That's what he said

Every generation has their own group of personal mind leaders, those brilliant souls that teach us, mentor us and guide us, as we fly our flags of entrepreneurial spirit in business and life.

I am blessed to have a number of these individuals that have been an impactful influence on my culture of being. The futurist in me has always been attracted to those individuals that live in the question. The true seekers of what’s next, constantly questioning how we can improve our business models a million times over and never settling for how it has been done.

One such individual is Seth Godin. Seth is an idea spreader, a writer, a master marketer, a business leader and oh, so much more. This column is dedicated to some of my favorite quotes from the man, the legend Seth. Read them and reap!

 

“Marketing is the art of inventing the product. The effort of designing it. The craft of producing it. The art of pricing it. The technique of selling it.”

“Differentiate to succeed.”

“The old rules don’t work so well anymore. Marketing is dead. Long live marketing.”

“Stop advertising and start innovating.”

“Try is the opposite of hiding.”

“The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo.”

“Don’t try to make a product for everybody, because that is a product for nobody.”

“Quitting is Not the same as Failing.”

“Faced with an infinite number of choices, many people will pick the market leader.”

“The biggest secret of the internet is that it is inherently a direct marketing medium, the Internet is the greatest direct marketing medium of all time.”

“Powerful advertising is anticipated, personal and relevant.”

“As new forms of media develop and clutter becomes ever more intense, it’s the asset of permission that will generate profits for marketers.”

“Either you’re going to tell stories that spread, or you will become irrelevant.”

“It’s not enough to find a niche that shares a worldview, that niche has to be ready and able to influence a large group of their friends.”

“Don’t find customers for your products; find products for your customers.”

“Be genuine, be remarkable, be worth connecting with.”

“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.”

“Are you an artist – or just following instructions?”

“Correct is fine, but it is better to be interesting.”

“Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”

“The future of marketing is leadership.”

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”

“Fitting in is short term strategy, standing out pays off in the long run.”

“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.”

“How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”

“Reject the tyranny of being picked. Pick yourself.”

“We do not need to teach students to embrace the status quo.”

 

There you are my friends, just a small sample of Seth’s brilliant mind. We only know what we know. Please be open to the wonder of what else is possible.

If you allow yourself to stop forming conclusions which locks old energy and beliefs in place, you may be amazed to what shows up for you and your business.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.