Seth Godin once again demonstrates the power of the personal brand. Opening an email alert from his blog this morning, I see that he’s invited his readers to join a new “tribe.” At first glance it seems relatively standard issue — a new online community for marketers with blogs, forums, photos, etc. (yawn). But, as usual, he adds a few interesting twists.
For one thing, it’s invitation only for readers of his blog, at least until October. Since Godin’s blog is one of the most popular around, this is not exactly an exclusive invitation, but, as he notes in the invite, “powerful tribes aren’t open to everyone. The exclusivity makes it work.”
For another, accepting the invitation is based on pre-ordering his next book, which is all about (drum roll please), tribes. It’s not about selling more books (hmm), according to Godin, but rather “it about creating a small hurdle to get the right people in the door.” The book won’t come out until October 21, and a visit to Amazon provides only the title and a short paragraph about the power of tribes.
Well, he got me. I dutifully bought the book for $14, forwarded him my receipt before 11 am this morning to make sure I beat the deadline, and will now wait and see what happens with the new community. And I know I’m in good company. As I write this, the book is 7th on the Amazon best seller list (at least for this hour) and 1st in several business sub-categories. Not bad for a book we won’t even see for three months.
Will the book be worth it? Probably yes; most of his books contain at least a few good nuggets. Will the “tribe” be worth joining? Who knows, but it’s worth the price of admission just to see how Godin will try to carve out a unique position in a field of too many marketing communities to count.
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