I just finished reading Seth Godin's Small Is the New Big. In the spirit of smallness, I'm going to summarize all of this marketing guru's lessons for you in just two words (six if you count the words in parentheses): Be remarkable (in a good way).

Luckily for us, Godin has a million ideas on how to be remarkable, and that's what makes his books so thought-provoking and so much fun. Small Is the New Big is Godin's greatest hits package from a decade of writing, with 193 "riffs, rants and remarkable business ideas" from his blog, his previous books (including the wildly popular Purple Cow), and his articles for Fast Company magazine.

The book is not a narrative; in fact, it is arranged in an unorthodox way: alphabetically. The "riffs" are short, from just a few paragraphs to at most a few pages, with no particular unifying theme save one: be remarkable.

To expand on my brief summary, Godin's thoughts on being remarkable are about responsiveness, respect, honesty, doing the more-than-expected, and having a compelling business story. Smaller organizations are usually better at this than larger ones, and in today's microniche world, consumers are choosing the small over the big. (Thus, small is the new big.) Forget what the company wants — focus on what consumers want and the company will do just fine. Small companies not only get this, but are also quicker to adapt to the desires of their customers because of their more narrow focus.

Godin describes himself as "selling fireworks", meaning he's not telling you anything you don't already know. But his words can't help but light a fire under your ass.

I took this book on a recent vacation. Great beach reading. I could pick it up, breathe in a few ideas, then go jump in the ocean. The only downside was it made me want to work. Godin makes the challenge of being remarkable sound so fun, you can't help but want to get to it.

My favorite riff from the book is one of the shortest, dealing with how to uncover new business opportunities. It's not rocket science, but to me it was fireworks. The title is "Do the Never":

Here's a neat way to invent a Purple Cow.
Figure out what the always is. Then do something else.
Toothpaste always comes in a squeezable tube.
Business travelers always use a travel agent.
Politicians always have their staff screen their calls.
Figure out what the always is, then do exactly the opposite. Do the never.