Recreating success as a goal is a bad plan

Category: Business

Published: 04/21/2009 04:30 p.m.

I read quite a bit of blogs of varying styles, but the one that really grabs me is Seth Godin's. Mostly, it is his ability to use 150 to say something that would take most people 500 words to say. Little messages, simplified for better understanding.

I like them so much that on occasion I am tempted to write in the same style. But, this is a losing strategy. It took Seth many years to perfect his current style. It would take me less years to copy it, but by then, he would be doing the next great thing and I would be left in the dust.

It is easy to copy someones actions. It is very tough to copy someone's success. If your goal is to sell a product and do videos like Gary V, or create a bookmarking site like Delicious or Digg (Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc.), or to create a social network then I am going to have to bet against you. By the time you catch up, everyone else will be on to bigger and better things.

Even if you have a niche market (new popular buzzword) and will limit your above product/site to it (e.g. digg for dogs), you are still fighting an uphill battle. The real secret is that you have to be original. This is hard, but it can be very successful.

Failure is certainly possible (and likely) but it is almost certain if you try and follow in someone else's footsteps. Be original, be you, and don't be afraid of a little failure. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every election he ran for, but he won the last one (which counted the most). Win when it counts the most.