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Seth, You Got Some 'Splainin to Do!

So I'm glancing at the featured article of Strategy + Business, an article entitled, "The Power of Dumb Ideas." Needless to say I'm curious; I'd just read Seth Godin's Purple Cow, from which I'd deducted (and fully believe), if you cannot create a revolutionary idea, don't just make up something. (Hence my disgust at seeing an ad last night for enlarged M&Ms--what was wrong with the little ones?)

This article in S+B cites a Booz Allen Hamilton study that says that "only four broad ideas, copied again and again across sectors, accounted for 80 percent of the breakout businesses created between 1985 and 1995."

This study was a critical factor in concluding the following:

"...David Ogilvy’s contention that 'it takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product' no longer applies. His fellow advertising guru Bill Bernbach’s belief that, in marketing, 'not to be different is virtually suicidal' today may be suicidal in and of itself.

The solution to marketing’s current ills is not more creativity. It’s less."

I laughed out loud at reading this, and thought to myself. Seth Godin would be shrieking if he read this. But then I shrieked, as I read where this assertion originated, Seth's new book, The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable. Thanks to Ken Brand, I have a copy of it on my desk.

Now, I realize 1) It took me three years to get up to speed with Purple Cow, I might just have slept through another major paradigm shift, and now good ideas no longer reign supreme; or 2) I might have taken this out of context and need to open the damn book--which I will--and get some clarification. Judging by the title of the New Moo, being remarkable is still critical. Phew. But, as S+B writer Randall Rothenberg writes, "The big idea doesn't have to be brand new. In a world overwhelmed by complexity, it's the context that gives dumb ideas their power to galvanize a team, create faith, and build the world's greatest marketing department."

So then, so long as the team that decided to market oversized M&Ms was galvanized to create such a stupid product, that's all that matters?

Maybe Seth didn't write this particular essay. The book, after all, is a compilation. If that isn't the case I'm confused. This seems like too fine a hair to split in the realm of being remarkable. It sounds like a recipe for good, old fashioned mediocrity.

The Lessons of Katrina: Conserve! And Keep Marshmallows On-Hand

I received my PG&E bill the other day and my mouth dropped--it was double what it was last month. What did we do this month that was so different? It's not any colder outside. I don't recall anyone leaving on any lights...

I checked our rates. Electricity is still fairly cheap, but gas has skyrocketed! To that point, I can't fill up the lil Ol' Jetta for less than $40. You'd think I drove a Lexus or something.

Needless to say (and before our Dear President, in such quick response to the effects of Katrina, suggested it today), we've been strategizing ways of scaling back on gas. B-friend, who insists on feeding his WRX with premium fuel, has been riding his bike everywhere. And if he really needs a car, he suggests I drive. What a citizen.

The Relationship Chronicles: The ROI of Love (Afterthoughts)

I received a thought-provoking comment from Laura yesterday, regarding this post. It seems that her man/co-habitant/potential spouse ain't a fan of the proportional rule of household expense sharing. For those new to the conversation, the proportional rule is designed to allow domestic partners/spouses with different incomes to contribute proportionally to expenses. If you make 80% of what your partner makes, then your contribution is 80 percent of his/hers.

This concept sounds perfectly fair to me, and yet there are plenty of people on the higher-earning end of this arrangement who look at their cut of the expenses and think this is unfair. They may ask, "Why do I have to shoulder an extra $500 every month?" Doesn't seem right if this is an equal partnership.

I went to my self-help library and blew the dust off the bible of couple's finance, Suzy Orman's The Courage to Be Rich. I love her response to this argument.

The Price of Arrogance: Bully Bosses Pay It Eventually

My first job out of college was at a top publishing house in New York, earning about as much as people pay for health insurance in a year. I worked for a woman rather high up in the food chain, but I never so much as saw the shadow of her boss's boss, the president of the division. His office was down the hall from my cubicle, in "Executive Alley." On occasion I heard him calling after someone when a meeting of the top executives adjourned and people were filing out of the conference room. I read a magazine article about him once that included a picture--I'd never seen his face before, just the back of his head.

Back then the New York law banning smoking in public places was not yet in effect, but there were restrictions on office buildings. If you smoked, you better have an office or know someone who didn't mind you lighting up in theirs. The rule was, no smoking in common areas. But the president didn't care about the rules, he lit up whenever he felt like it. I knew he was in the office when I smelled the smoke, it wafted over the assistants' heads, where he blew it, walking past our cubicles.

