The Practice

From the bestselling author of Purple Cow and This is Marketing comes an elegant little book that will inspire artists, writers, and entrepreneurs to stretch and commit to putting their best work out into the world. 
 
Creative work doesn't come with a guarantee. But there is a pattern to who succeeds and who doesn't. And engaging in the consistent practice of its pursuit is the best way forward. 
 
Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop pioneered by legendary author Seth Godin, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer's block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you're a well-adjusted human. Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you've been seeking to share all along. 
 
With this book as your guide, you'll learn to dance with your fear. To take the risks worth taking. And to embrace the empathy required to make work that contributes with authenticity and joy.

Seth Godin may be the ultimate entrepreneur for the information age

It's easy to see why people pay to hear what he has to say

Godin...is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet, and his essays and opinions are widely read and quoted on and off

If Seth Godin didn't exist we'd need to invent him

If your idea, or issue, or candidate, or product isn't catching on, you haven't been reading Seth Godin

Micah Sifry, cofounder, Personal Democracy Forum

Thousands of authors write business books every year, but only a handful reach star status and the A-list lecture circuit. Fewer still-one, to be exact-can boast his own action figure. . . . Godin delivers his combination of counterintuitive thinking and a great sense of fun

This is the book I need right now. It's an extraordinary and electrifying call to action for writers, artists and creators in every walk of life. I re-read passages and felt as if my own secret creed was being explained back to me, in words I hadn't yet found

Rosanne Cash, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter

The Practice is a user's manual for finding your calling and an alchemist's handbook for pursuing your dream

Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art

Seth's book is a skeleton key specially molded to unlock the most creative version of you. Read it, and find yourself free to be who you know you really are

Brian Koppelman, co-producer and co-creator of Billions

With surgical precision, The Practice attacks our predictable misconceptions about the creative process and replaces them with better ideas, one by one. This book will inspire you to make things, hone your craft, and nudge you to ship things you are proud of. Read it

The Practice explains that what looks like a barrier is often a catalyst in disguise. Magic may not come from what we can see on the stage but from behind it, where the wood chopping happens

Seth Godin has walked this walk. He's started successful companies, taught millions of people and left his mark on our creative culture. He is the author of 19 international bestsellers translated into more than 35 languages, including Tribes, Purple Cow, Linchpin, The Dip, and This Is Marketing. He writes daily at Seths.blog, which is one of the most popular blogs in the world. He's also the founder of the altMBA and The Akimbo Workshops, online seminars that have transformed the work of thousands of people. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.

For any artist, entrepreneur, or visionary who feels stuck, Seth Godin has a simple answer: commit to the practice. 
 
In this revolutionary little book, Seth Godin will turn your assumptions about the creative process upside down and help you to look at the world from a different angle. You will recognize your work for what it is: an act of generosity and a way to make change, as well as what it can never be, something that will make everyone happy. 
 
The Practice will help you dance with your fear, take the risks worth taking and embrace the empathy required to make work that connects with others. This breakthrough book will show you a path forward, encourage intent in every facet of your work and help you seek out constraints. 
 
You'll walk away with practical strategies for overpowering the naysayers, radically trusting your own voice and finally doing the work you were put on this earth to do.

You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See

This is Marketing

#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller &amp; Instant New York Times Bestseller 
 
 A game-changing approach to marketing, sales, and advertising. 
 
 For the first time Seth Godin offers the core of his marketing wisdom in one compact, accessible, timeless package. This is Marketing shows you how to do work you're proud of, whether you're a tech startup founder, a small business owner, or part of a large corporation. 
 
 No matter what your product or service, this book will help you reframe how it's presented to the world, in order to meaningfully connect with people who want it. Seth employs his signature blend of insight, observation, and memorable examples to teach you: 
 
 * How to build trust and permission with your target market. 
 * The art of positioning--deciding not only who it's for, but who it's not for. 
 * Why the best way to achieve your goals is to help others become who they want to be. 
 * Why the old approaches to advertising and branding no longer work. 
 * The surprising role of tension in any decision to buy (or not). 
 * How marketing is at its core about the stories we tell ourselves about our social status. 
 
