Dear Seth...

I've always enjoyed your didactic opinions, rants, and insights that I never failed to read each and every blog you post. I have to say though that some long entries tend to get (let's say) very challenging for me to digest.

Today, I'd like to rave on your recent blog "The cycle of customers who care", particularly the way you said this (and I quote):

"Those in the mass market choose to be the mass market because they're too busy or distracted or bored to be the innovators and the geeks. They don't care enough to be on the edge."

I am a musician, songwriter, and producer (not the financially stable type yet though) and what came to mind upon reading this is the record companies and those in the industry that helped to mold them. The labels in my country continuously failed to explore until the new mold of independent bands thriving without them labels. Independent bands that care only to their fans, how many people could love their music, and putting the album sales as just a bonus option.

Today, many of the local independent bands made their own success stories. They have emotionally moved small yet strong communities efficiently. And what's more interesting is that these bands are really good listeners and explorers.

Thanks for the affirmation, Seth.

Jacqueline Novogratz on linchpin

Linchpins are people with good souls. Some if not most of them have already trudged to becoming essentially pure in their intentions.  Jacqueline Novogratz explains that in about a minute or so.  I thought this is useful to such organizations as Artist KO.  Enjoy the short vid.  I did.



Jacqueline Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund (acumenfund.org) a fast-growing non-profit that is pioneering the idea of patient capital. Acumen funds entrepreneurs that build significant for-profit companies that do business with the poorest people in the world.

A funny truth about trademarks, copyrights, and patent

When you're in love, don't wallow in the thought of the possibility of losing that special someone.  Instead focus your effort on generosity.

Share anything that can lift your relationship up instead.

Think of things that make both of you laugh, smile, and enjoy every moment.  Bad moments come and are often beyond control.  But the more focused you are in giving, the better things will turn out to be.

Anyhow I'm not any love guru.  What I just said is simply a comparative to an assumed notion about the possibility of losing an idea to another's advantage.

The funny truth is that no body can own an idea.  And another funny truth is, the more you give your idea out, the better it becomes.  It's called brainstorming.  And the third funny truth is no idea is a bad idea.  It just needs good timing and the right opportunity.

Seth explains in layman's term about ideas and its relationship to trademark, copyright, and patent.  If you get my drift, you'll understand why I chose generosity in relationships as an example.

Money Doesn't Make The World Go 'Round

The recession in the U.S., the supposedly most powerful country in the world (heck probably in the universe) didn't stop the earth from rotating its axis and continues to revolve around the sun.

And so the popular myth about the devil's supposed most powerful invention supported with a global slogan "money makes the world go 'round", is fast becoming the world's famous fallacy.

The truth is... the world keeps on turning not because of economic stability, emotions, or what have you. It's because man, in his godlike goodness never runs out of ideas.

The world needs great ideas.

The world needs creative people.

The world needs to reinvent itself sometimes.

Great businesses succeed not because of large capital investments but because there are creative people behind it. All the great things we see in this earth were from ideas inspired by day to day problems. It is from that plane of thought where minds start working.

A poor man is not he who has no cash but he who has no ideas.

About Squidoo And What It Can Do For You

A month ago, while surfing for more opportunities online, I accidentally stumbled upon Squidoo. This is one of Seth Godin's brilliant innovations in and for the internet. How I got there is another story - I really can't remember and I think it's not that important for now.

In most undertakings, the hardest part is how to start and my response to situations like these is to go through the FAQ pages and read everything there is to know and understand about its service. It took me weeks to painfully untangle the cobwebs but I finally built my pages last week and over the weekend.

Squidoo is a user-based online service that allows you to earn (yes earn) while talking about things you are passionate about. Speaking of earning, the user generates income mainly from Google Adsense plus other earning options such as sponsored modules by Amazon.com, CafePress.com, and what have you.

The good part about Squidoo is that unlike Google Adsense where the minimum quota for payment is $100, this Godin masterpiece allows you to reset your payment release amount to as low as $1. This means that by the time your income hits $1, you get paid (via PayPal by the way - Google Adsense still insists on cheques).

Ok so now you ask what is there to talk about? Heck anything. It can be anything under the sun. No really. I scoured the Squidoo pages and I find lots of topics that you cannot imagine you can find there.

My first lenses (the Squidoo moniker for a webpage is lens) are Cebu Guitar Festival and a page about Arnold Ang, its founder. Of course I'll be making more but I have to take it slow... I just realized that working in Squidoo can be really addictive.

You should start posting your Squidoo lenses too. It's fun guaranteed.

We Make Ourselves Unhappy Just For The Sport Of It

How can this be so true?

Amidst all the blessings the United States have - God bless America. Amidst the financial wealth Americans enjoyed for decades. Amidst the political power they have controlled overseas. The Americans still managed to complain.

Seth Godin's latest blog entry, simplifies the analogy behind this seemingly perennial dilemma. "We make ourselves unhappy just for the sport of it," he said. And the marketers see this as an opportunity to feed their intellectual fancies.

Nothing wrong with that. It's their job.

It's just that there will always be effects made from our causes. There will always be results of karmic obligations behind everything that humans do.

At the end of the day, man rationalizes when things go wrong. He gets even with himself by saying "everything happens for a reason."

Americans must learn not to complain... I hope it's not too late for that.

Seth Godin's Right

He's one of the many people I admire.

Seth Godin, an entrepreneur from New York that popularized the concept of permission marketing and Yoyodyne, a company he invented during the early internet boom.

Seth's Yoyodyne flourished and sold it for a hefty $30M to Yahoo! and run the company as vice president for direct marketing.

I admire people achieving such magnitude as this not because I wanna be like them but because they inspire us by reminding us that anything is possible.

Today I got an email from his blog (yes for those who don't know, his blog is one of the most popular in the world).

Read this out and if it doesn't enlighten you, nothing will probably will.