Last night #PRStudChat had a very dynamic discussion with community members about the PR Influencer and how to build trust online.  We heard some excellent insight from our students, educators and pros.  Now it’s time to see what our special guest, @chrisbrogan said about being a PR influencer.  Here are Chris’ responses to our questions last night:

@PRStudChat Q1: What does it mean to be a Trust Agent?

Chris Brogan: A trust agent is someone who acts as a human bridge between a company/brand and the people.

Chris Brogan: Example: Morgan Johnston is a trust agent for JetBlue.

Chris Brogan:  The idea was that people would need to learn how to be “Human at a distance.”

@PRStudChat Q2: Why is so important to become an “Agent Zero?”

Chris Brogan: Connectors are everything in a networked world. Agent zero is the connector’s connector.

Chris Brogan: We need more than your smarts. We need your network. We need your presence.

Chris Brogan: Agent Zero is the person who can move people to take action and help others grow.

@PRStudChat Q3: How long does it take to become a member of a community and what steps do you take?

Chris Brogan: That’s a hard question to answer. How long does it take to fall in love?

Chris Brogan: I think the easiest way to answer is that by being helpful and not asking for much back, you win.

Chris Brogan: No fewer than 3 months, and that’s rushing things.

@PRStudChat Q4: What are the characteristics of an influencer?

Chris Brogan: Influencers are the types of people who motivate others to take action.

Chris Brogan: They can use this power for good or evil. There are plenty of negative influencers in the world.

Chris Brogan: The best influencers love their community and benefit from that love indirectly. (OPRAH)

@PRStudChat Q5: New standing #PRStudChat PSA Opportunity- What handle or hashtag would you like to share with the community?

Chris Brogan: My favorite charity is a tie between Skip1.org and InvisiblePeople.tv. I think both missions are vital.

PRStudChat Q6: Who are some of the great influencers that have built trust with their communities?

Chris Brogan: I think @chrisgarrett has a great community. @problogger does, too. They’re both heart-first guys.

Chris Brogan: @LizStrauss is another great community person. So is @barefoot_exec.

@PRStudChat Q7: Do businesses need to have their employees build trust online to be more successful?

Chris Brogan: I think some businesses can be successful without working on online trust, but…

Chris Brogan: …companies who work on trust will outperform their competitors, as it’s a great lever.

@PRStudChat Q8: What is your advice to students and professionals with respect to becoming an influencer?

Chris Brogan: Don’t focus on becoming an influencer. Focus on building a personal presence and platform that…

Chris Brogan: …helps you help others. The more you help others publicly (without bragging), the better it gets.

Chris Brogan: It’s really, really important to realize that influence is made up of three things:

Chris Brogan: Influence is: 1.) Repetition 2.) Entertainment 3.) Value

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from people knowing what you’re about (repetition)

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from people wanting to listen to you (entertainment)

Chris Brogan: Influence comes from giving something important to others (value)

If you want to compare the community’s answers to Chris’ responses, you can check out the transcript (make sure you click on “View Transcript) from last night’s discussion.  We think the #PRStudChat community did a great job with their responses and provided really good insight on the PR Influencer topic!

Remember to comment on the PRStudchat blog to our influencer question.  Several members of the community will be selected to win a copy of Chris’ book, Trust Agents.  And, please take the time to thank @ChrisBrogan for sharing his thoughts and @RuderFinn, last night’s sponsor, for making our book giveaway possible!

A Little More About PRStudChat:

It began with a simple question asked by Angela Hernandez, then President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU).  “Is PR Right for me?” A follow up blog post by PR 2.0 expert Deirdre Breakenridge inspired a series of direct messages on Twitter between Breakenridge and fellow PR industry pro, Valerie Simon. This was an important question and one that should be explored beyond one student or one blog post. Why not build a community to help students across the country, and even the globe, learn from the experience and perspective of industry professionals… A community where everyone could learn and grow together. Read more …

We are less than a week away from our February 23^rd #PRStudChat with our very special guest @ChrisBrogan, co-author of Trust Agents. Chris joins us that night at 9:00 p.m. ET (please note the time change as we usually begin at 8:30 p.m. ET) for our Twitter discussion on the PR influencer and how to build trust online. We are looking forward to Chris’ insights on the topic and the dynamic discussions with Chris and our community.

