Seth's Blog : Shields up



Shields up

Do not tell your friends about your nascent idea, your notion, the area you hope to explore next.

Do not seek reassurance from them.

Do not become vulnerable about your tiny new sprout of an inkling.

It will be extinguished by people who mean well. They are trying to protect you from heartache.

There is a very, very tiny group of fellow travelers who can amplify your inkling. For the rest, keep it quiet. Trot out a make-believe idea instead, a pretend Potemkin Village of a project, let them dump all over that one instead.

Keep the other one in the incubator for now. There will be plenty of time for sharing later.

       

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• "But where's the money?"
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Seth's Blog : "But where's the money?"



"But where's the money?"

A colleague was talking to the CEO of a fast-growing small business about a partnership opportunity.

The CEO said, "well, this is something we believe in, something we want to have happen," and then he continued, "in fact, it's something my partners and I want to be able to support in our personal and our corporate lives." 

But he declined, because, times are tough, the company is small, they need all their resources, etc.

If you aren't willing to live your values now, when will you start?

A company that begins with its priorities straight--about how it will keep promises, treat its workers, support causes it believes in--will rarely have trouble becoming the kind of company that does this at scale.

But if you put it in a folder marked "later," it may never happen.

[A marketing PS: It turns out that small organizations that stand for something and act that way usually have a better shot at earning our attention, our trust and our commerce. So yes, doing the thing that you believe in will get you better employees, better customers and more growth. I love it when things happen for the right reason, don't you?]

       

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• The marketing we deserve
• Your job vs. your project
• "Um" and "like" and being heard
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• On knowing it can be done

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Seth's Blog : The marketing we deserve



The marketing we deserve

We say we want sustainable packaging...   

    but end up buying the one in fancy packaging instead.

We say we want handmade, local goods...

    but end up buying the cheap one, because it's 'just as good.'

We say we want the truth...

    but end up buying hype.

We say we want to hire for diversity (of thought, culture and background)...

    but end up hiring people who share our point of view in most things.

We say we want to be treated with respect...

    but end up buying from manipulative, selfish, short-term profit-seekers instead.

We say we don't want to be hustled...

    but we wait for the last-minute, the going-out-of-business rush or the high pressure push.

It actually starts with us. 

Here's the thing. It also starts with anyone with the leverage and power and authority to make something.

    Because even if it's the marketing we deserve, it's also the marketing they create.

       

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• Your job vs. your project
• "Um" and "like" and being heard
• Try better
• On knowing it can be done
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