The problem with Seth Godin’s problem with getting picked.

Seth Godin has recently been writing blog posts about the wrongheadedness of trying to get picked, or trying to get someone with influence to invest in you. His point is that you are better off picking yourself than you are trying to get someone else to pick you. For example, don’t wait for some record company honcho to call you and offer you a deal, just get out there and do your thing.

But you see the problem, right? Either way, you’re hoping to get picked. I, for one, am most certainly not trying to get a deal with a label but I am most definitely trying to get people to listen to my songs and spread the word (good or bad, by the way). So what’s the real difference? I guess it comes down to being picked by one person who will try to sell you to many people vs. trying to sell yourself to many people all by your lonesome.

In other words, the end goal is the same and even the means of getting there aren’t all that different. Either way, you’re trying to get picked. In fairness to Godin, what he’s really commenting on is the shift from a world where you absolutely had to pass through gatekeepers to gain wider exposure to a world where you can create massive exposure on your own. It’s a powerful difference, but I don’t think Godin has quite nailed the right catch phrase to define today vs. yesterday.

Maybe he will read this post and help me out? Would be cool, for sure. (Wait, did I just try to get picked? Heck yeah!)