Citizen Marketer 2.1

Aaron Strout

  • Home
  • About Aaron
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Influence, Networking and Building Equity

July 7, 2010 By Aaron Strout 10 Comments

There’s been a post stewing about in my head for the last several days. It’s about the importance of keeping your virtual “bank” full when it comes to networking and influence. As someone that has been focused on networking well before the idea of social networks came into vogue, I can tell you that this is easier said than done, mainly because it requires a lot of work and the frequent subjugation of one’s ego.

The impetus for this post came while I was out for a walk last week. This is usually my quiet time where I can catch up on tweets, e-mails etc. away from the office, my wonderful wife and three beautiful children. During my walk, I listen to music, take in some fresh air and get a little exercise. On this particular day as I was going through my friends tweets and realized that there was a certain influential friend of mine (let’s call him Jim Jones) who I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I didn’t need anything from him but wanted to just say “hi” since it had been a few months since we last connected.

As one that dislikes using the phone whenever possible, sometimes there is no substitute for it, especially when you haven’t connected with someone in a while. To that end, I thought the best way to connect with “Jim” was via a phone call. Unfortunately, with Jim’s popularity has come stalking and bothering so Jim had to change his number. After realizing that I would not be speaking with Jim via the phone that very pleasant morning, I had the following exchange with Jim via direct message on Twitter:

AaronStrout
bruthah! Was out for a walk this AM and thought I’d call just to say “hi.” realized the # I have has been disconnected ;(


JimJones
444-444-1234. Sorry to miss you. I’m in the LA this week, so won’t answer just yet. : )


AaronStrout
oh, no worries. like i said, i just saw you tweeting and thought, “I haven’t talked to Jim in a while.” Hope you’re well. ๐Ÿ˜‰


JimJones
I haven’t talked to you in too long. You’re lovely. : )


AaronStrout
same back atcha sunshine! ๐Ÿ˜‰

The purpose of showing you this exchange is not to make you throw up in your mouth but to demonstrate the importance of my approach. I wanted Jim to know that this was strictly a friendly call and that I wasn’t asking for anything. While “Jim” is a household name in the world of marketing and social media, I take this same approach with my entire network. In fact, I love nothing better than to randomly pull out a tweet or blogpost from someone in my network and re-tweet (repost on Twitter) or comment on their work. I say this not to come off as an egotistical prick but to demonstrate the fact that people with big or small networks appreciate this unconditional “love.”

Building on this topic, a recent post by the lovely and eloquent, Amber Naslund, got me thinking more about the real definition of “influence”which is often one of the outcomes that people seek via the process of networking. In her post, Amber states…

To me, influence isnโ€™t about popularity. Or even reach. Itโ€™s about the trust, authority, and presence to drive relevant actions within your community that create something of substance. That last bit is key.

Yup. Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s about “trust, authority and presence” which to me reinforces why so many many companies have a hard time with social media. They don’t want to take the time to build trust or presence even though they might already have some authority in their particular area of expertise. Like an awkward teenage boy on his first date, the company forgets that relationship building doesn’t happen in one evening and that the physical (read: good) part comes only when “trust and authority” have been established. Unfortunately, too many of these encounters end with a “slap in the face” rather than a “goodnight kiss.”

For those of you who are new to the world of social, this may sound disheartening. But you have to start somewhere. And as a great example of that, I’ll point out my friend, Kelly Stonebock, who knew that she should be blogging but had until recently put it off up. While she’s only got four posts under her belt… she now has FOUR posts under her belt and is on her way to establishing credibility as a serious blogger/writer.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start networking. And while you’re at it, don’t forget the “trust, authority and presence” piece. Don’t worry, it’s never too late to get started.

My Biggest Influencers (cross-posted from Mzinga.com)

October 29, 2008 By Aaron Strout Leave a Comment

As I transition out of my current role at Mzinga, I’m selectively cross-posting some of my more memorable posts on this site. Don’t worry, I’ve obtained the blessing of the higher-ups at Mzinga (their a cool bunch). More to come!

