Who knew that Seth Godin was a prophet of doom!
by Stan Faryna
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Judy Garland, Over The Rainbow
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Recently, Seth Godin wrote about what he calls the forever recession. I’m not a Seth fan and I rarely read Seth’s glibulations (a combination of tribulation and glib), but a friend suggested that I might find this particular post of interest as I further contemplate social media, social search, social business, social games, the social web, online communities, and the future. If any of these subjects interest you, I encourage you to consider my reflections below on Seth Godin’s end times prophecy.
Seth Godin distinguishes the forever recession from cyclical recession. Godin, of course, doesn’t make a good effort to explain a cyclical recession. He rarely explains things, in fact, and that contributes my own reluctance to get excited about Seth. Seth likes to limit his liability and risks, so he never says what he means. OR Seth Godin never has anything important to say.
You decide for yourself.
I may understand the concepts at hand, so I’ll try to explain how I imagine it. For your information, I am not an economist. And feel free to correct my errors on economics in the comments.
Let’s start with a definition of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP represents the market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given period.
A recession is a period during which the economy is slowing down or contracting. When the GDP grows at a rate below the normal rate of growth, we have a slow down. In other words, what was produced this year is less than what is produced during normal times – an average of let’s say five years. Contraction means that an economy, in fact, is producing less goods and services than the previous year. When the GDP declines by more than 10 percent, it’s a depression just like the Great Depression of the 1930s. If I understand the global economic situation correctly, we are now in our second year of a super Depression.
So far, Governments have been able to soften the impact of the present super Depression so that the middle class is not directly effected by it as they were hit in the 1930s. The stories of present hardships and despair are also de-emphasized by the mainstream media. Not simply because elites are afraid of what people might do to them! But because general confidence floats the economy. Greater fears and inconfidence fueled by true stories of desperation and despair would result in the bottom falling out faster and deeper.
According to the economic commentators, recessions rise and ebb like the tide across time. These are called cyclical recessions. It is suggested that these cycles reflect two interrelated influences upon the economy. The first is confidence. Confidence in the opportunity to make more and more wealth rises to a point of irrational exhuberance and then falls into a temporary doubt and skepticism before confidence begins to build again. The second is debt. Debt rises to a point of irrational risk in the pursuit of capitalizing on riskier opportunities and then creditors constrain or reduce credit until they are comfortable again with the situation.
What Seth Godin calls the forever recession is a cute expression for what is known as a structural recession in economic theory. A structural recession happens when a game-changer disrupts the normal components of supply and demand. Emerging markets outcompeting the top ten economies on price, cost, and quality is a game changer. It began noticeably with the fall of communism and the iron curtain. But the Asian dragon eclipsed even that. Industrial production is owned by those who can produce at the lowest cost. And we are all guilty for that. Because we want more for less. It’s a rational choice – in fact.
I’m particularly bothered by Godin’s glossing over the impact of this disruption. Because it’s going to get worse. If the U.S. Census reports that one out of six Americans is now living below the normal US poverty level, it is not far fetched to imagine that four out of six Americans will be living in poverty (as poverty is defined today) within ten years. Of course, the normal definition of poverty will be redefined lower to suit political expedience and happy talk. It will be even worse for Europe. Or maybe not -Europeans do not pride themselves on economic class as do Americans.
But for most of those who are in poverty now, their despair will know no bottom. My heart trembles in fear, compassion, and empathy for them.
The survivors will climb over the writhing, dying bodies of their own family, friends, and neighbors to grasp a poor semblance of success and survival (suckville) by virtue of what Seth Godin calls the revolution of connection. Godin pretends a certain naiveté (perhaps as a literary device?) and suggests that hundreds of millions will do ok. Somehow. He is ambiguous about his fantasized engine of hope. But Godin does seem to hint at online marketing. Do you mean, spam, Seth?
I would like to point out even if 100 million people were spamming each other 24-7 just to be ok that means that roughly 92 percent of the world population is going to be doing NOT OK. Of course, that’s not going to work out and then you get to super-political elites (IMF, World Bank, and the UN) debating the merits of aggressive and passive methods for massive population reduction. I’d also like to mention that English is not the dominant language of the world – so your opportunity as an English-speaking and writing native to be an effective online spammer would be limited to the spam-saturated, English-speaking market.
