Insights

Who I Learn from Every Single Day

Who inspires you to be a better person? Makes you want to read more, learn more, and put actionable ideas and plans into place? Who makes everything fall into place, and because of that increases your knowledge and awareness?

I’m incredibly fortunate that I’m part of a great community, both here at my blog and on the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn. Some great minds wander these social hallways and impart some immense wisdom every single day. Today, I want to share four of the folks that get my creative and business juices going, each and every day.

David Spinks is one of the smartest Gen Y guys around (and there are a few). He runs a blog over at davidspinks.com that continuously makes me ask questions – always a good thing. He has a knack of opening discussions like nobody’s business, like the one on The Social Media Bubble. David has his finger on the pulse of a lot of what’s making impact in the digital space – so much so that Scribnia took him on as their Community Manager over the summer. Yes, he’s that good.

Sonny Gill is a bit of a Jack of all trades (in a very good way), though his blog at sonnygill.com announces him as an online marketer. I’ve been connected with Sonny on Twitter for a while now, and had some really great thought-provoking conversations with him about marketing and social media (hey, two? of my passions!). Sonny’s also the co-founder of #CmtyChat on Twitter, discussing all things community (another passion!). Basically, this guy’s got smarts.

Susan Murphy is one of the most singularly brilliant and creative people I know, with drive that would make an F1 race car seem slow. Let’s see – she’s partner at Jester Creative; she teaches Video Production and Web Media at her college in Ottawa; she’s on the Board of Directors at SAW Video, promoting Ottawa’s media artists; she co-produced the 12for12k promo video. Oh, and she writes one of the more human social media blogs around over at SuzeMuse.ca. Simply put, Susan is doing what we sometimes just talk about.

Jim Connolly is a marketing guy from my neck of the woods over in the U.K. And a little bit more. Jim writes a consistently kick-ass blog over at jimsmarketingblog.com (does EXACTLY what it says on the tin) that strips down marketing for businesses of all sizes into easy-to-implement action plans and ladders to success. He’s also got a cool blog over at thetechnewsblog.com where he shares some of the lesser-known tech and business news. You want a sharp mind? Check Jim out.

There are many, many more people that I learn from daily and I’ll revisit this list frequently to hopefully introduce you to more great people.

I’m a firm believer that we never stop learning – once we think we know it all, we may as well give up the game because we’ll just be left behind. These folks, and others like them, help me stay in touch with the rest of the pack and for that I’m truly grateful.

How about you – who’s your learning post?

Old Dogs, New Social Media Tricks

Down in Gainsville, VA, near the Manassas National Battlefield, you’ll find the Smith Family Farm. A fifth generation farming family, the farm has been owned and operated by the Smith’s for more than 100 years.

They’re a traditional farm in every sense. Their meat is all grass-fed, as is their dairy produce, and they’re also USDA-inspected (United States Department of Agriculture).

They pride themselves on their values – all beef under 24 months of age, humanely raised animals, and family-friendly prices on products delivered to your door. Much of their business is done directly on the farm.

So far, so good – a nice story about a nice way to do business. But what’s interesting about the Smith Family Farm is the way they’re using social media to help tell their story and grow their business.

Take a look at their website, and you’ll notice that it’s possibly not what you’d expect from a fifth generation farming family. On the home page is the Twitter feed for Smith Family Farm, as well as an email subscription form for updates and newsletters.

Take a look around their website and you’ll get more of an idea how the farm is integrating social media into their daily routine. Click on the Notebook tab on the navigation menu, for example, and this gives you a more in-depth look at their Twitter stream. You can even subscribe to their Twitter feed via RSS.

Move over to the Events tab, and you’ll see a full day-by-day breakdown of any events the farm’s part of. Not only that, but you can add any that you might be interested in to your own Google Calendar, thanks to the iCal option.

The Twitter stream itself is a nice mix of information, conversation and visualizations, and shows a business that’s at ease with how social media can be used. From information to where they’ll be next, to descriptions of rural life, it’s community news and involvement at its simplest and most effective.

What makes the Smith Family Farm website stand out (and thus, makes the business stand out) is the mix of old and new. They share plenty of their history, yet they offer PDF downloads of their products. They even offer the equivalent of Twitter’s #followfriday with their friend recommendations.

If social media really is about re-humanizing business, the Smith Family Farm is showing many bigger and more tech-oriented businesses how to play in this space. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

photo credit: Smith Family Farm

Trust Agents – A Review and a Chat

Yesterday I had the good fortune to chat with Chris Brogan about his and co-author Julien Smith’s book Trust Agents. We talked about why it’s important for businesses to become trust agents (and enable their employees to do so); the changing nature of the web and its effect on HR; how to deal with clients that break trust agent rules; and a heck of a lot more.

Through the wonders of technology, if you missed it yesterday you can now listen to it back in all its semi-live tech glitches glory (look out for the 4-minute intro music and phone cut-off 2/3 in – fun!). Or, you can download the iTunes version for later listening. OR… thanks to the ever-resourceful John Haydon, download the edited mp3 without the major tech issues! The options are at the end of the post.

Speaking of Trust Agents…

Trust Agents – A Review

It’s pretty weird reviewing a book by someone you’re connected with on a “more than just professionally” level. On the one hand, you might get called biased if it’s a positive review; on the other you could be tempted to try find faults simply because of the friendship, and you don’t want to be seen as biased.

