In his wildly popular book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Seth Godin talks about companies that produce remarkable products or services and how they target people who are likely to spread the word about the company by word of mouth. The premise of the book begins with the fact that the product or service must really stand out. Godin says that if you are driving through the countryside past a field of cows grazing, there's a good chance you would barely notice, because cows all look the same and if you've seen one field of cows you may as well have seen one hundred fields of them. Cows are fairly unremarkable. However, if there were one cow in the field that were purple, now that would cause a traffic jam. People would stop their cars, pull to the side of the road, and would notice the purple cow.
He is an author, entrepreneur, marketer, speaker, and artist. He has more than 15 books including my personal favorites, The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?, Linchpin: Are You Indespensable?, and Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. He publishes new work daily on his website www.SethGodin.com, where, like a morning cup of coffee, millions check in daily for their latest fuel.
My life and business have been highly influenced by a handful of amazing thought leaders like Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and Og Mandino. As for modern day business and marketing authorities, none have influenced me more than Seth Godin. For me, what's been interesting about Seth is that you don't realize he's a purple cow at first, at least that's how it was for me. I read his Purple Cow book six years ago and it stuck with me. I found myself seeking purple cow opportunities in my businesses. When I needed help in other areas of my business like growth and leadership, I found myself googling Seth Godin, and fell upon his book Tribes, which changed my mental paradigm about how to lead, which caused me to effectuate changes within my businesses. It was upon reading his book, The Icarus Deception, that I realized I should expand my network of mentors beyond business leaders, by adding artists, scientists, and intellects.
I didn't realize that Seth was himself a purple cow, an unusual species that would fundamentally change the way I thought about business, the first time I drove by him. But rather, I kept figuratively driving by this cow when I needed direction. I knew there was something about this cow that was different because every time I read his books or his blog, the inner dialogue I was having with myself changed. There was something about this cow.
Now I realize what's so very different about Seth Godin. He's a modern day Leonardo DaVinci, who spends much of his time noticing. He notices how people act, think, and show up. He notices behaviors. He notices marketing, advertising, and business practices. He notices things that most people can't see because most of the world spends most of their time not noticing. Not only does he notice things, like DaVinci, he brings what he notices to his canvas by sharing his unique insights with the world through his books and blog. He's a purple cow alright. I've come to believe that if you were driving past a field where there were millions of cows grazing, with one purple one amongst them, you might not see it at first, but you would pull over and notice the herd for a moment because you would know there's something different amongst them. Perhaps you would pull over every time you pass that herd, showing up because you know there's something important there, and then one day you realize it. One day, you notice that there is most certainly a purple cow in the herd.
I recently had a rare opportunity to sit with this purple cow, the amazing Seth Godin, where we discussed showing up, standing out, and delivering art. Here are the 4 important lessons I learned about business and life when I got a chance to go nose to nose with the purple cow of all purple cows, Seth Godin:
Deliver Important Different Art Tomorrow: I asked Seth if there's anything that keeps him up at night. He says that it doesn't necessarily keep him up at night, but his sole focus each day is in determining how he can deliver important different art tomorrow. He says that many entrepreneurs and businesses focus intently on delivering the same art tomorrow as they delivered today, and Godin says this is not the definition of progress. He says if you want to remain relevant in your field you must be seeking out ways in which to deliver important work every day. However, once you deliver your important work, there's someone else working on their art based on what you have already delivered. The competition has the ability to begin their important art based off of what you have already completed, so the only way to stay relevant is by continuously striving to deliver important different art tomorrow than you did today.
You Can't Fit In More: Godin says that the greatest opportunity for building a business is to figure out how you can stand out more. He says most businesses deliver their form of art to the world the same way their competitors do. They look and feel a lot like the competition and when it comes to marketing, the winner is the one who yells the loudest or spends the most. Godin says there's no need to yell loud or spend the most. He says, if you want to win, stop fitting in. Seth shared the story of world renowned artist, Jackson Pollock. Jackson's brother was also an artist, yet most have never heard of him. Why? One brother's art was just like all the other art in the world and so every time he painted, he continued to fit in to what had already been done. Jackson, on the other hand, created something new, something important, something different. One brother didn't have to yell loud or spend more to get noticed, he simply stood out.
Deliver, Deliver, Deliver: Seth Godin delivers content daily on his blog www.SethGodin.com. Delivering new content every single day seems impossible. I asked Seth what he does when there's nothing to deliver. Seth says there's never nothing to deliver, that he publishes daily because it's time to publish. He says that many entrepreneurs and marketers spend all their time analyzing, thinking, worrying, and perfecting...all of which make delivering really difficult or impossible. Godin says that you will never deliver a masterpiece if the brush isn't moving all of the time. Delivery is always part of your job as an entrepreneur, so deliver, deliver, deliver, even if you are scared, worried, or unsure that your art is good enough or even ready for the world.
Don't Judge a Day by The Weather: Seth says that the hardest part of any business is in the delivery. People are going to judge you. Things will go wrong. There will be days when you wished you didn't deliver at all, because delivery doesn't always make you feel better. Seth's advice is to never judge a day by the weather. Never judge your work by the number of people who see, share, or comment on it. Never judge your output based on one person's opinion. As Seth pointed out, The Wizard of Oz and The Godfather were both box office flops when they first came out. He says that when you are delivering important work, the masses are not going to adopt it overnight. He says that most people want to fit in, and if your work is new, different, and important, it's not going to be safe for most people to talk about or share your work at first. He says instead of worrying about the millions who don't care about your work, garner inspiration from the few who do, because those are the few who can magically change the weather of your business overnight by advocating for what they believe in, your work. Seth says everything can change in a day, and your job as an entrepreneur is to keep delivering your different important work tomorrow.
You might not notice it at first, if only because sometimes there are so many cows to see. But when you find one, don't take your eyes off it until you've learned all there is to know from that purple cow. Rumor has it, that if you listen, watch, and learn from a purple cow, there's a good chance you will become one too.