If you are not remarkable, you are invisible. It’s a brutal truth in today’s crowded market, whether you’re selling a product, an idea, or yourself. Standing out isn’t just an advantage anymore; it’s the absolute baseline for survival and being noticed by anyone.
Share Image Quote:
Table of Contents
Meaning
The core message is stark: in a world saturated with choices, being “good enough” is the same as being irrelevant. You either stand out or you get ignored.
Explanation
Look, I’ve seen this play out so many times. This quote isn’t about being flashy for the sake of it. It’s about being truly, authentically worth making a remark about. Think about it. When was the last time you told a friend about a product or service that was just… *fine*? You don’t. You talk about the extraordinary. The stuff that surprises you. The Purple Cow. That’s what Godin is getting at. The market doesn’t reward safe. Safe is invisible. It’s the remarkable stuff—the stuff that’s unique, that solves a problem in a new way, that has a story—that gets seen, talked about, and chosen.
Quote Summary
Reading Level67
Aesthetic Score82
Origin & Factcheck
This line comes straight from Seth Godin’s 2003 marketing classic, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. It’s a concept he introduced and owns completely. You sometimes see the sentiment echoed elsewhere, but this specific phrasing is 100% Godin’s, born from that book which really shook up the marketing world in the early 2000s.
Attribution Summary
Author Bio
Seth Godin writes and teaches about marketing, leadership, and creative work. After earning an MBA from Stanford, he founded Yoyodyne, sold it to Yahoo!, and later launched ventures like Squidoo and the altMBA. He has authored bestsellers such as Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, Tribes, Linchpin, and This Is Marketing. He posts daily at seths.blog and speaks globally about making work that matters. If you’re starting with the Seth Godin book list, expect insights on trust, storytelling, and shipping creative projects that change culture.
| Official Website | Facebook | X
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | If you are not remarkable, you are invisible |
| Book Details | Publication Year/Date: 2003; ISBN/Unique Identifier: 9781591843177; Last edition: 2010; Number of pages: 160. |
| Where is it? | Chapter 12: Be Remarkable or Invisible, page 70/160 |
Context
Godin was pushing back hard against the old model of “safe” marketing—the idea that you could build a better mousetrap, run some TV ads, and the world would beat a path to your door. He argued that the TV-industrial complex was dead. That we’re all overwhelmed with choice. His solution? Don’t advertise your average product. Build a product that is inherently worth advertising. Build the Purple Cow. Something so interesting and unusual that people can’t help but notice it and talk about it.
Usage Examples
This isn’t just for marketers. I use this framework all the time.
- For an Entrepreneur: Is your startup’s value proposition just a slightly cheaper version of an existing SaaS tool? That’s invisible. How is it a Purple Cow? What does it do that is so remarkable that your first ten users feel compelled to tell others?
- For a Job Seeker: Is your resume a boring list of duties, just like everyone else’s? Invisible. Your resume, your cover letter, your portfolio—they need to tell a remarkable story of the specific problems you’ve solved and the unique impact you’ve made.
- For a Content Creator: Are you publishing the same “5 Tips for X” as a hundred other blogs? Invisible. Your take, your voice, your data, your presentation—something has to be remarkable enough to make someone stop scrolling and actually engage.
To whom it appeals?
Share This Quote Image & Motivate
Motivation Score86
Popularity Score83
Shareability Score89
FAQ
Question: Does “remarkable” just mean being loud or controversial?
Answer: Absolutely not. That’s a common misunderstanding. Remarkable means “worth making a remark about.” That can be because of incredible quality, a unique design, unparalleled customer service, or a novel business model. It’s about being authentically different in a way that your target audience values.
Question: But what if my industry is boring? How can I be remarkable?
Answer: This is my favorite challenge. “Boring” is just an industry waiting for a Purple Cow. Look at what Mailchimp did for email marketing with its quirky brand voice. Or what Liquid Death did with… water. They found a remarkable angle in a “boring” space. Your “boring” is your biggest opportunity because the bar for being remarkable is so low.
Question: Isn’t it risky to stand out?
Answer: It is. But let me ask you this: what’s the risk of being invisible? Of getting no customers, no job offers, no engagement? In my experience, the risk of blending in is far, far greater than the risk of standing out. The goal isn’t to be remarkable to everyone—that’s impossible. It’s to be indispensable and remarkable to your specific tribe.
Similar Quotes
If it’s not remarkable, it’s invisible. That’s the brutal truth Seth Godin hit us with, and honestly, it’s more relevant today than ever. Table of Contents Meaning Explanation Origin &…
Being remarkable means you’re worth making a remark about. It’s a simple but profound truth that separates the forgettable from the unforgettable in business and life. Let’s break down why…
Don’t try to be everything to everyone is a powerful reminder that true success comes from focus. It’s about choosing your audience and serving them so deeply that you become…
To be remarkable, you must be worth talking about. It’s a simple but brutal truth that cuts through the noise of modern business and life. If you’re not creating something…
Being remarkable means doing something others are afraid to try. It’s about that initial spark of courage, the willingness to step into the unknown when everyone else is playing it…
