Tag: Seth Godin

Why do you read?

~ Sasha ~ 3 Comments

You’re reading this blog right now.  Why?

It might be for entertainment, or a diversion.  Or it might be because you want some ideas about how to do things differently.

If you’re interested in doing things differently, you have to ask yourself: do I want just to be exposed to new ideas, or do I actually want to act differently (today, someday)?

If it’s about acting differently, what will it take to get you there?

It’s probably been two years since I read Seth Godin’s missive on Really Bad Powerpoint, and I’ve been carrying around his maxim of “No more than 6 words on a slide. EVER. ” since then.  I’ve also made a million excuses why this is a nice idea but it’s not realistic; why it doesn’t apply to my own storytelling.  Or I’ve said, “6 words per slide is a nice idea, but what he really means is fewer words per slide.  I can hack that.”  That’s a cop out.

Tomorrow, in a big, very visible, very important meeting, I’m giving a presentation that has 17 slides and 51 words.  I’m giving it a shot.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you might have thought it interesting to consider reorganizing your RSS feed, changing the way you write email or conduct conference calls, or practicing your storytelling.   If you’ve been reading Seth’s blog, you might have thought about getting a professional picture on Twitter, learning graphic design, or listening to your sneezers.

But are you stuck thinking “this idea might be interesting someday” or are you actually doing things differently?

Sometimes it takes a few tries to get there.  It took me more than two years to take the plunge on my next PowerPoint.  But you should be honest with yourself and ask if you’re reading as a passive observer or as someone who is going to act.

Go ahead, act.

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What do philanthropists care about?

~ Sasha ~ 2 Comments

Continuing a conversation from last week, I again have to acknowledge Seth Godin for understanding as well as anyone how REAL buying decisions (philanthropic, b2b software sales, you name it) are made.  You should read the full post, “The rational marketer (and the irrational customer).”  Here’s the punchline (Seth is talking about when you, the marketer, know your product is worth buying but your customer doesn’t):

You know that your car is more aerodynamic. You know that your insulation is more effective. You know that your insurance has a higher ROI.

…The problem is that your prospect doesn’t care about any of those things. He cares about his boss or the story you’re telling or the risk or the hassle of making a change. He cares about who you know and what other people will think when he tells them what he’s done after he buys from you.

The opportunity, then, is not to insist that your customers get more rational, but instead to embrace just how irrational they are. Give them what they need. Help them satisfy their needs at the same time they get the measurable, rational results your product can give them in the long run.

Let’s say that last bit again: “Help them satisfy their needs at the same time they get the measurable, rational results your product can give them in the long run.”

So if I occasionally get frustrated with the dialogue around creating more efficient philanthropic marketplaces, it’s because I don’t always see real, honest incorporation of how philanthropists’ really make decisions.    So, yes, we need to move the dialogue forward (in terms of making giving more efficient, helping the most effective nonprofits rise to the top, etc.), but doing this while overlooking / downplaying the donors’ reality is inevitably going to come up short.

This is why I loved Renata Rafferty’s description of “dinosaur philanthropy” on the Tactical Philanthropy blog.  We need to start where the bulk of the giving is – and the bulk of the givers are – if the conversations about measurement are going to have a signficant impact on the flow of philanthropic capital.

Change minds, change lives

~ Sasha ~ 3 Comments

It’s daunting to see the world’s problems.  It is hard to know what you can do to make a change.

Here’s a great opportunity.  A chance to spread the word about a book full of fresh ideas and an authentic story.

by Jacqueline Novogratz
The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Seth Godin and I are asking a few select bloggers spread the word about The Blue Sweater, a new book coming out on March 3 by Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund.  We’re asking you to read and review the book, and then give it away to a friend or blog reader. Seth has bought the books and we are giving a small number away to people who can spread the word the farthest.

If you’re an interested blogger, go to this page and describe your platform.  Let us know who you are and who you reach with your blog – we only have a few books to share so cannot give copies to everyone.

If you’re a blog reader (of course you are), tell your blogging friends about this and share it with your social networks.

