Seth Godin Speaks To Dax Moy!

Unless you've had your head buried in the sands for the last few years, I'm certain you'll have heard of Seth Godin.

He's the self-confessed marketing geek who's been responsible for changing the way the world looks at marketing through some of the most highly insightful, impactful and bottom-line, result-producing marketing books of all time.

In fact, Godin is in such high demand that he even presents to companies like Google and Amazon to teach them how to make a greater impact with their own marketing.

So yes, he's the real deal. He knows his stuff.

Well, it just so happens that I'm a bit of a Godin geek myself, having read everything the man has written over the last few years (and benefitted greatly from it all) and have had it in the back of my mind to touch base with him and ask him about his marketing beliefs and how that may be of benefit the the personal training industry.

So... I did!

And I was amazed that 5 minutes after I emailed him, he wrote back saying that he'd be pleased to answer a few questions for my readers.

(See, if you don't ask, you don't get!)

Now, Seth is pretty economical with his answers, he doesn't waste time with 'flowery stuff' and gets right down to the 'meat' of the issue but nevertheless, his answers are, I'm sure you'll agree, extremely insightful.

See for yourself!

(My own thoughts about Seths answers are AFTER his answers)

1. Seth, what is your definition of excellence?

Excellence has little to do with quality or perfection, and everything to do with exceeding expectations.

2. Who have been the major influencers/mentors that have helped shape your own outlook and why?

Zig Ziglar, Tom Peters, Guy Kawasaki, Jay Levinson, Neal Stephenson, Jeff Bezos, David Seuss, Dr. Seuss, Lenore Godin (my mom) and my dad, Bill Godin.

Writers who told the truth and inspired, managers who pushed the edges and parents that understood both balance and what excellence really means.

Dax: In the excellence module of the 2 year diploma, I teach that your sphere of influence has a major impact upon your own concept of excellence... who's in YOUR sphere?

3. What are the last 3 books you read and what did you take away from them?

I've been reading a lot of Max Barry... he's funny and truthful and smart. I get a lot of out Ben and Jackie's books. And I'm rereading some Pema Chodron right now, because she understands how to breathe.

Dax: You know, one of the reasons I ask this question is from a truly selfish perspective. If I ask recognised experts what they're reading and then I read the same, I'm building the same bank of knowledge as they are. Can't hurt right?

4. As an acknowledged expert on marketing, you must spend a lot of time looking at and reviewing the marketing efforts of others. What are the biggest mistakes that you see being made and why are they mistakes? (In other words, what should people STOP doing?)

That's pretty easy...
Stop deceiving people.
Stop feeling self-important.
Stop being selfish.
Stop making sense (sorry, couldn't resist).

Dax: That's why I love Seth's stuff. His entire philosophy is about being damn-good at what you do and marketing through truth rather than B.S and clever hype. We could all learn a lot from that, I think (myself included!)

5. Why do you think people are still making these mistakes despite the abundance of good, solid marketing material now available?

Because it's human nature. Because people are people first, marketers second.

Dax: That's so simple yet so profound. I guess that even when we're doing our best to market our 'stuff', we can't help but get into 'how can I sell more?' mode and put our own interests first. Yet, if we could truly get past that and really think about how we can help the prospects... wow!

6. What is the single most powerful step that any business person can take to make a bigger bottomline impact from their marketing? (In other words, what should they START doing?)

Build a permission asset.

Earn the right to deliver anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them. (Also, start making stuff worth talking about).

Dax: Between my various lists, I 'talk' to 30,000 people a week, every single one of whom signed up and gave me permission to contact them again. This is the opposite of what Seth calls 'interruption marketing' where you spam, annoy or interrupt a person who never expected to hear from you in the first place.

How many people anticipate your marketing?

7. Why aren't people doing this already if it's so effective?


Because it takes patience (and guts).

Dax: It's true. We all hear about marketing efforts that work 'overnight' and expect that that kind of marking is the norm.

It's not.

Most marketing (most successful marketing, that is) is slower, yet more permanent in nature.

And yes, it takes guts to invest time and effort every week to communicate your message without the 'buzz' of a weekly sale of some kind. But the results are more than worth it.

8. Ok, we've looked at the things that marketers should stop doing, we've looked at what they should start doing, what, in your opinion, do you think is already being done well and should be done more of?


I think the overall quality of what is made is extraordinarily high.

We really don't have to make it a lot higher. (Except the airlines).

Dax: How many products, ebooks, audios have you quit (or never even started) because you thought that it needed to be 'just right'?

I used to do this all the time....

9. To get specific to my readers industry, fitness, what do you perceive as the biggest barrier to marketing success within this niche and what are some of the steps YOU would take to market a fitness business if you decided to change profession?

Dax: This is powerful stuff!

This is an acknowledged world-expert on marketing with absolutely no ties to our profession telling us why we're not connecting to our prospects.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking??

Don't let the brevity of Seth's answers fool you into thinking that what he said isn't revevent.

It is.

In fact, this may be the most important marketing lesson you'll ever learn.

Now, do something with it!