Permission Marketing was the first Seth Godin book I ever read, back in 1999. That was a big year for me. I bought a house, got married, witnessed a solar eclipse, and learned that I was about to become a Dad.
I was also two years into my business. Still mostly clueless. Still searching for books that made sense at my scale … which was still small at that point.
I’d read business books like Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm (1991). It was fascinating, but nothing that I could relate my business to.
Then came Seth, talking about businesses that were personal … like mine.
No wonder it resonated.
If you’re in a medium where frequency is cheap (like the Net), take your time. Build Trust through frequency. Tell your story patiently to each consumer who is willing to participate in the exchange. Be personal. Be relevant. Be specific. And always be anticipated.
Permission Marketing (1999) – Seth Godin
P is for Permission: anticipated, personal, and relevant messages will always outperform spam.
Obvious, but true. So then why do you persist in spamming people? Billboards, TV ads, phone calls—they all are defeated soundly by delivering your offers with permission.
In fact, the biggest asset a company can build online is this privilege, the list of people who would miss you if you didn’t show up.
Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?: And Other Provocations (2013) – Seth Godin
Permission is anticipated, personal and relevant.
More than twenty years ago, in Permission Marketing, I narrated the beginning of a revolution. It’s about attention. Scarce attention.
Pay Attention is the key phrase here…
“Every publisher, every media company, every author of ideas needs to own a Permission Asset, the privilege of contacting people without a middleman.”
Earn your permission and own it.
The simplest definition of Permission is the people who would miss you if you didn’t reach out.
Show up with generosity.
Transform your project by being remarkable.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See (2018) – Seth Godin
See Also:
On Assets | On Attention | On Challenging Yourself | On Storytelling | On Your Story | On Tension | On True Lies
Or choose a path towards stories that mean business.
Explore the art and science of business storytelling. The rabbit hole goes way deeper than you think.
The Business Storytelling Glossary lists the concepts, ideas and definitions that use in my work. Your mileage will vary.
