Book Club: This is Marketing, by Seth Godin
The group met for our 7th book club at the end of March, and up for discussion this time was Seth Godin’s This is Marketing.
Seth Godin is the author of 20 books, he created the altMBA workshop, among other training programmes, and he’s spoken on podcasts, videos and at events all around the world.
The book we’re reviewing this time was Seth’s 19th. His 20th, available now and titled The Practice, is based on his workshop Akimbo, which focuses on getting unstuck and finding the courage to make and share creative work.
This is Marketing promises to show us the way to doing “work that matters for people who care”. Whatever your product or service, Seth says, this book will teach you how to present it to the world so that you can connect with people who want it.
There is an audiobook available, narrated by Seth himself.
The Book Club reviews This is Marketing, by Seth Godin
It was an instant New York Times Bestseller, whatever that means, but did it pass the BFF test?
It reads like LinkedIn ‘Broetry’, but with lots of great one-liners
"Seth is my all-time marketing hero — I will never have a bad word said about him, but this book has tarnished him a little bit for me," said Sophie Cross, with a solitary tear rolling down her cheek.
"To actually get anything useful out of this book I would have to read it again, and I don't really want to. I didn't enjoy reading it at all," said Richard Berks.
Tony Gibbs added, "Yeah, I struggle with his writing style. I don't find it particularly easy to take in and I found I had to go back and read the same paragraph three times. I do feel like he's some kind of genius, but the books can be a struggle."
Penny Brazier said "You know when you have those conversations at the end of the night, and everyone's a bit drunk, and it's quite late? And there's always somebody stumbling around who goes on a big monologue and it doesn't make any sense. But every now and again, they come out with a little bit of genius, right out of nowhere. It was like that for an entire book.”
Suz Bird said, “It's definitely hard to digest in one go but I do like the snippets that I can take away from it. I don't read a chapter and go 'That's total genius, what you've written makes absolute sense!', but there are lines where I go, 'Yeah, that's the marketing that I believe in and that's the marketing that I want my clients to believe in.'
“Like Sophie, I do like Seth's way of marketing and the way he teaches it. If a business owner (not a marketer) picked up this book, they would get a lot of value from it."
Was it written for freelancers like us?
"I wonder who this book was written for,” said Penny, “Because I did get some insights from it, but part of me was thinking, 'He's writing to someone who's got a start-up in Silicon Valley. That's not me.' But at no point was it clear who he was talking to in the book, and that's his whole thing — speak to your people."
Steve Folland added: "A lot of the advice in the book seems to be aimed at bigger companies, but actually, his take on marketing does seem to favour freelancers.
“Find a small audience and just do what you do really well, and word will spread. So often we hear from different freelancers that word of mouth is how they get most of their work. And that's why, over time, you find more and more people coming your way."
Charles Commins said, “ I realised that I don't really know anything about marketing, and I thought this book might be a good entry point for me. I’m only halfway through, but every time I pick it up I feel like I am taking something away from it."
Scott Ellis said, “The bit about pricing hit me. If you have higher prices, the customer values you more and trusts you more. If you go for the race to the bottom, you'll end up losing their respect.”
Sophie added, “I love that idea — for example, if you had a hotel and you had to charge 10 times as much, what could you do? What customer experiences would you put in place?
"So much of marketing is just 'how can we cut costs and get more people'. Instead, it's being like how can we make this so incredible that people can't bear to miss out on it."
Would we recommend the book?
The general view was that Seth Godin gives incredibly smart marketing advice but this book falls short. For those of us who know his work, This is Marketing felt like a compilation of emails, blogs posts and books we’ve already read.
We highlighted sentences and took notes that we might share or pass on, but most of us didn’t enjoy the writing style. Most of us did say, however, that we would recommend it to some people — someone new to marketing who hasn’t read or listened to Seth before.
If you want a taster, Marie Forleo interviewed Seth about this book in 2018 and the 30-minute video covers the big ideas.
Finally, we hope Seth wouldn’t be too disappointed with our review. In his own words, “All critics are right, all critics are wrong. The critic who doesn't like your work is correct — he doesn't like your work. This cannot be argued with."
Join us for the next one via the Facebook community
Thanks so much to these BFFs for turning up and sharing their thoughts on the book!
Helen Hill - Learning and Content Designer
Richard Berks - Science Writer for Charities
Barney Harsent - Copywriter
Rebecca Druce - Content writer for Saas/tech startups
Scott Ellis - English as a Second Language Teacher and Course Creator
Tony Gibbs - Creative Business Coach
Sophie Cross - Marketer and Editor at Freelancer Magazine
Louise Shanahan - Health Copywriter
Charles Commins - Podcast Producer
Penny Brazier - Copywriter and Comms Consultant
Suz Bird - Social Media Strategist
Related books that the BF Book Clubbers recommend:
Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith
One plus One Equals Three, Dave Trott
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads, Luke Sullivan
Previously in the book club
The Freelance Introvert, by Tom Albrighton (highlights here)
The 20% Rule, by Catherine Gladwyn (highlights here)
Survival Skills for Freelancers, by Sarah Townsend (highlights here)
Hype Yourself, by Lucy Werner (highlights here)
Company of One, by Paul Jarvis (highlights here)
The 12-Week Year, by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington (highlights here).
(The links to books on this page are affiliate. If you click one and purchase within 24 hours, some pennies come in to help keep Being Freelance in biscuits. Thanks for the support!)
Summary by BFF Sophie Livingston