Seth Godin

Marketing is a HUGE field, there's so much one could say about it, that it's hard to know where to start. So don't expect anyone to be able (or willing) to give you a cookie-cutter, step-by-step instructional guide, or to write a book here. There are tons of marketing books out there already. To be completely honest, you should probably consider going on Amazon.com, or to a used bookstore, and look for a cheap used copy of a generic "marketing 101" textbook and read through that for starters. Beyond that, there are a ton of web based resources, and there are some HN regulars who have written quite a bit on the topic. Check out, for example, what swombat has to say: http://swombat.com/founders_library grep through that list for the marketing related ones. Likewise, patio11 has written a lot about marketing. http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/ You might want to look through some of the interviews and courses available on Mixergy.com as well. Even the stuff you have to pay for is well worth it. Personally, I recommend a Mixergy subscription. Also look into the marketing related courses on sites like Udemy or Coursera, or stuff from MIT's OCW. https://www.udemy.com/courses/search?q=marketing You could also do worse than reading the stuff Seth Godin puts out. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

"Like everyone else, I also hope to get covered on TechCrunch, Mashable, VentureBeat, etc. in order for the tech world to take me seriously, but I’ve gathered they will only cover you if you break silence through them." They will cover you if you're newsworthy. You have an edge if you offer them an exclusive. Launching is rarely newsworthy (unless you're noteworthy as a founder or you're doing something really revolutionary), but growth is-- so start growing and you have a story. I've been covered on TC 5 times spanning two businesses. My impressions are that A) being worth writing is the important thing and B) It's not all that. 10-15k uniques from TechCrunch isn't going to build your business, it isn't going to get you funded, and it isn't going to get you more than 500-100 actual users. For fundraising (if that's a nearterm goal), it's a good thing. But growth/traction/market are WAY more important. Real good read on the topic: http://sethgodin.typepad.com IF you want to ease into it, post a hardcoded signup key here... If it leaks outside of this community, turn it off.

Or I do but I’ve read and agree with http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/permission-mark.html (and the book, short though it is) and other experts. Godin says it perfectly: > … the new power of the best consumers to ignore marketing. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention. Basically, a marketer trying to force their stuff on people - interruption marketing - either doesn’t understand their value proposition well enough to spot ways that it can actually help customers, or is too lazy to act on those ideas.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2018/05/on-behalf-of-the-buyou… "Is it ever okay to sell the rights to your work? Milton Glaser was paid about $2,000 in expenses to create the I Love NY logo, one of the iconic marketing images of its decade. He later said, "I was very happy to do it. I was very happy about the consequences.” Carolyn Davidson originally made $35 for designing the swoosh that Nike made famous."

Seth Godin's blog is consistently outstanding. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Somewhat analogous I believe to previous post I have seen from a YCombinator investor is basically: "Why You, Why This and Why Now?". I'm paraphrasing. I can't find the original as there are lots of copy cats (including Seth Godin [1]... intentional or not). Even ATDC [2] the very startup booster organization that did not accept us (I laugh at this because our startup is still around and successful unlike all the others they did accept). Which brings me to a great segue... you don't need a pitch if your company makes money. [1]: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/why-you-why-now.html [2]: http://atdc.org/atdc-news/why-this-why-now-why-you/

Just off the top of my head, a few possible hiring processes. - Recommendations from people you trust - Pairing interview - Give a difficult/open ended homework problem - Whiteboarding interviews are suitable for some candidates, they're not all bad ;) - Pick from your list (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/12/whos-on-your-list.html… - Asking the candidate for ideas as to how they'd best be assessed - Culture fit ; Gut feeling ; or any conversational interview followed by review of performance after 1 month - Portfolio review (no one actually does it in my experience) - Hiring off reputation in the community I'm sure there are plenty more.

Best advice I've ever seen on naming a business is from this old Seth Godin gem: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/06/naming_a_busine.html I read that in 2003, and have never forgotten the "Lemon Pie" example since.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com http://zenhabits.net http://www.swiss-miss.com http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/

Currently I'm trudging through GEB[1]. Last month I read: - The Dip (super short read and has a few good points but overall I didn't really like it)[2] - Going Clear (great book, terrible formatting, but a great book)[3] - The Martian (short read, very entertaining and well researched)[4] 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach 2. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/ 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Clear 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_%28Weir_novel%29

One of my favorite bloggers in the world is Seth Godin. Here's a post he wrote recently: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/01/unprepared.html It's 247 words and 9 paragraphs. I don't think he's worried about the number of sentences in his paragraphs, nor were the 796 people who liked his post on Facebook.