Seth forgot to mention that you need to acquire fluency in two to three additional languages. Yesterday.
I’m not contradicting the problematic that Godin presents. Nor am I opposed to the revolution of connection. In fact, I am all for it. In my humble opinion, results will vary. Disappointment, of course, will be prominent. On the other hand, Seth’s emphasis on “forever” in his forever recession is too much doom and gloom for me.
The casual collective that represents today’s online communities is not likely to fuel the revolution that Seth Godin imagines is taking shape. Casual collectives, for example, can not even be compared to the local militias that served poorly (but bravely) in the American Revolution. The allusion has stretch marks – of that, I am aware. But if we are in the birthpangs of a brave new world As Godin suggests, online communities must evolve beyond the potential road kill that they most resemble today.
In other words, they must be willful. They must have impact. They must become intelligent and coherent.
Please join me in brainstorming about new vision for online communities here.
I enthusiastically welcome your humble and/or creative contribution to creating our own brave, new future of we!
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Stan Faryna
30 September 2011
Bucharest, Romania
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P.S. Your $5 can make a difference. If you can get 10 of your friends to give $5 too, you will make an even bigger difference. Please help Nisha to help others.
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The unofficial blog of Stan Faryna 
Stan,
I’m not crazy about ANYONE being prophetic about doom and gloom. Forever? Please. This economy is shifting and changing. The new economy will not look this same as before. Should our economy be fueled by massive, personal, corporate, and government debt? No. That’s been part of the problem. We all must remain optimistic we will find our way to an even better economy. Folks, this may take a lot of time. No economy, especially a global one, shifts on a dime.
Sherrie
Big hug to you, Sherrie!
I agree with you, “forever” is a big word. You’re right to point out that no economy shifts on a dime. Nor does it stop on a dime.
Still, some of us should think about what we’re going to do with this so-called revolution of connection because I can tell you that the internet revolution was largely co-opted by corporate and government interests in a fairly quick manner. From 2006 to 2008, I remember observing how the internet went from being mostly about people to mostly about marketing and corporate media content.
Stan,
First of all, thanks for addressing this issue. Like you, I read Seth’s post and thought it was a bit like some of the survivalist stuff I have seen of late, urging everyone to buy guns and ammunition, buy land in Montana on which you can build a place to go hide from the government and the roving bands of “militias” and get prepared for the world to go to hell in a hand-basket.
Anyway, I am not Seth’s defender, nor his biggest fan, but his post is a wake-up call of sorts for those who would buy the current political line that we need someone to be elected president or to congress who is going to “create jobs.” The day of the $40/hour union job to do work that someone else in the world will do for $8/hour is history. Dino Dogan made a point in our recent NJAB podcast about many of the super-bloggers having an advantage that we will never experience, timing. The same is true among the developing economies of China and India. America had its industrial revolution, becoming the largest “producing” nation in the world, enjoying the fruit of its “labor” for many years. Now, as many other countries have, in one sense, caught up, those production jobs have left our borders. That is reality. It is an uncomfortable reality, but it is reality. That reality is going to require a change in focus.
I am not an economist. I am just a single entrepreneur trying to make a difference in MY world. I have taken ownership of my responsibility to make that difference. I believe it is a moral imperative. On the other hand, I observe an enormous number of people who choose to play the blame game and expect that they are somehow entitled to expect their government, their neighbor, their family and friends to somehow change their circumstances, make it easier for them to find “a job,” or pay them for not working. That dependence class of people are the majority of the American electorate. They are desperate. They are hurting. I, like you Stan, hurt for them. I hurt for the children who go to bed hungry. I hurt for those who believe they can be nothing better. I want to look them in the eye and tell them there is hope…not in government intervention, but in personal responsibility and faith in God, who is the ultimate game-changer.
It is easy to point at a company that is trying to make a profit by moving their “production” where labor is cheaper. However, we cannot bite the hand that feeds us. It is the profitable companies that keep our various economies running. I think that requires us to take a step back and, as I said earlier, change our focus. If the reality is that the USA and other economies have lost these production jobs to other countries permanently, we must begin to seek other solutions. The “bring our jobs back home” crowd may not like it. In fact, I think the majority of politicians (at least in the USA) will continue the drum beat of “jobs” just to be elected, rather than talk about the need to seek alternatives.
