Small is the new BiG !!!

a Book Review by Marketing, What’s New? 01 Feb 11 enhanced by Peter/CXO 1/14

“Small is the New Big”, by author Seth GodinDo you want to know how to be “very” effective at marketing? Read Seth’s book and then do what he says. I’ve read many of his recent titles, but I took a trip back to some of his early Blog posts, which he expanded & published in his 2005 book “Small is the new BiG”.

A few Seth-isms can give people a flavor of what they will find in his books. He says that: “Competence is the enemy of change”, he hopes that organizations will “maybe-proof” themselves, he encourages us to be pliable in how we look at problems – a talent he calls “zooming”. On the marketing side, he advocates reaching out to the customer and making “remarkable” products (same as Steve Jobs) – in essence, the same sentiment as ‘make what you can sell, don’t just sell what you can make.’

Best of the Book. Here are 5 of my favorite posts that became chapters in the book (although the online versions are the abridged form of what you will find in the book.)

1. Picky Cats or People? The wise observation in this post is that a consumer of the product and the buyer are not always the same thing. Seth grates on Cat Food packaging, which describes in precise detail, the preparation, aroma & flavor of the food; all in ways that only matter to how humans evaluate food. If it weren’t for fancy packaging that lists foods WE think cats like, food would be a hit with CATS if it were simply mouse-flavoured !!! Yes !!!

2. Ostridge Farming & Blogging. Never one to take himself too seriously, Seth slams folks like himself in this Blog, to encourage us to sell products that are intrinsically valuable to the buyer. Ostriches, like Blogs, can be useful in two ways.

[ Ostridge Farming continued – Two benefits of Blogging, then 3. Don’t over-stack the Yak, 4. Torchbearers or Torcherers? 5. In or out of the Box in Premium Content ]