuck
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10. The only things that are
The first question valuable are scarce. If they
were easy, everyone would do
you need to ask them.
about your project is:
“The only reason every project
what's scarce? doesn't scale to infinity is that
something runs out. Time, money,
natural resources, new fashions,
new customers ... something is
scarce.”
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
2012/06/whats-scarce.html
Getting Unstuck
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11. “Hard is not about sweat or time,
hard is about finishing the rare,
valuable, risky task that few complete.
Don't tell me you want to launch a
line of spices but don't want to make
sales calls to supermarket buyers.
That's the hard part.
Identifying which part of your project
is hard is, paradoxically, not so easy,
What’s the hard because we work to hide the hard
parts. They frighten us.”
stuff? http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/11/
sure-but-whats-the-hard-part.html
Getting Unstuck
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12. What’s the
value?
As it catches on, does it
become more or less valuable?
In the connection economy, value can increase when
more people find it beneficial. Like TED, the ticket is not
cheap but more people want to go and be on the invite
list. The value is the connections that are being made. It
attracts likeminded people.
Scarcity often creates value.
Getting Unstuck
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13. How much does it cost you to
make a sale? What does it take
to make a trusted customer?
What is the
Ideas that sell win. It is easier to
cost of sale?
spread ideas today and it can cost you
very little in direct costs. And most
people buy stuff that they have a
personal connection with or that is
recommended by a trusted friend.
"People don’t value what they pay
money for; they value what others
value. They value what gets talked
about. It’s your job to get people
talking about what you have to offer.
The best way to do that is to give it
away."
— Seth Godin
Getting Unstuck
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14. Amazon estimated the customer
lifecycle at $33 in profit.
What’s the life time “Few businesses understand
(really understand) just how
value of a customer, once much a customer is worth. Add
to this the additional profit you
you make the sale? get from a delighted customer
spreading the word—it can easily
double or triple the lifetime
value.”
— Seth Godin
If your current customers aren’t
happy using your product or
service, then your marketing is
simply sending more people into a
bad experience.
Getting Unstuck
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15. Is there a way to make this product
or service less expensive than you do?
If so, you will have more money to
promote it. Can you make it faster?
In a world where it takes one day or
six weeks to get a product or service
How fast can you
to market, what can you do
differently?
make your product How can you tap into connections and
communities to make it go faster?
or service?
Getting Unstuck
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16. When will you
ship it?
When will you ship
your product, service
or book?
Love your plan. Love your vision.
Until you ship, it doesn’t matter.
You need to be prepared to fail - the person who
invented the ship also invented the ship wreck.
Ship it: Have a date and time. Deliver on it.
It takes guts, courage and a strong sense of self to be
brave.
— Seth Godin
Getting Unstuck
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17. ✴ Who is it for? ✴ Are you solving a
✴ What do they believe? problem? ✴ What is the cost of sale?
✴ What has this group bought ✴ Why won’t a competitor ✴ What’s the lifecycle?
before? steal your idea? ✴ How fast can you make it?
✴ Do they know you exist? ✴ What’s scarce? ✴ When will you ship it?
✴ Do they trust you? ✴ What’s the hard part?
✴ Are you a connector? ✴ What’s the value?
“The key to wisdom is knowing all
the right questions.”
— John Simone
Getting Unstuck
Photo: Megan Murray
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18. Some Questions About What Your Online Learning from Bananas
Presence Should Do
As part of the weekend, Seth asked if anyone wanted him to take
a look at their website. We were sitting in a large auditorium and "It turns out that it's a lot easier to peel a banana
if you start from the 'wrong' end.
people shouted out their website urls. I observed how many people
You don't even have to use your teeth.
were apologetic about what we were about to see and experience.
Here's the thing: I know this. I've tried it. It's true.
They were downplaying the site that future employers, customers I still peel a banana the hard way. It feels like the
and partners would see even though it is what represents them on right thing to do.
the web right now. Seth had some great insights for each of them Selling change is much harder than you think."
and I am summarizing some of the key questions he asked if you — Seth Godin
are creating an online presence.
"Every website is a marketing effort. Sooner or later, your site Start here instead of here
involves an interaction with a user, and that interaction won't be
100% technical. You have to sell the engagement, the interaction and
the story you have in mind. While websites have always involved
technology, the tech is secondary to your ability to get your point
across." Seth
✴ Who is it for?
✴ How do people know to come to your site?
✴ Which sites does the kind of person you want to connect with http://www.fashionfoodfatale.com
trust? What are their A, B and C sites?
✴ What do you want them to do once they get to your site?
✴ Do you make it clear: what’s the banana?
Getting Unstuck
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19. “I work from my heart. That’s all
★ It’s tempting for entrepreneurs to see something that’s broken
I know how to do. I work hard
and want to fix it. We want people to see what we see. Resist
and need to keep the lights on. I
the temptation. You don’t have the leverage to change people’s
get stuck with making money and
delivering excellent customer world view.
service. How do I make the ★ Almost no one wants to admit they are wrong. But they can see
business more sustainable? new information and have it change their opinion.
