Seth Godin’s Small Is The New Big

Seth Godin’s new book: Small is the New Big makes an interesting reading - seth provides explanation on what makes an idea take shape and attain meaning. As he sees it, for an idea to be spread, it needs to be sent and received and bothe sender and receiver must have specific differentiated reasons to do so and ofcourse this needs to be done effectively and be seen as value adding to both. Case in point : No one “gets” an idea unless:
1. First feel is good and the necessary background is in place for them to understand those.
2. The sender is seen to be one of repute and if it is clear that time ivested could be worthy enough.
In other words, the point to note is that success depends on the value to be perceived by the receiver and the form in which the information is packaged. No doubt as Guy says, this is like a polygraph test for web 2.0 entrepreneurs. Read this in tandem with the operational metric, so important for entrepreneurs.
Let’s examine the form part of it : Sensational wins have been traditionally centered around communication and miniaturization – PC, iPod, Walkman etc. This is a book where Godin compiles entries from his popular blog. Many are only a few paragraphs long, though he also adds longer entries, from his Fast Company column, to the mix. As if it prove his idea in action, he arranges the articles in the book alphabetically rather then sequentially – making to easier for readers to access relevant articles. As he sees it the first key to successful marketing is to produce something remarkable and let it grow. "If your idea is great, people will find you," he advises. "[I]f your target audience isn't listening, it's not their fault, it's yours." He urges people to take control of their creative lives by taking responsibility for tough decisions and pushing themselves to make bolder choices. Seth’s writings are generally inspirational - the book is a huge bowl of inspiration that you can gobble in one sitting or dip into at any time. As Godin writes in his introduction: “I guarantee that you'll find some ideas that don’t work for you. But I’m certain that you're smart enough to see the stuff you’ve always wanted to do, buried deep inside one of these riffs. And I’m betting that once inspired, you’ll actually make something happen.” This is quite relevant in the age of The Long Tail - small players, as Chris shows, can collectively make up a market that rivals the giants.