Seth's Book

I am a bit miffed with author and entrepreneur Seth Godin. Regular readers of this column will know that I am a great fan of his work and writing, so what possibly could he have done that has irritated me. To put it simply, he published a new book. The problem is that it is not available in electronic format...and not likely to be in the near future. It is a full colour book only available in hard copy.  This means that I cannot get it instantly at the click of a button but will have to order it and wait patiently for it to arrive. Not only that, it is expensive-thirty-four dollars for a book before almost doubling the cost by shipping it out here to Zimbabwe! Despite all this I have never wanted a book so badly.

 

Why? Why would I want a book that at first glance seems overpriced (it is not really) and could take up to a month to ship to me? Simply put, because it is Godin, because it is different, because Seth Godin developed my buy-in long before he even thought of writing the book. Godin is a ‘practice what you preach’ kind of guy. He is foremost a marketer, and the pioneer of what he calls permission marketing. Not only does he teach on the idea, but he tests his theories on his followers. He is a living example that what he teaches really works. I know because he has used it on me.

I first came across Seth in an email. Someone forwarded me one of his blog posts that they thought I would enjoy. I did and the experience attuned me to his name. When I saw that another mate of mine had a book by him I asked to borrow it. I was hooked-there was something that resonated with my desire to challenge the status quo. Soon I was buying books of my own, following his blog and sharing his ideas with others. To use one of his own phrases-I became part of his tribe. To Godin, a tribe is a group of followers you develop who ‘give’ you permission to market to because you already have their interest. He has devoted much of his time and effort to developing his tribe.

The book he has just published is testimony to the ground work he has done. He presold 30 000 before publication, exceeding his own estimates by 40%. In a world that has more books than ever that is huge traction. Here is the great thing about it; he is not trying to sell to people who do not want it. He has a steady market that he has developed, so when he brings out a crazy new idea they are already willing to buy in. Too often we are looking for the big catch now without any of the groundwork. Godin’s book may look like an overnight success, but it is the result of many years of hard work and effort.

There are two lessons I would like you to take home from this story. The first one I have already mentioned-do not be afraid of the groundwork. Put the effort into your clients to build a relationship with them. Create deals, communicate, learn who they are, build your own tribe of supporters. Be creative in how you do it. Stop looking for the instant numbers and instant success; rather look for the long term followers who will stick with you. These are the customers who will buy the equivalent of ‘your book’ when you bring it out.

The second lesson is stop trying to please everyone. You can’t. Pick your target audience and make them into your tribe. Realise that a few loyal fans are worth far more than a fickle crowd who will betray you for the next big deal. Do not mistake volume of clients for success. Scaling clearly allows for bigger returns if your margins are small. Remember that some expensive products lend themselves to their inability to scale; rare artwork for example. Rare artwork is brought by a select few, a tribe who value such an investment and that tribe may not be interested in your attempts to sell mass produced prints. Godin is not trying to sell you his book; he is trying to sell it to me and others that are part of the subculture he has created. I’m telling you about it as a story to help me make a point rather than an attempt to get you to buy it (notice that I have not even mentioned the title in this article).

Zimbabwe’s economy has been largely transaction based over the last few years. We have shopped where it is cheaper when resources have been scare, been forced to buy from whoever has a product we need. There has been little development of relationships. As the economy grows it will be relationships that bring you clients that stick with you. As competition increases it will be relationships that bring you business when you can no longer bring your margins any lower to compete on price. Spend 2015 building your ‘tribe’ of clients and watch the rewards.