★ I have no comments on my blog. I don’t want to have rewrite my
Being aware work for people who criticize what I have to say. It would grind
of why you ★
me to a halt. That’s why I have posts and no comments.
Ignore them. Reviews don’t really matter.
are stuck is
key
★ Start with the belief that you are really good at what you do.
★ A freelancer gets paid while they work. An entrepreneur gets paid while they
“How do I deal with sleep. They hire other people. The challenge is when you are bootstrapping is
negative reviews and
people who don’t get
Ignore the that the cheapest person you can hire is you.
★ You may have a belief about money that makes you stuck. But money is
Noise and
paper. If you’re mis-valuing money, the trade you make with money is going to
what I am doing?”
be off track.
★ Figure out how to divorce money coming in from value of what you do. There is
Help a big difference between bringing flowers on a date than bringing money.
★ Hire someone who likes to think about money or you need to get over your
People See negative belief about money.
★ How do you tell a story so the right person is eager to help?
★ We teach kids in school to ship stuff.
★ People are trained to wait, cram and not to ship.
★ When you demolish a building, it’s easy. But everything after
the demolition takes time. Every single step along the way,
“What keeps people
from shipping stuff?”
It Takes someone will say it’s not ready.
★ We need to have discipline. It’s not genetic.
Courage ★ It’s more important for your product or service to be in the
market than be hidden.
★ Stay up until you get it done.
★ As soon as you commit to the date, then your quality goes up.
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20. ★ What kind of person signs up to be one of your sales reps?
★ Only one in a hundred is like you.
“I am managing, not ★ Can you change someone’s story? Can you get them to see the
leading, 75 women in my world the way you do? If you can’t you have to find other people.
retail business. How do I ★ You assume that they signed up and now it should all fall into
inspire them to lead?”
Stories. place.
★ What leaders do is change the story they tell themselves.
Connect ★ Some people have misery and they want company. If you want to
connect people, do it in person rather than online – chat room or
with campfire. They can be invited in and invited out. They are raising
the average.
People.
★ Who are you targeting? Do they know about you?
“I want to create an ★ How will you measure success? Is it making $100,000 in a
interactive platform for a What year or having 3 kids in Delaware that are no longer being
children’s book as bullied?
storytellers. How can I Does ★ Today, it costs nothing to publish a book. And a lot of people
make it happen?” think it doesn’t count.
Success ★ Who can you double date with? Is there someone who is
established? Oprah doesn’t have a show anymore.
Look Like ★ You have to find a new middleman. Who do they whisper to?
You need to find someone who can help you get started.
to You?
“I am creating a comic book on
leadership. How should I
Tap into ★ If you’re going to bother writing something, write something that matters.
★ The average American reads one book a year. And the typical book sells
distribute it?”
Your 4,000 copies. So 50 Shades of Gray already captured the market. You have
to make people light up on every page.
Connections ★ Just because they bought it, doesn’t mean they read all of it Buying the
book is one thing but only 20% actually read it.
★ Self-publishing – why are you doing it? Always start with the why. Give it
away, send it to 1000 people who trust you and ask them to send it to more
people. You’ll make it up in a heart beat.
★ 5 years ago what did you make that was scarce? It’s not scarce any more.
Everyone curates now.
★ The challenge of social media is a direct connection between you and people
who trust you.
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21. “How do we
How do you find the fringes? differentiate ourselves?
How do we make sure
we are not
boring?”
★ When you are selling to someone in a large organization, it’s not the person’s money. It’s their
organization’s money. And the bottom line is they are trying to make their boss happy. They need to be
able to tell a story about buying your product or service. How does that story help them advance and
make them feel safe? How does it make their boss look good?
★ The person who hires me to give a speech does it because bringing me will make their boss happy.
★ For example, when someone buys training, it goes back to the HR department’s meat and potatoes. All the
buyer cares about is that she won’t get in trouble after the training is over. She is taking a risk: Bringing
someone new may get them fired.
★ If you are selling to an average buyer in an average company, they are in the center of the bell curve
and not interested in change – they are not on the fringe. HBR is good example. Almost no one reads it.
But many people with money associate with it. That’s why consultants work for three years to write an
article. They want to be seen by buyers as being on the cutting edge. It’s like double dating – they trust
HBR so they trust you if you can get an article published, then people will want to associate with you.
★ The cost in digital world to you is zero. If one person reads your white paper or watches your video, it
doesn’t cost you anything. They trust you because you have been generous. When they call asking for
more, you then ask for money. That’s why I make it cost money. None of you would be here if I didn’t give
you stuff for the last 10 years. The core of work that you do you do it with raucous those people find you
because they want to connect to other people and you are are at the center of the circle.
★ Connect people who want to be connected. They will help you spread the word.
Getting Unstuck
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22. Be
Uns Unleas
Unlearn tick h
Photo: Kelly Greenwell
"All our successes are the same. All our failures, too.
We succeed when we do something remarkable.
We fail when we give up too soon.
We succeed when we are the best in the world at what we do.
We fail when we get distracted by task we don’t have the guts to quit."
— Seth Godin Getting Unstuck
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