Seth wrote another post that continues to gnaw at me, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/09/back-to-the-wrong-school.html because it addresses this issue from another perspective. Reforming and refocusing our educational system may be the beginning of a long-term effort to create the kind of change that is needed. I don’t have an easy fix. I don’t think anyone does. Learning Mandarin might be a place to start.
The thing about Seth, as Stan insinuated, is that he tends to make bold statements and then won’t go deeper. Is it because he’s afraid of taking a firm stand? Who knows.. But I’d like to think it’s because he is a minimalist and rather have us chew on the thoughts. His blog and published works alike give you the starting points but you have to do the rest and it works for him.
Truth be told, sometimes I feel I should be more like him. I know I drop a lot of information in what should be small chunks.. But my passion gets the best of me.
That said, we have to challenge the thoughts of guys like Seth Godin and Chris Brogan. We can’t simply accept the truths blindly, and I think that is part of what Stan is saying here.
Certainly, there is an urgency. I don’t want to be a harbinger of doom but, unless people become more self-sufficient (while helping others do the same and collaborating) and start producing more (rather than consuming), things will only get worse.. And that’s not just here in the states. It’s a global issue.
This is why the service industry has gotten so big but, guess what, we’re ALL in the service industry. That’s actually one of my future posts.. Should probably get on that but there’s so much going on. I’m taking this weekend to reflect, meditate, spend time with my loved ones, catch up with friends, and unplug a little bit here and there.
Still, I can’t leave such a wonderful article alone.. You’ve given us much to think about here, Stan.
As I mentioned over at Osaka Saul’s house – http://osakabentures.com/2011/09/casual-collectives-tomorrow’s-roadkill/ – the simple solution is to bring change at the pace that works for us. All change, big or small, is a step in the right direction so long as we are helping others. More importantly, raising awareness and educating others will help folks out in the long run.
What I’d like to see here in the states is more production than consumption. We hear the elites talking about population control but the issue is more with resource management. There are countless opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint, ween ourselves off fossil fuels, and cultivate our lands rather than ripping them bare of all the resources.
I, for one, try to minimize driving as much as possible. When we go for a ride, we make sure we take care of as much as possible in one trip. Working from home has allowed me the opportunity to give back a little bit so I am not in consumption mode like most.
I’d say the conditioning we see world-wide will be the challenge here. We’re in a global culture of instant gratification, quick solutions, frivolous behaviors.. We’ve been conditioned to be employees and users, rather than inventors, farmers, innovators, and inventors. A lot has to change…
“We hear the elites talking about population control but the issue is more with resource management.”
AMEN, brother!
Hi James broham!
So, what Seth Godin talks about does make sense.. But, again, he does not explore all the sides or substantiate everything.
Tradeable jobs are a good and bad thing. If your job can be sent overseas, chances are companies will cut corners to save some money and do so. It’s not just about doing what you’re told to do but, rather, doing a job that is mostly operational or administrative instead of strategic?
As a victim of many down-sizing and belly-upping companies, I know this game well.. and it’s not fun!
What needs to happen is simple in my eyes: large corporations need to take the lead (but they won’t) by stabilizing the local economies first before we go playing big brother to the world. We’re spreading resources far too thin and then the struggling people here become a burden to us all. That may sound horrible but I look at folks that collect public assistance and are driving nice cars, have cool things, and don’t do anything to help keep the flow of resources going. But let’s step away from politics…
I’d love to see more small businesses doing things the right way. Creating jobs and thinking about sustainability. Can we keep up what we’re doing if we half of our clients? Are we thinking ahead? What if the competition steals our ideas, customers, team members, etc?
I’m an optimist and yet I am a realist. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I put my trust in powers greater than I am but I also know that I need to get things done and not just sit around waiting for change.
Well, I can go on and on… Yes, Seth can rub you the wrong way but I’ve learned to pick out the real meat of what he says so that it is more actionable and relevant to me. I feel that he speaks more to large corporations than us small business owners.. Good thing for us, we have folks like everyone commenting here to give the rest of the world a real voice. 8)
“I put my trust in powers greater than I am, but also know that I need to get things done…”
I can see this from two perspectives.
