“If you’re good, people will read it. If you’re not good, you’ll get better” (Seth Godin)
Marketing guru Seth Godin’s comment on blogging could be a mantra for my own work as a blogger, but also for the nature of art (in Godin’s broadest sense), as original work done in any field that “ships” to an audience, on whose acceptance its creator relies.
As I earlier referred to in my blog postings, I am changing the format of my blog to shorter, more pointed, copy (modelled in part on Godin’s own blog), that I’ll upload every two weeks. In particular, the blog will address clients and prospects, instead of addressing fellow freelancers and writers, or an unclear mix of all of these groups, as has occurred in previous postings. Remarkablogger Michael Martine, whom B2B specialist Ed Gandia refers to, comments that freelancers’ blogs should aim to generate leads, and not to generate followers, as in “pro-blogging standards.”
I start this posting with Seth Godin, since Godin continues to inspire me and to make me think about my prospects and leads, particularly in Linchpin: Are You Indispensable (hereafter LP) and, more recently, in The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly? (hereafter ID). In both of these volumes, Godin challenges us to overcome our own inner-resistance to creating good, original art, that forces us to ask questions and demand action from ourselves, when we’re most afraid or intimidated to speak and act (cf. the concept of the primitive “lizard brain.”) This “remarkable” work is not to be confused with “perfection” or critical acclaim, both of which he sees as irrelevant to creating and disseminating art.
Godin’s uses the term “art” in the broadest sense, as not only the work of architects, graphic and visual artists, fashion designers, etc., but also as the work of uncommonly committed engineers, doctors and medical practitioners, academics and teachers, and lawyer-activists, to name but a few. In this age of increased awareness of cultural difference, concepts of “art” and the “world” at large are increasingly interdisciplinary. In his appendix to ID, he charts numerous mini-success stories of individuals who make a great difference to their fields and to the world at large, by the (often small, incremental) steps that they take, away from the “norm.”
If you haven’t read or recently re-read either LP or ID, read back in my archive of previous blogs postings on this site, where I give a précis of both volumes.
As a prospect of my copywriting and/or editing services, you may also wonder how I can address Godin’s challenges with you? How can we integrate his ideas into your association or company. As a resistance-busting artist myself, I want to get you there. Shouldn’t it be everyone’s goal to “ship” art more often and better than before, but without the tyrannies of anxiety and perfectionism? How can we as creatives collaborate in doing and shipping better and more interesting art . . . .? As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and collaboration.