Sarah Petty Review's Seth Godin's New Book, Linchpin

Before the holidays, I excitedly responded to Seth Godin’s
offer to pre-purchase his newest book, Linchpin, by making a donation to the
Acumen Fund. I hope this was a hugely successful strategy for Godin because I
also am a big believer in charitable marketing and why not? He wanted his book
in the hands of 3,000 people who he knew would pre-buy ANYTHING he writes. So,
why not let everyone benefit. Those who make a donation, receive his book
before the general public. The charity benefits by receiving probably over
$100,000 and Godin wins because he gets his book into the hands of thousands of
excited readers and bloggers. Let the google bots begin.

Here is where our journey starts. Godin has asked those of
us who received the early edition to read, re-read and comment on his book
(good and bad) on our blogs. After spending time glued to the book, I find that
I can’t simply make one post about the book. Because at The Joy of Marketing,
we teach small business marketing, specifically, BOUTIQUE marketing, this book
has so many ideas, thoughts and concepts that must be shared. So, over the next
few weeks, I will be commenting on different parts of the book and relating
them to boutique business owners and their team.

So what is a Linchpin anyway? Here is what Godin says about
Becoming the Linchpin:

“The linchpin is an individual who can walk into chaos and
create order, someone who can invent, connect, create, and make things happen.
Every worthwhile institution has indispensable people who make differences like
these.”

Also, for a small boutique business to succeed, not only do
you need to BE a linchpin, you need to constantly be finding those to hire. My
four employees (one of whom is getting married and moving away) I would say are
all linchpins. I don’t want an employee who needs to be told what to do every
day or who is looking for a status quo job. I need a problem solver.
Unfortunately, it is hard to find those people when you are looking. All four
of my team have come to me through either an internship or a trial project and
they worked their way into a job. Those are the people I need and if I ever
receive a resume from someone who can articulate why she can be a linchpin in
my business, I want to meet her.

“If a Purple Cow is a product that’s worth talking about,
the indispensable employee – I call her a linchpin – is a person who’s worth
finding and keeping.”

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? @ Amazon