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1.  

   Dead on!

   

   Sopor42, Oct 9th, 2008 @ 7:13pm

   
   

   Right on the head of the nail!
   
   There are many CDs that I have purchased purely so that I can have the album art*! I can most definitely get my hand on the music without a problem, but I want to have that case insert as my souvenir, so I gladly pay for the tangible item.
   
   *And, in some cases, with hope that some of my money goes to the artist, even though I know that's naive...

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2.  

   Infinite, scare, infinite

   

   Michael Long, Oct 9th, 2008 @ 10:57pm

   
   

   So... you spread around the infinite idea (what used to be called marketing and promotion) to promote the sale of a scarce product (the book). Got it.
   
   Unless, of course, the book is published as an ebook, which is suddenly in itself an "infinite" product, which means that its production "cost" was zero, and as such no one now needs to buy or pay for it.
   
   So... now you spread around the infinite idea in order not to sell an infinite product... and hope someone buys the t-shirt as a souvenir.
   
   Got it.

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3.  

   Re: Infinite, scare, infinite

   

   Douglas Gresham, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 12:41am

   
   

   Oh look, it's the "selling t-shirts is the only business model" argument. There are plenty of other scarcities to sell - the actual creation of work on a commissioned basis, the author's time (signings, readings and whatnot), and I'm sure Mike has been over many more. That's what the last sentence of the article is about - new business models showing up.
   There's also the fact that publishing ebooks has typically led to higher sales of the dead tree one (see here for an example), backing up the whole "souvenir" idea.
   But hey, don't let facts get in the way of your argument.

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4.  

   Not just a souvenir

   

   Steve (profile), Oct 10th, 2008 @ 2:12am

   
   

   I buy technical books for work all the time. I Like them because I can read them more comfortably, refer to them without having to tab between windows while working, and - if I get the ebook bundled with it - copy paste when I need to plagarize a report :)
   
   I know I could just print out an ebook, but that is so rarely worth the effort - the difference between the printed and the bound version is usually worth the cost.

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5.  

   Re: Re: Infinite, scare, infinite

   

   Mike (profile), Oct 10th, 2008 @ 7:42am

   
   

   Thanks Douglas! You made all the points I was going to make in response to Mr. Long.

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6.  

   Where's the Set Godin T-shirt?

   

   Kevin Combs, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 8:01am

   
   

   ummm, are we missing that Seth himself has a pretty different business model than only souvenirs? Large consulting fees, spin off businesses, ad revenue from blogs, speaking engagements... Seth clearly understands that creating the perception that you originated an idea sets you up to be the premium supply source when someone wants to buy help using the idea.
   
   While what he says is true, ideas are free, Seth knows that many just can't accept that idea. He knows that Big companies in particular don't readily understand that they can just use an idea. They buy copies of the books for teams. They buy consulting services. And the originator is always the premium brand for these helper services.

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7.  

   

   A.E.M. Baumann, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 8:12am

   
   

   A little displaced making a comment about the quotation, but what a fabulous statement!

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8.  

   Re: Where's the Set Godin T-shirt?

   

   seth godin, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 9:30am

   
   

   Well, I'm not the poster child (do as I say, not as I do) but to be clear, I don't do any consulting, never have. I don't make any money from my blog, never have and I don't have any spinoff businesses. The souvenirs are the speeches (which by definition are limited and rare) and the books. (And the action figure, of course).

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9.  

   Marketing Ideas

   

   Carolyn Wood, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 10:41am

   
   

   Luckily, souvenirs can always be borrowed from your local library.
   
   Is there a library card in your wallet?
   
   See you in Ramapo, Seth.

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10.  

    Marketing Ideas

    

    Carolyn Wood, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 10:41am

    
    

    Luckily, souvenirs can always be borrowed from your local library.
    
    Is there a library card in your wallet?
    
    See you in Ramapo, Seth.

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11.  

    production costs

    

    Stephen, Oct 10th, 2008 @ 1:28pm

    
    

    Michael
    
    Re: "Unless, of course, the book is published as an ebook, which is suddenly in itself an "infinite" product, which means that its production "cost" was zero, and as such no one now needs to buy or pay for it."
    
    There are plenty of production costs beyond the paper, printing and glue. There's copyediting, compositing and conversion into the various ebook forms, not to mention editing and marketing.

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