Best Selling Author | Hero
Seth Godin is an iconic New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and world class teacher. In addition to his daily blog, he has written 18 best-selling books, focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership right down to dispersing ideas and change.
He might be the only person in the world to be inducted to both the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame and the Marketing Hall of Fame.
Seth's Blog:
www.seths.blog
Seth on Twitter:
@thisissethsblog
Seth's Website:
www.sethgodin.com
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“People who are able to fail with grace do better than people who are afraid to fail.”
“If the employee of the month is the employee of the month because they got everything right, you're making it very clear that what it's like around here is you have to get everything right.”
“Your voice is your brand. What do you sound like when you sound like you? And you get to decide what that is.”
“A cynicure is a safe place to hide... the question is, as creatives, how much time do we want to spend hiding in our sinecure?”
“I define a ruckus as the generous act of showing up for other people to make change happen. Would they miss you if you didn't show up to do that?”
“There will be a whole chapter on the death of the open web.”
“Successful to me means, did you reach your smallest viable audience? Are you engaging with them in a way that makes a difference to them? And can you sustain it and do it some more tomorrow? That's enough. That's success.”
“I knew if I took one nap, I would become a napper, and then I would just go to sleep and never wake up.”
How do you build a team culture that doesn't punish mistakes and actually supports risk-taking?
Godin advises that if the only people who lose their jobs are those who make mistakes, you're teaching your team to avoid risk; to reverse that, leadership has to be willing to let go of someone who 'never makes a mistake' to prove that leaning into the creative process — not just avoiding errors — is what's rewarded.
How do you find your voice as a creative person?
Godin advises that finding your voice has nothing to do with authenticity; it means picking a genre, showing up with your craft, shipping work, learning, repeating, and building a consistent platform so people looking for 'someone who sounds like you' can find you.
How should a manager balance trusting employees' process versus measuring their output?
Godin suggests that once the hard creative/architectural decisions are made and the spec for quality is defined, leaders should trust skilled people to develop their own process to meet that spec rather than micromanaging via constant monitoring (e.g., stopwatches, endless Zoom check-ins), citing how Japanese carmakers improved quality by pushing decisions down to frontline workers.
How can a creator keep their regular output (like a blog or show) from becoming a stale 'sinecure'?
Godin recommends deliberately writing (or creating) something that makes you nervous at least once a week, pushing into new 'lanes' even if some don't resonate, rather than repeating safe, proven content.
How should a creator think about their audience when starting out?
Godin advises being intentional about who you're serving — identifying the specific mindset/persona of people drawn to your work and deliberately serving them better — rather than assuming an audience exists by default just because people show up.
How should freelancers price their work and attract better clients?
Price and value are different things; you can't scale by working more hours or hiring cheaper help. Instead, charge more to attract better clients, who demand more and are more likely to say yes to good work, creating a positive cycle.
Tommy references a past episode (190) where Godin was on the phone giving Dropbox feedback, and Godin discusses his ongoing frustration with Gmail's spam handling and failed campaign about its marketing tab.
Godin describes building a cedar strip canoe in his backyard purely for himself, and argues that the moment he tried to sell a paddle, the hobby would be ruined by audience-thinking.
Godin explains he hasn't napped since he started working from home in the mid-1980s, fearing that one nap would turn him into 'a napper' who gives up when things get hard.
Godin recalls playing Ultimate Frisbee competitively at Yahoo (with co-founder David Philo) and in college, valuing the sport's 'spirit of the game' self-officiating ethos, and later being disappointed when referees were introduced.
Seth Godin describes posting an April Fools' joke claiming he'd run out of ideas, and how dozens of readers responded with seemingly sympathetic notes that were actually schadenfreude, delighted he might be struggling.
Godin recounts a friend getting a custom, beautifully presented pencil from a self-styled 'world's greatest pencil sharpener' the night before the SAT, used to illustrate his discomfort with placebo-driven selling.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
Godin defines a sinecure as a safe, insulated position — like tenure, bureaucracy, or a monopoly — that protects someone from competition and risk. He argues creatives should actively resist settling into a sinecure (e.g., writing comfortable sequels) and instead keep doing original, risky work, because meaningful work comes from leaving the sinecure, not hiding in it.
From episode 896→Confidence implies certainty of a good outcome, which Godin says is often pretended, especially in sports where outcomes are unpredictable. Trust means believing in your own practice — showing up and doing the work you committed to on schedule — regardless of whether today's result is a win or a loss; winning or losing becomes a side effect of a consistent practice.
From episode 896→Godin says success isn't about profit or audience size but about reaching your 'smallest viable audience,' engaging them meaningfully, and being able to sustain and repeat that tomorrow. He cites Serial (hugely popular but reportedly unprofitable) and 99% Invisible (300 episodes, culturally important) as examples of success defined by impact and sustainability rather than revenue.
From episode 896→Godin argues price and value are different things, and that a freelancer can't scale by working more hours or hiring cheaper help. The way to earn more is to attract better clients by charging more, since better clients demand more, say yes to good work, and in turn lead to even better clients.
From episode 190→He says he would keep every device out of the house for at least five more years, favoring tactile toys like balls or puzzles, because children's brains are especially plastic early on and social media/apps are engineered by designers to maximize engagement like 'a little Las Vegas' on a screen.
From episode 190→Godin says tall poppy syndrome is nonsense everywhere, not just in Australia, because standing out ('the tall poppy') is what gets you attention and opportunity. He advises only listening to the specific people you're trying to serve, and treating criticism from outside that audience as simply 'it's not for you.'
From episode 190→Mentioned on 162 episodes Sethwasn’t on.
Author whose book 'This Is Marketing' Josh loved and attempted to handwrite entirely; guest on the show twice.
Josh references a blog post by Seth Godin logging '32 years of projects' as a way to think about career-long project work.
Tommy references a Seth Godin blog post about caring less what people think, tying into a bit about pre-recording.
Referenced in the recap video as the idol Tommy and Josh met and interviewed around episode 200, and whose book Josh promised (and failed) to fully read on air.
Referenced repeatedly as the idol the hosts interviewed in New York; his book 'This Is Marketing' is mentioned via the Chase Jarvis clip.
Referenced by Peter as the source of the authenticity vs integrity distinction, and mentioned as someone Peter does work with.
Referenced by Tommy in discussing reframing success metrics for content creation versus follower numbers.
Josh and Tommy traveled to New York in 2018 to interview Seth Godin for the podcast while forming Big Media Company.
Josh references a podcast appearance where Seth Godin talked about trying not to use Google.
Every episode featuring Seth Godin on The Daily Talk Show.
Seth Godin joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 896 (27 October 2020) — "Seth Godin On Failure & Shipping Creative Work". Seth Godin is back to chat about overcoming failure, finding your voice, trusting the process, the podcasting landscape, how to create for yourself, and his new book, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work.
Seth Godin joined Tommy Jackett and Josh Janssen on Episode 190 (7 October 2018) — "This Is Seth Godin". Seth Godin has written 18 best selling books. He's also our hero. We've absorbed his wisdom through his books, his podcast and his blog. It was an honour to be invited into his office in New York to record this very special episode of The Daily Talk Show. Coming up with ideas, understanding our...