First, there are those who believe it is the role of the government and politicians to solve their problems. They cast a vote and then sit on their hands, awaiting some benefit from those who fill the halls of government.
Second, there are those who believe in a “higher power,” God, Jesus, etc. whom they believe will deliver them from every negative circumstance. They say their prayers and then sit on their hands awaiting some benefit from the one in whom they have placed their faith.
You, Yomar, are in a third group. It is the group that will ultimately provide the “answer” to our economic morass. We are those who see the reality in which we live, pray for deliverance (it will certainly not come from the halls of governance), and work our tails off to be a part of the solution.
James,
I’m glad to have you join the conversation. Thank you, my friend.
I went over to read Seth Godin’s post, Back To The Wrong School.
Seth has some things wrong, but he’s right on that education is important. I would add that adult education and retraining is also important as we face change and tomorrow’s opportunities.
Thomas Jefferson and others were very much concerned with public education and education in general. They believed that young Americans needed to be prepared to be upstanding citizens – conscientious, law-abiding, and patriotic citizens. That they should be able to read, write, and do basic math.
Like you, James, I don’t have a handful of good answers to throw down like a gauntlet.
I am a fan of a classical, liberal arts education that has the great books as a center of gravity. Such an education can prepare the mind for independent thought, problem-solving, critical thinking, and, above all, a common dialogue about such things as freedom, democracy, the common good, and the dignity of the human person.
That’s not to say that technical training isn’t important. For we all need to make a living!
In a reply to Betsy’s comment, I bemoan how America has much to offer to the world, but the world is consuming most of it with little to no compensation for intellectual properties, innovations, etc.
You give me much to think about.
I don’t think Seth has a bone to pick with the likes of Jefferson, who, like you, established himself as a champion of the liberal arts education. I think Seth’s comments are pointed more toward guys like Rockefeller, who was a major architect of the current educational system.
I sat with a family while their daughter had surgery this past week. The father is a general contractor. We were discussing our children’s education, the variety of gifts and talents people have, etc. This guy never liked school. He wanted to be outside, building with his hands. He said this, “I believe God has gifted me to build. I cannot teach my kids math. I could barely read until I was in middle school. BUT I can build a house.” He has a skill that most of us cannot even understand. It is a valuable skill. However, there are fewer and fewer young Americans wanting to do that kind of work, because the pay is not great. As we continued our conversation, he told me about a young man who wanted to join one of his crews. He had no special skill, could barely hammer a nail, but had dropped out of school and needed a “good job.” Well, when my friend asked him how much he wanted to be paid, the young man answered, “$20 an hour.” That is part of our problem…and why many jobs are being shipped overseas. We have a large number of folks with little skill and little education who demand a premium wage.
As always, you pack a lot of value into a single piece and my heart, soul, and mind thank you! I am a fan of Seth Godin though I’m not a fanboy, so I can actually see some of the flaws in his approach as you do. Really, what I envision is social media as a catalyst for grooming true leaders. Many will still use it casually but there is great potential here… More thoughts to come!
So, let’s talk about change.. I usually don’t get into politics but this is not about politics, really.. It’s about being human, if not, humanitarian, and caring about others.
I’ve been bombarded by causes and charities lately. Locally, we do community outreach via our church when we can or at least donate gift cards and services. The profit is not really there in terms of monetary gain, but I continue to help out the little guys even if that means I struggle a bit.
I’m looking to do some free workshops at our church and at local libraries. I want to educate people about the very things you speak of here, Stan. If you have an eBook or list of supporting materials you’d like me to share, let me know.. The same goes for everyone else who is interested. I’ll likely start this in a month or two.. There’s just so much to get done before then!
Back to change.. The social web enables this. Information travels faster than ever but we have a lot of junk and noise to contend with. The good news is that there are filters to help us out. Search and discovery engines like Google and StumbleUpon help us reach the right people (and vice versa).
James mentioned part of what we discussed on the #NJAB podcast. It’s true that timing is a big factor and we have a-listers and super bloggers that are only there by luck mostly, not because they’re saying anything new and/or important. Really, they’re all mostly recycling each other’s ideas and playing “dress up”.. They’re also more concerned with profit than anything else.