The Relationship Chronicles: The ROI of Love

Back when I was still too young to date I saw an episode of the Cosby Show that still plays vividly in my mind. Bill Cosby has a discussion about money with his son, Theo. Cosby is trying to make the point that life costs money, and you have to earn at least what you spend.

Using a handful of bills Cosby takes away the ones in his son's hand while he ticks off the common expenses of adults.

"A nice car," Cosby says, taking away a bill.

"I'll take the bus," Theo says, taking it back.

The game continues in this back and forth manner until Cosby says, "You plan to have a girlfriend?"

"You bet," says Theo. At this, Cosby takes all of the bills out of Theo's hand.

I guess the joke was, women cost money. More generally, partnership costs money. There are certain unquestioned costs that you incur once you are in a relationship that you likely didn't when you were not in one. Currently I spend twice as much on food than I ever did when I was single, but that's what keeps the peace in my house. The companionship and good will--not to mention the home-cooked dinners--that result, ideally outweigh the expenditures.

Living Without a Net: An Odyssey into Self-Employment (Part XX): On Knowing What You're Worth

A dear friend had a heart-to-heart with me after I backed down from competing for a client. It wasn't really my thing, I had said to her, justifying why I was only too happy to give a friend--and potential competitor--a shot with a longstanding contact of mine.

The truth is I wasn't sure the services this client needed were in my core competency. In the past I would have bullshitted my way through the project and pretended that I'd known what I just learned. But I see myself coming to a nice place in my solo journey, a place of specialization. People ask me for things that they think I am uniquely qualified to do. I think back on the reams of medical books I copyedited to make ends meet when I was in my early 20s, when I had no knowledge of what hematomata were but knew how to spell the word in plural; or the--I believe the technical term is 'shit work'--that I took on just for the money. I find that I don't have to take on projects just to get by. I can weigh the pros and cons and, if necessary, refer the business to someone else.

That said, this wasn't one of those cases.

The Biggest Marketing Secret in the World: Self-Awareness

After months on my Amazon Wish list and a long stint on my To Read pile. I finally got around to reading Seth Godin's book, Purple Cow. I remember why I like Seth's stuff so much--he boils marketing down to principles of personal development. Want your product to take off like gangbusters? You might as well ask how you feel about not being liked by everybody, or if you value being authentic. In the end, it's the people with a strong sense of self who also have a strong marketing sense.

I can see Seth nodding his head skeptically, thinking, "Not sure what you mean, but go on."

Seth writes in Purple Cow:

"If you're remarkable, it's likely that some people won't like you. That's part of the definition of remarkable. Nobody gets unanimous praise, ever."

People on the path to self-realization come to a similar conclusion about themselves. They come to differentiate themselves at the risk of losing universal approval. They risk lukewarm legitimacy for being extraordinary. They understand that legacy isn't popularity, and meaningful products are rarely sold by the truckload.

Godin says about product marketing, but he could be talking about life in general, "In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing."

Have we finally come to a place where effective personal and marketing principles parallel each other? Consider yourself the brand being considered throughout Purple Cow and yes, Godin becomes the Oprah of Marketing.

The Question Posed by Katrina: Hang on or Let Go?

I received a moving note from Christien yesterday--a reader that I never knew was based in the South. Never thought to ask, as typically I'm more interested in psychographics than geographics when it comes to my blog buddies. He wrote, regarding my dinky little post on Hurricane Katrina:

"jory

you helped. i was reading your blog while stuck in tx during the few days after the storm. no one would turn off the horrible national news coverage. i'd escape to a room and read some blogs. ... i'm trying to keep up with my own accounts of what my fam is going through on my blog. it's nuts. kind of like there is no word stronger than love but you search for one. this is the same thing on the oppostie end of the spectrum..."

The Relationship Chronicles: The Adjustment

I'm sure there's a much better name for this series than The Relationship Chronicles, but judging by current premium cable TV shows and wannabe books, it's cool to slap that word on the end of your project--Chronicles. It makes your work sound intentional, inspired, official. So until a better title comes up, I'll use this one for this series (or a blog or two) on being part of a couple.

Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

I'm not much of a praying type, but I found myself praying as best I knew how--more like meditating on the vision of a city submerged in water, imagining people getting plucked out of the depths and brought out into the light. Times like these I feel downright helpless and, frankly guilty.

I don't have family in that part of the country, but I spent the morning reading reports in the Times about how horrible the whole situation is, from the overall devastation to the atrocities faced by the displaced folks living in the Superdome.

I like Jill Fallon's post on ThirdAge on how you can help from your dry little corner of the earth.

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