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My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

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Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#61

Post by bobz44 »

fallentimes wrote: post #37
brk wrote: post #3

I'd actually be a little bit insulted to get that as a response. It reads like a load of over-dramatized crap. Part of what's wrong with so many of these internet-marketers is that everything seems to be positioned as various degrees of "super rockstar ninja greatness". There is never any bad, unmarketable, stupid ideas. IE: no one wants to put their reputation on the line by making a potentially bad call. So, he won…

From what I can tell you spend 6 months with him, don't get paid, primarily work on his projects, learn buzzwords and "get" to work on your own personal projects in your spare time. Am I missing something?

There is much to be gained from working in the same room as someone who groks what you want to grok.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#62

Post by bobz44 »

macbeth4077 wrote: post #20

Everything Seth Godin writes is either unactionable, obvious, or wrong.

I've heard this criticism of Seth a few times now. I don't disagree with the statement... but it's also not exactly a strong criticism either.

His work seems to be mostly about making us rethink the way we approach marketing, especially on the web. That is coming from the other end of the "actionable" spectrum. It is a strategy, not a tactic. All the old tactics still apply, but you use them for different ends.

His examples are, of course, simple and "obvious" in a style that many (myself included) appreciate. I've found writing a series of succinct, obvious statements that convey a greater wisdom is much harder than people give it credit for.

And, like any exploratory thinker, I don't think Seth himself would claim he's never wrong. It's all about if you can learn something about the approach to marketing, not memorize a bunch of steps.

Definitely a fan, not a fanatic, but I've heard this point enough that I wanted to state a counter.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#63

Post by fallentimes »

bobz44 wrote: post #61
fallentimes wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I can tell you spend 6 months with him, don't get paid, primarily work on his projects, learn buzzwords and "get" to work on your own personal projects in your spare time. Am I missing something?

There is much to be gained from working in the same room as someone who groks what you want to grok.

Great - more Seth Godins.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#64

Post by pclark »

bkj123 wrote: post #43
tphyahoo wrote: post #2

I got the same damn letter. I would be more interested in seeing your application. Are you putting it up on squidoo?

didn't put it up at squidoo. if interested, I just posted it to http://www.jonesinsight.com/alt_mba.html .

thanks for sharing - good read. #5 was really inspiring.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#65

Post by joshu »

bkj123 wrote: post #49
lallysingh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sent one in to John Carmack way back in the day (circa 1996-1997). I was massively underqualified at the time. His response was personal and compassionate. It stung at the time, but long term I've got a lot more respect for the man for it.

good story lallysingh. I've been amazed at how many leaders in their fields are willing to give their time and input, especially if you respect their time. Two quick stories: 1. Once emailed a prominent venture capitalist/technologist a question. It was maybe 15 words long. He responded in 5 minutes with a one word answer that truly answered my question and helped tremendously. 2. Another time I was taking a data min…

A lot of "busy" people read email on their blackberries, so if the possible actions are difficult (not forwarding or terse responses) they forget about it (since the blackberry marks the item read and then it falls to the bottom of their inbox, never to be seen again.)

Naturally, I'm sending this from a blackberry...

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#66

Post by sqs »

bkj123 wrote: post #49
lallysingh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sent one in to John Carmack way back in the day (circa 1996-1997). I was massively underqualified at the time. His response was personal and compassionate. It stung at the time, but long term I've got a lot more respect for the man for it.

good story lallysingh. I've been amazed at how many leaders in their fields are willing to give their time and input, especially if you respect their time. Two quick stories: 1. Once emailed a prominent venture capitalist/technologist a question. It was maybe 15 words long. He responded in 5 minutes with a one word answer that truly answered my question and helped tremendously. 2. Another time I was taking a data min…

I was in that class, too, I think. (StatsXYX X=2 Y=5?) The professor was a great guy to me, so I'm sorry you had that experience.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#67

Post by bkj123 »

sqs wrote: post #66
bkj123 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

good story lallysingh. I've been amazed at how many leaders in their fields are willing to give their time and input, especially if you respect their time. Two quick stories: 1. Once emailed a prominent venture capitalist/technologist a question. It was maybe 15 words long. He responded in 5 minutes with a one word answer that truly answered my question and helped tremendously. 2. Another time I was taking a data min…

I was in that class, too, I think. (StatsXYX X=2 Y=5?) The professor was a great guy to me, so I'm sorry you had that experience.

different class.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#68

Post by michaelneale »

zaidf wrote: post #58
feverishaaron wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked with Seth on Squidoo, I can tell you that he is a pretty genuine guy. That is just his writing style.

My only problem with this letter is it is not clear if it was personal or sent to everyone rejected. Getting a personal "you are amazing" is very different from "you are amazing" sent to few hundred people. This is a bad choice of words IMO.

I think that would be key. If they were all individual, wow, that is sincere. If not - then its really just his writing style and you need to translate that into what it really means.

Re: My Seth Godin decline letter. Thoughts?

#70

Post by zaidf »

michaelneale wrote: post #68
zaidf wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only problem with this letter is it is not clear if it was personal or sent to everyone rejected. Getting a personal "you are amazing" is very different from "you are amazing" sent to few hundred people. This is a bad choice of words IMO.

I think that would be key. If they were all individual, wow, that is sincere. If not - then its really just his writing style and you need to translate that into what it really means.

I know a few people whose business is to write ebooks and sales letters to sell the ebooks. They prey on desperate folks. And make a killing writing in a style very similar to this email.

This was totally miscalibrated for the audience, UNLESS the overall audience really did find "joy" from it and we're just exceptions.

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