While we may not have that sort of momentum or huge numbers in our stead, we do have smaller, tightly-knit communities to leverage. As I mentioned on my article over at http://unbounce.com/seo/the-adaptive-seo-approach, we have the opportunity to use SEO as a listening tool and a social conduit. This is the slight edge that will get our message and causes to the right places.. I say “go deep” and work through your biggest supporters rather than trying to get some Seth Godin mass appeal going.
So let’s not get intimidated by where we are now.. Together, we can get to where we want and need to be. I believe that.
(Sorry for going off on a massive tangent but, really, you gave us all a big heaping serving of food for thought!)
Having local impact with vision, ideas, and support sourced from smart online communities is fucking brilliant, Yomar.
High five, buddy!
Yes, Yomar! You’re absolutely right on that social and citizen media is fueling servant hearts to courageous rise up out of their silence, anonymity, and personal challenges… to be counted as leaders, followers, and change-makers. More people are ready to do more today to make our world a better world for us all.
You’re astonishingly perceptive, my friend.
Wow, Stan, you’re quite prolific this week! I feel my brain going to boot camp reading all of your weighty, yet uplifting insights.
I have been wondering what Seth has said is happening is in fact true. A lot of jobs have been lost from the US, probably never to return. As the Industrial Revolution changed our economy, the Internet Revolution is also making a huge impact. Enhanced communications means that many jobs can now be done in other countries more economically than they can be in the US.
So what happens if the jobs don’t return to the US and to Europe?What if students who graduate from university with huge college loans can’t find jobs enabling them to repay those loans and have enough left over to have a decent lifestyle. What then?
If there were a magic wand to create jobs, it would have been used by now. We just have to wait and see what the future holds.
The times do not get any simpler! The puzzle pieces are many and it’s not easy for us to put a few of those pieces together. And a few pieces that seem to fit together may (or may not) give us any idea of how the big picture is like (from all the puzzle pieces) and what it could mean for us as a species, community, or individuals.
Big hug to you Carolyn.
I’m writing too much – I know. I’m going too deep. And I feel my thoughts stretched thinly across wide ground.
What is driving this – I don’t know. [grin]
I have been more interested in exploring the darker mood and feeling that is moving like deep currents in the blogosphere: desperation, exhaustion, envy, impatience, anger, etc. The economy, of course, has much to do with this. But it’s more than that too.
Anyway, yes, you’re right. We have to wait and see what the future holds.
At the same time, we also have to create our future – a future of we. Because if we don’t do anything to shape our future, we may not be as relevant to that future – as we could hope to be.
I left a comment yesterday. It’s gone so here it is again (condensed):
Stan, what are YOUR ideas?
P.S. I often forget to push “post comment”!
Big hug to you Betsy.
I’ve had that happen to me more than a few times: forgetting to push the post comment button because may be I want to add another thought. I’ll get up and get myself a cup of coffee and return to find the connection and comment lost. I hate when that happens.
Just like Seth Godin, President Obama, and many others, I once believed that the future of the American economy was all about intellectual capital, innovation, and the internet.
It may still be, but I have lost confidence in the possibility to derive significant royalties and profits from intellectual property and innovation. Because it can be stolen. Because enforcement of copyright, patents, etc. is not effective. Because in an ironic twist of moral relativism, piracy has become a euphemism for sharing.
If Microsoft, Adobe, and other American software companies were getting paid the suggested retail price on every pirated copy of their software, our economy would be a little better off than it is. And then there is the piracy of music and movies.
It is not an exaggeration to estimate the American economy loses a minimum of $1+ Trillion per year to piracy in the most simple of terms. The loss, however, goes beyond the simple instance of lost sales. That pirated material serves as assets and resources which are used to compete with American-sourced services, products, and talent at a black market cost.
For example, most of those $5 logos and banners you can get from some design hack via Fiverr, guru.com, etc. are produced with pirated design software. The $100 website, same thing.
I could go on and on… [smile]
Interesting perspectives here. That is not the message I got when reading the post. So in the spirit of standing for something, as seems to be coming across reading through the article and comments, I would agree with Seth and disagree with Stan. Yogizilla nailed it with the comment “But I’d like to think it’s because he is a minimalist and rather have us chew on the thoughts”.
