Although I’m a little behind, I finally read The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise? by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. In today’s world, everybody uses social media platforms – for business and personal life – but many users are just “making noise” instead of sharing actionable content, engaging with customers, creating leads, or in other words, “making things happen.”
Chris and Julien use personal stories of successes and failures to give readers an accurate depiction of how to both positively and negatively affect a target market online. As Chris says several times about several of his books, “It’s not a book about social media,” but rather a book about how to effectively connect with users.
I learned a number of helpful tips from this book, but one that stood out to me particularly is this:
“The more you delay the process of extracting value from your network and channels, the faster you will build audience and good will. Then good will and value can be extracted more efficiently later on, when it matters […] It is important that you connect with people in order to serve them first.”
Everyone knows the importance of networking, but many of us spend too much time focusing on how our networks can help us, before we think about how we can help them. Offering to provide a product or service to others (or even just help out) first is a great way to get your foot in the door and leave a positive first impression as a knowledgeable and helpful contact to keep. Then when you’re in need of a favor from your network, they will be much more willing to help you out.
Moral #374 of the story: Don’t be selfish. Be kind & helpful to those who deserve to be in your network. Always be the first to offer your services.
What I enjoyed most about the book was being able to tell which author was writing which section. Chris and Julien have very different writing styles, as well as independent knowledge in their areas of expertise; as a reader, it added a sense of personal connection to each author and his stories. Overall, this book was extremely helpful and honest about how to leave a positive impression through all online media. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving how they interact with others online, or in the business world in general.