 You can do work that matters for people who care. This book shows you the way. 
 
"This Is Marketing is a very accessible way into Godin's thinking.... Godin writes in pacy, jargon-free prose and this book is interesting and useful for anyone who wants an insight into how, and why, we buy things or change our habits in any way." - The Financial Times 
 
If you enjoyed reading this, check out Seth Godin's Purple Cow, a true business classic.

Seth Godin is a superstar in the marketing world. This is Marketing is interesting and useful for anyone who wants an insight into how, and why, we buy things or change our habits in any way

Over the past quarter century, Seth Godin has inspired millions of entrepreneurs, leaders and fans from all walks of life. Now, for the first time, he offers the core of his marketing wisdom in one accessible, timeless package. 
 
 At the heart of his approach is a big idea: Great marketiers don't use consumers to solve their company's problem; they use marketing to solve other people's problems. They don't just make noise; they make the world better. Truly powerful marketing is grounded in generosity, empathy, and emotional labor. 
 
 Learn how to identify the smallest viable audience, build trust and permission with your market, adopt the narratives your fans already use, find the guts to create and release tension and, most of all, give people the tools and stories they can use to achieve their goals. 
 
 It's time to stop lying, spamming, and feeling guilty about your work. It's time to stop confusing social media metrics with true connections. It's time to stop wasting money on stolen attention that won't pay off in the long run. It's time to be seen first by learning how to see.

Seth Godin is the author of 18 international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work and have been translated into 38 languages - among them Unleashing the Ideavirus, Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, The Dip, Linchpin, Poke the Box, and All Marketers Are Liars. He writes the most popular marketing blog in the world and speaks to audiences around the world. He is the founder of the altMBA, the founder and former CEO of Squidoo.com, the former VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, and the founder of the pioneering online startup Yoyodyne. You can learn much more about him at sethgodin.com.

Over the past quarter century, Seth Godin has taught and inspired millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, leaders, and fans from all walks of life, via his blog, online courses, lectures, and bestselling books. He is the inventor of countless ideas and phrases that have made their way into mainstream business language, from Permission Marketing to Purple Cow to Tribes to The Dip. 
 
Now, for the first time, Godin offers the core of his marketing wisdom in one accessible, timeless package. At the heart of his approach is a big idea: Great marketers don't use consumers to solve their company's problem; they use marketing to solve other people's problems. They don't just make noise; they make the world better. Truly powerful marketing is grounded in empathy, generosity, and emotional labour. 
 
This book teaches you how to identify your smallest viable audience; draw on the right signals and signs to position your offering; build trust and permission with your target market; speak to the narratives your audience tells themselves about status, affiliation, and dominance; spot opportunities to create and release tension; and give people the tools to achieve their goals. 
 
It's time for marketers to stop lying, spamming, and feeling guilty about their work. It's time to stop confusing social media metrics with true connections. It's time to stop wasting money on stolen attention that won't pay off in the long run. This is Marketingoffers a better approach that will still apply for decades to come, no matter how the tactics of marketing continue to evolve.

Life Outside the Comfort Zone: An ABC for Grownups

V is for Vulnerable

Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject.

V is for Vulnerable looks and feels like a classic picture book. But it's not for kids, it's for hardworking 
adults. It highlights twenty-six of Seth Godin's principles about treating your work as a form of art, with 
illustrations by acclaimed cartoonist Hugh MacLeod. A sample: 
 
-A is for Anxiety, which is experiencing failure in advance. Tell yourself enough vivid stories about the worst possible outcome and you'll soon come to believe them. Worry is not preparation, and anxiety 
doesn't make you better. 
 
