Uniquely Unique

Want to write better, understand marketing more acutely, connect with your audience more authentically? Want to be Unique?

Study Seth Godin 🌔

"Learning from the patterns and the people who have come before, though, is the only way any of us advance." - Seth Godin

I've read Seth's blog for years. It's one of the most consistent (and brief) on the internet. And that quote above is from one of the more memorable of his thousands of simple, yet highly impactful posts. Despite dozens of books and millions of copies sold, I still think Seth's Blog is one of the most nutrient-dense marketing schools on the internet.

My favorite 2 questions I learned from Seth:

"What's it for?" and "So what?"

A recent conversation with a friend should highlight how it's been used to help me in recent weeks as well:

Me to a friend recently: "I just started this new LI Newsletter over the Holidays, and we shot to 3k subscribers in 2 weeks!"

Friend channeling Seth: "What's it for?"

Me: "To teach people how to tell better stories. Specifically, by pointing to the elements of good storytelling employed by influencers and industry luminaries I admire & emulate"

Friend, still channeling: "So what? Seems like brand dilution, it's not even called SunCast"

Me: "Fair point, but I don't want to be known only for SunCast. I think there's a much larger group of people who can benefit from better storytelling tactics than just those in the clean energy sector. So I went with a new name that is more relatable to more people and cleverly ties in the 'elemental' aspect I'm going for."

Friend: "Oh, I see, well, good luck! Looks like it's working, so far."

I used to think "I have to be unique" in what I bring to the world. And, while that isn't altogether wrong, or bad, it doesn't necessarily play to my strengths as a connector and curator of great ideas and humans.

Seth said this about "unique" in that same blog I linked earlier:

Being unique is a great way to hide from the change we need when someone offers us a better future. (also Seth Godin)

Throw "unique" out the window as a standard - be consistent instead. Unique all-too-often leads to excuses for why you still haven't done anything, yet.

Since you're here for elements of good storytelling & marketing, here's the final thought:

Focus on the smallest viable market (many thought I was CRAZY for 5+ years to build a podcast specifically focused on Business Leadership in the Solar Energy industry). You can do this with what Godin call's "the Simple marketing promise":

Here, let me illustrate by packaging this Newsletter thus:

Valence is for people who believe that good storytelling is an instrumental tool in creating momentum (and all sales & marketing leverages momentum). 

I will focus on people who want to understand how to integrate the elements of good storytelling into their sales & marketing content in small & repeatable ways. 

I promise that reading Valence will help you get better at seeing how storytelling works so that you can start practicing it, now, in your own business or personal branding efforts and reach more people with a story worth telling.

If this resonated with you, would you consider sharing it with others you know are looking to create momentum with their world-changing stories?

Through our collective efforts in sharing the stories that change the world, we can increase the positive momentum and move our planet forward. Stories move people. Get going.