Trust, Lollipops and Profits
See Why Heinrich is reading Trust Agents
Trust Agents is a marketing book that manages to combine self-help, self-employment and selflessness. Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, two social network gurus, claim that specifically amidst the overwhelm of online, there’s a way to humanize business and reach your audience through honesty, transparency, generosity and genuine relationships. This spoke to us because it’s a strategy that Heinrich’s been employing for years.
Brogan and Smith say the trick is to be a Trust Agent. What’s a Trust Agent? According to them, it’s someone “who builds networks almost reflexively by being helpful, by promoting the good work that others do, by sharing even their best stuff without hesitation, and by finding ways to deliver even more value on top of all that without asking for anything in return." In their book, they explain six key components to help you become one.
The traits of a Trust Agent aren’t exactly profound. But they are sage. First, Brogan and Smith remind us that it’s time to go back to basics - golden rules, peace and love, the world is good place. We couldn’t agree more. Second, they explain how to make that style profitable in the social networking circus. Good for them and good for us.