-F is for Feedback, which can be either a crutch or a weapon. Use it to make your work smaller, safer and more likely to please everyone (and fail in the long run). Or use it as a lever, to further push you to 
embrace what you fear. 
 
This is unlike any previous Godin book and makes a great gift, both for loyal fans and those who've never read him before.

The Rise of Tribes and the End of Normal

We Are All Weird

We Are All Weird is Seth Godin's cult classic on celebrating (and marketing to) the individual, now repackaged and relaunched 
 
World of Warcrafters, LARPers, Settlers of Catan? Weird. 
 
Beliebers, Swifties, Directioners? Weirder. 
 
Paleos, vegans, carb loaders, ovolactovegetarians? Definitely weird. 
 
Face it. We're all weird. 
 
So why are companies still trying to build products for the masses? 
 
Why are we still acting like the masses even exist? 
 
Weird is the new normal. And only companies that figure that out have any chance of survival. 
 
In this book, Seth Godin shows you how. 
 
'Read this book slowly and read it again, for the lessons are rich and wise' 
Jacqueline Novogratz, founder, Acumen

For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to limit the consumer's choice by telling them what they should buy, use and want. 
 
In We Are All Weird, Seth Godin throws conformity's rules out the window and explains that marketers must offer people more choices and interests, giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.

When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?

Poke the Box

Poke the Box is Seth Godin's spirited call to action for anybody too afraid to try something new, now relaunched and repackaged 
 
If you are happy being just a dreamer, perhaps you don't need this book. 
 
If you're enjoying the status quo, don't even consider reading this book. 
 
If you are content waiting for success to find you, please put this book down and go find something else to read. 
 
Why has Poke the Box become a cult classic? 
 
Because it's a book that dares readers to do something they're afraid of. 
 
It could be what you need, too. 
 
'Like the man who produced it, Poke the Box is inspired and inspiring' Daniel H. Pink 
 
'A one-two punch! Half kick in the ass, half cheerleading encouragement' Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art

When was the last time you did something for the first time? 
 
Starting a new project is one of the most daunting experiences any person can go through. But if you're stuck at the starting line, you don't need more time or permission; you just need to poke. 
 
Poke the Box is a call to action about the initiative you're taking-in your job or in your life. Godin will help you contribute more, risk more, and face the possibility of failure without dread. 
Poke the Box just may be the kick in the pants you need to shake up your life.

And Other Provocations, 2006-2012

Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?

Made for dipping into again and again, Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? brings together the very best of Seth Godin's acclaimed blog and is a classic for fans both old and new. 
 
'Getting your ducks in a row is a fine thing to do. But deciding what you are going to do with that duck is a far more important issue' 
 
Seth Godin is famous for bestselling books such as Purple Cow and cool entrepreneurial ventures such as Squidoo and the Domino Project. But to millions of loyal readers, he's best known for the daily burst of insight he provides every morning, rain or shine, via Seth's Blog. Since he started blogging in the early 1990s, he has written more than two million words and shaped the way we think about marketing, leadership, careers, inno&shy;vation, creativity, and more. Much of his writing is inspirational and some is incendiary. 
 
Collected here are six years of his best, most entertaining, and most poignant blog posts, plus a few bonus ebooks. From thoughts on how to treat your customers to telling stories and spreading ideas, Godin pushes us to think smarter, dream bigger, write better, and speak more honestly. Highlights include: 
 
-A marketing lesson from the Apocalypse 
-No, everything is not going to be okay 
-Organized bravery 
-Choose your customers, choose your future 
-Paying attention to the attention economy 
-Bandits and philanthropists 
 
Godin writes to get under our skin. He wants us to stand up and do something remarkable, outside the standards of the industrial system that raised us. 
 
 
Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject.

Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject.

'Seth's Blog' has generated more than 2 million words since the late 1990s, sharing his unique take on 
the ever-changing landscape of marketing, leadership, careers, innovation, creativity, and much more. His posts range from a few words to a few pages; many are inspirational, some are incendiary. 
 
