Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Once again Seth Godin challenges societal norms. We're always taught that quitting is bad. But quitting takes courage. Knowing when to accept failure is a virtue. Perhaps President Bush should read this book.

I think all of Seth's books are inspirational by nature. The thing that makes them so great is that he speaks to individuals in plain english and somehow the message hits right home. Not many people can do this.

My take away from this podcast was, before you go into something, ask people who are experienced: "Where do people often quit?"

In fact, now I'm going to test that out in my sales process. After they say, yes I want to do this, I'll tell them "Look, after you pay all the money you need to pay and do all that you need to do, you'll probably want to "quit" the project... whether it's building a website or taking on relationship development as a serious strategy... and this is where you're going to have to really decide if you're going willing to really pull through. Put yourself in that place now, and decide... will it be something you're going to follow through on, after all the excitement has faded? If not, don't do this. You'll be wasting lots of money & time. Only if you're willing to go through this dip will you truly see the benefits of having a killer website or the potential of fully-harnessing relationships."

That was me thinking a loud.

Thanks for setting up this podcast John. Great questions. Insightful answers.

~ Mel

This was an excellent interview. I will be going out immediately to purchase the book. There were several points that just jumped out to me as I listened:

1. Do something that people are willing to talk about.
2. Offer something that people can't get from "Big", being treated like a real person.
3. Make a promise and keep it.

To marketing, this is much like Vince Lombardi's annual ritual statement to his players, "Gentlemen, this is a football". We can't forget the basics.