Happy Anniversary to a quiet revolution

Normally, it annoys me when the folks to whom I look up appear to congratulate themselves. I'm Upper Midwestern enough that mild self-deprecation is a virtue--despite being more honored in the breach than the observance by yours truly. But Seth Godin is normally so unassuming that I think that he deserves a pass on the anniversary of the Permission Marketing meme.

Godin itemizes some of the takeaways of what he terms his "accidental success." I don't particularly consider it accidental. Mr. Godin's style could have been sub-mediocre, and an editor would have been able to create a passable manuscript. That manuscript would still have sold well. As much as it pains me to say this--English degree and all--writing doesn't matter for this sort of thing. Witness Fred Brooks' The Mythical Man-Month. Brooks' writing is positively strait-jacketed. I can only think that his schoolmarm was a dominatrix on the side--it's just that bad. Fortunately, Godin has more than enough skill--and respect for the craft--that no tradeoffs of substance and style were necessary.

The bottom line is that Permission Marketing made marketing respectable--yea, even bordering on genteel. You don't feel like you need a shower--much less a dip in hydrogen peroxide--after doing it. (Disclaimer: I have worked in marketing, for what I consider a highly ethical company, even when my boss and I didn't see eye-to-eye. That being said, I've seen the power of the temptation for a small company to sell out for national exposure. The cognitive dissonance alone made me cringe.)

But let's say you didn't work for a company you particularly admired. And it was the dot-com era with its Through the Looking-glass surrealism. When everybody commuting to their glamorous do-nothing job in new SUVs--cellphone in one hand, five-dollar mocha latte in the other, driving with their elbows--never did feel quite normal? But, hey, the money was practically free, and you had bills and everyone from village wise man to village idiot was banging on about how the old rules didn't apply anymore anyhoo. Then along comes this guy who says, "Hey, ethical is cool. You don't have to lie to your Mom about what you do for a living if you do it this way. Oh, you'll still make money. Maybe not really easy money and probably not by lunchtime. But you can pay the bills and still look in the mirror."

Of coursepeople will want to buy books that say that. During the "anything goes" upticks and the scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel downturns alike. Even as glass-half-empty and cynical as I've become, I want to listen to this guy. If it weren't for Gary Vaynerchuk, I'd say say that Seth Godin single-handedly made me not-dread marketing. As it is, Gary Vee is still in the "spunky sidekick" league. ;-) That, folks is one heck of a feat.