Shonzilla, a pattern-seeking animal

Seth Godin writes about one-hit wonders vs. strategy that brings you a dedicated following, perhaps even long-tail effects.

From the all listed 2007 Zeitgeist examples - I’ve only regularly used Google and listened to Da Vinci Code audiobook (the actor reading the book actually made this cheapo mash-up triller more exciting). Am I an elitist? :-)

Seth Godin is the person who, in my view, knows the most about marketing and is great at thin-slicing almost any IT marketing niche. He’s also a “bestelling author, entrepeneur and agent of change”. I like this last description of self. Indeed, he reminds everyone (not just his clients) by the virtue of his blogging activities that we cannot sit around or move about using the same ways and old dog tricks. He’s someone who gets inspired by everyday events and seeks patterns in them, extrapolating clues about becoming clueful about what we do in our ad-ventures, professions, everyday lifes…

In this article he asserts the wisdom of youth that “you never have the second change to make the first impression” and strikes the chord by stating that the last interaction and the impression that follows is even more important.

I thoroughly agree with this - follow-up, last touch, making your client/coworker/acquiantance feel special and the relationship valued and nurtured is vital for creating a mutually positive environment.

Seth goes on to state that the last interaction is responsible for virtually all of the word of mouth you’re getting. I do not completely agree with this - I agree that this happens when the last impression is particularly bad or hits your nerve. Apart from that “beauty/impression is in the eye of beholder” so its individual as well how and what you perceive in your interactions. You might be objective oriented (e.g. focusing on deliverables meaningful to the project) or you might be a pedantic person seeking perfection (that might be more what your parents taught you rather then what is important or essential to your given situation).

All in all, I’m in tune with Seth’s musing. In the marketplace, you cannot allow yourself to leave your client with the feeling of being cheated or lied to which you achieve when you’re unauthentic or when you fail to properly seal the transaction in communication. Having something else on your mind (e.g. some other client, your family) cannot be an excuse for sloppiness or tendency to fail.