Lesson In New Economy Marketing

New economy marketing and marketing in general is a huge interest area of mine these days, and I have been on a quest to learn as much as possible over the past year. During this discovery process I found Seth Godin and his blog. A marketing guy with not only good information but an interesting perspective in his area of authority. So after reading his blog for a while, I bought his most recent book (my first book from him) ‘small is the new big'.

Unfortunately, this book is difficult to summarize, since it is a compilation of his thoughts, but I highly recommend it because it is much more than a marketing book. For me it was a book about entrepreneurial thinking, and motivation. I bought the audio version to listen in the car and actually found myself frustrated listening it. The content was great because it spurred so many thoughts in my head. Unfortunately, just as I would try to expand on one thought, Seth would be on to his next riff, and my mind would be forced to shift also. (Aside: It would be great if my iPod could be paused and take voice notes which I could tag to a bookmarked location in an audio book). I finished it yesterday on the way into work and it is likely that I will buy the print version, so I can go back and tag pages and rethink about the ideas that were flowing when I listened. In addition to this book, I have also downloaded some of his e-books and, and recently sent him an email about a riff I had. (Which he responded to within a few hours)

What I realized is that I just participated in my own lesson on the topic I have been researching.

• I got a reference to Seth through some blog post (I can even remember where)
• I read his self generated/free blog content that is updated regularly, and sold me on his topic authority
• I decided to buy a book (that is really just a collection of his free blog posts)
• I have read it and recommended it to others
• I have downloaded his e-books, and will likely buy other books
• I sent him an email and got an got an actual (non automated) response.

He has built an authentic relationship with a customer who didn’t even know of him a year ago. He generated a few dollars from a book sale, but the real value downstream revenues from word of mouth marketing. Marketing cost to him = just his time, and passion.