We also announced earlier this month that we have an exclusive sponsor that night.  Ruder Finn, is sponsoring the chat session and their sponsorship will go toward several lucky community members receiving Chris’ book.  We’re going to post a question on the PRStudChat blog that night (related to influencers and building trust) and ask our community to answer the question.  A random drawing will select community members to receive the book, Trust Agents, all made possible by @RuderFinn.

We are very excited to have Chris join us on February 23^rd and can’t think him enough for being our special guest.  We’re also very happy to have @RuderFinn as the sponsor of this session, which is designed to educate PR and communications professionals on the topic of the PR influencer. There’s still time to post any questions that you’d like to ask Chris about becoming a Trust Agent or building trust online. Feel free to post them in our LinkedIn Group.  Hope to “see” on you on February 23^rd at 9:00 p.m. ET, for a very dynamic discussion.

A little more about our sponsor, Ruder Finn:

Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world. Through offices and affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of more than 250 corporations, governments and nonprofit organizations.

Last week I created a video blog about my reading regimen.  As I went over my favorite reading resources, two articles stuck in my mind.  It was the title of an Entrepreneur Inc. Magazine column called “THE WAY I WORK.” The first column highlighted Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, who described his work style as, “My style is to bust the door down and clean the mess up later.” I couldn’t get his work regimen out of my head.  Then when Iooked at the same column, a couple of months earlier.  Except this time, it was Gary Vaynerchuck letting everyone know that his style was, “Everyday, between every phone call – during every spare second – I’m on Twitter.”  These article had an impact on me. Although my post focused on how to stay “in the know” and how to keep up with the news with a daily reading regimen, in all honesty, that’s not why these articles or men stuck out in my head. The reason: there was something inherent in both of them with respect to their new influence … they truly owned it!

What do I mean by truly owning your influence? Once you achieve influence, which I’ll discuss in a moment, it’s how you maintain, manage and consistently give of yourself.  There are some new influencers, personalities such as Michael Arrington, Gary Vaynerchuck, Chris Brogan, Arriana Huffington, Charlene Li, and the list goes on, who I believe have reached positions of influence and to this day “own” their influence.  They continue to exhibit a combination of characteristics that have people riveted by their actions and following their every move.  It could be a combination of the driven attitude (“bust the door down”), the tireless energy that makes you never stop (“every day between every call on I’m Twitter”) or is it the power of social outreach and engagement that makes individuals soar to new heights of influence and remain as well known influencers.

When I think about influence, there are so many different definitions and calculations.  No one has said that there’s a right way and a wrong way to view influence.  And, no organization has come out with the only “influence” calculation. Studies are published every year about the top influencers and it’s a game of numbers from influencer rank to their reach and resonance.  But, if you really dissect influence, you have certain characteristics present with the fact that people (your peers) give other people influence because they registered high on a “value scale.” Then, if you don’t truly own your influence (manage and maintain it), as quickly as you gained influencer status, you can lose it too.

What about influence vs. popularity …  is it all about the numbers?  No, not necessarily, because as you gain popularity, the numbers most likely increase. However, at a certain point, you may lose touch with your closest circle or network, who gave you influence to begin with. In turn, this could make you less influential. You simply cannot maintain your close connection.  Of course, we can’t just look at the numbers because every web community has different influencers and the numbers in those influencer networks range from as small as a couple of hundred people to more than 1 million people.

