We Call Him Seth

By Cheryl Oreglia

Have you heard of Seth Godin?

He posts a daily blog appropriately called Seth's Blog!

I met him in person a few years back when I attended the On-Being Gathering with Krista Tippett. He was a guest speaker, one of the few that interacted with the participants casually during meals, and seemed to enjoy the conversations, or maybe it was the adoration? I just think he like connecting with people, it's his gig.

He's what I call a light bulb, not because he's bald (that would be rude), but he lights up a room with what I call authentic engagement. You know the types.

I noticed (okay I stalked him a little) how he engendered focused, down to earth, meaningful conversations. This is a person who's easy to talk to even when nerves render you speechless. A consequence of celebrity sightings.

I know, it happens, best practice is to breath, and imagine everyone else in their underwear. Makes me feel less vulnerable.

He's written a dozen books, all of which meet a need in his community, or shall we say niche, challenging his readers to show up, step up, and make a difference in the world.

A recent post:

Skill vs Talent
You’re born with talent.
You earn a skill.
I don’t think there are many places where talent is the key driver of success. The biggest exception might be that a drive to acquire skill could be a talent…
Assuming you have that, though, assuming that even once you did the hard work to learn something important, then you have what you need to develop even more skills.
Go do that.

We need generosity and passion. And even more so, we need people who care to develop the skills to deliver on their promises.

He also offers a series of on-line courses designed for all types of interests, from influencers to creatives, entrepreneurs and visionaries, the philanthropist and the developers, life coaches and those who are trying to make a living using creativity. I think a few dentist signed up?

I applied for the creatives workshop, and lo and behold I got in, well everyone does but that's beside the point.

I might be in over my head, but I'm daring greatly, and that's exactly who he's trying to reach, people who are good at hiding. If interested you'll have to wait for the next opportunity. Hint: there's a purple circle that you can link to for a huge discount, it gets smaller everyday, so don't sit around chewing your cud when opportunities abound.

It's coronavirus time, we're quarantined, what else were you planning on doing with your time? Yes, Netflix is the only hold out in the stock market, questions?

Okay, this was supposed to be a hack job? My bad, I got distracted with purple cows and such.

The Purple Cow by Seth Godin

This book talks about the importance of making your products remarkable. Not trendy or gimmicky but remarkable as in, “Worth making a remark about.” If you see a field of cows and they are all black or brown, then suddenly a purple one appears - that’s remarkable. You want to stand out in the market place, so people take notice, but in a good way.

Next you have to find your tribe, people interested in purple cows, but not just any purple cow, but your cow, maybe it leans like the Tower of Pisa or barks like a dog, lands on it's feet? The thought here puts traditional advertising in the recycle bin. It's ineffective. It's so yesterday.

Platforms are the key to success, reaching the right people, exceeding their expectations, and being so remarkable, "they'll share [your purple shit] with their communities," and so it goes. You might be worried about putting your barking, leaning purple cow out in the world, but fear not, the critics will come, and this is what we call free advertising.

Go for it, take a risk, find your audience, and exceed expectations in a remarkable way.




What is your current "purple cow" and who is the audience in need of this vision? How can I help?







When I'm not at Across the Board, I'm Living in the Gap, come graze in my field sometime.