Short one today.

I’ll spend just a FEW moments talking about the bizarre phenomenon known as Snakes on a Plane, and then I’m going to wash my hands and go to bed. Heaven help me. Please. (No, I didn’t and won’t be seeing it. Ever.)

First, there’s this from PRIOR to the movie’s release date, written by Tom Ehrenfeld at Marketing Profs. Note that expectations were quite high; this was pretty typical of everything I happened to read about this movie. The thing to bear in mind is that THE predominant theme was that it would do well, not because it was in any way a good movie (there seems to be general agreement that it isn’t), but because the buzz (read: hype) generated by bloggers and other internet media was expected to be the driving force behind a giant marketing triumph. People were already talking about “a new cult classic”. Sheesh.

Then, this morning there’s this from Seth Godin, which seems to be pretty much representative of the articles I’m seeing AFTER the movie release this past weekend. I particularly like this statement:

“I fear that people are missing a fundamental truth: just because people know who you are doesn’t mean they’re going to buy what you sell.”

Thanks for the reminder, Seth. Gotta go with you on this one.

Now apply that principle to whatever you’re doing right now. Are you a job seeker? What will make them “buy” what you have to “sell”? Are you an entrepreneur? Project Manager? Lawyer? Kumquat salesman? Well guess what? It’s still the same question.

Never forget – we’re all salesmen. Let’s not let the hype of the moment prevent us from doing what really needs to be done. Do the homework.

Good night.