So, what is the story behind influence…how does a person ride down the influence highway turning a page from ordinary communications to wild influence that’s driven and never sleeps, and, which affects people and the decisions they make?  I believe that influence starts long before you are ever named an influencer (it’s inherent in your personality) yet it’s not whether or not you are popular.  I bet today’s influencers have a story to tell about their steps to influence because it was a combination of factors over the years and more importantly, it’s what they are doing today to keep the influence.

Here are a few characteristics of an influencer:  Trust, in-depth knowledge, expertise of your industry, intense motivation and passion, a giving spirit, a winning attitude and the ability to “launch” with constant contact (both online and offline). Critical to influence is also having the right people around you, who will support your efforts and continue to be your champions. This is a “calculation” for influence, regardless of your numbers (Klout score, Twitter Grade, Twitalyzer).  If we can work more on these these characteristics, cultivate them (on a “characteristics scale”) to provide value and exhibit them consistently and tirelessly (owning it), then shouldn’t each and every one of us have what it takes to be an influencer?

What are the characteristics or your “calculations” that make an influencer and how does that influencer register on your value scale? And, whether they influence a few people or thousands, how do they own it?

On January 19^th, we announced a very special guest for our #PRStudChat February session.  @ChrisBrogan, co-author of Trust Agents, joins our Twitter discussion to enlighten our community on the PR influencer and how to build trust online. Today it’s very important for PR and communications professionals to realize that they are moving from a liaison role to an influencer role, as they become bloggers and educate through democratized media.

Chris is an incredible influencer himself, and the perfect person to share his thoughts and experiences in building trust with people online.  Through his writing and his work, he’s been helping professionals to understand what it takes to create relationships and business opportunities.  Here’s is more information on Chris and his scope of expertise:

Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’s blog, [chrisbrogan.com], is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 11 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies. Here’s a link to more information on Chris: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/about/

In the spirit of Chris’ book, Trust Agents, here’s what we’ll be discussing with Chris and our community the night of February 23^rd:

• What does it mean to be a Trust Agent?
• Why is so important to become an “Agent Zero?”
• How long does it take to become a member of a community and what steps do you take?
• What are the characteristics of an influencer?
• Who are some of the great influencers that have built trust with their communities?
• Do businesses need to have their employees build trust online to be more successful?
• What is your advice to students and professionals with respect to becoming an influencer?

One more special announcement for our February 23^rd session …We have an exclusive sponsor that night.  Ruder Finn, is sponsoring the chat session and their sponsorship will go toward several lucky community members receiving Chris’ book.  We’re going to post a question on the PRStudChat blog that night and ask our community to answer the question.  A random drawing will select community members to receive the book, Trust Agents.

We are very excited to have Chris join us on February 23^rd and can’t think him enough for being our special guest.  We’re also very happy to have Ruder Finn as the sponsor of this session, which is designed to educate PR and communications professionals on the topic of the PR influencer.  If there are any questions that you’d like to ask Chris about becoming a Trust Agent or building trust online, please post them in our LinkedIn Group.  Hope to “see” on you on February 23^rd for a very dynamic discussion.

A little more about our sponsor, Ruder Finn:

Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world. Through offices and affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of more than 250 corporations, governments and nonprofit organizations.

The holiday season reminds me of the song from the The Sound of Music , “My Favorite Things.”  Although there are many items on that list, I wanted to share a few of my favorite (PR 2.0) things that I’ve either read in 2009, or relied upon to get me through the year. Of course, I would love to mention everyone and everything that I find valuable online and read all year long, but then this wouldn’t be a blog post…it would be a BIG blog book

A Few of My Favorite Books:

•  Trust Agents by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith

•  The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott

•  The New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg

•  Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

A Few of My Favorite Blogs:

•  @BrianSolis Defining the Convergence of Media and Influence

•  Community and Social Media (and Chris Brogan’s newsletter too)

•  Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

•  Beth’s Blog:  How Non-Profits Can Use Social Media

•  Conversation Agent

• KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog (and Katie’s Measurement Standard newsletter too)

