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The marine iguana

Written by: Seth Godin

Article Overview: Marine iguanas swim. They eat stuff in shallow water, which is surprising behavior for an iguana.

The marine iguana

Marine iguanas swim. They eat stuff in shallow water, which is surprising behavior for an iguana.

How is it possible for there to be marine iguanas?

Ordinary iguanas washed onshore of some of the Galapagos Islands a few millenia ago and quickly
discovered that eating the way they were used to wasn't going to work, because there wasn't anything to eat. Most of them starved to death. A few, though, were lucky enough that they could tolerate foraging around on the edge of the ocean. Over generations, iguanas with this trait thrived, while those that were born without it died out. A new species evolved.

The interesting lesson for marketers is this: if iguanas had had predators and competition while this was going on, they never would have survived. The barren nature of their marketplace gave them the time they needed to evolve (or as marketers with egos would say, "figure out") a strategy that worked.

Too often, marketers are drawn to the hot market. The problem with the hot market is that if you don't get it right quickly, you get crushed. Really big ideas tend to get perfected in the Siberian outposts, the little niches that get ignored (until they get really big). It takes a lot of confidence to walk into a hyper-competitive market with something new. Quieter markets may just give you the cover you need to work out what it's going to take to make those marketers grow.

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Article Tags: barren nature, competitive market, confidence, edge of the ocean, egos, galapagos islands, generations, hot market, iguanas, marine iguanas, marketers, marketplace, millenia, niches, outposts, predators, shallow water, starved to death



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Subtle promo - [quote:qwzbxluf]I totally agree with your points, subtle promo is much better on these sites[/quote:qwzbxluf] A couple of days ago on MySpace, I received a "friend request" from someone who was clearly just a marketer... his request read just like those spam letters you get in your email. I didn't bother to respond, but i didn't delete his request, either. Today, although the request is still there, his photo is gone from it and "Profile removed" in its place. In other words, spammers on MySpace get deleted! So you've got to be subtle. I deal strictly with sf and fantasy groups, and space and marine science groups. There's several published authors there who're delighted to send review copies of their books...


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