If I had read Seth Godin’s Purple Cow in 2003

I’m a big Seth Godin fan. I’ve read most of his books, watched most of his keynotes on youtube, listened to countless podcast appearances…I’m a fan. To tell you the truth, Seth’s daily blog is the first thing I see when I launch my web browser.

For some reason though, I’d put off reading Purple Cow.

That is, until I got the book for Christmas, and despite having a stack of books to get through (which always seems to be the case), I decided to jump right in.

Purple Cow is, as many people will agree, a “must read” for anyone interested in marketing, business, strategy, startups, growth, etc

Side note: Mid last year, I started a transition from content creation (film/TV/Documentary Composer) to the beautiful mess that is digital marketing strategy, content marketing and social media strategy, analytics, storytelling, A/B testing, front end code, design, design thinking, customer centric, quantitative/qualitative data driven…aaaaaaaarrggggh.

Anyway… I was reading less about the why and more about the how. It’s natural I guess, when you’re changing direction, immersing yourself in something new, trying to learn as much as you can, as fast as possible. As one year winds down and you start planning for next year, you begin to think about the why.

A Giant Wall Of “Why”

Seth Godin always delivers on the why. He’s great at introducing a compelling idea in the first one or two pages and then, in the most entertaining way possible, he builds a giant wall of why. It’s intoxicating, you’re inspired to take action, you can’t remember why you ever doubted yourself, you can do anything!

Could Have Been Written Yesterday

Purple Cow feels like it was written yesterday. I had somehow got it in my head that it was published in 2010. Wow, I thought, it’s so relevant and it makes total sense in the current business and/or marketing landscape. Even Peter Thiel’s (more recent) Zero to One, which I read straight after (another great read), didn’t make it feel dated.

Sure, there’s a handful of business and marketing books that have stood the test of time…and there’s certain universal principles that never get old BUT… Seth certainly had, and still has, a real talent for understanding what is happening now, and what’s to come in the business and marketing world.

About halfway through the book, I double checked when it was “actually” first published… 2003!!

So much insight and wisdom packed into this book, available for anyone to read 11 years ago. I tried to imagine what it would’ve been like to read this book 11 years ago. What if I had truly understood and applied the principles that Seth lays out?

It would feel like an unfair advantage.

Unfair Advantage

I imagine I’d be a marketing genius overnight. I’d swoop into some of the largest companies in the world, charging ridiculous fees to say things like, “being safe it too risky” or asking questions like “what would happen if you gave your marketing budget for the next three products to the designers” or, the seemingly unrelated, “why do birds fly in formation?” It wouldn’t make sense, but then…it would make SO MUCH SENSE.

My Downfall

My meteoric rise to fame would take its toll, I’d fall in with the wrong crowd, I’d live a life of excess. Many others would soon learn the secrets within Purple Cow. No matter how many copies I destroyed, some were bound to slip through the cracks. More “marketing geniuses” would emerge and my advantage would diminish along with my fee. If I couldn’t charge more than 7000.00 an hour, well…is it even worth it?

So, I’m glad I read Purple Cow at the end of 2014. I was ready for it, the world is ready for me and all jokes aside, it’s a great read.

Is there a book that feels like it’s giving you an unfair advantage? Are you reading the Purple Cow of 2003… in 2015?

You probably wouldn’t tell me anyway. No matter how many adorable pictures of cows I offer you.

Well played.