• PRSA’s ComPRhension

• TechXav:  We Teens Love Tech

A Few of My Favorite PR 2.0 Sources (I retweet a lot of their articles):

• Mashable
• Mediabistro.com: PRNewser
• SocialMediaToday
• eMarketer
• NielsenWire
• Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog
• PRSA’s Issues and Trends (for PRSA members)

Are any of these your favorite (PR 2.0) things, or would you like to add to the list Happy Holidays and a huge thank you to all of the people who create a few of my favorite (PR 2.0) things and keep me motivated year round!

Trust lies in the heart of a strong relationship. It can be very hard to achieve and once you have earned it, you would never want to do anything to break that bond.  The book, Trust Agents , by Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) and Julien Smith (@julien) teaches you how to gain trust or influence on the web, which definitely has its challenges.

In the past, I had to know people really well in order to trust them.  For me, it would take significant time, possibly years to build up trust in a relationship.  How is it possible that we can use the power of the web and social media to build this type of trust and improve our reputations along the way?  If you read Trust Agents you will find out in the six simple characteristics to becoming a trust agent.  Although earning trust is hard work, I call them “simple” behaviors because Brogan and Smith break down the complex into easy actionable tasks.  You’re able to digest the information presented and then figure out how to add these tasks into your daily regimen; great steps toward creating your own influence.

For me, Trust Agents was not “just another social media book.” Someone tweeted that very statement when I had first started reading the book. Happily I can say that I strongly disagree.  From the friendly tone of the book to the personal examples and the helpful insight in point blank, no fluff language, I feel that Trust Agents shows you how to gain influence (the right way), and teaches why you should build trust in the first place.  I don’t think you should take the simple steps lightly, and after you read the book it’s important to go back and decide how you are going to work the authors’ advice into your own trust building efforts.

Chris and Julien educate their readers by offering six characteristics or interrelated behaviors to achieve Trust Agent status, even though no one really walks around saying, “I’m a trust agent.”  At least I hope not   The six actions include:

Make Your Own Game:  A great first step and one that many of us rarely think about. It’s good to be reminded that you can invent your own rules and do something different. After you read the chapter, you’ll feel motivated to change the way you want to move the needle. Making your own game made me visualize different approaches to my business and my personal brand. I also analyzed some of the gatejumping examples I thought were interesting models that showcased how to develop your own set of rules.  It’s all about figuring out ways to create your next gatejump (moving from the old way to a new way).  You’ll learn more about gatejumping if you read the chapter

Be One of Us:  I can definitely relate to this chapter as I’m frequently discussing the idea of sociology and observing the culture of a network, in order to truly participate and find meaningful relationships.  The chapter on being One of Us is no different.  Chris and Julien do a great job scoping out how and why people fit in and what someone can do to be more human.  I enjoyed the call out boxes with additional information that ran through the chapter.  I also thought the Signals of Trust were useful (as they exist on the web and not necessarily in real life).  I particularly liked the sections that showed readers how “Not to be One of Us” by showing elitism and also the difference between Raising up and Sucking up. .

Archimedes Effect:  Of course this is a principle that so many of us know, but again rarely apply.  It’s smart business to take something that is already a proven success and build upon it.  We all know the Paredo effect and why we shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel.  The authors do a good job here instructing on the basics of how to leverage the web from introducing ways to leverage your position in your own organization to how to leverage social media and tools to manage time.  This chapter has a familiar concept, but spells out useful ways to get that leverage that you often think about, but don’t necessarily take the steps toward action.

