Enter A New Manager: Seth Godin

The Halo Effect is one part branding, two parts permission seeking, and many parts authenticity. The Halo Effect is the means of brightening your presence in the minds of your audience so that when you have something you want them to buy, they are maximally disposed to purchase. It’s what Merlin Mann does so well. We’ll talk more about Merlin later.

Instead, one more scene from Almost Famous:

Dick Roswell, Band Manager: Well, it seems the rumors were true, the record company has sent a big time manager here to try to talk you into replacing me. His name is Dennis Hope. I know you’ve all heard of him. He’s got all the big bands. And he’s outside right now, and he wants 5 minutes with you. And I, well, I think we’ve got to do this.

Russell Hammond: Well send him in.

Jeff Bebe: Yeah. Bring him in. We’ll send him out on a rail.

Seth Godin is the Dennis Hope of my story. He has a great body of work that provides significant insight into how an artist leverage the web. Seth Gogin is my replacement. I was just the old friend and hack band manager.

The Dennis Hope scene continues:

Russell Hammond: We already have a manager. [Thanks for the support]

Dennis Hope: Respectfully. We all have our roots. I believe in bands holding on to their roots. Those roots need to be augmented. Your manager here, needs a manager. [Unfortunately, I do]

Seth Godin wrote the book, Permission Marketing. Its subtitle is, “turning strangers into friends and friends into customers.” Doesn’t that sound exactly what a band or an author should do? I will quote the book for this piece. Please do me and Seth the courtesy of buying it. Here is the link on Seth’s website.

As if requested, he updated his blog with a summary of Permission Marketing. A quote:

Permission is like dating. You don’t start by asking for the sale at first impression. You earn the right, over time, bit by bit.

One of the key drivers of permission marketing, in addition to the scarcity of attention, is the extraordinarily low cost of dripping to people who want to hear from you. RSS and email and other techniques mean you don’t have to worry about stamps or network ad buys every time you have something to say. Home delivery is the milkman’s revenge… it’s the essence of permission.

Seth Godin is Dennis Hope, and he has chartered a plane.

———
Some points on Almost Famous.

Jeff Bebe is the frontman of Stillwater, and therefore the frontman for Rock & Roll. He greets Dennis Hope by remaining prone on the couch. He won’t even sit up. Dennis gives his awesome permission seeking, “respectfully” speech, a stirring affirmation of the power of professional management. By the end, Jeff Bebe has fully sat up. He expresses complete agreement with Dennis Hope even if it means abandoning Dolores, their bus - the home and soul of the band.

Dennis Hope gets them to abandon Dolores, which is brilliant:

dolorous |ˈdōlərəs|
adjective poetic/literary
feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress.

———
This concludes Part 5 of:

All I Needed To Know About The Value Of The Web I Learned From Russell Hammond

Or

Why Merlin Mann Should Write, Fear & Loathing At The Algonquin Round Table.

Earlier Parts:
The Halo Effect
Merlin mann Is Emily Rugburn
All Halo Merlin Mann
Feather Boas, Yeah!