Hi Zac, I’m running a new thread on my blog called Six Questions With… Seth Godin was the first cab off the rank, I was wondering if you’d like to be next? If so:

1. You’re young. The economy is fucked. Scared?
   1. Discuss.
2. You could have been a firefighter. Or a social worker. Or someone who rescues kittens. You chose marketing instead. Why?
3. Is there anything in particular about the world that you think needs changing and have you got any plans to do anything about it?
4. I have a new brand of toothpaste and I want you to buy it. Lots of it. What do I need to do?
5. Choose:
   1. Fame
   2. Fortune?

Cheers,
Matt

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Following Seth? Biggest anti climax ever.

But yeah, I’ll send them through tomorrow. Good idea by the way.

Zac

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1. Fuck no!

2. Is that even a question? Well, I’ve never lived in a time where the economy has suffered this badly, so perhaps it’s just that I’m naive. But as a Uni student, things aren’t going to affect me too heavily. In two years time when I graduate, I imagine things will just be starting to pick up with many doors opening for employment. Hopefully that’s just about the time the housing marketing is at its cheapest too. So no, I’m not too scared at all.

3. While kitten rescuing is a fall back in case the economy turns worse than I thought, a teacher at high school and a lecturer at Uni had a big influence on me. I decided to do a business degree because of the first and then major in marketing because of the second. Marketing is cool, creative, controversial and constantly changing (how’s that for some alliteration!). For me, there’s no question, this is my passion and I want to spend the rest of my life being a part of it.

4. Transport etiquette is a big one. If only there were more people like Martin Merton. But big worldly issues aside, I think consumer interruption is a problem and if the industry doesn’t change soon then the consumers will force it. As to what I plan on doing about it, I think social media, remarkability and tribal leadership are answers, all of which I’ll continue to push.

5. For me, that honestly wouldn’t be too hard. I only buy my current brand because that’s what my Dad bought for me as a teenager. Be remarkable and give me some social currency and you’ve probably converted me for life. Get the CEO to send me a witty hand written letter. Ask me if I want a giant eight foot toothbrush for no particular reason (I’d say, “Yes”). Heck, even getting the Marketing Manager to drop a comment on my blog would be a good place to start. But if you produce a thirty second spot, radio commercial or print ad, you don’t have a chance.

6. Secretly, deep down, everyone one wants both. Fame within the industry I’d like, but only for the right reasons. And enough fortune to live happily and help others would be nice too. But at this stage in my life, fortune for enough beer would probably be adequate.

How’s that?

Zac

He’s the most popular blogger on the planet, a former Yahoo! executive, a successful entrepreneur and one of America’s most sought-after and entertaining speakers. He’s sold more books than just about anyone who hasn’t written about teenage wizards and won acclaim from critics and fans around the world. His Free Prize Inside book was a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004, Purple Cow sold over 150,000 copies in more than 23 printings in its first two years of release and Unleashing the Ideavirus is quite likely the most popular ebook ever written. He’s the man Google turn to when they want advice and if you want an opinion on marketing, you won’t find a more well-rounded one than his. Godin’s latest book Tribes is on the shelves now.

Zakazuka Zoo wanted to ask him six questions and here’s what he had to say:

You’ve been blogging for a while now. What have been the highlights for you?

The external highlight is smart mail from people who have changed their lives. They blame me, but of course it was them. I’m happy with partial credit.

The internal highlight, the real highlight, is that every day my blog helps me think more clearly.

It’s 1982. You just awoke from a dream about your future where you were filling out the little card they give you when you enter a new country. What did you put in the occupation field and what was the country?

I hate those dreams. But the occupation has always been ‘agent of change’. The country, my favorite, Canada.

If a smart person told you in 2004 that by 2009 almost no-one would be using Microsoft Word anymore because there would be free alternatives that were just as good, would you have believed them?

Hey, I *was* that smart person.

It’s almost exactly 200 years since Charles Darwin was born and as the world heads deeper into financial crisis, a lot of companies are facing extinction because they failed to adapt. Your work is part motivational text, part business theory; what advice would you give to the small ‘mom and pop’ businesses out there who are about to be fossilized?

Mom and pop have never, ever had a better future. There are more tools, there’s more leverage, more opportunity. Small is the new big.

The phone rings. It’s the White House. They’re putting you through to Obama in two minutes. What do you say?

Ah, remember this: the purpose of a conversation with a new friend is not to sell something. It’s to have another conversation.

Tell us a bit about your new book Tribes, and what’s in it for marketers?

Marketing has become leadership. You don’t market by interrupting, you market by connecting like minded people and taking them somewhere they want to go. The purpose of the book is to sell you on some flavors of leadership and to beg you to do what we so desperately need you to do: lead us.