Cross-posted on Mzinga.com (original post date, January 16, 2008)

Like Jake Mckee aka “The Community Guy, I too got tagged with a cool meme by my good friend, Mukund. As a result of being tagged, I’m now on the hook to share my life’s three biggest influencers. Not an easy excercise by any stretch but I’m going to take a shot. Here goes:

  • My Parents – I would be an ungrateful child if I didn’t include my parents in this list. I know, this list is supposed to be thought provoking and impart all sorts of wisdom to the people reading this blog post. But for this choice, I’ve got to stay grounded. My parents did a bang up job of teaching me life’s important values (respect, honesty, integrity to name a few) and for the most part, I think I turned out okay. As a father of three, I now have the pleasure of trying to figure out how I can do the same with my children. Any of you who have kids know that this is not an easy task.
  • L. Ron Hubbard – NOT! I couldn’t resist including him, especially given the leaking of Tom Cruise’s absolute whack job of a tape. This is a must listen if you haven’t heard it already.
  • Ms. Latin – Yup, she was my 11th and 12th grade honors French teacher. At the time, I hated her guts. As it turns out, Ms. Latin realized something about me early on i.e. that was that as much as I was a relatively smart guy — notice I said “relatively”‘ — but I didn’t apply myself to school nearly as much as I should. My reward for such behavior? Two to three hours of French homework EVERY night (on top of three to four hours of other homework.) Of course I bucked her every step of the way but as I close in on my 40th year on this planet, I can look back and appreciate the work ethic Ms Latin instilled in me. Most important (and impressive) was that she never gave up on me and for that I thank her.
  • Sean Belka – I met Sean at Fidelity Investments back in 1997. He was the head of our online partnerships group and I was working in the interactive group for Fidelity’s in-house ad agency. At the time, Sean was negotiating partnerships with the likes of companies like Yahoo! and Lycos (remember them) and my group was providing the online assets for these partnerships. I didn’t know Sean well at the time but I remember being impressed by his wit, humor and ability to target cutting edge companies for strategic partnerships.

    Fast forward to 2003 when I was re-orged into Sean’s group right after he was named the head of segment marketing at Fidelity. In no time at all, Sean resurrected a partnership group and tapped me as one of the leaders in the group. As a result, I had the rare opportunity to join Sean and our division president for meetings with luminaries like Eric Schmidt at Google, Jeff Jordan of eBay (he was the president of eBay U.S. at the time) and Dan Rosensweig of Yahoo (their COO.) These meetings left an indelible impression on me and I will be forever grateful to Sean for giving me that opportunity.

  • Barry Libert (I know I said “3” but I couldn’t resist) – Barry is our current co-CEO at Mzinga and my partner on the We Are Smarter project. I’ve worked with Barry for a little over a year and a half and I have to say that to know Barry is to love him. He’s hands down one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met and a more strategic guy you’ll never meet. He’s also very approachable which is one of the things I like most about him. I won’t lie, there have been times over the years that I’ve wanted to throttle him (I’m sure he’s felt the same way about me) but at the end of the day, he’s the guy that really pushed me into social media.

Who are your biggest influences? Let’s find out from Francois Gossieaux, Nate Ritter, Jim Storer and Dave Wilkins since they’ve all been tagged!

Francois Gossieaux, Nate Ritter, Jim Storer, Dave Wilkins, Pauline Brannigan

Recent Posts

  • How We Arrived at the What 2 Know Podcast: A Brief History
  • A Walk Down Memory Lane: My Third Ever Podcast… with Michael Arrington
  • 45 Things I’ve Learned in My 45 Years on Earth
  • SXSW Best Bars, Restaurants, Panels & Pro Tips from W2O
  • Austin Breakfast Places FTW

Recent Comments

  • jmctigue on Austin Breakfast Places FTW
  • aaronstrout on My Wife the Community Manager
  • Mike Troiano on My Wife the Community Manager
  • aaronstrout on My Wife the Community Manager
  • Samiina Mirza on My Wife the Community Manager

Categories

  • Analytics
  • Blog
  • content marketing
  • facebook
  • location based services
  • mobile
  • pre-commerce
  • social media
  • social media marketing
  • twitter
  • W2O Group

Search

Copyright © 2021 ·Stroutmeister Theme