The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise? - Hardcover

Brogan, Chris; Smith, Julien Stanwell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591844908 ISBN 13: 9781591844907

Publisher: Portfolio, 2012

Synopsis

“Anyone can write a blog post, but not everyone can get it liked thirty-five thousand times, and not everyone can get seventy-five thousand subscribers. But the reason we’ve done these things isn’t because we’re special. It’s because we tried and failed, the same way you learn to ride a bike. We tried again and again, and now we have an idea how to get from point A to point B faster because of it.”

Three short years ago, when Chris Brogan and Julien Smith wrote their bestseller, Trust Agents, being interesting and human on the Web was enough to build a significant audience. But now, everybody has a platform. The problem is that most of them are just making noise.

In The Impact Equation, Brogan and Smith show that to make people truly care about what you have to say, you need more than just a good idea, trust among your audience, or a certain number of fol­lowers. You need a potent mix of all of the above and more.

Use the Impact Equation to figure out what you’re doing right and wrong. Apply it to a blog, a tweet, a video, or a mainstream-media advertising cam­paign. Use it to explain why a feature in a national newspaper that reaches millions might have less impact than a blog post that reaches a thousand passionate subscribers.

Consider the phenomenally successful British singer Adele. For most musicians, onstage banter basically consists of yelling “Hello, Cleveland!” But Adele connects with her audience, pausing between songs to discuss a falling-out with her friends, or the drama of a break up. Each of these moments comes off as if she were talking directly with you, and you can easily relate. Adele has Impact.

As the traditional channels for marketing, selling, and influencing disappear and more people inter­act mainly online, the very nature of attention is changing. The Impact Equation will give you the tools and metrics that guarantee your message will be heard.

About this title

About the Author

CHRIS BROGAN and JULIEN SMITH are consultants and speakers who have worked with Fortune 500 companies, including PepsiCo, General Motors, American Express, and Microsoft. They have been involved in online communities and blogging for more than fifteen years. Their first book, Trust Agents, was a New York Times bestseller.

Visit chrisbrogan.com/impact

Visit inoveryourhead.net

Follow us on Twitter @chrisbrogan, @julien

Reviews

Brogan and Smith explain to entrepreneurs how to build ideas, how to move them through a platform so they will be seen and discussed, and then how to build a strong human element around those ideas so that people will know their participation is appreciated. They lead us to consider the source of our market as we combine the passion of those who matter to us with our passion so that all of us can leave our marks on the world. The book is designed around the equation IMPACT = C x (R + E + A + T + E). C represents being seen; R, whom you connect to; E, how often you connect; A, being understood instantly; T, why we trust someone; and E, the feeling of connection conveyed to our audience.The authors note, Build everything you do while understanding that things will permanently be changing. Excellent, thought-provoking book for entrepreneurs and other library patrons wanting to learn about Internet opportunities in the twenty-first century. --Mary Whaley

Edition details

• Publisher: Portfolio
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1591844908
• ISBN 13: 9781591844907
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288