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Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
 
 
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Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust [Hardcover]

Chris Brogan (Author), Julien Smith (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)

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Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust + Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web + Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

How to tap the power of social software and networks to build your business

In Trust Agents, two social media veterans show you how to tap into the power of social networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and, of course, profits. Today's online influencers are web natives who trade in trust, reputation, and relationships, using social media to accrue the influence that builds up or brings down businesses online.

The book shows how people use online social tools to build networks of influence and how you can use those networks to positively impact your business. Because trust is key to building online reputations, those who traffic in it are "trust agents," the key people your business needs on its side.

  • Delivers actionable steps and case studies that show how social media can positively impact your business
  • Written by authors with over ten years of online media experience
  • Shows you how to build and wield influence online to benefit your brand
  • Combines high-level theory with practical step-by-step guidance

If you want your business to succeed, don't sit on the sidelines. Instead, use the Web to build trust with your consumers using Trust Agents.

From the Inside Flap

There's no question that the Internet has changed the way we do business—especially when it comes to marketing. Consumer environments are short on trust and populated by consumers who are cynical, savvy, and informed. Though it's easier than ever to reach your customers, it's less likely that they'll listen. Today, the most valuable online currency isn't the dollar, but trust itself.

At the same time, social networks and personal connections have far more influence on consumers than your marketing messages ever will—unless your business knows how to harness them. In Trust Agents, two social media veterans show you how to tap into the power of these networks to build your brand's influence, reputation, and profits.

Trust agents aren't necessarily marketers or salespeople; they're the digitally savvy people who use the Web to humanize businesses using transparency, honesty, and genuine relationships. As a result, they wield enough online influence to build up or bring down a business's reputation. This book will show you how to build profitable relationships with trust agents, or become one yourself.

In an online world defined by its transparency, becoming a trust agent is no easy task, but once you've established your reputation, you can build influence, share it, and reap the benefits of it for your business. When you've learned a trust agent's secrets, your words can carry more power and more weight than any PR firm or big corporate marketing department.

Learn to use the power of the Web and social networks for your business now. Trust Agents gives you all the tools and strategies you need to do it the right way—honestly, effectively, and profitably.


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77 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (77 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Analysis of important but disturbing trends, September 18, 2009
This review is from: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (Hardcover)
I've met Chris Brogan several times (who is impressive in person despite a penchant for thinking that foul language is cool), and I have a great admiration for Seth Godin, who enthusiastically praises and endorses this book. Trust Agents is well-written, and the authors certainly are leaders (i.e., trust agents) in social media. The problem is that the book reflects a disturbing philosophical shallowness within our society, as well as a mindless pursuit of celebrity. Hey, it's a good book, and worth reading, but there is nothing profound within the covers. Trust Agents glorifies the current trend toward acquiring great quantities of snippets of relationships, and assumes that the value of quantity over quality in our relationships is the appropriate focus. Yes, this acquisition probably is the most effective means for business success now, however it ignores a fundamental destruction of the true fabric of our humanity. I am surprised that Seth Godin praises this book so highly, since it has so little to do with relationship quality, excellence, and the pursuit of remarkability.
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars These guys go way beyond a business book. Superb!, August 17, 2009
This review is from: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (Hardcover)
Chris Brogan and Julien Smith say they set out to write a business book. "Perhaps you've been noticing that the older approach to marketing, PR, advertising, business communication, and other activities on the web aren't pulling as well as they used to...Trust Agents is the answer to the question: `What do I do now?'" Eventually, it suggests that its message can be more broadly applied. "You will get the job you want without a resume. This book will teach you how....By the way, this works with talking to attractive members of the opposite sex, too." And finally, at the end, "Though we've written the book to be a business book about using the web, the skills of a trust agent relate to many offline possibilities." Disclosing this so late may have been intentional. Or, seeing how the narrative develops, perhaps it was something the authors realized only after the whole thing had been written. Regardless, they're absolutely correct.

People will believe what tends to conform to their own social circles and the people that they trust. Generally, we trust our friends. And on the web, those friends can be everywhere. The ones who set out to gain our trust are called "Trust Agents." "Trust agents use today's web tools to spread their influence, faster, wider, and deeper than a typical company's PR or marketing department might be capable of achieving, and with more interest in people, too. We need to become them and harness them...A Trust Agent builds networks almost reflexively by being helpful, by promoting the good work that others do, by sharing even their best stuff without hesitation, and by finding ways to deliver even more value on top of all that without asking for anything in return."

Business needs to cultivate its Trust Agents, some of which will be under company control, most of which will not. Personally, so do we all. I recommend this book for everyone, both business and personal.


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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Prepare for more social media buzz words..., December 19, 2009
This review is from: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (Hardcover)
I was looking forward to reading this book as I work in social media and highly respect the authors. I'm always weary of reviews of social media books because, let's face it, in general the authors know more about reviews/ratings and how to manipulate them more than authors of other books. Anyway, I was very disappointed in Trust Agents. I felt that it was similar to other social media books in that the authors are trying to create catch phrases or buzz words (e.g. "trust agents") being that this is a new industry and creating a buzz phrase is a great marketing tactic. Despite the book's description, this is more of a theoretical book and does not offer practical advice that can be used at the tactical level.

It might not be a bad book if you're new to social media, but if you're experienced you're basically going to hear the same old stuff with different jargon. Then again, if you're new to social media you're much better off reading Groundswell. You'll get plenty of interesting supporting data there rather than anecdotal evidence of why certain strategies work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A behavioral component of a four book series
Personally, the Presidential elections of 2008 got me interested in social media, as I saw how a skillful use of social media technology generated a network effect to successfully... Read more
Published 7 days ago by Dr. Yuval Lirov

4.0 out of 5 stars More than just a Web/Social Media Book
Trust Agents is definitely worth the read. It is well written and actionable, but it also holds some almost-hidden wisdom. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Don Harkey

4.0 out of 5 stars To be succesful online having the account is not enough. You have to be... a TRUST AGENTS
Very practical book clearly covering skills, approach and style needed to become a Trust Agents and be succesful online. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Francesco Arlotti

3.0 out of 5 stars Trust Agents: A Video Book Review of Trust Agents
Customer Video Review

Length:: 4:21 Mins

Published 1 month ago by Eric Pratum

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction
When you try to create a web site, the first thing comes to your mind is how to get people to know your web site. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Inca M

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, actionable and inspiring...
Written primarily for individuals working for themselves or large corporations, seeking to gain business advantage using social media, Trust Agents is a handy resource for the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. C. Hodge

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, we are Trust Agents!
I like the Trust Agents concept and after reading the book, I'm really happy to feel that we are Trust Agents. I did a lot of TA habits. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mohammed Al-Taee

5.0 out of 5 stars Trust is the Main Key in Social Media
I have read various books on the subject. This has to be the hands Down "Bible" for everyone trying to get somewhere with Social Media. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Raul Colon

4.0 out of 5 stars If you are like me, you'll like Trust Agents. But...
I'm not new to social networking but I am far from being an expert. With that in mind, I found Trust Agents to be an interesting and helpful read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kenneth Flo

4.0 out of 5 stars Be Human
It's a simple concept, and yet, businesses continue to ignore it. The concept is "be human."

Every time you open shop, take a call, update your status, or send an... Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Barton

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Publish in Kindle Format Please 1 September 2009
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