Every day people ask, "does Social Media really work?", "can it grow my business?" or "can you make any real money doing all of this stuff?" The truth is, there is only one way to answer "yes" to all of these questions, and here’s how…

Build trust.

It’s that easy… and it’s that hard.

Over four years ago, I took a chance. I got into my car and drove to Boston from Montreal to attend the first-ever PodCamp. I had heard of both Julien Smith (he was doing a Podcast and Blog called, In Over Your Head) and Chris Brogan (who had a very unique perspective on how communities and technology connect). Brogan was also one of the co-founders of this unconference and Julien and I had connected when I gave a presentation to a Toastmasters group. I left that weekend having met some amazingly unique people (in fact, more than a handful of them remain close and personal friends to this day). Two of those friends were Brogan and Smith.

At PodCamp Toronto a while after the Boston event, Brogan and Smith co-presented a session on The Trust Economy (you can read my thoughts about it from 2007 here: PodCamp Toronto 2007 – Day Two – Corporate Podcasting – Trust Economies And The Next Episode Of Six Pixels Of Separation and here: Trust Economies – The New Marketing ROI) that made my draw drop. Since when did business care about building trust? Was trust a real economy or was this just some kind of marketing spin? Is there a ROI in building trust? They weaved through the session a new way of thinking about the world, community and business that thankfully did not end on that day. They started writing out their thoughts and got a book deal in the process.

If you do one thing today: please get yourself a copy of their book, Trust Agents (all of the info on how to buy it is right here: Buy Trust Agents). 

Here’s the thing: for countless years, Brogan and Smith have given abundant amounts of content (Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Podcasts, speaking and beyond) to help people like you and I grow our business. In that time, they have never asked for anything in return (and that includes money). For a little under twenty bucks, you are not only getting huge value in one of the better business books that has been released this year, but you’re also making a statement. You’re saying, "thank you for all of this content. I appreciate it." I’m not being paid to Blog about Trust Agents. Yes, these guys are co-hosts for the Podcast, Media Hacks, with me, but I get no professional or monetary gain from this post (not even an affiliate penny) or the Podcast. I’m Blogging about Trust Agents to prove the point of the book: if you enjoy what I have to say here, on the Podcasts, on Twitter and/or on Facebook, then trust me, you’ll love this book. If that isn’t enough to sway you, think about the last time I wrote any kind of promotional post for any kind of product or service. Yes, the book is that good and the authors have my trust.

If everything you do in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, PR and Personal Branding is not about building trust, then what are you doing?

Get Trust Agents right here: Buy Trust Agents.