And if you’re interested in pre-ordering the book, you can get it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

I promise that people will be happy to hear from you about this, and that by spreading the word you are spreading a powerful, new idea.

Change minds, change lives.

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The best rejection letter ever

~ Sasha ~ 1 Comment

Next Monday, Seth Godin (marketing guru, innovator and all-around fabulous guy) is starting his alternative MBA, so I was curious to learn how the unorthodox application process had played out.

The online applications (mostly Squidoo pages) are amazing – energetic, personal, compelling.  I was more amazed still by what one candidate described as “The World’s Greatest Rejection Letter” from Seth, which reads:

You are amazing.

I’m stunned.

Bowled over.

Amazed.

And optimistic about our future (and yours).

The applications I received were astonishingly good. Thorough and honest and clear and direct. They were motivating and demonstrated just how much people can do when they put their minds to it. I read every word of every application and I learned a lot.

If I had 60 seats, I still would have had too many people awe-inspiring applying. Unfortunately, I have nowhere near that, and so I had to make difficult, irrational and not particularly fair choices. Alas, I’m going to be unable to work with you in 2009. There are still interviews and such to go through, so I don’t have the final group selected, but I thought the fairest thing to do was let you know as soon as possible.

The good news, and I hope you think it’s good news, is that you don’t need me. As I said before, I have no magic wand, no secret recipe. Your decision to just make it happen, to push forward, to change… that was the hard part.

Go. Do that. Blow them away. I fully expect it will happen.

Thanks for taking the time and thanks for understanding.

Seth

PS I’m going to post on my blog about how stellar each of you are… and I’m linking to a Google listing of applications (all of them, accepted and not). If you don’t want to be seen by others, you should delete your lens (if you made one). But I think you should be extraordinarily proud of what you’ve built and what you’ve done… and you might even get a new gig because of it.

Since I’m proud to take (and share) heaps of advice from Seth, here’s some more: suggestion #6 from his recent blog post How to send a personal email:

6. Don’t talk like a press release. Talk like a person. A person is reading this, so why are you talking like that?

This is a trap we ALL risk falling in to, and it’s one of the easiest things to change about how you communicate with people.  Why in the world would you send out an email that includes a sentence like: “Due to the overwhelming quality of the applicants this year, we had to make some very tough decisions and we regret that we won’t be able to invite you to interview at this time?”

I think it’s because people (and organizations) worry that personal will become informal, and between the relative risks of seeming too boring vs. too unprofessional, boring is a lot safer.

Fair enough, but recognize what a huge opportunity you’re missing.  Think about how many emails you personally send out a day.  Add to that the emails your organization sends out, the content from your website and your Facebook page….you get the idea.

Your opportunity is to make it personal, to treat the person on the other end like a human being.  They’ll be so surprised that already you’ll have distinguished yourself from the pack.

And if you missed it, here are my 10 Obvious Tips about Email (that most people don’t follow).

Too good to pass up – Seth Godin’s alternative MBA

~ Sasha ~ 1 Comment

“If you could change your life,” Seth asks, “would you?”

Seth Godin just announced an alternative MBA that he’s personally giving to a small group — application deadline is December 14, program starts January 19th, six months with Seth and a select group of people.  It sounds amazing.  You should tell amazing people you know about it.

Hats off to Seth for caring only about things that are valuable (as opposed to what’s conventional and expected), and for his being totally willing to put his money where his mouth is in terms of creativity, innovation, and break-all-the rules ideas.  I’ve no doubt this will be incredible.

Here’s the full scoop: http://www.squidoo.com/Alternative-MBA.

Spread the word.

A NonProfit CEO Manifesto (blame it on Seth Godin)

~ Sasha ~ 51 Comments

Inspired by Seth Godin, and his new book Tribes, I collected my thoughts after nearly two years in my current role at Acumen Fund.

I wrote a manifesto.  You can read it here.

This one isn’t for everyone, but you probably know someone who’d like to read it. Do me (and them) a favor and send it to them.

And tell me what you think.  I think this one is important, and since the economy is blowing up and won’t improve any time soon, now is a good time for nonprofits to rethink how they think about raising money.