This browsable hardcover collects his best pieces since 2006. It's designed for dipping into again and again. 
 
For a sample, here's the title post, "Whatcha gonna do with that duck?" 
 
We're surrounded by people who are busy getting their ducks in a row, waiting for just the right moment . . . Getting your ducks in a row is a fine thing to do. But deciding what you are going to do with that duck is a far more important issue.

How High Will You Fly?

The Icarus Deception

In The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin's most inspiring book, he challenges readers to find the courage to treat their work as a form of art 
 
Everyone knows that Icarus's father made him wings and told him not to fly too close to the sun; he ignored the warning and plunged to his doom. The lesson: Play it safe. Listen to the experts. It was the perfect propaganda for the industrial economy. What boss wouldn't want employees to believe that obedience and conformity are the keys to success? 
 
But we tend to forget that Icarus was also warned not to fly too low, because seawater would ruin the lift in his wings. Flying too low is even more dangerous than flying too high, because it feels deceptively safe. 
 
The safety zone has moved. Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: Make art. Being an artist isn't a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It's an attitude we can all adopt. It's a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you're an artist, no matter what it says on your business card. 
 
Godin shows us how it's possible and convinces us why it's essential. 
 
'If Seth Godin didn't exist, we'd need to invent him' Fast Company 
 
'Seth Godin is a demigod on the web, a bestselling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger' Forbes 
 
Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject.

If Seth Godin didn't exist, we'd need to invent him

Seth Godin is a demigod on the web, a bestselling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger

A wonderful manifesto in the author's characteristic style - pathological honesty, ruthless scepticism and generous intellect. The Icarus Deception turns society upside-down in order to awaken the reader's rebellious spirit and encourage him to create

Seth Godin is the author of thirteen international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, the ways ideas spread, leadership and change including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, The Dip and Tribes. He is the CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. His blog, www.sethgodin.typepad.com, is the most influential business blog in the world, and consistently one of the 100 most popular blogs on any subject.

Seth Godin, marketing genius and the most popular business blogger in the world, is back to teach us why we should all treat our work as art. 
 
Creativity is both scarce and valuable. What was important in the old economy (conformity, standardization, interchangeability) has been turned on its head. What matters now is trust, permission, remarkability, leadership, and telling stories that spread. Whether you're a teacher, a doctor or a customer service rep you can make art if you care about why you went to work today and how you can be better at it tomorrow. 
 
Being an artist isn't a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It's an attitude; a hunger to seize new ground, make connections and work without a map. Steve Jobs was an artist, as were Henry Ford and Martin Luther King Jr. They saw something others didn't and then found the guts to do something about it. 
 
This is Seth Godin's most personal book yet - a pithy, inspirational call to arms.

And 183 Other Riffs, Rants and Remarkable Business Ideas

Small is the New Big

More than 180 riffs designed to spark you and your colleagues into doing what you already knew how to do in the first place

Seth Godin is the author of seven books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than fifteen languages. He's been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company and Business Week. Godin was singled out by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of twenty-one top speakers for the twenty-first century. Before Small is the New Big, The Big Moo and All Marketers Are Liars, Godin wrote Free Prize Inside!, which Forbes picked as one of its books of the year (as did Fast Company). He is also the author of Purple Cow, the bestselling marketing book of the decade, and Permission Marketing.

As one of today's most influential business thinkers, Seth Godin has now collected the most provocative short pieces from his pioneering blog. This book also includes his most popular columns from Fast Company magazine and several of the short e-books he has written in the last few years. 
 
Includes:Clinging to Your Job Title?The Persistence of Really Bad IdeasThe Seduction of 'Good Enough'Judging a Book by its CoverDo Less 
 
Small is the New Big is packed with inspiring ideas: as Godin says in his introduction, 'I'm certain that you're smart enough to see the stuff you've always wanted to do buried deep inside one of these riffs. And I'm betting that once inspired, you'll actually make something happen.'

