Best Seth Godin quotes from This is Marketing, Purple Cow and Linchpin

(picture credit: Brian Bloom)
 

“It’s easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back.” -  a quote from Seth Godin 

Seth Godin, the inspirational King of Marketing (Forbes), is also one of the most quoted.

And, there are plenty of inspiring Seth Godin quotes for any occasion, given the prolific writer has penned 19 books – including bestsellers This is Marketing, Permission Marketing, Tribes, Purple Cow and Linchpin, and has a daily blog with a readership in the millions.

His following of entrepreneurs, leaders, and fans from all walks of life hunger for his daily words. 

A well-timed quote by the hugely popular motivational speaker and multi-bestselling author can light up the blogosphere.

In this round up below: 

6 of the best marketing quotes from Seth Godin
6 of the best Seth Godin quotes on taking risks
6 great quotes from Seth Godin's bestseller Purple Cow
6 of the best quotes from Seth Godin's bestseller Linchpin
6 top "This is Marketing" by Seth Godin quotes. 
6 curious quotes from Seth Godin's "What to do When it's Your Turn (and it's Always Your Turn)"
6 inspiring quotes from Seth Godin's "Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?" 
6 top quotes from Seth Godin's "Small is the New Big"



6 of the best marketing quotes from Seth Godin

"Marketers make things better by making change happen." 

“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” 

"You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. People, once unfooled, talk about the experience.”

"People don't want what you make. They want the way it will make them feel, and there aren't that many feelings to choose from." 

"You'll never be able to serve everyone, which is comforting, since you're less likely to be disappointed when it doesn't happen." 

“People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.” 

See also SETH GODIN’S MARKETING IN 5 STEPS, AND SIMPLE MARKETING CHECKLIST


TED talk sensation and Start with Why author Simon Sinek is a fan too, impressed with Seth Godin's ability to motivate and inspire. 

“I was invited to speak at a conference, and Seth Godin, whose work I absolutely love and adore, spoke right before me. And he gave this wonderful impassioned speech about taking risks and being uncomfortable and trying new things,” Sinek told The Growth Faculty in an interview.  He also acknowledged Godin in his latest book The Infinite Game. 

 

 

If Simon Sinek is inspired by Godin's speech on risk taking, we'd better include some of Seth Godin's quotes that inspire and motivate on being uncomfortable, and taking risks. 

 

 

6 of the best Seth Godin quotes on taking risks

 

“If failure is not an option, then neither is success.” 

 

“The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo.”

 

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”

 

“Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you’d rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, drive through the other barrier. And after you’ve done that, to do it again the next day.”

 

“We’ve greatly exaggerated the risk of sinking, without celebrating the value of swimming.”

 

“Try is the opposite of hiding.”

 

 

 

 

Seth Godin's Purple Cow is a favourite of many. It inspired people the world over who quoted from its pages, and spread his fame. 

 

Below, 6 great quotes from Seth Godin's bestseller Purple Cow. 

 

"The key to success is to find a way to stand out - to be the purple cow in a field of monochrome Holsteins."

 

"Stop advertising and start innovating." 

 

"Nobody says "Yeah, I'd like to set myself up for some serious criticism!" And yet the only way to be remarkable is to do just that." 

 

"The opposite of remarkable is very good." 

 

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.”

 

“If you can’t state your position in eight words, you don’t have a position.”

 

See also HOW PURPLE COW'S SETH GODIN TEACHES MARKETERS HOW TO SEE

 

 

 

Seth Godin is the business thinker who hit a nerve with his quotes about being a linchpin, ie, somebody who's indispensable and valuable.

 

Here, 6 of the best quotes from his bestseller Linchpin

 

"The linchpins among us are not the ones born with a magical talent. No, they are people who have decided that a new kind of work is important, and trained themselves to do it."

 

"In a world that relentlessly races to the bottom, you lose if you also race to the bottom. The only way to win is to race to the top."

 

"The only way to be indispensable is to be different."

 

"Expertise gives you enough insight to reinvent what everyone else assumes is the truth."

 

"You can train yourself to matter."

 

"You are not your resume. You are your work."

 

 

 

 

We've mentioned marketing quotes before, but This is Marketing, Seth Godin's latest book, is a treasure trove of quotes. 

 

Here are the top 6 This is Marketing by Seth Godin quotes. 

 

“Selling ice cream on the beach in the summer is easy. Raising people’s expectations, engaging in their hopes and dreams, helping them see further—that’s the difficult work we signed up for."

 

"We don't make decisions in a vacuum - instead, we base them on our perception of our cohort." 

 

"Almost no one wants to feel stupid." 

 

“We sell feelings, status, and connection, not tasks or stuff.”

 

“Everything gets easier when you walk away from the hubris of everyone. Your work is not for everyone."

 

“The status quo doesn’t shift because you’re right. It shifts because the culture changes. And the engine of culture is status.”

 

See also GREAT IDEAS: THIS IS MARKETING BY SETH GODIN {INTERVIEW}

 

 

 

One of the most unusual and attractive books penned by Seth Godin was What to do When it's Your Turn (and it's Always Your Turn). 

 

Here are 6 curious quotes from Seth Godin's "What to do When it's Your Turn (and it's Always Your Turn).

 

"When it’s your turn, it’s your turn. You own it. Your choice. Your freedom. Your responsibility."

 

"Do what you should do. Your motivation will follow."

 

"The person who fails the most wins."

 

"That voice in your head is describing what you're about to do, after a different part of your brain has already initiated that action."

 

"Great work is the result of seeking out tension, not avoiding it. Great work doesn’t require reassurance, in fact, it avoids it."

 

"Either you're the creator or you're the audience. Either you're waiting your turn or you're taking it."

 

6 quotes from Seth Godin's "Whatcha Going to Do with That Duck?" 


"Make something happen today, before you go home, before the end of the week." 

"Writing a book is a tremendous experience. You should write one." 

"The devil doesn't need an advocate. The brave need supporters, not critics." 

"Who's got your back? More important, whose back do you have?"

"Sell a story that some people want to believe. In fact, sell a story they already believe." 


6 top quotes from "Small  is the New Big" 


"I'm officially letting go. I'm going to stop comparing everything to my all-time best, to your all-time best, to everyone's all-time best." 

"My name is Seth, and I have a problem: I'm a change junkie." 

"The mass market is being replaced by multiple micro-markets and the long tail of choice." 

"As long as 'opportunity' means change, and as long as 'change' means pain, we will continue to miss our chances." 

"People who make up new rules continue to be in very short supply." 

"If you do a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, he will find someone cheaper than you to do it." 

 

 

Seth Godin's quotes can even be found in his acknowledgement pages of his book, thanking those whose ideas contributed to his work.  

 

To finish this quote round-up, look at these 2 sweet quotes from the acknowledgements of This is Marketing. 

 

"All I can do is borrow. I don't know of any purely original ideas, ones that arrive from the sky on a bolt of lightning."

 

"....perhaps I can contribute something to the next person." 

 

 

Knowing how many of your quotes circulate, Seth, I'm sure you can. 

 

 

Can you afford to miss Seth Godin Live - a four hour workshop with a world marketing sage? 

 

Seth Godin LIVE comes to Australia and New Zealand in May 2020 for The Growth Faculty.  

THE WAIT IS OVER: SETH GODIN ANNOUNCES TOUR IN AUSTRALIA, NZ.

 

Dates: 

 

•   Friday 15 May – First State Super Theatre, Sydney 

•   Monday 18 May – Melbourne Convention Centre

•   Wednesday 20 May – Spark Arena, Auckland 

 

 

For more information, click here.