The man who revolutionized marketing

Yesterday we talked about a geeky idea that became a big hit.
Today we’ll talk about a man who turned a liability into a success.
Josiah Wedgwood was born into a family of English potters.
As a child, he survived smallpox. It left his legs weakened.
Because he could not kick a potter’s wheel, he worked on designs.
He created the designs and his potters made them.
His lines of china caught the eyes of Queen Charlotte of England.
He convinced her to lend her name to his marketing campaigns.
All the aristocrats wanted china services like the queen’s.
Catherine the Great bought two different services from him.
This gave him an international reputation, which he exploited.
You can see one of Catherine’s services in the Hermitage in Russia.
He was big on quality and smashed any piece short of his standards.
"That will not do for Josiah Wedgwood," he would exclaim.
Wedgwood china is still considered among the world's best today.
His son-in-law Charles Darwin became even better known.
We will talk about Darwin’s exploits in a future blog.
But for smallpox, Wedgwood might have been just another potter.
But he turned a weakness into a strength. He used his creativity.
Here’s my challenge to you: Don’t obsess on your weaknesses.
Find your strengths, as Wedgwood did, and make the most of them.
Write that in your journal today: "My strengths are . . ."
Then think about how you can put them to their greatest use.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about capturing the fruits of the season.
For more about capturing your dreams, click here.