Seth Says

Some extracts of many posts from Seth Godin:

• The #1 cause of an idea that’s not spreading or a business that’s not growing is that they don’t have a committed group of people spreading the word about them. If you treat everyone the same, you’re not increasing the odds that some people will step up on your behalf.
  This is the first question to ask someone who is frustrated at the rate their idea is spreading. “Who are you hoping will talk about you?” If you don’t know, it’s unlikely to happen all by itself. On the other hand, if a marketer is smart about finding, courting and delighting the group most likely to spread the idea, it’s time well spent.

• If it’s worth doing, it’s probably worth paying to do it very well. If you’re going to do a presentation or write an eBook, spend the money to do it right. If you can’t be there in person (with an eBook, for example), the energy you get from great design really matters.

• It’s very difficult to improve your performance on the downhills. I look forward to the uphill parts, because that’s where the work is, the fun is, the improvement is. On the uphills, I have a reasonable shot at a gain over last time. The downhills are already maxed out by the laws of physics and safety.
  The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset. The moment you earn your keep as a public speaker is when the room isn’t just right or the plane is late or the projector doesn’t work or the audience is tired or distracted. The best time to engage with an employee is when everything falls apart, not when you’re hitting every milestone. And everyone now knows that the best time to start a project is when the economy is lousy.

• I have no patience for bureaucracies that proclaim that they are unable to innovate. It’s not that they are unable to do so, it’s that they don’t want to do so. Go ahead, do something impossible.

• Often, we’ll decide that something is full, stuffed, untouchable but then some Jello shows up, and suddenly there’s room.
  Think about your schedule… is there room for an emergency, an SEC investigation, a server crash? If you took a day off because of the flu, is your business going to go bankrupt? Probably not.
  So, if there’s time for an emergency (Jello), why isn’t there time for brilliance, generosity or learning?