How to Build a Reputation and Quality Content. Wisdom from Seth Godin of All Marketers are Liars.

I was listening to a podcast by Tim Ferriss today that you should check out if you want to be successful on Steemit. I couldn't help but make connections between what Mr. Godin was saying, and what every Steemit author needs to hear right now.

image credit

In case you haven't heard of Seth Godin, he's the author of several bestselling books with great titles, including one titled "All Marketers are Liars" (you gotta love that title, huh?).

You might be thinking "But, I'm not a marketer! And I'm not a liar!".
Yes, you are. Everyone is selling something. Even if you don't care how much money your post makes, you want your readers to "buy in" to what you're writing - or, why would you write it?

image credit

What about the liar part? The book title sounds pretty mean, until you read the subtitle:
"The power of telling authentic stories in a low trust world."
What are some of the most successful posts on Steemit? Introduceyourself and true life story stories of course. Because they're authentic. You probably already knew this though - so, what else does Mr. Godin have to share with us, specifically in this recent podcast?

image credit

In the podcast, Seth Godin answers some questions from Tim's readers - these are the parts that were so relevant for people aspiring to create successful content on Steemit (or anywhere). I'll write the question and the beginning of the paraphrased answer and you can decide if you want to go listen to the whole podcast. In your mind, replace the word "marketers" with "steemers".

Question: "What's the One Thing That Most Marketers Do Wrong"

image credit

Paraphrased answer from Mr. Godin:

We're selfish, infantile narcissists who think that our desire for attention trumps everything else. ... We play the short term game again and again. ... Successful marketers are successful because they don't do that, and it turns out that that's scarce. ...

Question: "How do you Build a Tribe from Scratch"

image credit

Paraphrased answer from Mr. Godin:

... It might seem that our job is to build a tribe from scratch, but most of the time that's not what happens. ... Harley Davidson did not invent the outsider tribe. ... What we do when we lead a tribe is we find people who are already connected and we merely show up to lead (or service) them. [You make it clear that] people like us, do things like this. ...

Question: "What limiting self beliefs did you change to become successful"

image credit

Paraphrased answer from Mr. Godin:

... All of us like being competent, respected and successful. When something shows up to undo all of those things, then it's really easy to avoid it. What goes hand in hand with that is the sour mindset. That we are not getting what we deserve, the world is not fair, why should I even bother - it's probably not going to work. ... [We keep track of the wrong things, e.g. how many times we've been rejected.] ... Wouldn't it make more sense of all of the times [it worked]. We need to redefine ourselves as people who can make an impact on the world. ... The narrative is up to [you]. Once we can dig deep and find a different narrative, then we ought to be able to change the game.

Question: "What's your opinion of QUALITY vs QUANTITY in the age of the constant hustle? Can you win without being everywhere?"

image credit - @kyle - who else?

Paraphrased answer from Mr. Godin:

Of course you can. None of us are everywhere. Most of the people on Earth have never heard of you or me, and most of the people online have never connected with either of us. It's a trap, a giant trap designed to suck our attention and content away from us, and give us very little in return. Maybe a little heart shaped thing, or a button that points up, or a trend that makes us feel like we did a good job. This is all a trap. This isn't what's causing people to succeed. ... My suggest is, whenever possible ask yourself What's the smallest possible footprint I can get away with? ... The smallest possible project that is worth my time? ... The smallest group of people who I can make a difference for or to? Because smallest is achievable because smallest is risky. If you pick smallest and fail, you've really screwed up. We want to pick big because infinity is our friend. ... Infinity is safe, it gives us a place to hide. ... Instead, look for the small. Be on one medium, in a place where people can find you. Have one sort of interaction with one tribe where ... this is what you do, this is what people need to look to you for.

Go Listen to the Podcast

OK, if you got this far you need to listen to the podcast. In fact - just subscribe to Tim's podcast. He has amazing guests and you can learn a lot.

And, please upvote @kyle's comment below. He made that awesome cartoon and deserves your vote :)

~Dr. Bryan~