Seth Speakth the Truth

So the event has come and gone and, I am left with more questions than answers. The questions have little to do with Seth Godin's presentation and more to do with making sense out of what he said. The speech started with an introduction from a manager from Microsoft speaking of his Seth Godin addiction. I was unaware that human beings had the same properties as crack cocaine. It was a weird businessman man-crush that bordered on fetish, especially when he showed pictures of himself with a shaved dome.

On to the speech. Here is a man of high intelligence, high education, an early adopter (in socks not shoes), and a marketing visionary. To say that his presentation was air tight all the way around wouldn't do justice to how well prepared it was. It had the right amount of case study without being boring. The right amount of theory without being abstract. The right amount of humor, without being a standup routine. Above all else a well crafted message that advertising is broken. The age of the snake oil advertisement salesman, while still ever present, is no longer effective. To further illustrated his point he spoke harshly of the events sponsor, then spoke honestly about what he thought about getting an MBA. In the QA session he spoke of the disastrous Zune MP3 player, while Microsoft was the sponsor. Later he told students, who are currently in the MBA program and prospective students at UMD, not to get their masters. For those who are already students he said don't go to class, use your experience to gather contacts and squeeze the grapevine. He didn't regurgitate information and play the safe card, he urged an audience of young and old business minds to be remarkable.

So there it is, be remarkable. Sounds easy enough, but it easier said than done. This is the part that stirs up more questions than it answers. From the speech this is what I have gathered as the simple solution. I say simple solution because all questions have a simple solution but the path to achieving the solution is never simple.
Step 1. Find a problem
Step 2. Be the first one to solve the problem
Step 3. Get the permission of early adopters
Step 4. Turn your customers into your advertisers (Flip The Funnel)

With all of my new found knowledge and simple solutions I will be on the complicated path to discover my problem. Hopefully this doesn't end up being the ugly nasty red mark on the top of my head, but if it is that's okay too.