So clearly it created an opportunity for debate here, since Seth does not believe in comments on his Blog, which he worries can derail his original message. What I do know is people just love being right, and my looking at Profits of Doom was with that in mind. http://fit4thabo.blogspot.com/2011/09/prophet-or-profit-of-doom.html
Seth Godin’s lack of interest in making conversations is a problematic that you may want to ignore for whatever reason. Obviously, Godin uses social media to broadcast his ideas and support book sales and other marketing endeavors, but he doesn’t engage, connect, or connect others through his writing. Some of that happens regardless of his intentions – like right here.
Seth could learn a few things from Paulo Coelho. He might also take a lesson from Derrida. We can not control our texts. They are out of our hands as soon as we put them out there.
You can disagree with me all you want and I’m cool with that. What’s important to me is that you want to be apart of this conversation. It’s awesome that you commented here, Thabo. Better here than no where as Godin would have it. [grin]
I do agree education is important. However, if you can’t feed your family education is not your highest priority. I’m on an Early Learning Coalition board and see millions ($30 mil in our district to be exact) thrown at this but wonder if we are addressing the right problems. The pre K programs are great but you still have to get the kids there and so many of these families don’t have transportation either.
Most of these jobs are not coming back, but hopefully we are smart enough to figure out ‘what is next’.
I don’t have a solution but you point out some very serious problems that will only manifest itself later if we don’t get a bonified plan of action going to address it.
I can say I’ve never read Seth Godin and that’s not to say he is good or bad; I’m just not interested, I’m sure he’s done something well to get talked about like he does. Good for him if that is what he was seeking.
Stan, I can tell this weighs heavily on you and your heart and head are in the right place but it is a very complex problem; and I don’t have a solution right now……….
$30 million doesn’t go as far as it should. That’s for sure. And a pity too.
There’s a lot of good about you, Bill, that you only disclose with considerable modesty and patience.
None of us have a handful of answers to thrown down like a gauntlet. I will never blame you for that, Bill. The point of many of my reflections, however, is to spark questions. Not doubts and suspicions, but relevant questions that facilitate problem-solving.
I realize, however, that I do not always succeed in avoiding doubts, suspicions, and confusion. [humble smile]
Very interesting article, Stan!
I believe Seth sells the “online dream” too much. Many people will get hurt pursuing this dream and in fact it’s an utopia to think there’s enough opportunity for everybody in the web marketing field.
We still eat food, we still live in physical houses, we still need clothing etc. We’re not bytes living in the cloud. We’re beings with real needs.
So I’d advise people to become price competitive or to deliver extra value in their work. Become irreplaceable in their field whatever that may be (farming, services, etc.).
Online work? Yeah, that’s a possibility but this is a gold rush and the smartest thing to do in a gold rush is to sell shovels. Only a handful of people will make it big online so let’s not chase ghosts.
I see people thriving doing old fashioned farming work (vegetables and grains). They have hard times but they learn more each year and they become better.
I also believe that people loosing jobs are replaceable and that’s their fault. If you’re not doing your best, if you don’t over deliver then how am I gonna feel about you compared to another employee who goes out of his way to do a great job?
Thank you for this post and for the opportunity to join the conversation!
“… the smartest thing to do in a gold rush is to sell shovels.”
I wonder if Seth Godin thinks he’s selling shovels? Myself, I see him more like a fortune teller and palm reader. [laughing]
I see gold sparkling in your future…
I like to have fun with Seth. Because Seth Godin can afford to have a peanut gallery. Or he can put his money where his mouth is. [grin]
You have much common sense, Constantin.
Seth is an interesting character. I have a lot from him, but Yomar is correct about the depth. He generally doesn’t go too far on some on some of these.
Don’t know why he doesn’t, but if I wanted to be a jerk I would say is because knowing when to stop talking is smart. He is in a place where few get- his words are praised and lauded over.
If he is careful in his speech it is easier to maintain that aura.
Seth Godin is pretty spot-on with his predictions.. The thing is he has a very small scope. He doesn’t look beyond the Googles, Microsofts, and Apples of the world. For us crazies and rebels, we make our own rules, really. ;o)
Gosh.. This conversation has gotten so deep. Everyone has mentioned some key points so where do I even begin?
