Notes on Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
When I wrote about the things I liked and disliked about the Kindle for iPhone app, one thing I hadn’t tried was the Notes function.
It’s the ability to leave a note in the margin, and stick a Post-It Note on the page so that you know where you left the note.
My brief review on Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith is that it’s important for you if you’re trying to use the Internet to advance your business, your career, or your brand. I think the same thing about Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It.
Both have action items, and both will help you – greatly – if you understand how to apply the lessons these folks share to your own situation. These books have action items, but they are not how-to-become-the-next-Chris-Brogan-or-Gary-Vaynerchuk books. If we all tried to be the next Chris Brogan, we’d have a world full of Chris Brogans and nobody to manufacture car parts or make peanut butter.
Lowell D’Souza gives a brief overview of Trust Agents. Go read the section numbered 1-6 (the rest is D’Souza commenting that the book is so-so, but then, he was looking for a how-to), and then come back.
These are the notes I, er, wrote in the margins.
Action item: Build a listening station. This is a step-by-step list on how to keep track of what people are saying about you or your business. This is not just a matter of running an occasional Google search for yourself; Brogan and Smith teach you how to set up a feed reader and get search feeds from various searches sent to you easily.
You don’t have to be born with it. Forget the people who say you have to be born with a talent to be good at something. You get good at something by practice. Sure, chess might come easy to some people, but if the other people work hard at it, they’ll do just as well.
Be good to people. Here’s a direct quote.
In this chapter, we’re talking about taking advantage of systems, not people. People are real, have real feelings, and always deserve respect. Always consider what’s right and wrong when it comes to this stuff.
You Win by Having Goals. This is something that I will be working hard on in 2010. I understand the tools, I just have to set milestones that I want to achieve using the tools.
There’s plenty of room on the Web. You don’t have to directly compete with someone. There is plenty of room out there to work together, or do something similar, or collaborate, but not try to do the exact same thing someone else is doing. Find your niche.
Know which systems are open. Brogan and Smith use Pacman and Ms. Pacman to explain this concept. Pacman is a known system. As boards progress, prizes progress predictably, and a perfect game consists of a set number of points. Ms. Pacman, though, uses a random prize progression – at any given point, you may get a 100-point cherry or a 1,000-point banana (I made up the numbers, don’t trash Brogan and Smith for it if they’re wrong).
In real life, mastering a closed system (Pacman) means you are the best at something. Cal Ripken Jr? Best at playing consecutive baseball games. Barry Bonds? Best at hitting home runs (steroids or not – he has a number to prove it). But who’s best at walking down Main Street in Toledo? It’s an open system. We don’t even know what being the best at walking down Main Street in Toledo looks like – it’s all trial and error, and we’re kind of making the game up as we go along.
Action Item: Affiliate Marketing Brogan and Smith outline some affiliate marketing strategies.
Forge partnerships. I don’t think this needs any expanding. If you want to know what Brogan and Smith have to say, read the book.
Agent zero. We all have our personalities and roles in organizations. Agent Zero is the person who connects the people who need to know each other. I’m glad there’s a name for this.
Maintain relationships. I’m horrible at this. I’ve been getting better, and Brogan and Smith offer good tips (like pay attention to the birthday calendar function in Facebook).
Yes and. I love this concept. The idea is that someone says something, and you not only agree, but build. An improvised story might start with someone saying, “The bear sat on the sofa and read the sports page,” the next person continues by saying, “Yes, and he bemoaned the Giants’ season coming to an end.” The first person picks back up with, “Yes, and…”
And so, too, should go your discussions about collaborative projects. You build on what the other person says, rather than poo-pooing something that you don’t yet see the point of.
Web site and book recommendations. Here are some of the books and sites the authors recommend throughout the book.
• Akoha.com (social media reality game)
• Spinvox.com (voice mail as text)
• Jott.com (speak into your phone, have it transcribed as an email to you)
• Kayak.com (travel help)
• Serious Creativity by Edward de Bono
• How to Be More Interesting by Edward de Bono
• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
By linova rifianty, 02/02/2010 @ 04:28
Nice website Josh, very tempting and so informative!