The ones who 'sell' the best and who have the most connections and resources get ahead in today's Silicon Valley. It's as simple as that. Nothing 'meritocratic' about that. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/12/the-meritocracy-trap.h…

This has really helped me. Seth Godin's excellent "Ship It" Journal: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/theshipitjournal.pdf

Seth Godin has some advice on what you could do: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/graduate-school-for-un… I think the other thing that can help is to understand that the world has changed. There's now two paths to a sure job: be world-class excellent at one thing, or be pretty good at 2-3 things. The first one almost certainly isn't going to happen; by definition, you're more likely to be in the 99.99% than the 0.01% of graphic designers. But what if you're a better-than-average graphic designer, can speak fluent German, and are pretty good at online marketing? Now you're some company's ideal employee.

The harm is you are you and you are not them. They are them and no matter how much we think we can make their lives better, they are busy and don't want to hear it. The problem is when they are kinda dumb (most of the time?) and the targed spam or leadgen job postings actually work. "Job in your area paying $175k/year for your exact experience!" -- but when you inquire, it never exists. Conveniently they happen to have similar jobs with compensation structures consisting of wobbly jello. Read the classics: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/permission-mark.html

Brilliant. Two mindsets of possibility or doubt. I'm reminded of the concept of resistance or the lizard brain http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/quieting-the-lizard-br…

Two words he says in this interview have likely had a greater impact on me than anything else I've read this year. "Pick yourself." He had a great blog post about it earlier this year: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/03/reject-the-tyranny-of-…

Nice, here are 3 great Seth Godin posts/influences on ideas: Where they come from: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/11/where-do-ideas-come-fr… Why spread?: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/10/ideas-spread-when.html 999 ideas from his 'MBA' program: http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html Execution > Ideas - start spreading!

Great comment. As Seth Godin said in http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/marketing-lesson-from-… "Sell a story that some people want to believe. In fact, sell a story they already believe."

I'm generally with Seth Godin when he says that the two elements that make a great presentation are respect and love: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/the-two-elements-of-a-… What makes Carl Sagan so good is that he has an extraordinary amount of love for the audience. It's pretty clear that this stems from his use of empathogenic drugs like cannabis. (Or at least, it would be extremely rare for someone to be able to project that much love and empathy for others without the use of psychedelics or empathogens, at least in western society.) edit: I would define charisma more as the ability to make yourself loveable, which is basically the opposite of what Sagan does so well.

The link seems dead. The following works though: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/08/just-in-time-fo.html

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/10/whats-a-logo-wo.html http://www.160over90.com/blog/2009/02/17/the-50-dollar-logo-experiment… I would not hire someone to do a quick glance of my business, push around some pixels and sling me a response based on our (quick) conversation. The resulting identity wouldn't have the depth needed to last, it wouldn't have the insight needed to resonate with my customers. And, Mr. $50 logo guy, by some chance if you are in fact giving each and every job due diligence you are seriously selling yourself short because the work would be worth substantially more. Sorry, not trying to rain on parades just trying to educate. (I love HN for what I learn here...)

I recommend you read this post by Seth Godin if you haven't already: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/09/if-you-want-to-learn-t… I think he nails it. Want to start doing something? Do it. It won't be pretty at first but you'll learn from your own experiences which is invaluable. And, by selling just $50 of services or products to your friends next month, you'll be $50 closer to your goals.

Godin's "new dynamics of book publishing" talk from several months back makes for great listening, even for non-publishers: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/publishinggodinkeynote-1.mp3 [MP3]

Seth Godin posted a killer idea on his blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/05/ipad-killer-app-2-fixi… and we have been thinking of building it. We would love a small angel investor =) Email is in my profile if you are interested.

Worth noting: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/06/logos.html About thirty years ago, three companies dreamed up logos that have become so powerful, I don't even have to show you the images to get them to pop up in your head. A sneaker company paid a few hundred dollars for an abstract, upside down wave, a coffee company picked a half-naked mermaid (is there any other kind) that cost them nothing, and a computer company picked [hired a PR firm that picked] a piece of fruit with a bite out of it. What the images had in common: nothing. They range from abstract to woodcut to groovy. The art of picking a logo, even one for the Olympics, has almost nothing to do with taste or back story. A great logo doesn't mean anything until the brand makes it worth something. Likewise, great aesthetics/graphics mean nothing until the brand makes it worth something.

Sure, Godin has his own buzz words. But his messages are simple. Things like "Go above and beyond" ( http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/the-least-i-could-do.h… or http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/whats-expected-vs-what… ) It's obvious stuff, no doubt- but it's stuff we all seem to forget.

As posted on Sivers' blog: Yes, indeed, it is ours - I first heard it back in June 2009, on Seth Godin's blog. It got posted up on Hacker News too. Here's the seth post of the same video, making the same post (though he reckons guy #3 is more important than the first follower): http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/guy-3.html

Very similar, if not the same concept as Seth Godin's "The Dip" http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/ (very good read)

This question is kind of general. It depends on your niche market and luck. I do suggest you follow Seth Godin's blog as he gives a lot of insightful advice you can use as startup. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/ It might help though if you give more details.