gelbvieh.jpgI think it’s far better to be genuine than remarkable; in fact, I think the former leads to the latter.

Seth Godin seems to have popularized the concept of being remarkable.  I discovered Seth’s books in 2007 and I’ve gotten a lot of useful information out of his E-Books to date (mainly the Ideavirus book). I haven’t read The Purple Cow or any of his other in-print books yet, but I’ve read a number of blogs or articles that talk about being remarkable. Michael Martine (here’s a guy who can give you advice on how to bring visitors to your blog) has renamed his blog Remarkablogger, influenced by Seth Godin’s ideas. I think Michael’s blog is already genuine and remarkable but I respect how he’s trying to further distinguish the blog and fine-tune his message.

Seth’s a recognized marketing expert (some would say genius) and he’s wealthier than I am to boot. I have a lot of respect for what he has to say, based more on the quality of his ideas and his words than the hairlessness of his head or the unusual images he conjures. These truths will give his words somewhat more credibility than mine. But hear me out.

First of all: remarkable. The word returns about 45,500,000 results during a Google search (sex turns up about 771,000,000; remarkable sex turns up 2,560, but I think most of it is non-erotic biology.  Sorry, I digress.)

Let’s try it again: remarkable. Here’s what Dictionary.com has to say:

1. notably or conspicuously unusual; extraordinary: a remarkable change.
2. worthy of notice or attention.

What’s interesting to me is that these two meanings of remarkable are a bit different:

Definition 1 seems to reference something that it’s impossible to ignore, mainly because it’s so different from its surroundings.

Definition 2 seems to speak to the worth or value of the remarkable object.
So, let’s try to think of some examples that fit both meanings:

Definition 1 - by this definition, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and many other celebrities are remarkable because they draw attention wherever they go. You can argue that some of this attention is manufactured through clever, hard-working public relations staff, but it’s still remarkable because it’s hard to ignore, much like the now-cliche saying about train wrecks.

Definition 2 - anyone who does good work or good deeds would fall into this category. Why? Simple: because we need more good role models in this world. We need inspiring examples to help spur us all to do better. We need to recognize the people who make a positive difference in this world.

My argument is that people who fulfill the second definition of remarkable will experience more long-term success than the first.

Here are a few things to consider:

1) Our average attention span is declining to milliseconds. Sometimes it takes a purple cow to get our attention.
2) Some ideas, services, or products have a limited shelf-life or life span. They don’t have much time to gradually build their worth; they have to be inherently remarkable to be effective.
3) There’s a huge amount of competition for staking your claim to all of the good, popular, fun, important, and valuable messages. There are probably hundreds of other bloggers who are saying (or have said) what I’m writing in this post.

Clearly, speed and reaction time are very important when you’re selling something. Sometimes that purple cow, irresponsible celebrity, or Richard Branson marketing stunt gives you a crucial edge when spreading your message. Sometimes it takes the sound of a gunshot to get everyone’s attention in a crowded room (yelling fire apparently works as well, but I don’t recommend either tactic.)

Consider something else for a moment, though.

What are you trying to achieve? What is your timeline?

Are you trying to get a quick burst of sales?

Do you want to establish instant brand-recognition or notoriety?

In other words, are you in a hurry? Today’s common business wisdom would suggest that if you aren’t in a hurry, you’ll get stampeded and trampled by those who are willing to run fast and hard to meet their objectives. If so, maybe you really do need to strive for that first definition of being remarkable.

However, maybe your goals are different and should be different:

  • Are you trying to make a noteworthy, sensational wine (here’s a hint: aged wines of good quality are far more expensive than newer ones due to the value of the fermentation process, which can take years to work)
  • Are you trying to make a healthy baby? Remember the old chestnut: nine women being pregnant for one month won’t yield one healthy child, nine months is needed for the least risky childbirth, giving the fetus enough time to develop prior to leaving the womb.
  • Are you aiming for enduring value delivery that’s not tied to the moment or specific situation?
  • Are you trying to build a long-lived, credible reputation based on value and integrity?

Definition 2 can take months, years, or even decades to achieve. You must be genuine to fulfill this definition of remarkable. You must show your worth, repeatedly, and be willing to learn and improve over time. Being genuine means that you are capable of providing valuable knowledge, insights, and work on a regular basis.

A purple cow is good is attracting your attention, but I wouldn’t want to drink its milk. I doubt it would make good hamburger.

Cows aren’t purple by nature. I might notice a purple cow before I’ll notice a brown cow, but unless it’s a brown cow in disguise, I don’t think that I’d want or need a purple cow. A well bred, well fed cow is just as remarkable as a purple cow and it’s probably better for you, too.

Yes, I’m presenting a simplistic view of the purple cow message and I haven’t read Seth’s book, so I’m probably missing the point. However, I see a lot of garish, trashy, and tacky stuff on the Web that might grab my attention for a moment, but it doesn’t have enough substance to keep me coming back. That’s all I’m trying to say.


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