The Next Big Marketing Idea

Free Prize Inside

Read Free Prize Inside and learn how to create something incredible that your customers won't be able to resist. Make something happen!

Read Free Prize Inside and learn how to create something incredible that your customers won't be able to resist. Make something happen! 
 
Remember when cereal boxes came with a free prize inside? You already liked the cereal, but once you saw that there was a free prize inside - something small yet precious - it became irresistible. 
 
 In his new book, Seth Godin shows how you can make your customers feel that way again. Here's a step-by-step way to get your organization to do something remarkable: quickly, cheaply and reliably. You don't need an MBA or a huge budget. All you need is a strategy for finding great ideas and convincing others to help you make them happen. 
 
Free Prize Inside is jammed with practical ideas you can use right now to MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN, no matter what kind of company you work for. Because everything we do is marketing - even if you're not in the marketing department.

Seth Godin has cult-like status in the marketing world and is the author of the international bestseller Permission Marketing and Purple Cow.

Remember when cereal boxes came with a free prize inside? You already liked the cereal, but once you saw that there was a free prize inside - something small yet precious - it became irresistible. 
 
In his new book, Seth Godin shows how you can make your customers feel that way again. Free Prize Inside is jammed with practical ideas you can use right now to MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN, no matter what kind of company you work for. Something irresistible. Something that markets itself. Because everything we do is marketing - even if you're not in the marketing department. 
 
Here's a step-by-step way to get your organization to do something remarkable: quickly, cheaply and reliably. You don't need an MBA or a huge budget. All you need is a strategy for finding great ideas and convincing others to help you make them happen.

Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

Purple Cow

A revolutionary New York Times bestselling manifesto for marketers from the internationally renowned author of Permission Marketing.

You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. 
 
What do Apple, Starbucks, Dyson and Pret a Manger have in common? How do they achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and-true brands to gasp their last? The old checklist of P's used by marketers - Pricing, Promotion, Publicity - aren't working anymore. The golden age of advertising is over. It's time to add a new P - the Purple Cow. 
 
Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat-out unbelievable. In his new bestseller, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for anyone who wants to help create products and services that are worth marketing in the first place. 
 
If you enjoyed reading this, check out Seth Godin's business classic This is Marketing.

Seth Godin is the author of four worldwide bestsellers, including Permission Marketing, Unleashing the Ideavirus and Survival is Not Enough. He is a renowned public speaker and is contributing editor at Fast Company magazine. You can find him at www.sethgodin.com.

You're either a Purple Cow or you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. 
 
What do Apple, Starbucks, Dyson and Pret a Manger have in common? How do they achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and-true brands to gasp their last? The old checklist of P's used by marketers - Pricing, Promotion, Publicity - aren't working anymore. The golden age of advertising is over. It's time to add a new P - the Purple Cow. 
 
Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat-out unbelievable. In his new bestseller, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for anyone who wants to help create products and services that are worth marketing in the first place. 
 
If you enjoyed reading this, check out Seth Godin's business classic This is Marketing.

Seth Godin

The workplace has undergone a massive shift. Remote work and economic instability have depressed innovation and left us disconnected and disengaged. Quiet quitting runs rampant, and people show up without truly showing up. Alarmed managers are doubling down on keystroke surveillance, productivity tracking and back-to-the-office mandates, when what they should be doing is the opposite - affording employees the dignity necessary to inject purpose and motivation into their work. 
 
In The Song of Significance, Seth Godin argues that we need to build organisations that empower and trust employees to deliver their best work, no matter where they're working. If you want your employees to live up to their full professional potential, you must give them the respect and autonomy they deserve as humans. Godin offers a series of commitments leaders must make, and a list of organizational milestones on the way to significance. 
 
It's time for leaders to make and keep a new promise, and to recognize that, as Godin says, "Humans aren't a resource. They are the point."

Seth Godin

Books by Seth Godin

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter