by Chris Brogan
The answer, almost always, is quite less than you would think.
How the Future Looks to Us
Somewhere out there is a person that has the exact solution to a problem you are having right now. It could be a businessperson. Maybe it’s an artist or a student. Who knows? It might even be a child in the middle of Africa.
There are almost seven billion people on the planet, all thinking different thoughts from yours. One of them is bound to have the answer; you just don’t know who it is yet.
It would be great if we knew who it was. But we don’t, and we won’t, because right now, we can’t connect to them.
If technology got to where it should be, you would be able to Google your problem and whoever had the solution would be connected to you instantly. They would be able to reach you right away, you would be able to talk about your problem, and they would solve it for you. Or they’d have written a blog post you could read, and it would give you a step-by-step solution, which you would then implement. Everything would fall into place, wouldn’t it? But right now, it doesn’t.
The ideas in this book will not last forever. They’ll only be important as long as people are not totally, 100 percent, connected with one another. At that point, this book will become irrelevant. Everyone will be visible and connected all the time. Everyone will be able to have the impact they should have on the world. Many of the world’s problems will get solved at that point—or maybe new problems will be created—who knows?
But we aren’t there yet, and we won’t be for a while. So this book will help you refine your ideas, which is an essential part of working inside a cluttered idea marketplace where everyone is always shouting for attention all the time. It will help you develop a long-term platform that will give your future ideas a nice place to launch, so they can reach as many people as possible. This book will also teach you how to understand the human element of communication, which is something that people forget when they are communicating in this new way. After all, we are still the same humans we always have been. We should still be thinking about people first, because people will always be the recipients of our ideas.
One day, all of this will be irrelevant. People who discover your ideas will know what you mean when you say them, instantly. Or the Web will connect you to other ways the idea is explained, so that a poorly explained idea won’t die but instead will be clarified by someone else.
At some point in the future, the platforms you build will not be necessary. Algorithms will be close to perfect. Now, this future is as unimaginable to us as Google was to medieval peasants. As Arthur C. Clarke once said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So in this future, everything will be “magically” solved, but it won’t actually be magic. It will be connection. Good ideas won’t die. They will be built upon collaboratively, perhaps the way Wikipedia is today.
At that time, everything will change. But in the meantime, you’ll need to hustle. We hope this helped.
The Dramatic Conclusion
If only it were really this easy. The curtain opens, you have your moment in the limelight, and you say your lines. The audience applauds during your solo, there is a love-interest side story, and everything ends happily ever after.
Unfortunately, almost nothing happens this way. This is life, not a movie, so there are no credits that roll after a crisp, simple ending. In fact, if you’re anything like us, your life is messy. Not everything fits in quite right. There are mistakes, missteps, and mispronunciations.
Thankfully, as long as you’re doing at least something right, almost no one will remember them. Instead, they’ll remember your home runs and big hits. They’ll remember the work that helped them achieve a breakthrough, reach many other people, or make a million dollars. Along the way, your work will spread too. The quality of what you do will improve, and over time you’ll become more and more well known. You’ll develop a reputation for good work, and it will be well deserved.
But there is never a curtain call and rarely a standing ovation. Rather, when your work is done, the satisfaction lies in the act itself and the fact that you really made a difference. You had an impact on the world. Those who know and look closely will see your fingerprint in the places you labored and in the people you influenced. They’ll remember you.
In the world that we’re moving toward, everyone will have this chance. It will be taken for granted. We just heard Peter Diamandis speak about the potential and effect of the next billion people to come online in the next few years. What can an extra billion connected minds accomplish alongside the rest of mankind? Their potential cannot be calculated, but their ability to transform the world is unheard of, their impact enormous.
In the meantime, however, the speed at which the world changes is dependent not on the next billion but on those already on the Web: people like you. We hope the concepts in this book help you develop the channel you have always wanted—one that helps spread a message that matters and helps everyone reach the audience they know they can speak to.
Once you have these tools and have mastered them, the next step is to pass them on, to give someone else the ability to leave an imprint. So give this book to someone. It may help them a lot.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Adrian Zackheim for giving us a shot, and to Jim Levine and his agency for helping us stay on target. Thanks to Rob Hatch and Ron Hood at HBW for helping me find time to write and everything else. Thanks to Jacq for giving this book another read for me. And to Chel Pixie for holding it all together.
Index
access, 150, 155–56, 158
Activision, 93, 95
actors vs. spectators, 39–42
Adele (singer), 225–26, 227, 229
advertising, 30
and Exposure, 166–69
and Reach, 146, 148, 151
Advertising Age, 170
aggregators, 158
Alchemist, The (Coelho), 142–43, 145, 232
Alien (movie), 123
allies, collecting, 161
Allsopp, Glen, 114
alltop.com, 154
Amazon.com, 61, 244
self-publishing on, 139
Angelyne, 135–36
Anne (self-rating), 18–20
Apple, 240
Apple Store, 88
apple tree vs. lettuce, 3
Armstrong, Lance, xiv
Articulation, 11, 96–140
and brevity, 112–13, 145
and clarity, 102–4, 113–14
core message, 122–26
Dolbeau, 223
Dollar Shave Club, 164–65
editing, 100–101, 104
Hawkins, 192
of ideas, 115–18
Instagram, 130
language mastery, 106–7
Rogers, 17
self-rating, 127–29
simplicity of, 97–100
Skylanders, 94–95
and synthesis, 103
and too many ideas, 107–9, 110–12
writing skills, 105, 112–13
asmita (mind made me), 100
attention, 25–29, 44, 45, 57
and Exposure, 173, 174
audience:
building, 44–45, 149–50, 159, 160
capture of, 146–50
focus on, 160–61
instant, 62
interactions with, 200–203
judgment of, 76
and network, 199–200
audience (cont.)
speaking the language of, 241–45
understanding, 176–77
values of, 177
auto industry, 152
AVC.com, 185
Babauta, Leo, 163
Batman, 239
Batman & Robin (movie), 40
BeautifulPeople.com, 68
behavior change, 218
Ben (self-rating), 18–20
Berton, Pierre, 5
Bezos, Jeff, 244
“Big Gay Ice
Cream Truck,” 237–38
Black, Rebecca, 143–44
Black Eyed Peas, 159
Blair, Ryan, 41–42
bloggers:
and channel, 167
creating content, 62
frequency of posts, 169–70, 171–73
guest posting, 154
interviews with, 156
Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim and Mauborgne), 66
Bono, Edward de, 104
bounce rate, 177
brainstorming, 69, 74
Branson, Sir Richard:
Business Stripped Bare, 96
and dyslexia, 42, 238
influence of, 123, 154–55, 156, 220
Screw Business as Usual, 155
and Virgin, 118, 154
Brasco, Donnie, 215
bravery, 80–84
Bravo, 31
BrettOnTheWater.com, 17
brevity, 112–13, 129, 145, 180–81, 235
Brin, Sergey, 26
Broderick, Matthew, 167
Brown, Sunni, 121
Burger King, 63–64, 91
business:
and community, 201
fishing for, 213
human element in, 22
ideas for, 108
impact of, 22
inside your business, 22
lean, 25
online, 22, 214–15
people vs., 211
restrictions in, 202
think like a magnate, 27
thirty best customers, 24
Business Stripped Bare (Branson), 96
Cagney, James, xiii
calendars, editorial, 217
Call of Duty (video game), 37
Caplan, David, 222
Card, Orson Scott, 89
Carly, Jacqueline, 39
Carney, Dan, 81–82, 84
Carolla, Adam, 151
car purchase, 28, 128–29
celebrity endorsements, 184
channels, 28
costs of, 29
cross-wiring, 182
developing, 42, 44, 46
and hype, 166–68
impact curve of, 167
as platforms, 148
chaos, embrace of, 24
Charlie (self-rating), 19–20
Chartrand, James, 177
Chiarella, Tom, 156
Chipotle, 90, 101
Chrysler, 85, 128
Cirque du Soleil, 66, 93
clarity, 102–4, 113–14, 127
Clarke, Arthur C., 256
cocktail parties, 212–15
Coelho, Paulo, 142–44
The Alchemist, 142–43, 145, 232
and Echo, 231–32, 234
Cohen, Meytal, 237
Colonnade Hotel, Boston, 77–79
comedy, 245
community, 22, 29, 153
building, 198
definition, 199
hoarder in, 229–30
interactions with, 200–203
maintaining, 201
and network, 199–200
prolific connector in, 230
value of, 202–3
conciseness, 45
connective point, 213
consumption habits, 172, 181
contact:
first, 213
frequency of, 169–71
content:
absorbed online, 105
condensed or expanded, 114
and platform, 159
smart, 85
user-generated, 61
world-class, 158
context, and value, 152
contrarians, 84
Contrast, 10, 55–95
bad ideas, 60–64, 68–69
better ideas, 68–73
and bravery, 80–84
and clarity, 113–14
definitions of, 66, 77
Dolbeau, 223
Dollar Shave Club, 164
ecosystem of ideas, 57–60, 75
emotion in, 85–87
extrapolation, 87–91
Hawkins, 191
idea storms, 74–76
Instagram, 129–30
and oversaturation, 183
pattern recognition, 64–68
Rogers, 16
self-rating, 92–93
Skylanders, 94
smart content, 85
testing, 66–68
vocabulary in, 79–80
control, taking, 27–28
CPM (cost per impression), 170
creativity, 60, 109
credibility:
and trust, 206, 215–16
as unquantifiable, 15, 198
critics, feedback from, 245–50
Croll, Alistair, 57
CrossFit, 38
Cruikshank, Lucas, 139
Cuban, Mark, 159
Culkin, Macaulay, xiii
culture change, 26–27
Curry, Adam, 185
C X (R + E + A + T + E), 10–12, 127
Articulation, 11, 96–140
Contrast, 10, 55–95
Echo, 11, 225–51
Exposure, 11, 166–93
Reach, 11, 141–65
Trust, 11, 204–24
Daily Source Code, 185–86
data visualization, 114
Davis, Wade, 4
Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene, 58
deadmau5, 144, 231, 234
Dell, 74, 201
Diamandis, Peter, 257
differentiation, 66
Digg.com, 60
disappointment, 252
discouragement, 118
distribution, 28–29, 31
blind, 55
free, 29
Doctorow, Cory, For the Win, 35
doitmyselfblog.com, 42
Dolbeau.ca, 222–24
Dollar Shave Club, 163–65, 208
doodling, 118–19
Dorian, Mars, 121
Dubin, Michael, 164
Dungeons & Dragons, 239
e-books, 181
Echo, 11, 225–51
brevity in, 235
common experiences in, 228–29
connecting, 226, 239, 250
and critics, 245–50
Dolbeau, 224
Dollar Shave Club, 165
Hawkins, 192–93
and inspiration, 234–37
Instagram, 130–31
keeping the message alive, 145
in the marketplace, 244–45
models for, 234
online promotions, 232–34
packaging your quirks, 237–39
practice in, 236–37
and response, 239–41
Rogers, 17
and sacrifice, 229–30
and self-actualization, 237
self-rating, 250–51
Skylanders, 95
speaking audience’s language, 241–45
in the workplace, 243–44
editing, 100–101, 104
e-mails:
effectiveness of, 111–12
scalability of, 188
Eminem, 85, 246
emotions, 85–87
and Echo, 234–37
illustration of, 122
and information, 124–25
employee, thinking like, 27
E-Myth books, 116–17
Ender’s Game (Card), 89–90
Eno, Brian, 104
entrepreneurship, risk in, 6
evolutionary psychology, 23
exclusivity, 158–59
excuses, 41–42
execution, 47
expectations, 252–53
experimentation, 63, 177, 179
Exposure, 11, 166–93
and action, 173
and attention, 173, 174
and being seen, 173
and brevity, 180–81
and consumption, 181
definitions, 168–69
Dolbeau, 223
Dollar Shave Club, 164
exercise, 178
and experimentation, 177, 1
79
as frequency, 168, 171–73, 186–88
Hawkins, 192
high, 183–84
hype and channel, 166–68
Instagram, 130
oversaturation, 179–83
positioning, 175
Rogers, 16
scope of, 169
self-rating, 190
Skylanders, 94
and spam, 188–89
strategies for, 174
extrapolation, 87–91
Facebook, 51, 62, 129, 182, 212
fairness, 144
fashion blogs, 222
feedback, from critics, 245–50
feelings, sharing, 228–29
Fiat, 128–29
Fields, Jonathan, 85
50 Cent, 41
Find Your Next (Kates), 88
fitness and health, 24
flexibility, 75
Flinch, The (Smith), 73, 125, 177
Flip video, 90
Fogg, B. J., 218
Ford, Henry, 115
Foursquare, 182
freewriting, 177
frequency, 168, 171–73, 186–88
Frey, Chuck, 121
future, thoughts on, 255–56
Gaiman, Neil, 193
Galford, Robert M., 15, 206, 215
Game On (Radoff), 37
Gamestorming (Gray et al.), 121
Gardner, Howard, Five Minds for the Future, 103
Gates, Rolf, 99–100
generosity, 230
Gerber, Michael, 116
Gervais, Ricky, 150–51, 152–53
giveaways, 184
Gladwell, Malcolm, 58–59, 159
goals, 20–21, 29
building before the need, 44–45
as guideposts, 25
ways to achieve, 36–37
Godin, Seth, 69
Big Moo, 159
condensed content of, 114
and critics, 246–47
and Group of 33, 159
influence of, 123, 185, 222
Purple Cow, 159
We Are All Weird, 239
goodwill, 150
Google+:
Chris’s book about, 161–62
tutoring and coaching via, 28–29
update, 182
users of, 212
Grams, Chris, 202–3
grass roots, 143
Gray, Dave, 121
Green, Charles H., 15, 206, 215
Gross, David, 222
“Group of 33,” 159
Grylls, Bear, 4
guest posting, 154
guiding principles, 20–22
goals, 20–21, 25, 29
human element, 22
ideas, 22
platform, 21
Guillebeau, Chris, 217
habit creation, 218
Hadge, Kenneth, 96–97, 100
Hawking, Stephen, A Brief History of Time, 113–14