Agent Zero: One of my favorite chapters because it goes beyond the Trust Agent, who you rely on and trust for information, a step further to Agent Zero status.  The trust agent can be Agent Zero by connecting groups or networks together.  The chapter reminds you how you can use your influence to get people connecting, conversing, sharing information and even working together.  By being Agent Zero you can help your network access grow, assist your communities and literally connect the web.  The chapter provides the steps to becoming Agent Zero with a discussion of the following:

• Awareness (how to become visible and always be there)
• Attention (trying new “stuff” and where to give your attention – what’s worth the time)
• Influence (by being the priest and building the church to being a part of the “150” which is a manageable number of relationships)
• Reputation (how the web speaks for you and links are your currency)
• Authority (how to use the web for authority whether it’s anonymous or trusted authority, the latter being the best scenario)

The Human Artist: Another great chapter because it gets down to the basics of etiquette, which many forget on the web.  The chapter really digs into the dos and don’ts of “the friend thing” and what are realistic expectations and the right approach to building relationships.  The Human Artist has some great passages on what to do before sending emails, actions to make your experience online more effective, information about trolls and trolling, and the new customer service so that you can “empower and equip the people who choose to do business with you.”  I thought the principle of “Answer the Phone” on the web was great. Just another instance of how the authors make the examples very real with practical advice.  You’ll want to listen and to hear the social phone when it’s ringing, rather than just ignoring it.

Build an Army:  The authors point out that you can gain influence on your own, but becoming a trusted part of the community (or many communities) is the way to truly reach online influence. I thought the examples in this chapter were excellent, i.e., how GM and the Tahoe failure led to GMnext.com, which was a highly successful social site to how CNN iReport spread information about Steve Jobs, which lowered Apple’s stock price.  I also had never really heard Chris’ recount of the story, “When an Army Becomes a Mob: Kmart and Dadomatic.  The chapter boils down to The Social Contract and understanding your place in the army or within the social structure because as stated in the chapter, “It’s important to know what you are getting into when you become part of the group.”

I really like this book and highly recommend it to PR people, marketers, business owners, executives, entrepreneurs and people just interested in the way influence works on the web.  There may be principles that you’ve heard before, but it’s how the authors frame these principles with real life examples, helpful information and insight that make them easier to relate to and place into action.  The book also ties many examples to business (which I can appreciate) and is a true motivator when you want to try something new, work hard at building relationships, and work smart at applying the human approach to people on the web.  Trust Agents clearly stands out as a MUST READ.

I recently accepted an invitation to present a workshop at the Social Media for Executives event which takes place in Las Vegas on October 14^th.  When I first corresponded with @DoyleAlbee, I knew that this was the type of program that I would really enjoy because it’s an intimate, best known as mastermind workshops / retreats with senior level executives. This conference seemed a little different and offered the opportunity to feel connected to a group that would be able to dig into the heart of my topic.  And, even though I found out that I was traveling to Houston the day of the event, I still wanted to participate.  My workshop will be Skype presentation on Community Building:  Turning Your Employees into Brand Champions.

I’ve been thinking a lot about “community” as I work on my presentation.  I read @chrisbrogan’s post on Feeling the Community and a lot of what Chris says stands out in my mind.  To me, community means feeling connected and finding where I fit in whether it’s business or personal. Because we spend so many hours a day at work it’s very important that employees find the connection to the company and feel like they fit into the culture of the organization. The main focus and key take away from my discussion will be:  Executives need to understand that if they want to build a community for their employees, then they have to get the employees engaged and feeling connected from day one.

Here a few important things that I’ve learned on my community building projects:

• The community should be for employees, about the employees and set up to answer their questions, foster healthy dialogue and through discussion work toward solving their challenges. It should also allow them to be innovative and share their thoughts with other employees who understand similar work related experiences.
• If a community is created based on management’s agenda, and not necessarily with employee objectives in mind, the community will not be active and/or successful.  Those are the communities where people remain in-actives or spectators and don’t truly move up the Technographics ladder.
• It’s not what the executives want to talk about (unless it’s an executive blog).  In any case, there should no company messages passed down from the C-Suite. The information shared is information that interests employees, and in many cases it’s what they want to share with each other in order to feel connected.

