I’m not sure when I first ran across Chris Brogan, but I do know that I now interact with him almost every day. Not in person, but that’s okay, because Chris is all about connecting with people from a distance. That’s the beauty of the Internet, you don’t need to be in the cubicle next to me in order to influence me.
Reading his blog and following him on Twitter had a profound impact on the way I view the web and my place within it. There’s not many people you can point at and say that.
There are only a handful of Twitterati in the same league as Chris, but that doesn’t keep him from being super connected to almost everyone when he’s online. Let me give two minor examples. One day when I was checking my twitter feed before heading out to lunch, I saw that he has sent out a message about being on vacation with his family in Maine and going for a dip in the lake. I made a silly tweet about the fact that the water must have been about 34 degrees, but a few minutes later, he responded letting me know it was just barely tolerable. I don’t imagine the same thing would have happened if I had sent something off to Oprah, I’m just saying.
Another nice touch came just a couple weeks ago. I saw someplace that Chris lives up north of Boston. That’s where I lived before moving down to North Carolina about 6 years ago. I was planning a trip to visit my in-laws up there, so I sent off a quick email asking him if he could recommend any good wi-fi coffee shop places around Georgetown. He took the time that night to send me back 4 places he recommended. Awesome.
When I saw that Chris and Julien Smith were writing a book on social media, I knew I’d buy it, because I’m already a fan.
My absolute favorite blog on the entire web is Lisa Barone’s at Outspoken Media, she had an awesome post about Chris and Julien’s presentation at last week’s Affiliate Summit get together which made me even more excited about their upcoming book.
Last night, I could finally order Trust Agents from Amazon.
When I read Chris’s post today asking for a little bit of love in return for all he’s put out, I knew legions would answer his call. When I first ordered the book I didn’t even look at it’s ranking on Amazon’s list. When I read the tipping point tweet from Chris this afternoon, it was already at #45 on the bestsellers list. It’s at #30 at 8pm and rising.
So if you haven’t read his blog, start reading it. If you use Twitter, connect to him on there. If you already do both of those, then do the right thing and open your wallet and help out someone who has helped you in the past, buy his book.
If you honest-to-God can’t afford to buy his book, email me and I’ll try to help you out as best I can.
Reading posts like this makes me happy that all I’ve done has paid off. Because thoughts like yours are what matters. The rest? Fluff.
Thank you.
Unlike Phil, I remember EXACTLY when I heard about Chris Brogan – from Phil. Phil makes sure I know what’s up in the social media world, and Brogan is definitely what’s up.
Now – why PHIL is a Trust Agent:
In Trust Agents, Brogan and Julien talk about becoming Agent Zero, which means that you are the connector piece between the gazillions of people you know. It means that once you’ve done your networking, you actually USE it. You introduce other people to one another, you make recommendations, you point people in the right direction. An important point made about an Agent Zero, though, is that all their good will comes back to them in force. Agent Zero types help people out because it’s the right thing to do and because they are genuinely caring people (not to have a favor repaid). They wouldn’t be known for their people skills if they didn’t LIKE people so much. Thus, without touting their own horn, Agent Zeros become insanely popular. Phil Buckley is the Agent Zero that I know. He goes out of his way to do good things for the people he knows. I have certainly been the benefactor of his good deeds before.
Thanks for all the positive energy, Phil.
Thanks Morgan. In the last year I’ve met so many awesome people that it makes it easy to connect and try to help in little ways. I appreciate the kind words more than you know.