Got a few emails… so yes, it was me in the Alltop introductory video. The people who made it are friends of mine who do great work, plus I’m a definite fan of the site, so it was really fun to do this for them. :)
Filed by Julien at 12:42 am under random
2 Comments
So, Trust Agents.
Since Chris came out earlier today to write about what our book would be called, I figured I would add some of my comments. I won’t speak for Chris here, since he’ll probably go into detail on his own, but here’s what the phrase means to me.
1. Trust agents deal in social capital, which I see as a vague, undefined– but nonetheless very real– currency. I talked about this a while ago on my blog, and then promptly forgot about it. I revisited the audio this morning, and it seems like I had the seeds of this idea all the way back in February of 2007. Here it is in case you’re interested.
2. If social capital is the currency of the web, trust agents are people that understand how it works through their understanding of how people work on the web (how they join together, how they come to trust others, etc). They do this, at all times, with *people* in mind, not profit.
3. Trust agents know how trust and influence work, but they *do not* take advantage of people– not only because it’s against their nature, but because it doesn’t work. They know that there are no secrets on the web, and everything is uncovered eventually, so taking advantage of people doesn’t make sense, and they don’t do it.
4. Trust agents develop trust and influence for some purpose; some do it for other companies (ie, Scoble did it with Microsoft), and some do it for themselves. It’s the use of the methods that define what a trust agent is, not where the trust is eventually going.
5. I dunno… other stuff. :)
We’re getting a ton of comments from people on Chris’ blog right now about the title, and how it’s not something people will understand– I see that, and we’re still working on it. But the concept is there, and the people that do this are real. The rest is details. :)
Filed by Julien at 1:07 pm under the book
5 Comments
I’m at Gimme Coffee right now in Brooklyn.
To my left, there’s a guy on an IBM Thinkpad using Gmail. I’m beside that, using Google Docs. To my right, there’s a girl with a black Macbook, using Youtube.
We are all on Google properties.
Is that scary? I don’t know why, I just suddenly had a really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Filed by Julien at 10:48 am under random
8 Comments
One of the interesting things about co-writing a book is that you look into someone else’s experiences, as well as your own. So I’ve been thinking about Chris Brogan a lot. (It’s weird, I know.)
Anyway, remember the funnel?
A long time ago, Seth Godin figured out that turning strangers into friends, then into customers, and then into salespeople– this was a method that worked.
Anyway, I think Chris exemplifies this formula. Except he changed it a bit.
Chris turned strangers into friends, that’s for sure. He knows everyone at conferences and they all want to buy him lunch. And they all feel like they know him personally, and that he knows them. That’s pretty rare for someone who’s read by 7,500 people.
But what’s interesting is that he skipped the friends > customers part. Chris just turned friends into salespeople. People talk him up all the time, but they’ve never bought anything from him… neither has he really tried to sell them anything.
Is there any way to turn strangers into friends, into salespeople, and then into customers? What do you think? Can it be done?
Filed by Julien at 11:36 am under the book, random
3 Comments
Registrations are open! Show up or you owe me a beer.
But seriously, Laurent, Sylvain, and Laurent (2), and Michelle are doing a great job with this, particularly since running a bilingual event is a bit more complicated than your usual Podcamp. It should be pretty damn cool.
Filed by Julien at 2:12 pm under events, podcasting
3 Comments
I have a problem.
There’s this one Mexican restaurant I keep walking by. Through the windows, I see their curtains, which are coloured green, white, green. And I keep thinking:
“Guys, change just one of those and you’ve got a Mexican flag! How great would that be?”
Of course, in reality, this is none of my damn business.
But I can’t help myself. I’m a fixer. You probably are too.
We have absolutely no problem thinking of fixing other people’s projects, but our own? We have no idea what to do. Somehow, our own projects are never as obvious.
Why not?
Maybe we need to form a collective or something. Create little, incremental changes for each other. Push the envelope just a bit. Maybe learn how to see our projects from the outside, who knows.
If this compulsion isn’t going away, we might as well do something creative with it, right?
Filed by Julien at 11:25 am under random
10 Comments
Some may applaud Apple’s decision to remove the $1000 iPhone app (the one that does nothing) from its store the other day but, in reality, it’s deplorable.
I’m not concerned about the customer service issue (because yes, people will buy it, and yes, Apple will get complaints)– I get that side of it. But this thing is a work of art. An accidental one, maybe, but still, it’s true.
The thing is a great commentary on the cost of gadgets, on social status among geeks– there are a lot of ideas in there, and now, it’s all gone.
The reason why is interesting. It’s gone because iTunes is the opposite of the web– it’s owned by a single company, and they can make things appear and vanish at will. In contrast, everything online is basically there forever, either in a Google cache or on Archive.org.
But now, this hilarious, insightful work is gone, forever. It’s this kind of thing, this tiny thing, that gives you an idea of what net neutrality really means– what the web could be to us, tomorrow.
Filed by Julien at 1:51 pm under random
6 Comments
Heh, I’m pretty sure this post is directed at me. Which is fine, I deserve it. :)
Things have been busy around here. The book with Brogan is really happening, so I’m learning to write a bunch. It’s actually pretty interesting– if any of you have problems with writing, just consider starting something, even if just a paragraph, to see where it goes. Usually it ends up just fine, and starting always seems to be the hardest part.
Another thing I’m noticing is that reading a book leaves me much more patient than reading on the web. I allow for periods of boredom to get to the good stuff when words are printed, but not when they’re on a page.
Not sure what that means for how I should be writing, though, there’s still a bit of trial and error that’s happening there.
Either way, I’m still alive, I have a tiny podcast project (one I cooked up with Bob at PAB2008), and I still read all your blogs and listen to your podcasts. :)
And things are happening. Thanks for coming by. :)
Filed by Julien at 3:14 pm under projects, random
8 Comments
Ok, I just opened my mail and found this. I know it’s probably a viral marketing or ARG thing… I just don’t know for WHAT. Either way though, it’s pretty cool.
Filed by Julien at 2:08 pm under random
5 Comments
This video is about an hour long, but it is required viewing in my book. Information is power.
(Hat tip to Economist’s View.)
Filed by Julien at 10:35 am under random
3 Comments
