Thanks to Maria Gordon R.D. for sharing this...
10/28/09
Some are better than others
(see: Kindle, Walmart & Juice PLUS+)
by Seth Godin, #3 addition by Jeff Olson
By 'better', of course I mean better customers, better prospects, better sneezers, better at spreading the word. Here are a few interesting examples:
1. Kindle readers buy two or three times as many books as book readers. Why? I don't think it's necessarily because using a Kindle leads someone to read more books. I think it's because the kind of person who buys a lot of books is the most likely person to pony up and buy a Kindle. I know that sounds obvious, but once you see it this way, you understand why book publishers should be killing themselves to appeal to this group. After all, the group voted with their dollars to show that they're better.
2. Walmart and other mass marketers are now offering top bestsellers for $9 or less each, about $5 less than their cost. Why? Why not offer toasters or socks as a loss leader to get people in the store? I think the answer is pretty clear: people who buy hardcover books buy other stuff too. A hardcover book is a luxury item, it's new and it's buzzable. This sort of person is exactly who you want in your store.
3. Juice PLUS+ customers are healthier. Their customers embrace it because it works, is grounded in common sense and built upon education. People who want to take care of themselves understand, at a primal level, the foundational principles of vitality are eat well, move well and think well. Juice PLUS+ resides as a power tool supporting “execution” of both eat well and think well. Application of knowledge is a defining characteristic in any facet of life and Juice PLUS+ is built to last in this regard.
The challenge, then is to look for cues that people give you that they are better, and then cater to them. Every industry has people who are worth more, buzz more, care more and buy more than other people. Don't treat people the same, find the ones that matter more to you, and hug them.
by Seth Godin, #3 addition by Jeff Olson
By 'better', of course I mean better customers, better prospects, better sneezers, better at spreading the word. Here are a few interesting examples:
1. Kindle readers buy two or three times as many books as book readers. Why? I don't think it's necessarily because using a Kindle leads someone to read more books. I think it's because the kind of person who buys a lot of books is the most likely person to pony up and buy a Kindle. I know that sounds obvious, but once you see it this way, you understand why book publishers should be killing themselves to appeal to this group. After all, the group voted with their dollars to show that they're better.
2. Walmart and other mass marketers are now offering top bestsellers for $9 or less each, about $5 less than their cost. Why? Why not offer toasters or socks as a loss leader to get people in the store? I think the answer is pretty clear: people who buy hardcover books buy other stuff too. A hardcover book is a luxury item, it's new and it's buzzable. This sort of person is exactly who you want in your store.
3. Juice PLUS+ customers are healthier. Their customers embrace it because it works, is grounded in common sense and built upon education. People who want to take care of themselves understand, at a primal level, the foundational principles of vitality are eat well, move well and think well. Juice PLUS+ resides as a power tool supporting “execution” of both eat well and think well. Application of knowledge is a defining characteristic in any facet of life and Juice PLUS+ is built to last in this regard.
The challenge, then is to look for cues that people give you that they are better, and then cater to them. Every industry has people who are worth more, buzz more, care more and buy more than other people. Don't treat people the same, find the ones that matter more to you, and hug them.
10/25/09
Trolls in Your Life
Trolls (By Seth Godin)
Lots of things about work are hard. Dealing with trolls is one of them. Trolls are critics who gain perverse pleasure in relentlessly tearing you and your ideas down. Here's the thing(s):
1. trolls will always be trolling
2. critics rarely create
3. they live in a tiny echo chamber, ignored by everyone except the trolled and the other trolls
4. professionals (that's you) get paid to ignore them. It's part of your job.
"Can't please everyone," isn't just an aphorism, it's the secret of being remarkable.
Lots of things about work are hard. Dealing with trolls is one of them. Trolls are critics who gain perverse pleasure in relentlessly tearing you and your ideas down. Here's the thing(s):
1. trolls will always be trolling
2. critics rarely create
3. they live in a tiny echo chamber, ignored by everyone except the trolled and the other trolls
4. professionals (that's you) get paid to ignore them. It's part of your job.
"Can't please everyone," isn't just an aphorism, it's the secret of being remarkable.
10/19/09
IF, by Rudyard Kipling
Dennis Hopper recites “IF”
If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you;If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with triumph and disasterAnd treat those two imposters just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breath a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,And - which is more - you’ll be a Man my son!
10/9/09
The 3 Elements of Full Employment
By Seth Godin
You will never be out of work if you can demonstrably offer one of the following:
- Sales
- Additive effort
- Initiation
Sales speaks for itself. If you can sell enough to cover what you cost and then some, there will always be someone waiting to hire you.
Additive effort is distinguished from bureaucracy or feel-good showing up. Additive effort generates productivity far greater than the overhead you add to the organization. If your skills make the assembly line go twice as fast, or the sales force becomes more effective, or the travel office cuts its costs, then you've produced genuine value. That surly receptionist at the doctor's office--she's just filling a chair.
The third skill is the most difficult to value, but is ultimately the most valuable. If you're the person who can initiate useful action, if you're the one who makes something productive or transformative happen, then smart organizations will treasure you.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/the-three-elements-of-full-employment.html
You will never be out of work if you can demonstrably offer one of the following:
- Sales
- Additive effort
- Initiation
Sales speaks for itself. If you can sell enough to cover what you cost and then some, there will always be someone waiting to hire you.
Additive effort is distinguished from bureaucracy or feel-good showing up. Additive effort generates productivity far greater than the overhead you add to the organization. If your skills make the assembly line go twice as fast, or the sales force becomes more effective, or the travel office cuts its costs, then you've produced genuine value. That surly receptionist at the doctor's office--she's just filling a chair.
The third skill is the most difficult to value, but is ultimately the most valuable. If you're the person who can initiate useful action, if you're the one who makes something productive or transformative happen, then smart organizations will treasure you.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/the-three-elements-of-full-employment.html
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