Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan, Julien Smith

Product Details

Synopsis

This book is your guide to a new form of power broker--web natives who trade in trust, reputation, and relationships using tools you may never even have heard of. You will learn what you need to look for in such an agent for your business or how to become one yourself. Trust Agents is your guide to the deep end of meaningful relationships on the web.

The book explores how business people can use the Web's new social software tools to build awareness, influence, reputation, and eventually authority. It focuses on methods of building trust and wielding influence, and how these efforts impact business processes and goals. In three parts, the book defines the landscape of this generation's web, explains who trust agents are, and analyzes the mechanics of trust in today's economy where reputation is key. Part career advice, part communications management, and part technology know-how, Trust Agents aims to deliver high level theory, actionable next steps, and stories and case studies to bolster the opinions and experiences of the authors.

Library Journal

The Internet has come nearly full circle, albeit content today is more mainstream than scientific. The success of social-networking sites such as Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and LinkedIn suggests that the web is once again more about information sharing and collaboration than promoting goods and services. This doesn't mean that money can't be made in the medium but merely that key business practices have changed—or have they? Brogan, cofounder of a new media conference series, and trend analyst and consultant Smith lead readers through today's most popular social-networking outlets and present six easy-to-understand behaviors that can positively influence business and reputation. Case studies illustrate why some socially driven initiatives succeed while others don't; proper etiquette within the new frontier of the "human web" is also discussed. The authors make the cornerstone concept of a "Trust Agent" highly understandable, providing clear examples both pre- and post-Google. Moreover, they show how one can achieve success by leveraging the web to build relationships based on trust. VERDICT Highly recommended for anyone interested in fostering online relationships or cultivating business on the web.—Judy Brink-Drescher, Molloy Coll., Rockville Ctr., NY

Biography

Chris Brogan is cofounder of PodCamp, a popular new media conference series focused on the use of social media to build business and personal relationships. He is a widely read blogger on the subject of social media. Find him at chrisbrogan.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/chrisbrogan.

Julien Smith is a veteran trend analyst who has run Web communities for over ten years. He helps companies prepare for and profit from disruptive changes in their industries, and has appeared on news programs to represent companies and nonprofits in Canada and the U.S. Find him at juliensmith.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/julien