Saul Colt (@SaulColt) is one of the world’s masters of word-of-mouth marketing. Over the years, he’s bolstered the reputations of his companies and clients by connecting audiences with brands, and people with people. A well-known and well-liked figure across North America, Saul has built a network of creative pros and in turn those relationships have help build his reputation.
In this discussion, we hear how Saul became a connector, how he struggled for years as a comic book writer, and how he still struggles (surprisingly) with his own shyness and fear of rejection.
Saul is now Chief Evangelist at Xero, a small business online accounting software company. Catch up with him on his blog, Saul.is
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- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 24 (MP3, 51:39, 74.5 MB)
- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 24 (OGG, 51:39, 47.3 MB)
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Show Notes & Links
- “Do you know Saul?” is the question; not a Breaking Bad reference.
- Saul describes himself as “North America’s best word-of-mouth marketer”
- Creative Mornings
- Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka Swiss Miss
“I do more listening than talking.”
—Saul Colt
- Debbie Millman’s appearance on The Busy Creator Podcast
- The Crying Indian in those “Do Not Pollute” ads
- Design Matters, Debbie’s long-running podcast
- Saul grew up in a family business; came up writing comic books
- Malcolm Gladwell talks about The Connectors in The Tipping Point
- The Cult of Saul
“I want to be known for my accomplishments, not just for being the life of the party.”
—Saul Colt
- America’s Funniest Home Videos
- Saul spoke at 38 conferences in one year
“People shouldn’t try to fail. They should try to be as awesome as possible.”
—Saul Colt
- Jen Mussari is also not a fan of failure on purpose.
“There’s a fine line between boldness and foolishness.”
—Saul Colt
- Microsoft’s $900 million flop
- Saul coordinated a skywriting stunt for Xero
“If you get those ideas that are worth being fired over, you have to do those ideas.”
—Saul Colt
- Saul did an Evel Knievel stunt (mainly just to wear the jumpsuit)
“Everything has been done already. To think you have any original ideas is ridiculous.”
—Saul Colt
- Laugh-Think-Cry — Saul’s formula to include humour, insight, and emotion in any event or stunt.
- Be “crazy with a purpose”
“Not everything measurable is great and not everything great is measurable.”
—Saul Colt
- Snapple’s giant popsicle stunt … that failed.
- Likemind or Meetup to connect with people
- Prescott has a very personal workflow for podcasts and audiobooks involving the now-retired iPod Classic and several iTunes plugins
- Every Which Way But Loose
Tools
Techniques
- Do more listening than talking
- Fearless execution. Don’t be frightened by crazy ideas or blow-back.
- Let others get credit, but also list your own accomplishments
- Tell first-hand stories, it has a greater impact
- Pick an end-goal first and work backwards
- Pick a unifying icon or reference that can resonate with everyone
- Vet an idea against “Laugh-Think-Cry”
- Use your network to meet cool, interesting people
- Always try to be home on weekends, and don’t ask people to hang (because they might say no?)
Habits
- Carry a notebook; allow yourself to be inspired by anything
- Email your people to get together in different cities
- Look for odd street art and museums; treat each visit to a city as if it’s the last time you’ll be there
- Arrive in town early and ask people if they want to hang out. Use passive aggression if necessary.
- Exercise every day.
- Watch a movie every day. (perhaps while exercising)
- Wake up before 7; don’t check email in bed.
- Scan RSS feeds, read about 1/3 of articles
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Join the Discussion
Add your experiences in the Comments section below.
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