Thankfully Chris and Julien take away that “weirdness” by making Trust Agents such an enjoyable read.

If you already read Chris’s blog or Julien’s blog, you’ll know that they both share great resources and actionable information, yet always in a friendly, conversational way. Trust Agents is no different.

Primarily a book about doing business on the social web (both professionally and personally), Trust Agents is more about a state of mind than a business plan. Sure, you can use the points raised in each of the book’s eight chapters to help put together a business plan – but the real juice lies with the way you put that plan together.

Taking its cue from how creatives have worked for the last 50 years – push marketing, email blasting, monotone advertising – Trust Agents introduces a new way to go after the same eyeballs: trust, relationships, people. Find the people, build the trust and the relationship will come. Then keep building that trust and relationship.

People have gotten smarter. We have an open window of information that we can look at every single day. We don’t need to believe a message just because it’s all we’re presented with; now we can go out and find all the other messages about that person, company or pitch as well. And that’s changed the game completely.

Trust Agents offers you a way to play that game and be a contender. It won’t show you how to make $50 million in wine sales like Gary Vaynerchuk; it won’t show you how to be an ideas guy like Ted Murphy of IZEA. But… it will show you how to start building toward that, and how leveraging trust and great people around you will lead to your influence and reach growing while hopefully not pissing off too many people on the way.

There are a couple of areas that seemed to contradict a little; early on, the book mentions that you “shouldn’t be that guy” – don’t pitch from the off, don’t be the constant salesperson. Then, further in, it’s almost as if the book says, “Don’t be that guy unless you can do it well.” But, these are minor quibbles.

This isn’t a traditional review; you’ve probably garnered that. That’s because everyone will take something different from a book like Trust Agents. Instead, what it is is a slight overview, a complementary piece to the chat with Chris on BlogTalk Radio yesterday. Do I recommend the book? Wholeheartedly.

Listen to what Chris has to say about the book and more. Decide if he’s talking sense. And if he is, check out the book itself – I think you’ll enjoy.

Note – the copy I reviewed was sent by the publishers Wiley (thanks to Kathryn Jennex for arranging), but I’ve bought a copy to support Chris and Julien’s efforts. The Amazon link in this post is an affiliate link.

DannyBrown-ChrisBrogan

Ryan Moore ? My New Favourite Sportsman

You may or may not have heard of Ryan Moore. He’s a pro golfer who recently won his first tournament, the Wyndham Championship.

If you haven’t heard of him, you’re not alone – he’s still ranked 120th in the world and isn’t one of the first names you think of when you think “pro golfer”.

Yet despite his relative anonymity, Ryan Moore may just have made himself my new favourite sportsman. All because of $300,000.

Where Ryan differs from most other sportspeople, and certainly every other golfer it would seem, is that he refuses to be endorsed by any of the name brands that adorn other golfers. He buys his own clothes and golfing equipment, and often these are a mish-mash of some of the cheapest brands around.

It’s led to sports marketing companies questioning why Ryan is avoiding their pitches, when pro golfers have at least one brand sponsorship to their name. According to Ryan’s manager (who’s also his brother), it’s simple: “He doesn’t want to be a billboard.”

The $300,000 that I mentioned earlier? The projection of what Ryan could earn from sponsors – $200,000 a year for cap sponsorship, $20,000 for a chest logo, and $50,000 for a branded golf bag. And why is he my new favourite sportsman?

Simple. When mostly everyone around him is signing up for the big bucks, whether they like the brand or not, Ryan Moore is staying true to himself and showing that money isn’t always everything. His decision means that sports marketers may have to reconsider whether tapping up folks to be the face of a brand will continue the way it has or if it has to look at new ways to sell. And anything that helps move marketing and branding forward into new thinking can never be a bad thing.

Of course, this is the now. With Ryan winning his first tournament, his stock will go up and the offers will rise with it. Whether he’ll remain as loyal to non-branding when the million dollar endorsement offers start materializing is another thing. But for now… he’s definitely my new favourite sportsman.

How about you – is Ryan doing it right or will the marketing dollars win out?

photo credit: pga.com

Get Inside Chris Brogan’s Head

PAB2008 For most people in the social media space, Chris Brogan is one of the first names you probably hear about.

The guy has one of the most popular and respected blogs around, is a chatty star on Twitter, pops up on various other platforms and has now written a New York Times bestseller called Trust Agents (co-authored with Julien Smith).

Basically, Chris Brogan is to social media what Frank Oz was to Yoda. So it’s a great delight to be chatting with Chris on my first-ever BlogTalk Radio show tomorrow, Monday August 31 at 2.00pm eastern.

We’ll be chatting (obviously) about Trust Agents, and delving a little deeper into some of the ideas raised. I’ll also be looking at how Trust Agents can be anywhere; how (if) you can use online-specific ideas offline; and looking to build workable ideas and solutions that you can take away with you after the show.

I already have some questions for Chris, but this is where you can have your say as well. There’s a call-in number if you want to speak to Chris directly, or leave a question here in the comments. I’ll try my best to fit a few in.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to get into Chris Brogan’s head, here’s your chance. As I say, the show airs at 2.00pm eastern and you can find all the details on my BlogTalk Radio page. It’d be great to see you there if you can spare half an hour tomorrow.

Cheers!

Note – the Amazon link to Trust Agents uses an affiliate code.

photo credit: Christopher S. Penn