Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
On March - 8 - 20105 COMMENTS
- ISBN13: 9780470743089
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
How to tap the power of social software and networks to build your business In Trust Agents, two social media veterans show you how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand’s influence, reputation, and, of course, profits. Today’s online influencers are web natives who trade in trust, reputation, and relationships, using social media to accrue the influence that builds up or brings down businesses online. The book shows how p… More >>
Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
I saw the author at a Writer’s Digest Conference in NYC. He was brilliant, but nothing was new in what he preached about social networking and claiming one’s own domain. I knew all that before, and wondered what direction, specifically he would provide in his book. I am sorry I trusted Chris Brogan’s brilliant sales promo talk. I have been ripped off! There is nothing new,at least not for me, who was and is tech savvy for years prior to the majority of Americans. This book was promoted by a guy who needed to make a buck with a book, and anyone who needs to read it is a college student who doesn’t know much, or someone who’s been living under a rock for the past several years. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
Rating: 1 / 5
“Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.” — Job 15:31
The online world spins out ever-increasing amounts of videos, images, words, and Web sites. There may be needles in the middle of all those haystacks, they are getting harder to find.
Chris Brogan and Julien Smith look at this circumstance from the perspective of someone trying to create or improve a business and pose the useful question: How can you become and remain the person who is trusted most in your area of expertise? From there, you follow an exciting journey through lots of good stories and little tips that clarify how you can operate more effectively in the online world.
Here are my paraphrases of some of the key principles:
1. Use continuing business model innovation to create ways to develop and share useful information in ways that delight people with their novelty, freshness, and value.
2. Be viewed as someone who is just like the audience, not someone with a hidden agenda, a lot of arrogance, or a phony.
3. Energize online communities by providing them with choices they like from a point of authenticity.
4. Build genuine, positive relationships by seeking to provide value for everyone you interact with.
5. Be considerate.
6. Assemble large numbers of people to work toward a common purpose while meeting their needs.
I was impressed that the authors appreciate that the way to do these things will continually change, but the principles will probably remain the same. It’s a useful book from that perspective. Most people who write about the online world assume it will always be like it is today . . . and optimize on things that don’t last.
My only disappointment is that they didn’t address more about what those who write book reviews on Amazon.com should be doing to be more helpful to more people. There are millions of us who would like to know.
Be trustworthy!
Rating: 5 / 5
I just received my copy of “Trust Agents” authored by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith last night. I am excited to dive into it. So far, I’m about 1/3 of the way through it and overwhelmed with just how applicable the content is across a variety of industries. With every page I read it inspires new thoughts of how trust is actually very visual in everyday business life. I’m highly impressed and will probably read it more than once as it is jam packed with information.
Rating: 5 / 5
Trust Agents is written by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, and is a book designed, by its subtitle about “Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust.” The book talks about how the world of marketing has changed markedly in the digital age we now live in. Trust agents aren’t marketers, but people who participate in the community, gain trust of those who follow them, and share ideas. And while all businesses do exist to sell something and make a profit, it really is about giving back more to the community than taking. They list six principles of trust agents:
1. Make your own game. Don’t follow what others are doing, but find what works for you. Try new ways of doing things. It’s important to think outside the box. It also means first movers have an advantage over those who stand back and wait to see how something will work out.
2. Be one of us. Be a part of the community, participate, and give to it. This one is really about not simply getting into a community with the goal of self-promotion. You can’t take from a community until you have given. I think this speaks a lot to the issue of people who just join the social media networks to spam about their products.
3. Use the Archimedes effect. Archimedes believed if he had a long enough level and a fulcrum on which to place it, he could move the world. It’s about leveraging your message.
4. Try to be Agent Zero. It’s important to grow your networks and recognize the value of those networks. Also in this step is the importance of connecting with good people and with different groups.
5. Become a human artist. Learn to truly connect with people and empower them. Those connections will come by listening to the community and being sure you hear what they are saying.
6. Build an army. None of us can do things alone. Much like Seth Godin’s book “Tribes,” this speaks to the value of collaboration when building a group of people who can focus on a common goal.
I have been following Chris Brogan’s blog for awhile now. I love it because he has good information and he is so down to earth. You get the feeling of sitting in the room with him and just having a chat. That could be because many of his blogs are actually video blogs where he is doing just that. His ability to connect with people is something I admire. I believe he has the points of being a trust agent down to a science.
The book is a reminder that all of the social media tools like Facebook and Twitter really are not about building business, but about building relationships. Without the relationship, you don’t get the business. I have long believed that and this book reinforced many of the things I feel already. It is interesting to note that these ideas do not just apply to business, but to our lives in general.
If you are looking for ways to connect in the new world of social media, I suggest you get “Trust Agents” and read it. There are some great ideas that you can apply to change how you do things.
Rating: 5 / 5
“These two guys have it figured out too. This gets into a bit more theory with good stories of why you need to become a Trust Agent with Social Media. One to add to to your Marketing tool box if you will. Wow and Gary Vaynerchuk of Crush It! gets a good mention here as well as Mitch Joel of Six Pixels of Separation. Well worth the read. ”
Rating: 4 / 5