Book Review: Trust Agents
I was lucky enough to receive a pre-release copy of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith but I wasn’t lucky enough to be able to get through it until now.
Have you ever wondered how Chris Brogan became Chris Brogan (outside of Chris’ parents conceiving him and birthing him)? This book will give you the system that Chris has used (and perhaps Julien as well…I’m not that familiar with Julien’s background and experiences) to build up his community.
In addition to outlining the tools & a systems, this book does a wonderful job of explaining why trust is so important today (hint…it’s because we are all human). The world today is full of marketers, pitchmen (and women), scammers and con artists and the ability of these folks to reach new people is magnified with the use of the Internet. Building trust is key for any person or organization to be able to break through the noise of spam and scams to build up their community.
Any company in the world can benefit greatly from the information presented in this book. Companies today must provide much more intimate messages to their communities….the blast messaging of the past no longer works. Chris & Julien sum this up beautifully with a passage on page 259:
Brands will need to earn a place in our heads with a sense of personal intimacy as well as the consistent messaging they’ve been using to get us to trust them.
Good stuff. This one sentence sums up the entire reason for organizations and people to read this book and practice the art & science of the Trust Agent.
At the end of the day, this book isn’t about the tools and systems that you can use…it’s a treatise on being human. Treat people well, help them without expecting something in return and give back to the community at large. Do this and you’ll become a Trust Agent.
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- Learn to Be a Trust Agent (problogger.net)
- Where are all of the Trust Agents located? (mediabullseye.com)
- On trust, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (jchutchins.net)
- Trust Agents and a Last Laugh of Visible Joy! (successful-blog.com)
- Building Trust Online (ducttapemarketing.com)
- Does Social Media Help You Be Human Through Your Computer? (beth.typepad.com)
- The Big Push (chrisbrogan.com)
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