It’s also important to keep in mind the following:

• Your employees are your front line.  They are the eyes and ears of the company and the group that interact the most on your behalf.
• Your employees have the knowledge and the passion to discuss the brand with enthusiasm and loyalty.  When happy, you don’t even have to ask these individuals to be your brand champions, they do it on their own.
• The enthusiasm of the first day of the job is the type of enthusiasm that should carry forward every day.  Although, we all have a “bad” day every so often, you should generally feel included and connected to your company.  Great communications, rewards and recognition help.  From there, the positive sentiment continues to grow.
• Employees want to be involved in company initiatives in order to experience a connection with their managers, directors and senior level executives.  Involving them in social media will make them a part of the “family.”

It’s the reasons stated above that make it critical to engage in social media communications internally before your the communication goes external to the public.  I am a firm believer that your employees should know your social media goals, values and understand overall how social media affects the company’s business long before you’re community building begins on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The best way to include your employees in your social media program is to use social media communications internally (teach and train them in social media) and have them collaborate and interact in a growing, healthy employee environment.  However, companies face concerns and issues every day, from how to build their social media policies to guide communications to dealing with an entire cultural shift from traditional communication strategies to social media communications.  Yes, that means you need a plan and in many cases you may wrap a change management program around your internal social media goals to truly anchor social media behavior and interaction within your company culture.

There are many interesting challenges and best practice examples of companies that are using social media internally turning their employees into brand champions on every communication front.  As an internal community grows and strengthens, you will see your champions become more poised to communicate externally, not only with passion but also with the expertise to represent your brand accurately because they understand the social media communication goals.

These are a few of the topics and key takeaways that I will discuss with a core group of senior executives on Oct. 14^th.  All organizations are unique and I’m looking forward to learning about their communities and any specific challenges they are experiencing!

I first learned about Tamar Weinberg’s (@tamar) book, The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web, from Chris Brogan’s blog Community and Social Media (@chrisbrogan).  I’m very happy that Chris introduced me to this book and he was right when he said that this is a really well done book and Tamar “knocked it out of the park.” So far, I’ve never been disappointed with Chris’ recommendations!  I’ve read many books on social media from Now Is Gone and The New Influencers to The New Rules of Marketing and PR and Marketing to the Social Web (all really good books by the way).  But for me, Tamar’s book stands out as a very thorough step by step easy guide to the thinking and planning that goes behind social media marketing all the way through to the best practices of implementation (and, of course, where it make sense for you to engage in communities and how to do it the right way).

What I also appreciated about this book is that I felt like Tamar was speaking directly to me, as if she knew my challenges.  The tone and the style of the book gave me an instant connection to her.  When you read a good book, even though you may not know the author, their voice and personality shine through.  After you read this book, you will want to reach out to Tamar to thank her for an excellent contribution to social media marketing and for pouring her heart and passion into every chapter

The book is broken down into sections that are really easy to follow from an Introduction to Social Media all the way to Sealing the Deal: Putting it all Together.  And, she gives you all of the details in between!  Throughout every chapter there are great visuals, helpful case study examples and the material is presented is in short concise snippets of information that is never overwhelming.  This book gives you the right information to get started, and what you need to know as you go along.  You never feel lost in this book (and, I mean the kind of lost where you don’t understand the content or the flow of the information is confusing).

As a matter of fact, a friend of mine on Facebook reached out to me in a message that said “Confusing.”  He had already read a couple of other social media marketing books and felt completely lost.  In his email has said, “It can’t be this hard.”  And, he’s right, it’s not that hard, you just need the right book and author that makes you feel at ease and comfortable with social media marketing.  When I introduced him to The New Community Rules the first thing he said was, “This is exactly what I was looking for!”

I highly recommend Tamar Weinberg’s book.  For me, it joins the ranks of the best social media marketing books available.  I hope that you will pick up your copy and let me (and Tamar) know what you think!