Perry Marshall vs. Seth Godin - Thanksgiving Thoughts

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I'm afraid this will be perceived as flame bait. It's not intended to. It's just something that's on my mind that I'd like to share.

I respect both Seth Godin and Perry Marshall a lot. I've learned things from both of them that have made me money. I've purchased Perry's $99 Adwords Ebook and I'm on his mailing list. I also subscribe to Seth's RSS and have bought a ton of his books.

Both of them made a post recently on a similar issue (at least it's similar from a 10,000 foot view). They wern't aimed at each other in any way, but I found the contrast between the two striking.

Perry's Blog Post
Seth's Blog Post

I'm not making judgements or passing an opinon here, but both of these posts in conjunction made me think about where I'm heading.

Right now I'm in the process of designing what my future life is going to look like. I have to ask myself, if I had made one of those posts, which one would I be more proud of? Which one would I want in my little chapter of history?

In short, which kind of person do I want to be?

Food for thought.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #godin #marshall #perry #seth #thanksgiving #thoughts
  • Understand both points. I think a "free lunch" during a seminar can go a long way in goodwill though, which pays off big time in the long run...especially now with things like Twitter, which can get any message/experience out very fast.

    Strangely enough, I was at a seminar a few years ago, maybe 2003, and asked Perry to lunch. He took me up on it. Ended up with a couple of newbies at the table and he did a good job of answering their questions.
  • Thanks for the post!

    I found both articles quite intriguing. I was personally helped by a guy on par with Godin's philosophy of giving. I adhere to the same principal.

    T
    • [1] reply
    • I personally believe there is no selfless deed. Everything is done for a reason - be it money, power, or one's own happiness or ego.

      We're all selfish creatures and there's nothing wrong with that. It's hardwired into our brains.

      That being said, people are much more attracted to those who appear to help others for free. And often, a little bit of 'free' help, will turn into a whole lot of profit - be it monetary or otherwise (more friends, etc.).
  • Neither post surprises me.

    Perry Marshall is a nobody outside of a very confined market space.

    Seth Godin is Seth Godin!

    A grasper vs a giver...for obvious reasons...

    Thomas
    • [1] reply
    • Oh, I just read Godin's and then went on to Perrys a few minutes ago.

      I've never read anything like that from Perry before. Very strange. Seems like he tries hard to get his view across. Sure he has a point.

      But Perry teaches mom and pops how to do business. Seth I believe teaches fortune companies how to do business. There is quite a big difference there.

      By all that, it means that most people buying stuff from Perry is in it for the money. A few may have the fudamentals set and the mental game to reach the top, but they are probably few.

      On the other hand Godin writes real paper-books, and kind of work his business the other way around. Not promoting too much his books. Just himself and his name. If a biz like Godin's book they will contact him personal and ask him for advice.

      Meaning they like Advertising & Business Knowledge.

      It all comes down to this: Godin's filtering out the time-wasters a lot better than Perry. And has a more serious market.

      That's how I see it.

  • You should be yourself...obviously.

    Nice post.

    Once you're considered an expert the requests for advice do increase...at times to a level that becomes unmanageable.

    Personally I don't have a problem with giving out advice free to point.

    What annoys me is that so little of the good advice given freely never gets followed.

    There's a process you go through before you buy something that helps you make decisions on how you'll implement the knowledge you're buying.

    For that reason alone there's a very good argument to be made for charging people for your advice...they're FAR more likely to follow that advice when they pay for it.

    Occasionally I'll give advice free and people follow it...that's rewarding.

    But I have to be honest and say that most advice that is given freely isn't followed and the person just continues on looking for the next "trick" or scheme that can make them rich without putting in any effort.

    So while I applaud helping other people and giving you may not be doing too many favors by giving out free advice.

    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh
    • [1] reply
    • Andrew,Amen, dude.

      I was talking with a friend a while back about a possible coaching program and, when he heard the outline, he said he'd buy it in a minute. I told him I wouldn't take his money, and he said he wouldn't do the program if I didn't. I asked why, and he said, "If I don't pay for it, I won't take it seriously. No matter how good it is. I'm no different than anybody else."

      This guy is a big name in the digital products business. He knows the value of solid information, and he has the same challenge. If he doesn't know any better, not many people will.

      General response...

      As far as the two posts in question... There's no conflict between them. One regards specific details and personal time, and the other involves general information given to the whole world.

      Those are apples and oranges. Perry gives out a lot of free information that's very valuable, and I'm betting Godin is just as careful of his time as Perry is.

      To test it: Call up Seth Godin as a complete stranger and tell him you'd like to get some business advice over lunch. Tell me what the response is.

      Tom,

      I'm guessing you don't know Perry personally. If you did, "grasping" is probably one of the last words you'd ever associate with him. Seriously.

      Perry is one of the really good guys in this business. Don't let the false comparison of those two posts convince you otherwise.


      Paul
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
      • [2] replies
  • I don't think Perry's post is unreasonable at all. I do try to answer people's questions when I can and help people when I can, but I also see his point, that everyone has a limited number of hours in the day, and once you rise to the level of success that he has, the demands on his time would be literally endless.

    Seth Godin's post doesn't indicate that he plans to sit around for hours and hours every day and give free consultations to people, does it? He comes across as a very generous individual, but reading through Perry Marshall's post, so did Perry Marshall.

    Perry is a business person. All of these people asking him for free advice are basically asking him to work for them for free.
  • Paul,

    Amended my first post accordingly. A far better word indeed!

    I agree with you about not forming an opinion, which is why I didn't

    It was simply a comment on their relative positions in the marketing and wider business world coloured by an observation that those higher up the ladder generally seem to project a much more visible altruistic view and devote more time to such ends. Admittedly, this may be that they are able to do this simply because they have more available time to focus on the things that we'd all like to do for our fellow man as they no longer have everyday financial imperatives.

    You're also right in saying many people miss the point of Seth's ideas. At the core they are based in hardened business principles and common sense observations (albeit often very innovative ones) that highlight ways to capitalise on cultural, idealogical and emotional waves. Often his ideas are a distillation of what is already organically occuring in the marketplace as result of them. He is able to very skillfully cut through the noise in order to map out how and why this is the case resulting in fundamental principles and detailed models that businesses can learn from and apply to their own ethos or vision statement, in their product development and of course in their marketing strategies.

    The point of which, of course, being to make more money!

    Thomas
  • Personally my opinion is that both Seth's and Perry's posts are not contradictory at all.

    If you think they are, you are not reading the whole thing.

    Perry choose to help charity he chooses. For me, seminar attendees who ask to lunch together are not "people in need" according to Perry's book.

    I also am sure that random people ask Seth for help, he won't easily give that.

    People who volunteer to social media do it because they choose to do so. If all social media sites ask the same "influencers" to participate, I guarantee they will stick to what they believe.

    And so does Perry.
  • Btw, I know at least another Internet Marketer (info marketer) who asks for payment before he is willing to talk. He is Fred Gleeck.
  • I think it's reckless for us to talk about people's hearts and motives without knowing them.

    Perry's not greedy for asking people to pay for his time.

    I respect him a lot, and I'll bet a nickle he does quite a bit of pro bono work... but if that becomes public it causes even more problems for him.
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    Perry Marshall vs. Seth Godin - Thanksgiving Thoughts

    I'm afraid this will be perceived as flame bait. It's not intended to. It's just something that's on my mind that I'd like to share. I respect both Seth Godin and Perry Marshall a lot. I've learned things from both of them that have made me money. I've purchased Perry's $99 Adwords Ebook and I'm on his mailing list. I also subscribe to Seth's RSS and have bought a ton of his books.