Seth Godin - Flipping the funnel

Oh snap… it’s seth godin. “Ted Stephens isn’t here”

“We need ugly presidents”

Seth is killing the crowd with stupid signs like “THIS SIGN HAS SHARP EDGES. BTW the bridge is out.”

Fundamental shift has happened. Ideas that spread, win. lots of pictures.

Successful democracy is about spreading ideas and causing action.

The century of idea diffusion cornered in TV. Thinking about TV helps us diffuse ideas. Seth godin is a comedian.

People who spend money on politics, make stuff work.

“TV industrial complex.” Buy ads, get donations, get elected, get donations buy ads, get donations… etc… You can ignore anything you want now because there are so many places to get info, and ignore. The problem? Too much clutter, too much noise. “Premium sausage at whole foods.” Now, there’s the Tofu department too. SO MUCH CLUTTER. Poeple are laughing. Shows a picture of a baby - WE CAN’T KEEP BRANDING EVERYTHING. It’s a 100 year old idea that is played out. We can’t keep spamming people.

We’re getting good at avoiding stuff now. The good way to get married? Propose marriage to everyone at a single bar? Instead, you could build an asset, a right etc. You could permission market instead. 91% of all the real estate brokers never contact the buyer or seller after the closing is over. Permission cuts through the clutter. Permission provides price and competitive insulation. People think they’re the most important person in the world. Get it?

Instead of marketing to everyone, create a niche. Get good at it.

Adoption curve basics. Middle crowd (early and late majority) are professoinals at ignoring people. The innovators and early adopters choose to pay attention. Sometimes the geeks and nerds are wrong sometimes. The message starts with the geeks and nerds. Get the influencers, win the world.

Hot or not reference. Seth godin is a 3.7. “Wicked big haystack, you’re the needle.” Stand for something.

How do we create movements as great as the macarena.

Cumulative advantage is the new seth godin buzzword. StumbleUpon is great! Fergie sucks, but once she’s close to number one, she’ll be number one. Opposite of long tail. Candidate to voters. “Targeting is a hunter word.” Instead, be a farmer. Most powerful non-elected official - NOT JACK VALENTI! Ralph Nader is successful after spending 0 on advertising. Word of mouth is bad, idea virus is the idea. It’s not a funnel, but turning it into a megaphone. The speech thesis.

Step one: BE AWESOME.
Step two: Tell an awesome story.
Step Three: They spread the word
Step four: Get more permission.

Buy this man’s book. In fact, buy five, and see him speak in utah!

Lunch time!