Jack, you’re right about that. When you say less, people listen more and you can get into a lot less trouble.. It’s safer. Ironically, Seth’s mantra is “be remarkable, take risks” yet he doesn’t always live that out, eh?
That said, like you, I have a lot of Seth’s books and dig what he says.. I’ve learned to pick out the meat of any content I consume because you can’t just blindly accept it all. Seth sees there is a huge need for change but his ideas are not necessarily the best solutions.. or at least they must be retooled to fit our particular needs and desires, I’d say.
James, wow.. Yes, education is broken these days.. and the bit about premium wage. Well, that’s a tough one. If we don’t ask for more, we won’t get more. Companies are sending jobs overseas because our government makes it too easy for them to do so.. And they can hire an entire team for the price of one person here in the states. I’ve seen it all too often.
Of course, there are people that over-value themselves but I suppose that’s better than under-selling yourself, which I have been guilty of, I must say! Then again, the old adage “no one is paid what they’re worth” still holds true but that’s IF you only think about monetary gain. Job seekers and small business owners alike have to look at how marketable jobs and gigs make them. They have to think about the lives they change and the example they set. There’s educational and inspirational opportunity in all that we do and that sort of wealth can’t be measured in dollars and cents.
I feel that it all starts with education. We have blogs that share the truth like this wonderful blog right here. We have true thought leaders that touch upon topics that are often disregarded or written off as too “taboo”. We need more of that.
I look at Phil Gerb, one of my fellow Triberrs, and his recent string of practical advice that applies to all of us, really….
http://www.philgerbyshak.com/bounce-back-from-bad-credit-and-bankruptcy/
My comments on there are deep but there is more. I realize that I need to position myself so that I can provide for my family and be comfortable enough to take out more time for myself, my loved ones, and great causes. I’d love to write books on topics like the aforementioned.
Think about how bad credit and poor education cause a snowball effect in so many lives. Identity theft is another huge issue few talk about and those that do talk about it are mostly looking at making profit but not really delivering value.
I read an article on a special blog recently. I need to dig it up… Oh yeah, Kirsten Weiss was the author. She’s on our Tribe on Triberr, James. Great gal and a huge supporter of our humble little efforts. She’s one my list of people I really need to get to know more intimately, I tell ya.
http://kirstenweiss.com/
The article is somewhere on there. Actually, the whole site is interesting which is why I am pointing to the root.. That and I don’t want to lose my train of thought. LOL
Anywho, she makes a great point about thought leadership and how it is a mis-used term. She also touches upon conversions and influence in terms of those that focus on raising awareness, active listening, and educating.. Versus those that just sell.
http://atlantageorgiamarketing.com/the-power-of-free-stuff-revisited
Then there’s this piece by James. WOW.
Free stuff… Think about how much we can do without investing money.. Or how much we can do by investing a little money or achieving great things together via collective economics?
The hope here is that even those of us that are struggling can do the little things every day to make a difference. It’s an ongoing effort but, collectively, our voice will be heard and we will bring about good change.. and make a living too, without taking advantage of those that are in a worse position than us.
Now, back to the premium wage stuff.. That’ll have to be a blog post on it’s own. I think of pricing, contract negotiation, job interviews, and other things that we often get wrong.. It’s tough. How do we make sure we are not cheated or low-balled while being humble and honest? Sometimes, if we focus too much on giving, we’ll never get in return.. Though I believe that goodness is repaid, just not in the ways we expect or at the times we would like.
Again, too much stuff to discuss in one place.. You know what I’m thinking? We should make this into a document for #NJAB. I can easily see this being a 2-part episode for us.
http://marketinganswerman.com/podcast-2
Let’s get some discussions going over there. I think we can stock up several episodes before James heads overseas… And we have too much to discuss here to let the conversation just fizzle away, eh? 8)
BTW, James, thanks for your kind words.. There’s still so much more that I know I need to do. The home front can often divert us but we can’t neglect our loved ones.. Still, carving out the time for greater callings is important.
I love the concept of changemakers.. I’m glad Stan invited me to that site. I think we can do something with that in the future.
For now, my plans are to be more profitable and give back to more charities.. Sooner than that, I’d love to get some eBooks out. Clearly, I have too much to say in terms of the comment, blog, or even podcast formats.. And I’m not alone on this. ;o)