Read the Q. & A. with Seth in E-consultancy.com’s December 2005 briefing. As always, he boils it down. Real simple. Incisive. (Scroll to the bottom of the interview for a good explanation of Squidoo, Seth’s new venture.) I like this sound bite:
Q. (Chris Lake) Should every business use the internet to communicate? What are the basics of an internet communications strategy?
A. (Seth Godin) You should only use the internet if you want your communications to
be FAST and you want to reach LARGE NUMBERS with no intermediaries. If
you can’t handle that, though, you shouldn’t try.
And this one (valid question, BTW, as Seth made his name as the king of permission marketing):
Q. You’ve written about permission marketing extensively, yet intrusion
is still a big part of the average internet session. Does this
frustrate you?A. (Seth) Not any more. Like everyone else, I ignore it.
What a waste.
And this, perhaps the most profound thing Seth said. Think about it. If you send out an e-newsletter or publish a blog or offer a downloadable white paper, it’s because you’re expecting a response. Not a sale right away. But a tiny step, a forward movement, a conversation starter, the beginnings of a relationship with that prospect. Or to get more tactical, if you’re putting an AdSense ad in front of someone it’s cuz you want them to click on it. Right?
Q. Does online advertising have to be purely about response? What about the brand benefits?
A. (Seth) There’s zero evidence that you can build a brand with interruptions online that don’t lead to action. Zero.
Speaking of Squidoo, Seth’s new venture… It’s out of beta. Go build a lens (start here) and fool around with it. Here are two of my lenses so far. They need lots more stuff in them: Debbie Weil and Yoga Vacations. I’m still figuring it out.